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Reimagining Water

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Hindustan Unilever Foundation, IV Journey Report

Reimagining Water Reimagining Water

Water for Public Good

HUF Journey

Report IV

Hindustan Unilever Foundation

Unilever House

Mumbai

Reimagining Water

2 Hindustan Unilever Foundation, IV Journey Report

Our Partners

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Contents Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Director’s Message ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Views of National Advisory Committee ............................................................................................................. 8

Experts Speak ................................................................................................................................................... 11

Independent Assurance Statement ................................................................................................................. 15

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 40

Chapter 2: Democratising Water Management ................................................................................................. 45

2.1 Our View Point ........................................................................................................................................ 47

2.1.1 Democratising water management: An Interpretation for clusters and their elements ........................ 50

2.2 Integrated people, Profit and Planet Cluster ......................................................................................... 66

1.2.1 Perspective ...................................................................................................................................... 66

2.2.2 Inclusivity ........................................................................................................................................ 66

2.2.3 Seamlessness .................................................................................................................................. 69

2.2.4 Outcomes ........................................................................................................................................ 71

2.2.5 Innovations ..................................................................................................................................... 71

2.3 Integrated Profit and planet clusters ..................................................................................................... 72

2.3.1 Efficiency ......................................................................................................................................... 72

2.3.2 Harnessing Capabilities ................................................................................................................... 72

2.3.3 Knowledge....................................................................................................................................... 74

2.4 Integrated People and Profit Cluster ..................................................................................................... 86

2.4.1 Collectivisation ................................................................................................................................ 86

2.5 People Cluster ........................................................................................................................................ 93

2.5.1 Governance ..................................................................................................................................... 93

2.5.2 Synergy ............................................................................................................................................ 96

2.5.3 Interest ............................................................................................................................................ 98

2.6 Planet Cluster ......................................................................................................................................... 98

2.6.1 Influencing....................................................................................................................................... 98

2.6.2 Geography ..................................................................................................................................... 101

2.7 Integrated People and Planet Cluster .................................................................................................. 106

2.7.1 Making every drop (voice) count .................................................................................................. 106

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Chapter 3: Towards More Responsive Community Behaviour ...................................................................... 108

2.1 Helping the community to understand ................................................................................................ 109

2.2 Making it easy ...................................................................................................................................... 111

2.3 Make it rewarding ................................................................................................................................ 112

2.4 Make it habit ........................................................................................................................................ 115

Chapter 4: Prabhat Water Projects at HUL Manufacturing Locations ........................................................... 118

4.1 Prabhat Jal Samruddhi Project, Silvassa............................................................................................... 120

4.2 Prabhat Jal Samruddhi Project, Khamgaon .......................................................................................... 120

4.3 Prabhat Jal Samruddhi Project, Orai .................................................................................................... 121

4.4 Prabhat Jal Smaruddhi Project, Sumerpur ........................................................................................... 122

4.5 Prabhat Jal Samrudhi Project, Puducherry .......................................................................................... 123

4.6 Win-Win Situation at Manufacturing Sites .......................................................................................... 123

4.7 Alignment with other pillars of Prabhat .............................................................................................. 124

Chapter 5: Water harvesting through soil and moisture conservation measures and water harvesting

structures: Methodology and analysis from HUF project area. ..................................................................... 125

5.1 Future trajectories and potential application associated with the methodology ............................... 127

5.2 Process adopted for devising the methodology: ................................................................................. 127

5.3 Data points required for calculation for water harvesting .................................................................. 128

5.4 Rainfall – Runoff Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 129

5.5 Day wise Water Calculation Cycle ........................................................................................................ 131

5.6 Analysis from HUF project Area: .......................................................................................................... 132

5.7 Water harvested from Area treatment work in project location: ....................................................... 134

5.8 Water harvested through water harvesting structures ....................................................................... 135

5.9 Quotes from the partners on water harvesting methodology and app .............................................. 138

Chapter 6: Value of Water – Shared Solutions .............................................................................................. 139

6.1 Health Improvement ............................................................................................................................ 139

6.2 Increased collective action ................................................................................................................... 139

6.3 Reduction in migration ........................................................................................................................ 142

6.4 Availability of wage employment locally ............................................................................................. 142

6.5 Ecological Restoration .......................................................................................................................... 142

6.6 Pivot for networked solutions .............................................................................................................. 142

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6.7 Resolving conflicts and improving access ............................................................................................ 143

6.8 Women Empowerment........................................................................................................................ 144

6.9 Impact on life and livelihood................................................................................................................ 146

6.10 Change in thought process ................................................................................................................ 146

Chapter 7: Social Return on Investment ........................................................................................................ 147

Chapter 8: HUF and Sustainable Development Goals ................................................................................... 153

8.1 The engagement process ..................................................................................................................... 154

8.2 Quantifying tangibles and intangibles ................................................................................................. 154

8.3 Collective action ................................................................................................................................... 155

8.4 Systemic view ....................................................................................................................................... 156

8.5 Post Project Closure ............................................................................................................................. 156

8.6 Defining Water for Public Good within SDG context ........................................................................... 157

8.6.1 Engagement with SDGs Goals and Targets ................................................................................... 158

8.7 Case studies ......................................................................................................................................... 164

Chapter 9: Unlocking Partner Potential ......................................................................................................... 166

9.1 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme – India ....................................................................................... 166

9.2 BAIF Institute for Rural Development – Uttar Pradesh ....................................................................... 167

9.3 Development Support Centre .............................................................................................................. 167

9.4 Foundation for Ecological Security ...................................................................................................... 170

9.5 Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan (Orai) .................................................................................................. 174

9.6 People’s Action for National Integration ............................................................................................. 175

9.7 Professional Assistance for Development Action ................................................................................ 176

9.8 Watershed Organisation Trust ............................................................................................................. 177

Chapter 10: Sustainability: People institutions .............................................................................................. 180

10.1 Sustainable people institution for water governance - DHAN........................................................... 180

Chapter 11: Conclusion and way forward ...................................................................................................... 183

Annexure 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 185

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Acknowledgement The Journey report essays the work done over the FY 2015-16 period and illustrates the thought process and

work done by different set of stakeholders coming together with HUF on this journey. The report thus stands

on the work done by all of us, as referred in the report and without their collective action and wisdom, this

couldn’t have been possible.

We thank our Board of Directors for continuing to direct and invest in this journey.

We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of National Advisory Committee in our endeavours during the

year.

We highlight and appreciate the role of our project partners, with whom we have built a relation on the spirit

of collaboration and co-created this journey. Their vision and resolve to implement impactful solutions

including getting other co-funders interested and community mobilised, has kept us going.

We thank our legal/secretarial, finance, Human Resources and other support business partners, for driving

the compliance and other requirements, helping us to remain committed to the purpose.

We would like to thank Deloitte Haskins & Sells for having being associated with us on the Assurance of the

projects and providing us with their insights on process and output delivered.

This compilation of all efforts has been possible due to cooperation of all team members at HUF, its partners

and members therein. The responsibility shouldered by Navin Kapoor for putting this report together along

with owning the content for Northern and Eastern Region is appreciated. The able assistance provided by

Praveen Prakash is recognised. The ownership of content by Pramod John (Southern Region), Sambhaji Palve

(Western Region) and Ms. Priyanka Rajgadkar (Projects around Manufacturing Locations) is appreciated.

Ravi Puranik

Team HUF

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Director’s Message Water – the precious natural resource is more scarce than one may think. In fact,

the World Economic Forum lists it as one of the top global crisis in the years to

come. Rapidly increasing population has put unprecedented pressure on water

resources. In India, the situation is particularly challenging. Our country has

around 18% of the world’s population but only 4% of its usable fresh water

resources1 . This, without any sign of decline in the demand for water in the

foreseeable future.

At Hindustan Unilever Limited, we are driven by our belief of Doing Well by Doing Good. Over our 80 years

of corporate existence in India, we have always partnered the country’s progress be it through the Integrated

Rural Development Programme, producing an indigenous ‘Janata’ soap during soap price control, or setting

up the Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF), a Section 25 not-for-profit company, in 2010 to help address

the debate on water security.

HUF, through a partnered approach, focuses on delivering ‘water for public good’. It connects to HUL’s WASH

agenda and contributes to national development through water conservation and building livelihoods.

What makes HUF initiatives unique as well as sustainable is the partnership approach that unites different

stakeholders. During the last year, HUF initiated its framework on “Democratisation of water”. It continued

to build bridges to enable collective action on water. This has been received well by the experts and

practitioners, as can be seen from their observations laid out in this report.

This report illustrates HUF initiatives that have been carried out in FY 2015-16 and how these have helped

make a larger economic, environmental and social difference through water conservation.

This report comes in the backdrop of a water stressed year that further reinforces the need for a focused

effort on on-ground actions and solutions. HUF has been pursuing this with our initiatives continuing to make

a difference in more than 50 districts of India this year.

HUF along with its partners has created a collective and cumulative potential of more than 290 billion litres

of water. The focus is not just on water conservation but also on adopting good governance practices. These

practices help in furthering equity and improving access to water, increasing agricultural productivity,

increasing efficiency of water usage and application and enhancing livelihoods of farmers and community

dwellers.

We have come a long way in addressing the need for water conservation, but there’s a lot more to be done.

We believe that through partnerships, we can connect the different aspects of water conservation to make

remarkable progress in water management.

It will take much more than one company, government or community to solve the challenges related to water

that face us. We need collaboration, innovation and partnership to drive water conservation at a systemic

level. Collective action and coalitions are the need of the hour for a brighter and more sustainable future for

all.

Sanjiv Mehta

1 http://wrmin.nic.in/writereaddata/NationalWaterPolicy/SummaryRecordofProceedings6576369201.pdf

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Views of National Advisory Committee Dr. Mihir Shah

Former member Planning Commission, Government of India

Member, NAC - HUF

It is truly remarkable that a corporate-linked entity like the Hindustan

Unilever Foundation has sought to make “Democratising Water

Management” as its guiding principle and aspiration. This is specially

noteworthy as the Government of India itself over the past few years is

seeking to move in the very same direction.

From 2009 to 2014, I had the privilege to work as Member, Planning

Commission, Government of India and more recently to Chair a Government appointed Committee on

Restructuring the Central Water Commission and the Central Ground Water Board. My main emphasis

throughout has been on the need to adopt a more location-specific, decentralised and participatory

approach to water management.

The main lesson we learn from the history of water resources development in India is that we have focused

far too much on outlays and far too little on outcomes. And if we are to make this decisive shift, we will need

to move the emphasis from construction and extraction towards management and maintenance. After

spending around Rs. 400,000 crore on constructing large dams in India, we still face droughts and floods year

after year. Intervening in a debate in the State Assembly on July 21, 2015, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra

remarked that the State has 40 per cent of the country’s large dams, “but 82 per cent area of the state is

rainfed. Till the time you don’t give water to a farmer’s fields, you can’t save him from suicide. We have

moved away from our vision of watershed and conservation. We did not think about hydrology, geology and

topography of a region before pushing large dams everywhere. We pushed large dams, not irrigation. But

this has to change.”

I believe the work initiated by HUF is a step in the direction of making this change a reality on the ground in

the most needy geographies of the country. The HUF work is being carried out by some of the finest civil

society organisations in the country, who have long years of experience and achievement in the water sector.

As you can see from this report, HUF projects adopt a participatory approach, based on the principles of

equity and sustainability and people’s empowerment, a genuine attempt at water democracy in social

settings, which have had a long history of social and economic exclusion. This is challenging work but one

that has been long overdue.

The HUF partners work on both surface and groundwater. The latter is the single most important source of

water in India and is currently facing a serious crisis of sustainability. While public investments since

Independence have focused largely on surface water, today groundwater has emerged as the main source

of both drinking water and irrigation, based almost entirely on private investments by millions of atomistic

decision-makers. The relative ease and convenience of its decentralised access has meant that groundwater

is the backbone of India’s agriculture and drinking water security. Groundwater is used by millions of farmers

across the country. Over the last four decades, around 84 per cent of the total addition to the net irrigated

area has come from groundwater. India is by far the largest and fastest growing consumer of groundwater

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in the world. But groundwater is being exploited beyond sustainable levels and with an estimated 30 million

groundwater structures in play, India may be hurtling towards a serious crisis of groundwater over-extraction

and quality deterioration.

It is clearly not possible to manage groundwater in command-and-control mode. You cannot hope to monitor

30 million groundwater structures through a licence-quota-permit raj. The only way to do is to adopt the

approach of the HUF partners, who try to mobilise the primary stakeholders to understand the nature of

their aquifers and promote sustainable sharing of groundwater.

This crucially involves demand management, which is another key distinguishing feature of HUF work. For

far too long, not only in India but across the world, we have focused on supply-side solutions. This will not

get us anywhere. For unless we manage demand sustainably, however much supply we may mobilise will

prove inadequate.

As a pioneer in democratic water management in India, HUF is doing trail-blazing work that has crucial lessons

for all stakeholders in the water space – farmers, industries, civil society and government. I wish HUF

continued success in its endeavours.

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Ms. Ireena Vittal

Former Partner with McKinsey

Member, NAC - HUF

A heterogeneous portfolio of integrated water management models

India has been discussing its water challenges for a decade now. But has

done little to fix the underlying issues. Time and nature wait for no one. As

we witness, this year water has waged conflicts in India. Citizens in several

states struggled with acute drought, followed by severe floods, often in the

same geography. Extreme rain events implied the averages of monsoon

were mathematically met but farmers in several states struggled to plant crops. With poor retention of

swathes of this water, reservoirs are less filled than one might expect, resulting in tension. Even as this report

goes for publishing, the water fight between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have taken lives and brought

Bangalore to standstill for three days.

India’ water tragedy is self-created. Unlike other countries that have supply shortfalls, India (currently using

634 bcm of water annually) is blessed with annual rainfall of 3840 bcm, which translates to a net supply equal

or twice that its demand (depending on aggressive or conservative assumptions relating to surface run-off,

recharge, evapotranspiration and quality of water). While this gap will worsen as demand grows unbridled,

our current tragedy is poor management: our inability to shift from thinking supply (big dams and private

groundwater extraction) to integrated demand and supply management (pricing water, aquifer &

groundwater recharge, river management, urban & industrial recycling, repairs and maintenance of water

bodies, irrigation efficiency and community water users associations.). The solutions are well documented.

A recent insightful report by a committee chaired by Mihir Shah (also an advisor to Hindustan Unilever

Foundation) has also suggested a politically acceptable, practical approach on how to make this happen,

reinventing the institutional mechanisms that already exist in India. The government appears receptive and

now we wait for execution. The citizen pain of 2016 should perhaps goad them to action.

This is where the Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) and its wonderful partners come in. To systematically

manage water, take a look at the heterogeneity of India, from a climate, soil and rainfall point of view. Also,

look at the scale of the effort: an estimated 30 million groundwater structures in rural India and thousands

of industrial clusters. Clearly participative water management with the communities taking responsibility of

their resource is key. And these communities will need local solutions, tailored to their topography, usage

pattern, and their eco-system. Every story you read in this report is one such solution. Created on the ground,

tested and being optimized by scores of committed professions who bring time, passion, expertise and

technology to this much ignored area.

Therefore, as the new water management approach gets mainstreamed, hundreds of communities will be

able to access the work done by the partners of HUF. To that extent, it is wonderful to see how this

partnership is evolving and how some Indians are building the much needed expertise for fixing India’s water

woes. Congratulations on the stellar work done!

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Experts Speak Mr. Rajendra Singh

I got to know about HUF and its network when I was invited for

the National Workshop in May last year. I’ am glad to note the

subsequent enabling role played by HUF, as the initial bridge

between Jal Jan Jodo Abhiyan with WRG2030 to explore the

Hindon river management activity. I do see that there are many

interventions by HUF that can add value to the water discourse

in India. There is a synergy of democratising water that exists

between HUF and JJA that I hope can translate into on ground

programs in the future

Mr. Bastiaan Mohrmann

Co-Head Asia & Middle East, 2030 Water Resources Group (International Finance Corporation)

Both HUF and WRG2030 believe that private sector can contribute

significantly to the water challenges that India faces, both in ways

collective ground action as also thought leadership for reimagining

water. To trigger this, they partnered with Global Water Partnership

(GWP), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Council on

Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and The Energy Resources

Institute (TERI) to organise a workshop on Agri-Water Sustainability in

India with the objective to set the Agenda for the Alliance for Thought

Leadership and Action in May 2015. This was multi stakeholder meet,

which saw the participation of more than 50 organisations spanning

Government, International Organisations, Academia, NGOs, Standard keepers, Corporate and other interest

groups. Its synopsis was released at the Stockholm Water Week in September 2015, which was well received.

As a result of this

1. WRG2030 has been able to set up a multi stakeholder initiative in UP with Jal Jan Jodo Abhiyan (led

by Rajendra Singh, 2015 Magsaysay Award winner) and others.

2. WRG2030 has set up the Cotton Water Platform in Maharashtra.

Also known as, "waterman of India", he won the Stockholm Water Prize, an award known as "the Nobel

Prize for water", in 2015

Bastigaan Mohrmann has been on numerous boards and committees including FICCI Water Mission, CII

Regional Water Committees, WEF/ NVA India Business Council, IFC/ PaCT Steering Committee, WFN

(Water Footprint Network) Supervisory Council, and others.

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Both, HUF and WRG2030 continue to work for foundational changes in the water sector in India

Prof. R. Sakthivadivel

Emeritus Professor, Centre for Water Resources, Anna University

My association with Hindustan Unilever Foundation team and their

implementing NGO’s partners is a brief but a productive one. I visited the

fields with partners where the watershed development activities had

already put in place and looked at the transformation that had taken place

in terms of water conservation, bio-mass regeneration, crops and

cropping pattern and the sustainability of the structures executed which

is very impressive. A major reason for this excellent outcome is the

institutional transformation with the attitudinal change brought about of

the local community by the implementing agencies and collective

involvement of all types of stake holders both landed and landless with

the implementing agency .It also speaks about the design of the watershed project and the process adopted.

The self-confidence gained by the partners in implementing this type of watershed project and displaying

their work to a person like me who is visiting their developmental activities is indeed a positive outcome

auguring well for the future watershed activities in this country.

More than the partners, the smile and self-confidence enthused by the local communities of the developed

watersheds is a joy to watch. Most importantly, each one of the local residents with whom I have interacted

expressed not only what they had gained out of this project but also indicated their future development

action plan to improve and sustain the benefits accrued out of this project thus exhibiting their self-reliance

and capacity to take decisions on their own.

The HUF team have done an excellent job of integrating the latest technology of land and water management

with the traditional technology to improve the land and water productivity and thereby diversifying their

livelihood options and their socio-economic status. To achieve this, they focused on to build water

conservation and storage potential, promoted community involvement and ownership of the project,

enhanced agricultural production in project area, and over the years have reached 13 river basins over more

than 80 districts.

Among the many innovative works attempted by them, the following are worth mentioning:

Developing an information portal for rain fed areas, which will provide an online platform allowing

free access to information to 640 districts and 2.5 lakh panchayats.

Establishing automatic weather stations to collect local weather information and disseminating them

in time.

Conducting experimental games to strengthen collective action in ground water management.

Facilitating the Foundation for Ecological Study (FES) to conduct a coping exercise in a village in

Rajasthan to understand ,test and develop integrated framework/theory of change of community

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stewardship ( on the lines of Alliance for Water Stewardship) to govern the common pool water

resources by the local themselves.

Among the many publications brought out, the following are some of great relevance to semi-arid

tropics:

o Water efficiency and sustainability in Agriculture Supply Chains.

o Rational method of water conservation calculation in the watershed context for optimizing

agricultural returns both for rain fed and irrigated agriculture.

o Tank cascade development for livelihood security with the revival of traditional tank Irrigation

system.

o Water balance studies using empirical methods such as Dry-Damp-Wet method suggested by

Strange to suit the existing database.

The Journey to achieve the objective of Water for Public Good is, as per my evaluation, progressing smoothly.

Mr. Adrian Sym, Chief Executive, Alliance for Water Stewardship

For several years, the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) has

partnered with HUF, primarily to help ensure community

perspectives on water use and water governance are part of the

AWS discourse. Our ambition is that implementing water

stewardship through the framework of the AWS Standard should

not just deliver social, environmental and economic benefits, but

also that different water users strengthen the trust and

relationships needed for a truly sustainable future. This aligns

completely with HUF’s Water for Public Good program and its emphasis on democratisation of water

governance. Given the pressures on water resources in India, HUF’s work is especially important. It also

provides instructive material for other locations grappling with similar, but distinct, issues. We are proud to

be able to count HUF as a Founding Partner and a member of our organization and contributor to our

network’s learning journey.

Diverse range of experiences in the international development sector, including with social and

environmental standards, and in running his own business. Adrian joined AWS from Fairtrade

International, where he led Fairtrade’s partnerships program. Before this, Adrian worked for many years

on disability-related programs in South Asia (Bangladesh and Nepal).

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Mr. Tushaar Shah

Senior Fellow of Colombo based International Water Management Institute (IWMI)

“The leitmotif of HUF’s water partnerships with a range of NGO’s is

democratizing water governance. The experience emerging out of

these is of great relevance for government and bureaucracy, which

after all they are the biggest players in the water sector. The learnings

from HUF’s foundational work should inform not only NGOs and civil

society but also government agencies. In particular, it highlights the

need to reflect on how they can become better enablers and how

communities can make better use of assurance providers.”

Prof. PD Jose

Professor, Corporate Strategy and Policy and Chairperson, MOOC Initiatives

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

Changing demographics and consumption patterns have placed

enormous stress on our natural resources, even those traditionally

considered as renewable. Ironically the most biologically diverse

and resource rich regions in the world are also in the cusp of this

problem. Communities that have historically managed these

resources sustainably are now in conflict with the new managers of

these resources, be it governments or corporations. This calls for an

urgent review of the utilisation patterns as well as the governance

of these common property resources.

Water is a case in point. That water is critical to the sustenance of our civilization undisputed. That both

corporations and communities have a role in maintaining the viability and sustainability of water systems is

also incontestable. However, the potentially transformative and synergistic effects of the two working

together is often unappreciated. Hindustan Unilever Foundation’s experience of working with communities

across India is a great example of how organizations may blend commercial interests and social impacts in a

win-win format for everyone. Given that several regions in India are water stressed, such initiatives provide

an excellent example of how corporations may engage with communities for the common good, especially in

the management of natural resources.

Working out of Anand in Gujarat, Shah leads IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Program, works as an

independent director of ICICI Bank, and has served on many committees of the Government of India. He

chaired the irrigation-working group of the 12th Five-year Plan and most recently served as a member of

the Shah Committee on restructuring Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Groundwater Board

(CGWB).

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Independent Assurance Statement

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Chapter 1: Introduction Unilever has a simple purpose – to make sustainable

living commonplace. In a volatile world, which is facing

environmental change and rising populations, we see

this as the best long-term way for us to grow and bring

benefits to all our stakeholders. To succeed in this

goal, we need to change the way we do business and

to scale up the impact on the issues that matter most.

Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) focuses on six

areas that are fundamental to sustainable

development in India. These are health and hygiene,

nutrition, greenhouse gases, sustainable sourcing,

enhancing livelihoods and water.

Estimates tell us that by 2030, the supply of water in

India could be significantly lesser than the demand.

The adverse impact of climate change on agriculture

will further compound problems arising due to linkages between food, energy, and livelihoods in the country.

To understand and partake in meeting this challenge, Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) was formed in

2010. HUF is a not-for-profit company that anchors various community development initiatives of Hindustan

Unilever Limited. HUF supports national priorities for socio-economic development through its ‘Water for

Public Good’ programme.

HUF through its ‘Water for Public Good’ programme has been focusing on water conservation and

management in rural areas of India - an issue of social and

moral significance and a resource critical for economic

development. The programme supports community initiatives

in partnership with Non – Government Organisations (NGOs);

financial institutions such as National Bank for Agriculture and

Rural Development (NABARD), flagship government

programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural

Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated

Watershed Management Programme, and investing

institutions such as International Finance Corporation.

The intent is to contribute to water in India by enhancing the

availability of water for livelihoods; improving its access and

increasing its productivity in agriculture and allied livelihoods.

We do this by promoting water based collective initiatives in

villages along with communities, implementing partners and

co-funders who support the various projects. We aim at

cumulatively achieving:

Layout of soil and moisture conservation works

with Joint Forest Management Committee in the

project area of MITTRA, Nashik

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Water conservation potential of more

than 500 billion litres of water

Enhanced agriculture and biomass

production of five lakh tons

Generating 7 million person-days of

local employment

As on March 31, 2016 we were able to

achieve:

Water: water potential of 290

billion litres

Crop yield: Agriculture production

of 6 lakh tonnes

Person days: More than 37 lakh

person days of employment

Capacity building: Training of over 1.7 lakh

people in water conservation activities, better agricultural practices and other related issues

HUF’s Water for Public Good programme focuses on projects in diverse hydrological areas, with locally

relevant and decentralised strategies, ranging from tanks to watersheds to command area management. The

focus is derived from triple bottom line performance indicators: ones which create social, environmental and

economic capital for communities. These indicators emanate from project proposals developed by the

implementing NGOs in consultation with communities. Since the issues we need to address are systemic, we

encourage public-private partnerships based on three principles: Governance of water; Quantity of water;

and finally, Benefits to Community.

HUF has focused on water in agriculture and has interpreted that “Public Good” is obtained when an enabling

environment results in the following:

1. Water for livelihoods (primarily agriculture based water) is better managed by communities based

on an owned understanding and action at a micro level

2. Increased adoption of water efficient agriculture practices and varieties, use of organic farm inputs

thereby impacting the quality of water and hence the availability of water for life

3. Such understanding and action is codified and evidenced through results by enablers

4. The underlying processes have a scientifically acceptable basis (tempered by community owned and

valued practices) that enablers generate and keep getting upgraded

5. The processes and evidence is put together into knowledge modules and made available for scalable

absorption including policy spaces

At the heart of HUF’s approach is collective action that brings together relevant groups from the villagers

themselves through to government bodies. HUF contributes to both the creation of an enabling environment

and the delivery of results by supporting NGOs and such other enablers:

1. For thought and action with communities.

Tube well recharge in Sumerpur

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2. To aid in the deployment and addition of value to existing schemes of Government and

institutions. These schemes are leveraged for creating productive assets that can sustain

communities.

3. To codify understanding and evidence.

4. To enhance and upgrade action by seeking feedback from independent assurance providers and

experts.

5. To disseminate these experiences in the larger society.

6. To support systemic change through knowledge alliances and institutional arrangements

between and across interest groups

Since its inception in 2010, HUF supported projects have touched one in seven districts across India and are

at present operational in 57 districts across 9 states and 2 Union Territories. Further, of 20 river basins in

India we are present in 11 river basins. These include plateaus of Bundelkhand and Chhotanagpur, Gangetic

Plains in Western and Eastern Uttar Pradesh; Central Tribal Belt of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra; Tribal

regions of Gujarat, Marathwada and Vidharba region of Maharashtra; Gundar Basin in South India in Tamil

Nadu.

Starting with water harvesting and conservation, our portfolio has gradually expanded to include demand

management of water resources in agriculture. Farmers have been supported to adopt water efficient

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agriculture practices especially in water intensive crops such as sugarcane, paddy and peppermint. Focus has

been promote such practices that are easy to adopt especially by small and marginal famers who form our

target group. The objective is to increase water use application efficiency in agriculture on one hand and

increase agriculture productivity on the other.

In addition to supporting community interventions, we have also been focusing on generation of new

knowledge aimed at enhancing our understanding of water resources. For us water needs to be seen from

an integrated perspective for it has social, cultural, religious, spiritual and economic dimensions associated

with it.

In our pursuit to infuse alternate thinking on water conservation and management, the present journey

report – fourth in its series – codifies the elements that have a bearing on Democratisation of Water Resource

Management. These include:

Perspective

Inclusivity

Outcomes

Seamlessness

Knowledge and Innovations

Efficiency

Harnessing capabilities

Collectivisation

Governance

Influencing

Synergy

Interest

Geography

Making every drop (voice) count

The present journey report is woven around certain elements of democratization illustrating our thinking

and the action happening around them in the project villages.

The report attempts to bring out interconnectedness among various elements of democratization and relates

it with the evidences and actions emanating from ground, led through the process as agreed with partners

based on consultation with the community.

We are aware that that irrigation water use efficiency is low hence the need to further water efficient

agriculture practices and improved governance of water resources. Efforts have been made to understand

behavior patterns associated with the resource and therefore facilitate changes that could contribute to

enhanced resource management. The chapter on ‘Towards more responsive community behavior’ maps the

efforts made by our partners in this direction.

In our efforts to promote collective action at the field level and actively involve different stakeholders,

concerted attempts have been made to increase employee engagement in community initiatives around

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factory locations. In the process institutional mechanism has been set up to create such platforms that have

helped accrual of mutual benefit to different stakeholders involved.

In our pursuit to assess the contribution potential of decentralized small water harvesting structures and soil

and moisture conservation activities considerable efforts have gone into developing a methodology for the

same. This, additionally helps to build community stakes and promote its ownership,

The present report put up an evolving methodology that may help in assessing the quantity of water

collected and conserved due to various interventions, taking into consideration certain agromet and soil

factors.

The section on ‘Value of Water’ brings forth community’s perspective and the value it attaches to different

initiatives that have been taken in the project area. It also brings to light the importance of these

interventions from community’s point of view.

Element Increased collective

action

Reduction in

migration

Local Employment

Ecological Restoration

Pivot for networked solutions

Conflict resolution

and improved

access

Women Empowerment

Impact on life

and livelihood

Change in

thought process

Health Improve

ment

Perspective

Inclusivity

Outcomes

Seamlessness

Knowledge and Innovations

Efficiency

Harnessing capabilities

Collectivisation

Governance

Making every drop (voice) count

The report also brings to light the alignment of our interventions with respect to Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) and how different activities can help achieve different targets that have been outlined in SDGs.

While detailing the progress of our partners on various desirable and aspirational ambitions that HUF

supported them to carve out for themselves the report also brings to light initiatives taken in HUF supported

project with DHAN Foundation that is helping communities take the processes forward initiated under the

project post its withdrawal.

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Chapter 2: Democratising Water Management

The strain on water resources is

expected to increase with the growth

in population, urbanisation and

industrialisation. Indiscriminate

extraction and over-use of water

resources combined with

unsustainable development pathways

adversely affecting the quality,

quantity and availability of water

resources. This has cascading social

and economic impacts on, among

others, the water for life (domestic

water use, environmental flows and

others) and the water for livelihoods, both rural (agriculture and other uses) and urban (industrial, thermal

power and other uses). Challenges to the Indian economy will worsen given the limited potential for

improving the supply (extrapolating the changing trends in precipitation, runoff and evapotranspiration),

water quality issues, and the expected shifts in the water usage of different sectors.

By 2020, Indian agriculture will need 29% more water to meet growing food demands however; actual

availability of water for agriculture is likely to reduce by 12% due to diversion of irrigation water for other

purposes. This situation is expected to be compounded as it is estimated that different agriculture activities

consume more than 80% of the exploitable

water resources in the country with irrigation

being major water consuming activity, where

water use efficiency seldom exceeds 35% 2 .

This compares poorly with 45 per cent in

Malaysia and Morocco and 50–60 per cent in

Israel, Japan, China and Taiwan3.

The National Water Policy 2012 raises several

concerns that are impacting water scenario in

India. These include large parts of India

becoming water stressed, challenges to water

security, mismanagement of water resources

2 Farmers' Participatory Action Research on Water Use Efficient Sugarcane Technologies, IISR; 2011 3 12th Fiver Year Plan, Planning Commission, Government of India

Meeting of Sujal Samiti in Polajpur village in Gujarat

Orientation of Up Sangha members in Ratanpur village in

West Bengal

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and wide temporal and spatial variation as

regards water availability. Added to these are

unsustainable extraction of groundwater,

fragmented planning, increasing water

pollution, missing inter-disciplinary and

holistic approach, non-involvement of

stakeholders in decision making process and

owing to change in land use and land cover,

characteristics of catchment areas are

changing.

Increased and indiscriminate use of pesticides

and inorganic fertilisers in the quest for

livelihoods has led to widespread pollution of

water resources thereby directly reducing the

amount of freshwater available for different

purposes and second, increased need of

freshwater to de – pollute and bring it within usable limits.

In such a disturbing scenario, management of water resources will be crucial if needs of population, industry,

agriculture and other sectors are to be sustainably met and conflicts avoided. With limits to enhancing the

availability of utilisable water resources and increased variability in supplies due to climate change action is

necessitated from all quarters implying the urgent need to further democratisation of water related thought

and action

With increasing demand for freshwater resources, it is necessary to explore ways to remedy the impending

imbalance between demand and supply for sustained availability of water for livelihood and poverty

reduction. Increasing scarcity of water resources makes smallholders and the poor more vulnerable as they

generally are unable to harness alternatives. Moreover, it is universally agreed that a disaggregated

perspective is needed to reflect challenges faced by different regions.

This needs different actions by different actors if water as a resource has to be managed sustainably. This

may require transformation of agriculture sector, developing holistic and integrated perspective,

synchronised functioning of different departments, developing an in-depth understanding of aquifer and

basin behaviour and different components of water cycle and; having well informed community institutions

which are able to take decisions.

Industries on the other hand will have to become more frugal in water usage for their sustenance.

Additionally they will have to come forward to support and facilitate such actions that help different

stakeholders come together and find context specific solutions to challenges faced by water sector and act

collectively.

Various studies have shown that the water crisis is more one of governance than of resource availability.

Although several steps have been taken in this direction, but much remains to be done if water has to be

governed in an effective and efficient manner.

Meeting of Village Development Committee in project

village of WOTR

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HUF has been supporting organisations to

create an enabling environment at local

and regional levels that help communities

initiate action based on analysis of their

current and aspired situation and find

solutions to water related challenges that

are contextual, able to deliver results and

have scalable and replicable potential.

Core to the creation of such a result-

oriented enablement is the spirit of

enquiry and action at multiple levels and

across multiple domains. During the year,

we have therefore evoked this spirit in

various ways. One such strand is an enquiry

into democratisation of agriculture water

that has been detailed in this chapter.

Our experience indicates that such a

democratisation of water needs a dissection into different elements that would help in furthering the

creation of an enabling environment by various stakeholders, including the program design of water based

CSR delivery by the private sector. We have therefore consolidated our experience into a narration that

captures our understanding thus far.

2.1 Our View Point

India gets on an average 1200 mm of rainfall every year4. Annual precipitation (including snowfall) is 4000

billion cubic meter (bcm), with average annual availability as 1869 bcm. The decade between 2001 and 2010

witnessed decrease in per capita water availability from 1816 cum to 1588 cum i.e. decrease of 12.5% over

the decade. The estimated utilisable water resource is estimated as 1123 bcm5. With 1544 m3 per capita

water availability, India is already a water-stressed country and moving towards turning water scarce6

The irrigation sector is the main consumer of water. Analysis of 2011 data suggests, of the total annual ground

water draft of 245.05 bcm, irrigation accounts for 222.36 bcm7. Any adverse impact on water availability

threatens food security and livelihood to greater extent. If the water resource needs to be sustainably

managed, there is a need to deepen both, state driven and people driven solutions in order to address the

4 Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, CGWB, 2014 5 Water Resources at a Glance 2011 Report, Central Water Commission

6 Raising Agricultural Productivity and Making Farming Remunerative for Farmers - NITI Aayog – December, 2015;

http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/RAP3.pdf

7 Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, CGWB, 2014

Meeting between Olam officials and sugarcane farmers in

Barwani, Madhya Pradesh

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range of water issues in a country like India. The ideal situation would however be when both these drivers

plug into each other so that locally relevant and systemically acceptable solutions get evolved and deployed.

Such deployments might need to have a

mix of statutory and voluntary articulated

philosophies and actions woven into a

practice tapestry. The practice tapestry

can be visualised as a “differentiated

aggregation”, where:

Socio-economic, cultural,

historical, natural resource and

exploitation realities might

demand differentiated and

predominantly voluntary water

management solutions.

Systemic acceptance of

disaggregated typology solutions, provisioning for replication and scaling up and appropriate

institutional frameworks might need aggregation, predominantly in statutory realm. Also, there

would be trans-boundary and such other issues that demand state driven solutions

It is hoped that the mosaic of each of the differentiated and aggregated solutions will lead to the practice

tapestry on better-managed water leading to improved water outcomes for livelihoods and life. Such a

tapestry embodies democratisation as it allows for differentiation by recognising diversity of situations

demanding ways of responding. The aggregation proposition on the other hand moves beyond allowance to

respect by absorbing into systemic processes. The plugged in drivers to water action enable mutual regard

leading to coherent responses. While increasing predictability of execution and results, it will also bring out

limits to the solution space. In the process it would lead to a practice based vocabulary on water that

enshrines the democratic and sustainability values aspired by our societies and articulated by leaders;

“The earth, the air, the land and the water are not on inheritance from our fore fathers but on loan from our

children. So we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.”

“There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”8

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

For the above to happen differentiated solutions

1. need to be available on the ground and in articulation

2. should exhibit plugged people and state driven combinations

3. need to become typologies that have merit in aggregation and therefore amenable to replication

and scale up

8 http://wanderingmist.com/going-green/mahatma-gandhis-quote-on-environment-and-ecology/ as on 27th April

2016

Training of Bhujal Jankars on Lithology and Aquifer

http://wanderingmist.com/going-green/mahatma-gandhis-quote-on-environment-and-ecology/

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4. There should be a mechanism for uptake of differentiated solutions, in particular recognising and

celebrating the plugged in opportunities, that in many cases would have both horizontal (multi

department) and vertical (Gram Sabha to National) dimensions

5. There should be institutional processes to

a. aggregate the differentiated solutions

b. provide statutory backing to such solutions

c. revisit based on ground applications and experiences and re-aggregate

These requires to be enabled and a supporting ecosystem provided for the enablement to be nurtured,

thus Enablers are identified and supported; these could be from implementing NGOs to Governmental

actors, communities ranging from survival end users to those located in business value chains, concept

investors in public and private sector and so on.

situations and differentiated solutions are explored ; whether it is rainfed or irrigated, surface or

ground water dependant, food crop or cash crop dominant and so on

coherent and continuing capture of results and outcomes are supported ; looking for results and

outcomes that are able to meet societal aspirations and could synergise stakeholder expectations

and so manifest enduring opportunities

The differentiated solutions and their learning is analysed for typologies for replication and

examined from the perspectives of ongoing

Governmental systems are understood and engaged for identifying and opening aggregation

windows

Unlearning and Learning opportunities for improvement

HUF initiated this process in 2010 and together with its implementing partners and co-funded projects which

is contributing to the evolution and reinforcement of such an ecosystem.

These experiences among others have led

us to believe that while collectivisation at

a project level is the need of the hour,

there is also a need to delve into deeper

and more fundamental enquiry of water

understanding and action. Such an

enquiry should not only be technical and

resource centric; it should also unravel a

framework to explore the underlying

characteristics and motivations of drivers

(state and communities) and the driven

(water, its end use and linkage with

livelihood and life) with democratic belief

underpinning.

In this document, we examine the

elements of Democratisation for Water

for Livelihoods and Life that could be the building blocks of the vocabulary on differentiated aggregation and

Line sowing of paddy in West Bengal

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therefore needed for the desired ecosystem. This document brings forth the elements as practiced by our

partners in their area of operation and aims to look at practices evidencing them.

It provides a basis for involvement and participation by solution seekers while providing a framework to

evolve the embedded concepts, work on limitations and assumptions, further experiential learning as we go

along.

2.1.1 Democratising water management: An Interpretation for clusters and their elements

Democratising water means empowering people to be at the centre stage of planning, implementation and

management of water resource. Our experience suggests that this is need of the hour because of the social,

cultural, geographic and ecological diversity ad challenges further strained with the population, pollution and

the climatic stresses which India faces.

It needs active involvement of all related and concerned on issues related to water management and

conservation because of the nature of resource. Democratisation also requires furthering locally suited,

socially acceptable, economically viable and replicable solutions to the challenges being faced by the

community. For democratisation to happen, it requires the processes which are built with long term

sustainability perspective and reflects the thought process being internalised by community groups. A holistic

practice needs to be developed with respect to resource and its interconnectedness with its context and

managerial aspects that together build the democratic ecosystem.

During the year we have tried to build the contours of such democratisation based on our experiences. We

have attempted to populate the elements that constitute the democratisation understanding and practice. .

The contours are associated with the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of sustainability and the elements therein can

be visualised as below:

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51


Democratising water for life and livelihood

People/Social Profit / Economic Planet / Environment

Integrated People, Planet and Profit Cluster

Perspective: It involves

(i) Water for life i.e. use of water for drinking and other domestic purposes and (ii) Water for livelihood i.e. use in irrigation and agriculture.

The prime perspective with which water governance and management is being furthered at the community level is an influencing factor,

which decides the process of functioning and decision-making.

Inclusivity: This includes:

Social i.e. involving all sections of the community and having their representation in decision making process

Hydrological i.e. taking into consideration the interplay between different components of water such as ground and surface and hence

taking needed measures for management of resource

Ecosystem i.e. understanding relationship between different components of ecosystem, the cause effect relationship and initiating

measures that further sustainable management of the ecosystem as a whole

Institutional inclusiveness i.e. involving both formal and informal institutions and facilitating their co-ordinated and synchronised

functioning

Inclusiveness becomes important because water have several dimension – social, ecological, cultural, economic and alike. It needs to be

managed in an integrated manner as exclusion of one may lead to adverse impact on other thereby affectively the very sustenance of the

resource.

Seamlessness: This element of democratisation involves:

Seamless action and

Seamless flow of information

This helps in avoiding time delays and thus timely implementation of solutions.

Outcomes: This has following dimensions associated with it:

Orientation towards achieving results will focus more on tangible outputs and outcomes within a limited timeframe

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Process orientation will have its focus more on qualitative aspects and may prolong for a relatively longer time frame. This may have a

bearing on the way norms and procedures are decided at the community level.

If outcomes are related to achieving sustainability in different dimensions e.g. with respect to small and marginal farmers practicing

such agriculture practices which contribute to sustainable agriculture then their involvement in democratisation process becomes

important.

In a similar vein if transformational potential of any intervention is being addressed then agencies involved with implementation of

government programmes need to be actively involved and engaged with in the process.

It determines the strategy and focus of intervention and accordingly the resources to be deployed.

Innovations: This element includes applying knowledge and intelligence from one domain to another

Integrated Profit and Planet Cluster

Efficiency: Efficiency pertains to:

Optimal utilisation of resource

Avoiding duplication of efforts and

Complementing and supplementing each other’s roles.

Building on each other’s strengths and minimising weaknesses.

Efficiency of resource use achieve results in a timely and optimal manner.

Harnessing capabilities: This element can be seen from two angles

(i) With respect to water resource and

(ii) Enhancing managerial capacities and capabilities of organisations.

Effective and efficient management of water resources requires institutions and individuals

having expertise in different domains converge and water is seen and analysed with an

integrated perspective. Enhancing organisational capacities and capabilities may involve

strengthening on – going monitoring and management systems and making them more robust.

Knowledge: Generation of new knowledge is critical in furthering democratisation on two

fronts namely:

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The need to create an enabling environment in which policies are responsive to grass

root reality on one hand and;

Encourage grass root practice of water associated policies on the other.

Integrated People and Profit cluster

Collectivisation: Collectivisation may have four dimensions:

i. Persons belonging to one particular community or gender or

caste or class get together to act on water

ii. Community as a whole gets together irrespective of caste,

class, gender, religion or culture to act

iii. Various stakeholders get together to steward water and

iv. Several organisations may come together in a region to help

community undertake activities that further judicious use and

management of water.

It helps in collectively finding solutions, developing common interest and

help in understanding effect of one’s action on the other.

People Cluster Planet Cluster

Governance: It implies:

Ensuring active participation and

representation of different socio –

economic groups and classes in local

planning and decision making

process

Having institutions and processes

functioning on the principles of

transparency, inclusion, equity, non –

discrimination, accountability,

Influencing: Influencing mainly involves:

Understanding available resources and using them to

provide lasting solutions to diverse issues and challenges

that the community faces.

Sensitising different stakeholders about the local context

of the resource and helping them develop the

perspective.

Concerned institutions function in a manner so that

capacities are optimally used supplementing and

complementing each other.

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equality, fairness becomes more

complicated

Creating community institutions and

enabling them to take informed

decisions and capacitating them to

plan, develop locally relevant and

context specific norms and rules,

ensuring their implementation across

community.

Bringing water resource centricity to

institutional networks and working

arrangements with other

stakeholders including academia,

government, corporate sector, NGOs

and others such that a holistic water

governance is delivered.

Having effective governance mechanisms

helps in furthering collective action,

participatory, transparent and accountable

functioning.

For this, regular engagement with stakeholders concerned and

helping them understand and practice the contours and elements

at different levels as per the emerged consensus is important.

Synergy: Synergy involves synchronised

functioning of:

Different institutions and

Different layers within the same

institution.

It helps avoid confusion among stakeholders

and help plan better.

Geography: Geography has got:

Scale dimension which is determined by size and

Complexity dimension, which is determined by

topography, socio economic, overlay on the topography,

infrastructure for water use and its use pattern.

It determines the diversity of solutions needed to help

community overcome the challenges it faces.

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Interest: This element focuses on degree of

interest different stakeholders have in water

resource. It will determine the quality and

intensity of action that happens at various

levels

Integrated People and Planet Cluster

Making every drop (voice) count: This elements of

democratisation focuses upon:

Active participation of all sections of the community in

planning, implementation and monitoring.

Developing mechanisms and creating avenues so that

community voices are taken cognizance of by the policy

and opinion makers. This may involve community

interface with technical experts, government

functionaries, decision and policy makers, local

representatives etc.

Other uses and users of water also need to be taken

cognizance of such as industries, urban areas, needs

related to water for life and alike.

The components forming part of the democratising water for life and livelihood can be further clustered on triple bottom line framework and

mapped to represent a kind of the “DEMOCRATIC WATER RUBRIC “.

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56


As would be detailed below; these elements find resonance with the ambitions articulated by the

Government including;

National Water Policy,

National Action Plan on Climate Change,

National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture and,

National Water Mission, wherein focus has been laid on water efficient cropping, deployment of

early warning systems, promoting water conservation, augmentation, and preservation; focusing

attention on overexploited areas from water use perspective; and increasing water use efficiency by

20% and promoting basin level integrated water resource management

Element – Governance

Why is element important?

This is important as the community needs to be

collectivised and harmony developed among

members for collective action. Further, these

institutions need to function in a transparent and

accountable manner. These institutions need to

further equity among the community and function in

a participatory manner so that those at the bottom

of the pyramid are not left out. This requires making

efforts for perspective building of these institutions

so that they able to develop analytical capacities and

abilities for efficient and judicious use of water.

Interpretation of element:

Governance implies:

Ensuring active participation and representation of different socio – economic groups and different

classes in local planning and decision making process

Having institutions and processes functioning on the principles of transparency, inclusion, equity, non –

discrimination, accountability, equality, fairness becomes more complicated

Creating community institutions, enabling them to take informed decisions, and capacitating them to

plan, develop locally relevant and context specific norms and rules, ensuring their implementation across

community.

Bringing water resource centricity to institutional networks and working arrangements with other

stakeholders including academia, government, corporate sector, NGOs and others such that a holistic

water governance is delivered.

Awareness Rally in the Dangs

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The elements get reflected through the Key Performance Indicators, which reflects the relationship and the

response towards the element, providing us with valuable information on what measures has been taken to

achieve the element and how these has got translated with local interpretations and processes.

Illustrative KPIs associated with element:

1. Number of Village Institutions formed/ in existence – Water allied and livelihood institutions

2. Number of Village Institutions formed/ in existence – Water institutions

3. Number of Cluster/ Block/ District level Community Institutions formed

4. Number of persons engaged in water related issues with state government or participated in state forums.

Element – Influencing


The element is important as it enables regular engagement with stakeholders concerned and helping them

understand and practice the contours and elements at different levels as per the emerged consensus is

important


1. Project coverage (Number of villages in which project interventions initiated)

2. Number of topics identified on desirable, aspirational and ambitions taken up in the previous year

Element – Inclusivity


Influencing is considered with view to understand available resources and using them to provide lasting

solutions to diverse issues and challenges that the community faces. It plays important role in sensitising

different stakeholders about the local context of the resource and helping them develop the perspective.

It provides for the concerned institutions to function in a manner so that capacities are optimally used

supplementing and complementing each other.

Interpretation of element: Dimensions of inclusiveness may include

• Social i.e. involving all sections of the community and having their representation in the decision making

process

• Hydrological i.e. taking into consideration the interplay between different components of water such as

ground and surface and hence taking needed measures for management of resource

• Ecosystem i.e. understanding relationship between different components of ecosystem, the cause effect

relationship and initiating measures that further sustainable management of the ecosystem as a whole

• Institutional inclusiveness i.e. involving both formal and informal institutions and facilitating their co-

ordinated and synchronised functioning

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Inclusiveness becomes important because water have

several dimension – social, ecological, cultural,

economic and alike. It needs to be managed in an

integrated manner as exclusion of one may lead to

adverse impact on other thereby affectively the very

sustenance of the resource. Overall development of the

village needs co-ordinated action of all and views and

needs of different sections of the community are taken

care of. This in turn requires that equitable and active

representation of the community members is ensured

in the process. Inclusiveness is also necessary so that

fruits of progress and development are enjoyed by all

sections of the community.


1. Number of persons benefitted due to equitable sharing of water

2. Number of women members benefitted

3. Other Benefits to communities

4. Social Return on Investment (SROI)

Element -Synergy and Collectivisation


This is important as it helps avoid confusion among stakeholders and help plan better. The objective for it

varies place to place and on contexts involved.


1. Number of cluster/block and district level community institutions formed

2. Number of projects that have undertaken SROI

Interpretation of the element:

Synergy and Collectivisation involves synchronised functioning of elements. The dimensions are

i. Persons belonging to one particular community or gender or caste or class get together to act on water

ii. Community as a whole gets together irrespective of caste, class, gender, religion or culture to act


iv. Several organisations may come together in a region to help community undertake activities that further

judicious use and management of water

Youth awareness campaign organized by FES

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3. Business producer engagement mechanism

Element -Efficiency and Outcome


If outcomes are related to achieving sustainability in different dimensions e.g. with respect to small and marginal farmers practicing such agriculture practices which contribute to sustainable agriculture then their involvement in democratisation process becomes important.

In a similar vein if transformational potential of any intervention is being addressed then agencies involved with implementation of government programmes need to be actively involved and engaged with in the process

Efficiency of resources, be they financial, natural, technical is an important factor that helps achieve results in a timely and optimal manner.


1. Water harvested due to various interventions adopted (Supply Side)

2. Water potential due to various interventions adopted (Demand Side)

3. Additional agricultural and biomass Production achieved (due to improved availability of water and/or due to improved agricultural practices), over the baseline of the start of the project

4. Number of farmers who have adopted better agricultural techniques

5. No. of household benefitted due to project work

6. Number of small and marginal farmers benefitted and/or associated with the project

Element - Geography


Geography plays a critical role in setting up democratic processes and finding locally suited solutions.

Interpretation of element: The dimensions are

• Scale dimension which is determined by size and

• Complexity dimension, which is determined by topography, socio economic, overlay on the

topography, infrastructure for water use and its use pattern.

Interpretation of element: Efficiency and Outcome pertains to:

• Optimal utilisation of resource

• Avoiding duplication of efforts

• Orientation towards achieving results will focus more on tangible outputs and

outcomes within a limited timeframe

• Outcomes associated with the process in line with the KPI identified

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KPIs associated with element:

1. Area treated through soil and water conservation and command area developed due to water harvesting structures

2. Area stabilised (due to promotion of agriculture package of practices, micro irrigation, treated to reduce demand of water etc.

3. Number of village institutions formed/in existence – water institutions

4. Number of village institutions formed/in existence – water allied and livelihood oriented institutions

Element – Knowledge and Innovation


The engagement on community issues and aspects requires approaches that are able to provide the change,

which is desired. The key to have this lies in the approach and process, where innovation has central role to

play. It is required to address the need to create an enabling environment in which policies are responsive to

grass root reality on one hand and; encourage grass root practice of water-associated policies on the other


1. Number of persons who have undergone exposure/ training/

pertaining to improving agriculture practices and/ or water

management skills

2. Number of experience sharing newsletters documented

3. Number of articles published in state/national forums

4. Number of persons engaged in water related issues with state government or participated in state forums

Interpretation of element: Innovation includes applying knowledge and intelligence from various

domains to water related interpretations and actions. This therefore includes technical and social

processes among others. At the community level innovation can be an incremental progress brought

in to the process of knowledge creation, its delivery and implementation to further pluralism.

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Element – Harnessing Capability


Effective and efficient management of water resources requires institutions and individuals having expertise

in technical, social, economic, ecological, geological, hydrological domains converge and be seen with an

integrated perspective as the dictum ‘whole is more than the sum of its parts’ holds fully true for this resource.

It helps in promoting co-ordinated thinking and action at different levels. Harnessing organisational

capacities and capabilities might involve institutionalising associated behaviour and into water programmes

both at the community, government and other levels.


1. Number of projects that have undertaken studies for estimating additional household income

2. Number of projects that have undertaken SROI studies

3. Number of cluster/block and district level community institutions formed

4. Number of farmers who have adopted better agriculture techniques



The intent is to create an ecosystem that

1. Promotes water based action both within the fence and outside the fence for instance in the

supply chains of companies and beyond

2. Multiple institutions and constituents within them are enabled to engage and act on water

related issues. For instance,

a. various dept. of the government can engage with each other on water action

b. government, civil society, private sector and others can engage on water actions

3. enables unhindered flow of information and insights from the policy spaces to the micro level

and respects the learnings from micro action to be absorbed into policy spaces


This element recognises the actions towards water conservation through behaviour lens. It also recognises

the multitude of domains, which have interconnections with water. The intent is to build and harness

capability that enable behaviour changes of communities to be water sensitive. It inter-alia motivates

communities to practice and further the behaviour change into their actions. It encourages the exploration

of interconnections across domains to have a focused treatment on water

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Element - Seamlessness


The element assumes importance as this has to happen both horizontally as well as vertically i.e. among

different institutions and between different vertical layers of the same institutions. This helps in avoiding

time delays and thus timely implementation of solutions.


1. Number of experience sharing newsletter documented

2. Number of occasions where the ongoing project experience has been shared by partners with various stakeholders ( other NGOs, Governments, Other corporates and others)

3. Number of articles published in state/ national forums

4. Agro climate sensitive practices adopted in the project

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Element - Interest


This is important as in the governance of water and maximising its utilisation and benefits, different

institutions, individuals and systems are involved. Interest defines the community willingness to get involved,

plan and act in the direction which determines the path and the process to be taken.


1. Person days generated due to the project works

2. Person days generated due to downstream livelihood and other incidental activities


Element - Perspective



There are multiple interests which operates across different actors which could be understood as

stemming from sustain and enhance livelihood, provisioning, compliance, reputation and so on. These

requires to be understood and opportunities for the collective action enabled.

Interpretation of element: This element has two aspects associated with it namely

(i) Water for life i.e. use of water for drinking and other domestic purposes and

(ii) Water for livelihood i.e. use in irrigation and agriculture

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The element assumes importance as it is with this water governance and management is being furthered at

the community level is a factor which decides the process of functioning and decision making. If the prime

motive of governance is ‘water for livelihood’ then more focus will be on regulating its use in irrigation and

agriculture and how optimisation can be

achieved in this domain with respect to use of

water resources for agriculture. And, if the

prime motive is ‘water for life’ then the whole

process will revolve around issues related to

ensuring availability of water for drinking and

other domestic purposes.


1. Number of projects that have undertaken studies for estimating additional household income


3. Water harvested due to various interventions adopted (Supply Side)

4. Water potential due to various interventions adopted (Demand Side)

Element - Making every drop (voice) count


Works under MGNREGS help reduce migration in Anjane

village in Navapur taluka in Nadurbar district


The intent is to recognise and facilitate action that demonstrate equity in resource management and

identify means to achieve it. For instance through community institutions designed for such purpose or

water distribution mechanisms, etc. Such equity can emanate from class and caste consideration or end

use considerations.

At another level the idea is to enable such community experiences to be captured in policy spaces at the

national level.

Further to capacitate voices for engaging with international processes like UN SDGs to make them

interpretable at the local level.

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This is important as it plays important role in developing mechanisms and creating avenues so that

community voices are taken cognizance of by the policy and opinion makers. This may involve community

interface with technical experts, government

functionaries, decision and policy makers, local

representatives etc. It also considers that other

uses and users of water also need to be taken

cognizance of such as industries, urban areas,

needs related to water for life and alike.


1. Number of SC/ ST persons benefitted

2. Number of persons having an influence for equitable distribution of water

3. Number of women members benefitted due to project interventions

4. Small and marginal farmers benefitted due to project activities

HUF has been supporting projects, which face challenges and issues related to climatic stress, water

availability, crop production, population pressures and hydrological output. Our presence in diverse

geographies such as Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra; Tank Cascade in Gundar Basin in

Tamil Nadu; Tribal regions of Gujarat and Central India; Gangetic plains of Western and Eastern Uttar Pradesh;

Plateaus of Chhotanagpur and Bundelkhand; Arid Regions of Rajasthan; Rain-fed areas of Andhra Pradesh

and Karnataka and; canal irrigated areas of Gujarat is a reflection of our strategic intent. It has supported

efforts of its partners through projects that deploy varied strategies and evidence a flavour of the elements

of the Water Democratisation narrative.

It believes in the value of synergistic action and partnership and leverages impact of its intervention by

encouraging its partners to work with government programmes and with other corporate groups. The focus

on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is reflection of this thought,

where the communities and NGOs design locally relevant interventions that recognise intricate relation of

water with land and soil and with rural livelihood seen from water and crop context. The efforts of HUF and

its partners in augmenting and managing surface water resources along with soil and groundwater

conservation illustrates the integrated approach9 undertaken.

Below is an effort to compile the collective action supported by HUF and implemented by the partner

organisations over more than 50 districts in India, during the year that have helped in taking the

9 Draft model bill for the conservation, protection, regulation and management of Groundwater, 2016 highlights need

for an integrated approach

Training to women on water and agriculture related

issues by SPS

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democratisation process forward. Only those elements that have progressed during the reporting period

have been covered hereunder.

2.2 Integrated people, Profit and Planet Cluster

2.2.1 Perspective

This element has two aspects associated

with it namely

(i) Water for life i.e. use of water

for drinking and other

domestic purposes and

(ii) Water for livelihood i.e. use in

agriculture, livestock

management, etc.

The prime perspective with which water

governance and management is being

furthered at the community level is an

influencing factor which decides the

process of functioning and decision

making. If the prime motive of governance is ‘water for livelihood’ then more focus will be on regulating its

use in irrigation and agriculture and how optimisation can be achieved in this domain with respect to use of

water resources for agriculture. When if the prime motive is ‘water for life’ then the whole process will

revolve around issues related to ensuring availability of water for drinking and other domestic purposes.

In Eastern U.P. and Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh while water for livelihood is the main driver and hence the

focus is on involvement of farmers in the project villages. In Southern U.P. and West Bengal it is both – water

for livelihood and water for life that is driving the process and the focus is on both men and women. Similarly

in central tribal belt of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra Samaj Pragati Sahyog (SPS) under HUF supported

project is concentrating on both – water harvesting and recharge and promoting such agriculture practices

and varieties that are water friendly. In West Bengal, PRADAN is concentrating on improving use of rainwater

for agriculture purpose which otherwise would have gone waste as run-off. Similarly, Foundation for

Ecological Security (FES) through HUF supported project, which focuses on restoration of commons, is also

focusing on both – water for life and livelihood.

2.2.2 Inclusivity

Dimensions of inclusiveness may include

Social i.e. involving all sections of the community and having their representation in the decision

making process

Hydrological i.e. taking into consideration the interplay between different components of water such

as ground and surface and hence taking needed measures for management of resource

Farm Bunding in project villages of DSC

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Ecosystem i.e. understanding relationship

between different components of

ecosystem, the cause effect relationship and

initiating measures that further sustainable

management of the ecosystem as a whole

Institutional Aspects i.e. involving both

formal and informal institutions and

facilitating their co-ordinated and

synchronised functioning

Inclusiveness becomes important because water

have several dimension – social, ecological, cultural,

and economic. It needs to be managed in an

integrated manner as exclusion of one may lead to

adverse impact on other thereby affectively the very sustenance of the resource. Overall development of the

village needs co-ordinated action of all and views and needs of different sections of the community are taken

care of. This in turn requires that equitable and active representation of the community members is ensured

in the process. Inclusiveness is also necessary so that fruits of progress and development are enjoyed by all

sections of the community.

To further inclusive development, different approaches have been adopted in the projects to facilitate social,

economic, gender, institutional and ecological inclusivity.

Recognising the importance of different components of eco-system, FES works with an eco-system

perspective in HUF supported project area. To further ecological inclusiveness at the village level, its

To further active involvement of women in the project, most of the projects have focused on collectivization of

women into Self Help Groups (SHGs). These SHGs have been imparted training on improving group functioning as

well as water related aspects. Some of the partners such as PRADAN and PARMARTH under HUF supported projects

are working mainly through women groups. To promote equitable representation of different sections of the

community in Village Development Committee formed by WOTR in project villages where HUF supported project is

being implemented has adopted participatory wealth ranking. Households are categorized in to 4 categories- very

poor, poor, medium and better off. The Village Development Committee (VDC) has 2 members from each class

selected with consensus as per the wealth ranking. Gender equality is ensured through 30-50% women participation

in the VDC.

In project villages where HUF supported project is being implemented by FES, 12232 farmers across the project

locations made a shift in their present agricultural practices through measures such as seed varietal replacement,

seed treatment, use of organic manure, nutrient management, non-pesticide management, irrigation scheduling

and shift from conventional to SRI techniques, as well as crop replacements. Similarly, in Mandla farmers grew Black

Gram & Green Gram in place of paddy & maize to mitigate the drought condition and they succeeded to some extent

as they could get some production from their fields, which would not be possible, if they had gone with paddy or

maize.

Orientation of Up Sangha members on principles of

National Water Policy at Chakadoba village in West

Bengal

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orientation and capacity building measures for community groups are also geared towards helping

community understand linkages between different components of eco-system and help decipher cause –

effect relationship.

In the areas where DSC is implementing HUF supported project, communities in project villages of Mehsana,

Sabarkantha and Aravalli range, have realised that they cannot depend only on canal water for agriculture.

They have become aware of the need to conserve water and also to use water conservatively. This has led

to a demand for construction of water harvesting structures on public land and soil and moisture

conservation measures on private land so that conjunctive use of water can be furthered.

Institutional inclusiveness has been furthered in the projects by facilitating active engagement of community

organisations with panchayats. In the project area where HUF supported project is being implemented,

efforts have been made by PRADAN to facilitate active

interface between panchayats and Up-sangha and

involvement of panchayat representatives in village

development planning process. Similarly, WOTR in HUF

supported project villages has ensured active

involvement of Rozgar and Gram Sevak of panchayats

in different activities of its project. FES in HUF

supported project has also ensured that plans prepared

by community are included in annual action plan of

MGNREGS through a Gram Sabha resolution. Similarly,

PANI Panchayats are encouraged by Parmarth in the

project villages where HUF supported project is being implemented to engage with Gram Panchayats.

Focus on small and marginal farmers is another dimension

that is being emphasised upon to ensure economic

inclusiveness in all the projects. This is important since

small and marginal farmers dominate the Indian

agriculture scenario, hence the need to find solutions that

can be replicated at scale adopted by them. Such

agriculture practices are being promoted that are easy to

adopt by small and marginal farmers as they have limited

investing capacity. Practices which require minimal or no

capital and the same time improve their agriculture

economics are being promoted. These include such as

system of crop intensification, use of less water consuming

varieties, use of locally made organic farm inputs,

practices such as trash mulching, furrow irrigation, skip furrow and alike.

Restoration of Kuva varo chackdam Dedhrota –

one of the project villages of DSC

Meeting of village watershed committee in one

of the project villages in Pratapgarh, Rajasthan

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2.2.3 Seamlessness

This element of democratisation involves:

Seamless action and

Seamless flow of information

This has to happen both horizontally as well as

vertically i.e. among different institutions and

between different vertical layers of the same

institutions. This helps in avoiding time delays

and thus timely implementation of solutions.

In addition to regular meetings, discussions,

trainings and interface with technical experts,

use of technology is also being resorted to

promote seamless flow of information to

farmers. An information system based on

primary data collection offering agrarian

communities local specific weather information

and warnings when needed is developed. The

information generated is verified by technical

persons with local data is used to provide Crop related Agro advisories. This is fed through SMS services and

posters being displayed in the villages by WOTR where it is implementing the project supported by HUF.

PRADAN on the other hand has initiated a community led MIS system in HUF supported project villages by

grooming SHG women as Community Data Collectors (CDCs) to record and track data at the community level

from each SHG with in a tablet given to them. Software in vernacular language has been developed. Data

related to crop planning and income is maintained in the resolution book of the SHGs. Information pertaining

to area under crops of each member, production, production, expenditure and income, etc. is collated at

respective Upa-sangha (PSG) where women regularly monitor and discuss to analyse the outcomes. Results

are placed before members of SHGs for reflection to help them prepare better for future.

FES has developed tools focusing on crop water budgeting and Composite Land Assessment and Restoration

Tool (CLART) based on which it has initiated community level discussions on relationships of precipitation,

recharge and groundwater extraction where it is implementing HUF supported project. It has also initiated

tablet based applications for common land mapping, crop water budgeting, hydrological monitoring, etc. and

Factory Manager, HUL, Sumerpur, U.P. felicitating

community member

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has trained community resource persons to enable them to use technology for community level discussions

as well as collect project based information.

Influenced by the work done by FES, Government of Rajasthan issued a guideline for restoration of commons

using MGNREGS asking panchayats to visit its project area. A similar partnership has evolved in Andhra

Pradesh where development of common lands using MGNREGS is being undertaken under the IWMP-CPR-

MGNREGS project. FES has also signed MoU with district administration of Chickballapur, to support

panchayats in developing Comprehensive Commons Plan for implementation under MGNREGS.

Comprehensive Land Treatment and Restoration Tool (CLART)

Need for informed planning under NREGA led to the development of Comprehensive Land Assessment and

Restoration Tool (CLART) with simplified colour codes for assisting in choosing appropriate intervention based on

geology, slope, land use and recharge potential. The objective of the CLART is to assist the implementation team in

improving the planning of soil and water conservation measures and recharge potential of the area. The tool is

helpful for stakeholders in planning of the activities under MGNREGA or watershed development programmes.

The Tool generates a recommendation map taking into account the above parameters on the GIS platform to assist

in planning of soil and water conservation measures in the area. The recommendations are colour coded for use by

the community members. It can help in appropriate use of programmatic funds for water conservation. It is planned

to be scaled up for the entire country in collaboration with National Remote Sensing Agency, Hyderabad and would

be made available through the Bhuvan platform.

The availability of the tool in the android based mobile devices along with the training of community resources has

helped in integrating local wisdom and scientific know how in planning. Further, efforts would be towards

demystifying knowledge through capacity building by Prakriti Karyashala on different tools like CLART, Crop Water

Budgeting and experimental games.

Tools such as CLRAT, Crop water budgeting and experimental games have potential to build discussions on water

availability, water extraction and foresee their water future and thereby livelihoods. The discussions help strengthen

governance mechanisms and develop new rules and norms to use water resources. CLART model has been presented

to district officials of Chikballapur. CEO and other officers appreciated the model and requested FES to train their

engineers to make plan based on CLART model.

On 2nd Jan, 2016 FES provided a detailed training to 20 district officials including their engineers. FES made CLART

data with recommendation plan with an integration of existing water harvesting structures (data provided by District

Officials). After training in Sidlaghatta block office, trainees have been taken to field to show the uses of CLART

through tablet/mobile devices. Popularising the use of tools such as CLART could help in better use of MGNREGA

funds especially in constructing water harvesting structures based on the recharge potentiality of the area.

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2.2.4 Outcomes

The process of democratisation may be influenced by the orientation with which it is being implemented.

This has following dimensions associated with it:

Orientation towards

achieving results will focus

more on tangible outputs

and outcomes within a

limited timeframe

Process orientation will

have its focus more on

qualitative aspects and

may prolong for a

relatively longer time

frame. This may have a

bearing on the way norms

and procedures are

decided at the community

level.

If outcomes are related to achieving sustainability in different dimensions e.g. with respect to small

and marginal farmers practicing such agriculture practices which contribute to sustainable

agriculture then their involvement in democratisation process becomes important.

In a similar vein if transformational potential of any intervention is being addressed then agencies

involved with implementation of government programmes need to be actively involved and engaged

with in the process.

In Eastern UP and also in West Bengal the focus is on small and marginal farmers hence the practices are

geared towards making their agriculture sustainable and increase their climate resilience. In Madhya Pradesh

and Maharashtra the focus is on increasing climate resilience of farmers through water harvesting and

conservation and promoting new varieties of soybean.

2.2.5 Innovations

This element includes applying knowledge and intelligence from one domain to another. In our case, e.g., we

are attempting to apply behaviour change model of Unilever which was hitherto being applied in business in

our projects or applying knowledge and experience of functioning of Forest Protection Committees to that

of panchayats or water user associations.

Members of “Saraswati Mahila Bachat Jooth,’ in a project

village in Dadra and Nagar Haveli implemented by SIED

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2.3 Integrated Profit and planet clusters

2.3.1 Efficiency

Efficiency pertains to:

Optimal utilisation of resource

Avoiding duplication of efforts and

Complementing and supplementing each other’s

roles.

Building on each other’s strengths and minimising

weaknesses.

Efficiency of resource use, including financial, natural,

technical is an important factor that helps achieve results

in a timely and optimal manner.

In several cases, HUF has been supporting partners unlock

resource potential of several government programmes

that are there with the state. Our partnership with State

Government of Madhya Pradesh is a case in point wherein as a corporate partner in Integrated Watershed

Management Programme (now a part of PMKSY). It is supporting Society for Promotion of Eco-friendly

Sustainable Development (SPESD) implement watershed management programme in Baldeogarh block of

Tikamgarh district so that resource already available with the state are used and duplication avoided. Bringing

organisations with different capacities and capabilities has also helped in furthering efficiency in the project

thereby avoiding re – inventing the wheel. It has also facilitated engagement of partners with resource

providers to support implement activities which although are important for community but fall outside the

mandate of HUF.

2.3.2 Harnessing Capabilities

This element can be seen from two angles

(iii) With respect to water resource and

(iv) Enhancing managerial capacities

and capabilities of organisations.

Effective and efficient management of water

resources requires institutions and

individuals having expertise in technical,

social, economic, ecological, geological,

hydrological domains. These requires to be

converged and with respect to water

resource and seen with an integrated

perspective. In this context the dictum

‘whole is more than the sum of its parts’ holds fully true for this resource. It helps in promoting co-ordinated

Meeting between Sujal Samiti and Gram

Panchayat member in Bheshavada in Gujarat

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thinking and action at different levels. Enhancing organisational capacities and capabilities may involve

strengthening on – going monitoring and management systems and making them more robust.

Most of the community projects supported by HUF are leveraged; supported by other organisations as well.

The process looks for pooling in resources both financial and technical with blending of different views and

perspective thereby providing space to have different stakeholders to be at common platform to devise

solutions with collaborative effort. Hence the projects that HUF supports are in partnership with state

governments, government programmes such as IWMP and MGNREGS, corporate foundations such as Axis

Bank Foundation and Tata Trusts, financial institutions such as NABARD and alike. This has also been helpful

in promoting judicious and effective use of resources for creation of assets for water conservation and

harvesting.

In addition to this, involvement of organisations such as Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Agriculture Universities has

also been furthered to provide technical inputs and guidance.

WOTR, has also entered into an MoU with Indian

Meteorological Department (IMD), to develop a

software platform (both an Expert System and a

Content Management System) to automate the

generation of weather based crop advisories that can

be up-scaled nationally. Meeting of the Expert Group

on ICT-enabled agro-meteorological advisory system

at farm level was held in New Delhi on 14th March

2016. It was decided in collaboration with the IMD to

prepare -

a. A template for sensitive parameter (like consistent

standard phenophases, soil type and soil moisture)

and circulate to all AMFU for the same.

During the period, WOTR organised farmers’ exposure visits to KVK Kharpudi, Kadvanchi, and Ganesh Nagar under

HUF supported project. Resource persons from Yashwantrao Chavan Marathwada Agriculture University, Parbhani

guided the participant farmers about the pre planning of Kharif crops. FES is further strengthening its linkages with

agricultural universities, Washington University, IFPRI, and University of Arizona. SREC under HUF supported project

engaged KVKs for organizing various trainings and exposures on the good agricultural practices and latest

technologies. It has also organised several Trainings of Trainers with the involvement of KVKs and developed

linkages with Directorate of Soybean Research and Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishvidyalaya for organizing training

and capacity building programmes. Periodical visits of scientists from these research institutes were also organized

during cropping season and at different stages of crop growth. Technical experts have been involved in training lead

farmers and extension workers of Olam in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Gram Sabha in Dhaniyancheruvu with Assistant

Project Director, MGNREGS in one of the project

villages of FES

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b. Digitization of sensitivity of phenophases (GDD based) by using IMD data mainly gridded soil moisture

and NDVI data.

c. Development of an IT enabled platform to automate generation of Agromet advisories in collaboration

with WOTR.

HUF has been facilitating democratisation of water management along with its partners as we believe that it

has immense potential to contribute to the efforts that are being made to achieve sustainability in its use and

management. This has helped in finding local solutions, throwing up local issues of concern, furthering use

of resources available with government programme for creation of water harvesting and conservation assets

both at community and individual level.

In addition to field level interventions that have helped bring different capacities come together, HUF has

been taking concerted measures to further improve monitoring and management systems of its partner

organisations. This is being done through conducting joint monitoring visits to the project area and regularly

interacting with community and other stakeholders. It has also help set up organisation level monitoring

systems in some cases and has helped develop and refine their perspective as regards water conservation

and management. HUF has also been instrumental in helping partners visualise and map their organisational

potential and is supporting their journey to achieve the same.

2.3.3 Knowledge

Generation of new knowledge is critical in furthering democratisation on two fronts namely:

The need to create an enabling environment in which policies are responsive to grass root reality on

one hand and;

Encourage grass root practice of water associated policies on the other.

Water conservation and management is complex, as it involves multiple actors and factors which are difficult

to predict and comprehend owing to various factors and their interplay. HUF in its journey has adopted twin

pronged approach; one is to improve access to knowledge and other to incorporate knowledge into its

activities and with partners in project operations. Over the years, the approach has also been to seek tacit

knowledge i.e. through regular connect with partners, communities and other stakeholders. The initiatives

over the year, demonstrate progression on the path we have undertaken with certain initiatives taking shape

and building foundation for future.

For e.g. in areas where four step paddy is being practiced, for example, the practice as a whole can be

considered as generation of new knowledge that can be used as water efficient practice or the manner in

which water measurements are being taken during the implementation of the practice can inform other

practices as well. Similarly, initiatives are also being taken by partners to see the impact of different

agriculture practices on agriculture production of different crops.

Water Pressure – Centre for Water Enquiries

The work being pursued by HUF provides itself with data and information on various indicators and

components. Translating this into useful knowledge has been a priority. To take this ahead, SAMHUA with

HUF support, established ‘Water Pressure’, as a Centre for Water Enquiries. Water Pressure has identified

the following as its key strategic focal points:

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Water communities: This focuses on specific communities to influence. These mainly include producers,

consumers and users.

Water Consciousness: It focuses on content development, and developing mechanism for narrowcasts

for focused dissemination, behaviour change and policy advocacy. In the long run it will help the HUF-

SAMUHA Partnership, and later other partners, to through a combination of research and media create

a focus on water in the larger society around us through publications and news articles. Piloting of an

iTV (Internet TV) as an applied communications pilot to see how narrowcasts can be used to disseminate

information and influence behaviour change as planned was also initiated during the year.

Water Convergence: This will focus on developing water-centric interventions for both Water for

Livelihoods and Water for Life. It has grouped its interventions as: Ryotu Baddaku as a practice and as a

franchise, Surakshit Aahar as a farmer-consumer connect, Community Water Credits and Water Smart

as supplementary income flows for the farmer.

Climate Change Resilient Development (CCRD) Study

FES conducted a baseline assessment titled ‘Climate Change Resilient Development (CCRD) Study’ in

collaboration with University of Michigan, focusing on water demand management interventions. This seeks

to increase awareness of the communities, while assisting them in crafting management systems and

adaptation strategies for their water resources. A total of 1651 households from five districts of Rajasthan

and Andhra Pradesh were surveyed. Some key findings from the initial survey are:

• Overwhelming majority of respondents are negatively affected by climate change in the past 1-2 years.

• Land-constrained and female-headed households are poor across all productive asset categories and

indicated as group with lower adaptive capacity with respect to climate change adaptation.

• Most common irrigation and farming adaptation techniques used by the households were application

of manure to improve soil moisture (61%), followed by changing the timing of crop planting (58%),

shifting to drought resistant crops (51%), reduce the number of livestock (49%) and deepening of wells

(45%).

• Less than 25% of respondents reported presence of rules or customs limiting the amount of water that

can be withdrawn from communal resources

• Around 44% of the respondents reported excess water use in their communities and effective

punishments for rule violators are very low.

• Participation rates were notably higher for Habitation Committee meetings compared to Gram

Panchayat meetings

• Female-headed households and poor households are much less likely to participate in Gram Panchayat

or village committee meetings

• 69% of the respondents said their interests were not considered during decision making in Gram

Panchayat

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Water Knowledge Centre (WKC)

Hindustan Unilever Foundation, with DHAN Foundation established Water Knowledge Centre under phase II

of the project. The centre is in line with the HUF philosophy of ‘Water for Public Good’. The objective of the

centre is to bring out the vast knowledge and traditional wisdoms in the small freshwater commons in India

and to be made known among water planners, practitioners, policy makers and common public. The initiative

builds on the work and experiences generated from the Phase I of the activity completed during the period

April 2010 – June 2014.

It is proposed that the centre would function towards enhancing the knowledge and practice on integrated

water resources management by working with peoples’ institutions, non-government and government

organisations, technical institutes, research and academic institutes and funding agencies. It will thus lead to

advancing the efforts with the following aims:

• To Enhance the Knowledge and Practice on Integrated Water Resources Management by working with Community Institutions involved in NRM

• To Enhance the Knowledge and Perspectives on different water dimensions from supply/demand, governance, management angle to NGO, Government, Academia & Research like stakeholders

In the year 2015-16, the centre conducted following activities

Preparation of information material on WKC

Training and dissemination on rain water harvesting and community water bodies

Celebrating environment days to signify traditional wisdom and knowledge on water

Advance Reflective Programme on Agricultural Biodiversity and water demand management with TNAU

and National Biodiversity Authority

Showcasing best practices on Crop diversification, tank silt application, micro irrigation and soil health

management

Training on water resources management for Vayalagam Movement Workers

Launch of Distance Education programme in safe drinking water

In line with the objectives of WKC, the centre also

focusses on the critical determinant ‘Water’ as

critical component to the foremost goal of ending

hunger and achieving food security and improved

nutrition. With this objectives workshops were

organised on

Pathways to Sustainable Water Resources Management in South India at Madurai

Sustainable Agriculture Development through Demand Management in Tank Irrigation system at

Gundar Basin

Sustaining Water Sector through Networked Community Organisations

Best Practices in Water Sector (Irrigation Tanks & Ponds)

WKC

Field Labs

People Academy

Tata DHAN Academy

“Sustainable food production is possible only when

we manage our water resources sustainably”, said

Dr. P. Selvan, Assistant Engineer, Department of

Agricultural Engineering, Madurai.

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The workshop came out with the resolutions and declaration based on the above.

Functionality and Management of Irrigation Typologies in the Dangs, Gujarat

HUF supported AKRSP – I in conducting a study on ‘Functionality and Management of Irrigation Typologies

in The Dangs, Gujarat’. The district predominantly consists of schedule tribe with agriculture as main

occupation. The district is endowed with good rainfall with on an average 77 rainy days (i.e. days with rainfall

of 2.5 mm or more) in a year. The district has dry tropical climate except during monsoon when it experiences

high precipitation, high evaporation and wide daily fluctuations in temperature. Average annual rainfall

shows decline in long-term as it has decreased below the long-term (22 years) average figure of 2491 mm

during the period 2007-2012.

Several check-dams, storage structures, irrigation wells and both large and small lift irrigation (LI) schemes

have been constructed by government. These LI schemes are both individual and collective/community.

Development of irrigation systems in the hilly and tribal areas is dependent on the natural resources. In

addition, it requires capital for setting it up. The maintenance of the infrastructure is known to face

organisational and financial problems. The technical, economical aspects as well as socio-economic

conditions of farmers and their involvements result in functionality of irrigation resources or lack of it. With

this in view, the study commissioned by HUF and AKRSP-I looked ‘to define a methodology to evolve

typologies of irrigation systems in the Dangs with parameters of current prevalent irrigation types and linking

them by a series of project development (project planning, initiation, execution and closure), managerial and

functional variable parameters.’ The aim of the study is to assist concerned actors take decisions that help

improve functionality of irrigation types. The study evolved an innovative typological method that supports

better analyse functionality of irrigation systems. The study focus was limited to ‘irrigation’ i.e. pertaining to

‘water for livelihood’.

The typologies are based on the reasons of their non-functionality or semi-functionality. Multiple parameters

such as type of the irrigation system, operating mode of the irrigation system, irrigation method, water

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resource used, and mode of management were considered for the study generally relating to the intended

use of typologies. Each of these parameters had several variables. Irrigation system typology was arrived at

by mixing of different variables of parameters and the cases that were generated.

The study undertook field based exploration sample of 69 villages to administer the questionnaire and to

capture frequency of occurrence of reasons for functionality, semi – functionality or non – functionality of

irrigation systems. Of these 69 villages, 17 were selected for reconnaissance survey. Following process was

adopted for sample selection:

Covering all three taluka and formation of clusters through grid approach – 18 clusters with four

village per cluster

Coverage of all irrigation interventions and types covering all the four major rivers of Dangs – Purna,

Gira, Khapri and Ambika and distributed in upstream, mid-stream and downstream areas of the river.

Market proximity and electricity supply.

‘Probable reasons’ for functionality, non-functionality and semi functionality were listed based on discussions

with farmers, NGO representatives, government officials and technical experts. 53 ‘probable reasons’ were

administered through a questionnaire for narrowing down to ‘real reasons’. These formed four categories –

technical/execution, Operation and Maintenance, community engagement and socio – economic status of

the users.

Study findings

The study revealed that reasons for functionality can be attributed to multiple factors and arriving at one

wouldn’t be appropriate. On the other hand the primary or key reasons of non – functionality and semi –

functionality were understood by the users. The key reasons of non – functionality may be attributed to

failure of irrigation as well as it is below ideal performance. These reasons were enumerated based on the

primary survey carried.

The study found 33 reasons of non – functionality and semi – functionality as presented in Annexure 1. In

most cases, the reasons of non – functionality had a corollary or corresponding reason of semi – functionality

or functionality.

The study also brought out combinations and corresponding reasons of functionality are related with physical

real cases occurring in villages. Some of the explanations of the reasons are as follows:

Non – functionality does not occur in irrigation types such as flow irrigation, mobile engine, land

levelling, bori – bundhs, and nallah plug. It was mentioned that these interventions would be largely

functional as they do not require energy. Also, mobile engine though requires energy has a single

user and is mobile so if the water availability is low, it can be shifted elsewhere. Large number of

wells were found to be non – functional due to poor quality of construction as well as natural limits

of ground water availability.

At certain instances, despite having water available in in check dams and earthen dams, these

couldn’t be utilized due to absence of agriculture land However, if such interventions are in recharge

zone, they would increase the ground water availability.

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Farm pond seems to be appropriate intervention that could be constructed in remote areas, and

likely to increase availability of water away from streams. The study found that most of them were

silted. Due to land scarcity, farmers preferred to use these silted farm pond for agriculture with the

moisture present therein than use it for collection of water for irrigation.

At several instances, the failure of LIs was relegated to absence of handing over process by the

executing/financing team to the ones identified for operation and maintenance.

The other predominant reason for the failure of LI’s is the number of beneficiaries which makes it

difficult for operation and maintenance. Myriads of management issues such as untimely payment,

delegation of responsibility, etc. arise with a large number of users in the LI schemes. Thus, Mini LI

have been found to be more appropriate.

Technical faults happened during execution have also resulted in failure of LI. These could be faulty

design of pump or lack of O&M plan.

Non-functionality of a mini LI can also be attributed to technical faults with the infrastructure.

Problems of operation and maintenance were not reported in the case of mini LI as the beneficiary

number is less and is therefore easy to maintain. Most of the farmers preferred a mini LI over a big

LI. However, in regions where there is severe scarcity of drinking water, potential of LI as a medium

of procuring water (not considering end usage) is tremendous, for if it fails to be used for water for

livelihood, then at least it can be used for water for life.

The typologies were formed with the frequently occurring sets of reasons. It was found that the prevalent

sets of reasons of non – functionality and semi – functionality were either individual or a combination of

mentioned below lacking in:

Community engagement

Appropriate technical/execution measures

Appropriate O&M

Community engagement along with O&M

Technical/ execution and community engagement

Incorporation of socio-economic status and needs of users

The study found following eight typologies presented below:

Typology Status of the Irrigation System Recommended Interventions

1 The system functions well and there is irrigation water

available for designated number of users for the number of

crops that were considered while implementing it (kharif and

rabi). Wherever required, O&M is done. Community

engagement is regular and functioning. Socio – economic

status of the user group is such that they have interest in

irrigated agriculture.

Activities geared towards continued

community engagement and

strengthening of management by the

Mandali.

2 The system is not functioning optimally due to lack of or

limited community engagement. No investment is required to

Supporting and strengthening

management capacity of users/ user

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move to typology ‘1’ but should be geared towards

strengthening of community engagement.

group. Increasing accountability and

participation of users.

3 There are technical and physical deficiencies that has made

the system less functional. Investment in infrastructure is

required to move to typology ‘1’

Identification of the deficiencies that

exist, budgeting it and finding source

of fund as well as executing agencies.

4 There are no technical and physical deficiencies in the system

but has slipped to sub optimal functionality or dysfunctionality

over time due to lack of management.

Device a mechanism, to put in place

corrective measures for functionality

for future interventions.

5 As in typology ‘2’ and ‘4’

6 As in typology ‘2’ and ‘3’

7 The socio – economic condition of the users is affecting

functionality of the system. To move to typology ‘1’, it is

essential to dialogue with users and participatory solutions are

to be sought and implemented.

Define such conditions and bring

them to the notice of promoter as

learning.

8 The system is in such physical and management condition that

it is not viable to bring it back to typology ‘1’ either

economically or physically.

Define such reasons for future

projects.

The study also found that when the interrelationships of the executing agency, O&M agency and functionality

are correlated with the reasons of their functionality, following inferences can be drawn:

Typology 2: Water allocation may not be done appropriately during handing over of wells to user

groups. For instance, some members may be withdrawing more water with a more powerful pump,

leading to non-agreeable distribution of available water.

Typology 3: Well and farm pond may belong to households not interested in water. Hand holding for

functioning of LI is not done on a regular basis as it requires continued community engagement.

Check dam and earthen dams have started leaking with time making them semi functional.

Typology 4: Private agencies lack adequate resources for O&M. Generally O&M is private when

execution is also carried out by private agencies. Irrigation types such as check dams, LI and Mini LI -

mostly require O&M and separate allocations needs to be done for that.

Typology 5: When execution is by promoter or contractor and O&M by CBOs, it requires hand holding

and community engagement prior to making CBOs responsible for O&M.

Typology 6: CBOs, and even panchayats are not yet capacitated to carry out construction of Check

dam.

Typology 7: When execution is by promoter themselves or by contractors, socio - economic

conditions of the potential users are not considered appropriately.

Typology 8: The intervention may have outlived it life irrespective of the promoter, executor and

O&M agency. Prior to execution of the intervention, physical feasibility needs to be carefully checked

otherwise there is scope for the failure of intervention beyond repair.

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The study also made an attempt to analyze costs related to capital, maintenance and operation and minor

maintenance as they are important for planning and running the system. A total of 27 villages were selected

to determine the cost of water that a farmer pays for irrigation for which both functional and nonfunctional

systems were considered. Snowball sampling was used for functional irrigation types while convenient

sampling was use for the nonfunctional ones. To understand different costs associated with every irrigation

type following variables were considered:

Capital Costs: The initial cost including labour, raw materials, contractor fees, transportation of raw

materials, etc.

Maintenance Costs: Maintenance cost includes servicing cost, regular fixtures, oiling, etc. These

figures were arrived at by focus group discussions carried out in the sample villages and triangulated

with the mechanics in the district.

Running Costs: The fuel cost of the machine, the operating cost and other such running cost

associated are grouped under running costs.

Miscellaneous Expenses: The cost incurred at breakdown during operation which is irregular and

frequency is rare are summed up as miscellaneous expenses.

Semi structured interviews, FGDs and questionnaire were conducted with farmers, government officials,

NGOs, CBOs, contractors, and mechanics. To compare different irrigation types and motor pumps, the cost

per cubic meter of water provided to the farmer was calculated. This cost doesn’t take the cost of pipe (the

pipe cost was Rs. 35 per meter for subsidized HDPE pipes). The crops taken for understanding the water

requirement were rice and two short-duration based winter crops. It was found that 2 ha of land requires

200 m3 of water hence per ha usage has been taken as 100 m3. Normally 3 HP pump was found to be used in

the district running for 200 hours in a year.

Further, only irrigation types don’t provide water to the farmer. Motor pumps lift the water to the farmland

and the land is cultivated. To fully understand the cost of water for irrigation, combinations of irrigation types

and motor pumps were also taken into consideration.

Figure 1: Irrigation System

Based on the analysis, cost curves were developed

which are presented as below in Figure 2 and Figure

3 showing function of irrigation type and fuel used

respectively. Cost curves have been plotted for

individual owned pumps of 3 HP.

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Figure 2: Cost of Water as a Function of Irrigation type Figure 3: Cost of Water with Various Fuel and Pumps

Figure 4 below shows possible combinations. A medium LI cannot be made over a dug well due to limited

water. Thus, combinations like these are eliminated. Check Dams can provide water to both the kinds of

community LI and hence are plotted.

Figure 4: Cost of Water for a Community LI system

The cost analysis reveals that:

The pump type has the

impact on cost of water.

The type of storage

systems do not impact

the cost. It is clearly

visible whether the

storage type is a check

dam, bori bundh, earthen

bund or a farm pond, the

cost of water does not vary much.

However lifting by diesel, electricity or kerosene has a sharp bearing on the cost. Diesel is costliest and

solar the cheapest in all the cases. Solar pumps seem to be the best option in changing the economics of

cultivation in favour of farmer. Hence, efforts are needed for making it affordable and easily available to

the farming community.

Availability of water and suitability of terrain are sole consideration for storage of water.

The bigger the LI, lesser is the cost of water. However, mostly smaller LIs were found to be functional

due to other reasons.

Performance assessment of identified irrigation tanks in Tamil Nadu using remote sensing and

Geographical Information System

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HUF supported the study titled “The Performance assessment of identified irrigation tanks in Tamil Nadu

using remote sensing and Geographical Information System” in the Gundar basin project implemented by

DHAN Foundation for its first phase funded by HUF and others during the year 2015-2016.

The scientific study undertaken by The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore incorporated remote sensing

and Geographical information system (GIS) technique to compare the pre and post project conditions on

selected parameters using satellite imageries. The study has been supported by DHAN Foundation field team

for capturing the GPS position of 42 tanks using the GPS instrument and also collecting the data of cropping

in the command area of the tanks. The data has been captured for 2009 and 2014 to depict before and after

situation to analyze the impact created by the tank rehabilitation project taken up in the tanks with the HUF

support through community owned and participatory project.

The objective of the study is to look at performance of the HUF supported initiative implemented by DHAN

in the Gundar Basin.

To achieve this, the following steps were set:

Change detection technique based on remote sensing and GIS was employed to the identified irrigation

tanks to check the changes are being happened.

Additionally, rainfall contribution to the irrigation tanks was examined.

Vegetation variations in the agricultural area before and after intervention by HUF were also analysed.

Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor of Landsat 7 satellite image of 14th February of 2009 and

Operational Land Imager (OLI) sensor of Landsat 8 satellite image of 4th February of 2014 of the Rabi season

were selected to get spatial information of the tanks before and after intervention by HUF respectively.

Landsat 7 of 14 Feb 2009 is replaced by a similar satellite Landsat 8 in the year 2014. Spatial resolution of the

considered images is 30m. Along with this, study also captured rainfall data and the variation of Normalized

Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), representing crop condition over the tank command area section. Thus

change of area in each land use/ land cover class and NDVI class for each of 42 tank separately with relevant

imageries and maps were studied.

The study has captured the impact on green cover after

the project is implemented. It was observed from the

study that average cropped area among the 42 tank

commands has increased by 40.10% in 2014 when

compared to that in 2009. Based on the NDVI analysis,

it was observed that crop condition has also improved

substantially in 2014 when compared to that it 2009.

Average fallow land area among the 42 tanks

commands has decreased by 15.07% in 2014 when

compared to that in 2009. This is a substantial

improvement, which can be attributed to better

management practices and rehabilitation works

adopted by Dhan Foundation.

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Although, there is a significant improvement, when all the tank commands are considered together, there

are specific tank commands in which the cropped area has actually reduced from 2009 to 2014 (see the

details provided for each tank in the previous section). For example, in Karkulam Tank, cropped area has

decreased by 40.70% and in Kombukaran Oorani, cropped area has decreased by 68.00%. There can be more

focus on rehabilitation works in such tanks to improve the cropped area. The Remote sensing and GIS can be

used as effective tools for an independent assessment of performance of tank irrigation systems due to

rehabilitation works. There is a scope to conduct similar study for more number of irrigated tanks, over

multiple years and seasons based on the data and satellite image availability. The study reflects collaborative

effort of a grassroots organisation with research institutions and how these partnerships could help generate

and ensure availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data improving data sufficiency, reliability and

evidence based monitoring.

The DHAN team has spent significant time to collect the maps, digitize them and then collect the before and

after data for the green cover with type of crops, its extent etc., as farmers are faced criticality to remember

the data for 2009 data. Activity of this nature builds institutional capabilities to generate and analyse data

collection through farmers and ability to bring in technology based monitoring thereby enhancing credibility

of data and evaluation.

Hydrogeological Survey of Four villages in Rajpura block, Patiala district

HUF supported Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM) – Pune

to conduct the study ‘Hydrogeological Survey of Four villages in Rajpura block, Patiala district’. Patiala

district faces groundwater depletion for many years now resulting into farmer distress. It has led to vicious

cycle, leading farmers to reinvest and drill deeper leading to high cost input on energy, unsustainable water

abstraction and associated impacts on production. This requires to gauge the potential to undertake

groundwater recharge, to reduce and mitigate risks due to groundwater depletion in Patiala.

ACWADAM undertook rapid hydrogeological appraisal in the absence of village-level aquifer information in

the public domain. Much of the comprehensive information on India’s groundwater is at taluka

(blocks/tehsils/mandals) level and above. There is an information gap on groundwater resources at the village

level, a level at which large regions of India have witnessed many elements of ‘groundwater dynamics’ leading

to aquifer depletion, contamination and co-terminal socio-economic distress. The study was especially

oriented to understand the context and the arena for artificial recharge, which is being promoted in Patiala

district to tackle falling water tables and mitigate groundwater contamination issues. The hydrogeological

assessment included the following activities and objectives:

• Understanding the status of groundwater in terms of quantity and quality

• Study the patterns of drinking water and sanitation

• Understanding groundwater contamination – spatially within aquifers and across aquifers in each

village

• Preparation of geological cross sections from the narrative lithology collected from farmers to delineate

vertical aquifer boundaries in the study area

• Conducting pumping tests for assessing the aquifer characteristics

The study findings

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• All the villages are currently tapping multiple aquifers for different uses. Groundwater quality is a major

concern because of high TDS. There are indications of iron contamination in some of the villages,

although it needs to be confirmed. Groundwater quality results indicate deterioration in quality as a

result of the combined effect of long term exploitation and impact of externally added chemicals.

• High levels of arsenic, fluoride and iron were detected in the laboratory tests conducted by BAIF across

both irrigation as well as drinking water tube wells. Prima-facie, fluoride seems to be anthropogenic in

nature, although detailed, longer term testing is clearly desired. Sulphates in groundwater might have

more significant implications, the most important one being the likelihood of mineralised, and

therefore, water from many years of accumulated storage, including very old water. The sewage water

that is being used in some locations for irrigation showed very high levels of iron, fluoride and nitrates.

The soil samples tested by BAIF, showed high levels of molybdenum, boron and iron. Both these aspects

indicate the ‘loading’ of soils and groundwater by exogenous elements, indicated a vulnerable surface

system of soils and water.

The study recommended:

• Urgent need to test the groundwater quality in all drinking water sources in the region given that the

few samples that were tested largely showed a high level of contamination.

• Safer alternatives to drinking water need to be identified and it is essential that the safe aquifers being

used for drinking water be protected from exploitation.

• Roof top rainwater harvesting should be the immediate activity in the region as a groundwater

management intervention. Recharge activities should focus on the aquifers that are currently being

tapped for different uses.

• For effective recharge, the aquifers in each village should be identified in consultation with the villagers

and then recharged directly through tube wells with blank casing till the aquifers are struck.

Heterogeneity in alluvial aquifers will have a bearing on the recharge activities and local level studies should

be followed while implementing any recharge interventions. Pumping tests have shown that the storage

capacities of the aquifers are low to moderate across different aquifers, however transmissivities are

moderate to high. High transmission capacity will enable rapid dissipation of recharge water within the aquifer.

Villages studied have shown considerable variation in aquifer occurrence and characteristics. Low to

moderate storage capacities of the aquifers indicate that they are vulnerable to contamination as compared

to alluvial aquifers with high storage and similarly, moderate to high transmissivities will enable the rapid

transport of the contaminants throughout the aquifers. Therefore recharge activities need to be well planned

to avoid damaging the aquifers. Given the contamination of sewage water with heavy metals and other

criteria pollutants, it’s required to avoid contact of recharge water with sewage water. The ground water is

required to be tested to assess long term impact of pesticides and fertilisers.

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2.4 Integrated People and Profit Cluster

2.4.1 Collectivisation

Collectivisation may have four dimensions:

i. Persons belonging to one particular community or gender or caste or class get together to act on

water

ii. Community as a whole gets together irrespective of caste, class, gender, religion or culture to act


iv. Several organisations may come together in a region to help community undertake activities that

further judicious use and management of water.

The objective of collectivisation may vary from location to location and with scale depending on the

requirement.

Lasting solutions to challenges faced by water sector requires different views are brought together and help

in developing an integrated perspective towards water resource management and conservation. It also helps

in collectively finding solutions to the issues that stakeholders come across. Different stakeholders may have

different interests in water resources. Stakeholder engagement helps in developing a common interest and

help understand the implications of one’s action on the sustainability of resource.

At every level – from village to national – HUF has been making efforts to actively engaged with stakeholders

and disseminate the idea of collective action. On internal as well as external platforms, based on experiences

gained, it has been showcasing the importance of stakeholder engagement and the need for them to come

together to find solutions to issues faced by community in general and water sector in particular. This is being

evidenced in different forms at different levels. At the community level, efforts are aimed at bringing

different sections of the community on a common platform and facilitating their engagement with formal

institutions such as Panchayats to collectively find solutions to the issues that they are facing. Partners’

engagement with government officials and departments helps in mobilising resources and capacities needed

to implement the solutions. External platforms are used to share our experiences and thought processes with

other stakeholders that

may be of use to them.

Key aspects involved in

HUF approach have

been depicted in the

adjacent figure.

Promoting collective

Action

Empoweing people

institution

Participatory stakeholder engagment

Equity and equitable

distribution

Traditional and collective

wisdom

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Participation in national platforms

HUF supported and participated in 3rd India Water Forum 2016 organised in April 2016, with the objective to

attract diverse perspectives to ensure water security for billions of people in India and South Asia. This

international water convention with the theme

‘Water for Sustainability: Towards Development

and Prosperity’ was organised under the aegis of

Ministry of Water Resources, River Development

and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India

with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

The forum worked to identify challenges related

to ensuring adequate quantities of acceptable

quality water, which could be acting as

bottlenecks for rapid and sustainable socio-

economic development of the country. The forum

also explored solutions and implementation

pathways that could transform water availability scenarios from a stressor to a catalyst in rapid growth of

country’s economy. Structured into six themes it covered the following:

Cleaning Ganga and its role in economic development

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: a model for social empowerment

Agriculture and improving water use efficiency

Green infrastructure on water: an alternative for urban water crisis

Role of Corporate in ensuring water security

International cooperation and trans-boundary perspectives on water

In the session on ‘Role of Corporate in Ensuring Water Security’, presentation by HUF focused on

‘Democratising Water Management’. Based on experience gained from field interventions, elements having

bearing on the democratisation process were

presented before the audience. The discussion

highlighted the collaborative role of various

stakeholders including corporate, grass-root level

practitioners etc. in managing water resources along

with local community. The session also recommended

that it is imperative to adopt participatory approach

involving everyone from users to managers to decision

makers. This paradigm shift in water management may

need the stakeholders to change their roles. Sense of

ownership from the community and facilitation by the

government would strengthen it further. It is crucial to sensitize local community about their rights and build

their capacity on management of water resources. Democratization of water resources management,

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invigorating new partnerships amongst key stakeholders will help achieve equity, social justice, with a shared

vision of water security for all.

In the forum NGO and corporate partners of HUF viz. PRADAN, PANI, BAIF and Olam Agro India Private

Limited also shared their experiences and presented their views in the session on ‘Agriculture and improving

water use efficiency’.

The emphasis of the deliberations that took place during the forum was to bring the paradigm shift in the

governance of water management. The sessions recommended following potential solutions to address the

challenges:

Adopting participatory approach for

water resources management

Formation of a common platform for

knowledge sharing amongst the

stakeholders

Multiple stakeholder involvement in the

common platform

Dissemination of best practices,

experience and technologies

Research on impact of climate change

on water resources, existing

infrastructure

HUF participated in the 4th Global CSR Summit organised by PHD Chambers of Commerce and shared its

experiences on promoting judicious governance and use of water resources in agriculture. Deliberations

included the methodology and approaches adopted by HUF and challenges faced in furthering collective

action at various levels. Importance of collective action in finding implementable solutions for challenges

faced by community with respect to water

was also emphasised upon.

HUF is one of the founding members of

Alliance for Water Stewardship. HUF along

with other organisations including World

Wide Fund for Nature – India, Centre for

Responsible Business, ITC, CDP and

International Water Management Institute

(IWMI) facilitated formation of Water

Stewardship India Network (WSIN). The

WSIN has been formed with the purpose of

advancing credible water stewardship in

India. The WSIN will achieve this through

engaging diverse stakeholders to promote a clearer understanding of credible water stewardship, developing

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demonstration projects to highlight the effectiveness of the approach, and utilizing the capacities of the

individual members and the network as a whole to drive uptake of credible water stewardship in India.

Supporting access to other entitlements

In addition to supporting communities finding solutions to their water related problems, focus has been on

furthering collective action that help community have access to other entitlements. In HUF supported project

‘Community-led Sustainable Management of Water Resource for Promotion of Livelihoods and Secured

Natural Resource Base’ and implemented by MYRADA in Karnataka, access to benefits and entitlements has

been facilitated in addition to water conservation and management.

Developing local networks

Several attempts were made during the period

to bring different stakeholders on a common

platform and facilitating inter-stakeholder

engagement for solutions to challenges faced

by water sector need to be found through

collective and synergetic action. FES, for

example, under HUF supported project has

initiated a multi-stakeholder process in

Ghatanji block of Yavatmal district in

Maharashtra towards reviving Waghari River

and the several Dohos. Representatives from

the government, civil society organization,

peoples’ representatives and local

communities have joined hands to collectively

work towards restoring the catchments and

MYRADA has been instrumental in facilitating access to several entitlements in the districts of Kolar, Chitradurga,

Bellary, Gulbarga and Bidar in Karnataka. These include health insurance, ration cards, Aadhaar Cards, LPG cylinders,

construction of toilets, organising health camps etc. In Kolar, for example, during the year project team supported

151 families for getting benefit of different State and Central Government schemes like Pradhana Mantri Jan Dhan

Yojana, National Pension Scheme, Pradhana Mantri Jeevan Beema Yojana, Pradhana Mantri Jeevan Suraksha

Yojana, Life Insurance Policies, LPG connections under subsidized price, PAN Cards, Smokeless Chulha etc. In addition

to above MYRADA also supported construction of household toilets, toilet cum bath rooms, making domestic water

connections available, providing water filters to those who needed, installation of solar lights under convergence

program with Water.org and SRFS. It also supported 201 families for implementing income generation activities,

having access to health care, children’s education, water and sanitation, agricultural improvement through credit

linkages with financial institutions (FIs) for a sum of Rs. 54, 40, 000.00 through 14 SAGs. It also covered 285 SC/ST

families by facilitating credit linkages with FIs and facilitating them have access to benefits from different schemes.

In Gulbarga, 22 SHGs were linked to banks and loan of Rs. 44 lakh was sanctioned to these groups by the bank for

initiating small scale business.

LPG Distribution in Shyamshett – one of the project villages

of MYRADA

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drainage lines of the Waghari River. Members of the forum engaged with Central and State government

functionaries like Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilizers, Government of India, Member of Legislative

Assembly of Arni Constituency (Ghatanji) and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to

underscore the need for the reviving Waghari River. A proposal for reviving Waghari was thereafter,

presented to the District Planning Committee and a revival plan is being evolved.

Collaborations in the field

In addition to these macro level initiative, micro level efforts have also been made by partners. PRADAN,

under the project that is being supported by HUF has been actively promoting engagement of Up-sangha

(federation of women SHGs) formed under the project with Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). Similarly,

Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan (Parmarth) under Jal Sambrudhhi project with HUF as funding and knowledge

partner that is being implemented in Sumerpur and Orai promoted engagement of PANI Panchayats with

Gram Panchayats in the project villages. BAIF Institute for

Rural Development – U.P. (BIRD – UP) under ‘Integrated

Water conservation project “Jal Samriddhi” in Kasganj

District of Uttar Pradesh’ of which HUF is funding and

knowledge partner took initiatives to develop linkages

with government departments to help scale up its

interventions aimed at improving water use application

efficiency in cultivation of several agriculture crops. WOTR

in the project villages of HUF supported project ensured

involvement of Rojgar and Gram Sewak in its watershed

projects. The Rojgar Sewak focuses on various

components related to MGNREGS in the village such as

giving job cards, allocating work, marking attendance,

supervising the work and taking measurement of the work done. It has helped in smoothening the operations

and also sensitising the PRIs about importance of watershed work in a village. AKRSP – I in HUF supported

project villages has partnered with Gujarat Green Revolution Company (GGRC) for providing drip irrigation

to its farmers. Similarly, DSC partnered with Gujarat Land Development Corporation (GLDC) to implement

land levelling in project villages where HUF supported project is being implemented. MITTRA in Nashik district

under HUF supported project collaborated with forest department to initiate land treatments measures on

202 ha of forest land by Forest Management Committee. It has also partnered with Jalyukta Shivir to carry

out land levelling work on 10 ha of land.

Additionally, our partners have also been supporting community initiatives that help them access benefits

and entitlements due to them from government programmes and schemes, influence village institutions

function in a more participatory manner and use resources for creation of assets that help mitigate

community woes with respect to water.

Community institutions formed under the projects are also being supported and capacitated to influence

Gram Panchayats for use of resources available under government programmes such as MGNREGS for

creation of water related community assets. While FES under the HUF supported project has been focusing

Meeting between Sujal Samiti and Gram

Panchayat member in Bheshavada in Gujarat

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on restoration of land and water commons and facilitating access to these resources by all sections of

community, PRADAN on the other hand has been concentrating on creation of in – situ water harvesting

structures on individual farm lands and restoration of up – lands in the project villages where HUF supported

project is being implemented. In both the cases, efforts are aimed at bringing community based organisations

and Gram Panchayats on a common platform and work in a synergetic manner.

Promoting Agri Entrepreneurs

One of the latent aims of HUF supported projects is to help farmers realise adequate returns of their

agriculture produce while taking care of local ecosystem also. Experience reveals that absence of markets,

clear national policy especially with respect to buying of agriculture produce other than paddy and wheat are

some of the reasons that inhibit farmers from adopting the cropping, which may not be in harmony with

their ecosystem. HUF has been supporting through several initiatives such as helping farming community

understand the linkages between cropping decisions they make and its impact on local ecology, promoting

use of organic farm inputs and bio – pesticides, supporting farmers go in for varietal change and also help

them shift to cropping patterns that are in sync with local ecosystem.

It is with the above perspective discussions were initiated with Acumen – a non-profit global venture fund

that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of poverty. Its aim is to help build financially

sustainable organizations that deliver affordable goods and services that improve the lives of the poor.

Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan has been implementing Jal Sambrudhhi Project since 2014 in Sumerpur block of

Hamirpur district in Southern Uttar Pradesh with HUF as funding and knowledge partner. Hamirpur is one of the

districts of Bundelkhand, a semi-arid region, characterized by inadequate rainfall, depleting ground water level

and very less water retention capacity of the soil. Variability of monsoon leads to frequent occurrence of drought.

One of the projects villages Chandrapura is home to 1056 families. Tube-well has been the main source of

irrigation, but several of these had become defunct in the last few years due to drought and poor rainfall. Lack of

groundwater recharge has led to depletion of groundwater, leaving many hand-pumps non – operational leading

to acute drinking water crisis in this village. In 2005, irrigation department constructed check dam on Leeda Naala

but due to poor maintenance, it got damaged after five years. Even after many efforts by villagers, no attention

was given by government department.

Community was mobilized and collectivized to form Pani Panchayat Committee. In one of the meetings of Pani

Panchayat, community demanded repair of check dam. Members of Pani Panchayat collectively gave application

to District Magistrate, Hamirpur for repair of check dam and sought approval from the concerning department for

its repair. In June 2015 the check dam was repaired resulting in filling of Leeda Naala in the first rain in July 2015.

Ashok Kumar and Rajendra Kumar, the two farmers whose agriculture lands are near the check-dam expressed

their feelings as, “Now we will not have to be worried about irrigation because sufficient water will be available

through this check dam. The hand pumps will also become functional due to increase in water level. They also

added that although there have been no rains since last 20 days but kharif crop has not been affected in our fields

due as there is enough moisture.”

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Acumen uses patient capital to build businesses by investing in entrepreneurs who have the capability to

bring sustainable solutions.10

Unilever, Acumen and the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation,

have launched Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action called the ‘Enhanced Livelihoods

Investment Initiative’ (ELII) to improve the livelihoods of as many as 300,000 smallholder farmers and their

communities in Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The ELII will be a three-year, minimum

USD $10 million investment initiative to catalyse economic growth and alleviate poverty amongst low-income

communities in the developing world, while creating more inclusive and sustainable value chains.11 The

objective of the partnership is poverty alleviation by creating enterprises that support smallholder farmers:

Build market linkages for agricultural output produced by smallholder farmers, thereby, enhancing

their livelihoods

Improve quality of lives of these smallholder farmers by bringing to them critical goods and services

such as energy access, healthcare, drinking water, sanitation and education

Acumen’s agriculture sector strategy directs investments in:

Providers of inputs - supply agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, know-how

Market linkages - procure from farmers, sell to market/ consumers (farm to fork)

The end objective is to increase farmer realizations as experience reveals that in absence of adequate market

linkages, even with high quality inputs, farmer realizations tend to be low. Hence, investment in marketing

linkages is a high priority area for Acumen.

Of several investment criteria, the main ones that need mention are:

The target entity should be structured as a for-profit business enterprise

The intervention should bring about significant increase in farmer realizations

Strong unit economics fundamentally

Ability to build exclusivity over some critical part of the supply chain

Distribution arrangements in terms of market access and reach

Impact of seasonality on cash conversion cycle

Ability of build a strong consumer-facing brand in case of vertical integrators

Preference for a segment where sizeable commercial capital has not yet gone in

Discussions were held with representatives of Acumen leading to the following mutual decisions:

Identify investible opportunities among HUF’s partner organizations and invest in them through the

ELII partnership

10 http://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-acumen-clinton-giustra-enterprise-partnership-unilever-partner-to-support-smallholder-

farmers-through-enhanced-livelihoods-investment-initiative-elii-in-africa-south-asia-lat/

11 http://acumen.org/blog/unilever-acumen-and-the-clinton-giustra-enterprise-partnership-announce-usd-10-million-clinton-global-initiative-

commitment-to-action-to-support-smallholder-farmers/

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In addition to Acumen’s investing criteria, target organizations’ activities should fulfil the criteria of

having an impact on water savings. Water management would be a key metric going forward.

Additionally, we also expect to seek mutual learnings from this engagement

The above initiative was shared by HUF with several organisations including partners. Upon interest being

shown by Safe Harvest Private Limited (SHPL), HUF facilitated discussions and meetings with Acumen. SHPL

believes that consumers would be willing to pay a modest premium for widely available, guaranteed safe

food produced by India's poorest farmers, thereby creating a win-win situation for both consumers and

producers. Till the time of writing this report, three rounds of discussions were held between Acumen and

SHPL.

Such initiatives, if materialise, have the potential of helping farmers realise increased returns and at the same

time promoting sustainable use and management of natural resources namely land and water. It is expected

that these will help in enhancing bargaining capacity of small holders by taking advantage of economy of

scale through commodity aggregation. With assured markets and return, it will encourage farmers to adopt

a cropping pattern which is not dependent on traditional cash crops per se but the one which is suited to

local ecosystem on one hand and gives them desired returns on the other.

2.5 People Cluster

2.5.1 Governance

Governance implies:

Ensuring active participation and representation of different socio – economic groups and different

classes in local planning and decision making process

Having institutions and processes functioning on the principles of transparency, inclusion, equity,

non – discrimination, accountability, equality, fairness becomes more complicated

Creating community institutions and enabling them to take informed decisions and capacitating

them to plan, develop locally relevant and context specific norms and rules, ensuring their

implementation across community.

Bringing water resource centricity to institutional networks and working arrangements with other

stakeholders including academia, government, corporate sector, NGOs and others such that a holistic

water governance is delivered.

The community needs to be collectivised and harmony needs to be developed among members for collective

action. Further, these institutions need to function in a transparent and accountable manner. These

institutions need to further equity among the community and function in a participatory manner so that

those at the bottom of the pyramid are not left out. This requires making efforts for perspective building of

these institutions so that they able to develop analytical capacities and abilities for efficient and judicious use

of water.

Multiplicity of institutions and presence of parallel structures also needs to be taken care of. There are WUAs,

watershed development committees, user groups and tank associations along with panchayats and state

departments, which have been mandated to manage the same resource in the same geography thereby

opening possibilities of conflicts among them. Further, Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) has come

to be seen as the solution of all problems being faced by irrigation system. But studies reveal that WUAs in

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many regions are being created simply as an aid to bureaucracy and not as mechanism for securing a

fundamental change in control relations. Such difficulties are exacerbated, as the hydrological boundaries do

not coincide with administrative boundaries.

Four basic characteristics of any good

governance system are:

Functional autonomy

Financial autonomy

Administrative autonomy and

Political autonomy

This in turn means ability of

institutions to take decisions on all

these four aspects for good

governance. Seen in this perspective,

if local institutions are to function as

effective and efficient governance

institutions in the realm of water then

they need to be provided required degree of autonomy by the state with whom it rests at present. It is the

responsibility of the state to develop such mechanisms and procedures which are empowering and

motivating for these institutions. It requires transforming power relations and power equations between

bureaucracy and local institutions.

Existing policy framework also affects the

governance environment – both locally and

nationally. Policies framed based on information

received from ground have more potential of

getting translated into action and hence creating

a more enabling environment for the

community.

WOTR has formed Village Development

Committees in HUF supported project area

followed by several capacity building measures.

These are in turn supported by community

resource persons termed as Vasundhara Sewaks

and Jal Sewaks. PRADAN under HUF supported

project on the other hand concentrated its

efforts on strengthening, capacitating and

federating SHGs at cluster level and supporting

them develop village development plans in association with panchayats. Habitation level institutions were

formed and strengthened by FES under HUF supported project. It is working on strengthening management

Meeting of Sujal Samiti in Polajpur village in Gujarat

Meeting of Village Development Committee in project

village of WOTR

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and governance systems for common property resources namely land and water, hence they can best be

managed at habitation level.

PARMARTH, under Jal Sambruddhi project which is implementing projects in Orai and Sumerpur in Uttar

Pradesh focused on collectivising women to form PANI PANCHAYATS coupled with several capacity building

measures around water related issues. Collectivisation efforts by DSC in the project villages where HUF

supported project is being implemented has focused on formation of Kisan Clubs whereas AKRSP – I

concentrated on forming Gram Vikas Mandals in HUF supported project villages. To propagate agriculture

practices aimed at demand management and use of organic farm inputs in its project villages, PANI, in

eastern U.P. has formed Farmer Clubs under HUF supported project. Accordingly in watershed projects,

Watershed Development Committees and User Groups have been formed to undertake implementation of

project activities and management of water harvesting structures constructed in the project villages.

Efforts by SAMUHA focused on facilitating interface between farmers at head and tail end of canal so that an

amicable solution can be reached between the two groups so that those at tail end of the canal also receive

water.

In Gundar Basin in Tamil Nadu, DHAN Foundation is implementing HUF supported project on restoration and

rejuvenation of traditional water harvesting structures (tanks). About 98 Vayalagams (tank associations) have

made an endowment corpus and the interest earned is being used for maintenance of the structures. The

associations/ federations also converge with local Gram Panchayat (GP) to tap resources under different

government programmes in collaboration with line departments in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivagangai and

Ramanathapuram districts. In addition to this, DHAN Foundation promoted 89 Vayalagams to strengthen the

community governance of 8 tank federations. In Mudukulathur location it conducted leadership training for

office bearers of Vayalagam in which 50 members participated and were equipped with the knowledge on

leadership.

Community Institutions Gram Vikas Mandals – AKRSP - I

One of the key concerns in developmental initiatives is related to sustainability of initiatives at the ground level. The

role of village level institutions assumes importance in this context. AKRSP created village level institutional

mechanism through Gram Vikas Mandals (GVM), which is a pan village level Community based organization

supported by it.

The GVM is envisaged as a multi-stakeholder, membership-based organisation that will bring about wise use of the

natural resources thereby helping to enhance livelihood systems. GVMs play important role in managing Common

Property and Open Access Resources.

GVMs help in mobilizing collective community efforts to address issues related to natural resources management.

The organizations role in the forthcoming years is to train these village level volunteers who are going to sustain the

intervention with due supervision of the GVMs. In the GVM meeting, the discussion is taken up on the details of

work and contribution by the community.

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Depending upon local requirement, regular concerted efforts were made during the year for capacitating

and strengthening community members and their institutions on various issues.

2.5.2 Synergy

Synergy involves synchronised functioning of:

Different institutions and

Different layers within the same institution.

It helps avoid confusion among stakeholders and helps in better planning. Experts argue that most of the

information related to water resources is kept confidential. There are different departments having their

own method of estimation as regards availability and use of water resources with no synchronisation among

them. This creates an environment of confusion among all – users, planners, analysts, academicians etc. The

12th Five Year Plan adequately emphasises the need of availability of information on a granular basis as water

bodies behave differently in different climatic zones.

Capacity building efforts of DSC under HUF supported project concentrated on imparting training on ground water

management, well monitoring, aquifer mapping and rock characteristics to Bhujal Jankars. The Sujal Samitis and

User Groups formed under the project have undergone training on quality control, maintenance of structures,

accounting and recordkeeping and effective water use in Kharif and Rabi crops. In most of the projects, SHGs have

been formed and efforts have been focused on imparting training to these groups in group functioning, thrift and

credit, maintenance of accounts. Upsanghs formed by PRADAN under HUF supported project have been trained on

developing village level plans with focus on water harvesting and conservation and orienting them to develop a

common vision. FES concentrated on training community institutions on aspects related to MGNREGS and supporting

community institutions frame rules to prioritise water use in the project villages where HUF supported project is

being implemented. WOTR in Jalna imparted training to community groups on participatory crop water budgeting,

and supported Jal Sewaks in developing Village Water Health Chart also called as Jal Arogya Takta in every project

village where HUF supported project is being implemented. The chart is finalized and has shared been with the Gram

Sabha. Depending on the status of the water availability in a village, to arrest the water that gets drained out from

the village, the villagers make an action plan. This plan has two components - 1) repairing existing soil and water

harvesting structures, and 2) constructing additional soil and water harvesting structures.

“For any project to be implemented in rural India, it is important that the Gram Panchayat at village level and

Panchayat Samiti at block level are supportive. Without their consent, the project life and sustenance becomes a

big question. If these leaders who run the village or block administration understand the need for such a project,

then that village or block benefits the most. Efforts are made to educate the Gram panchayat members and Rojgar

Sewaks in planning and implementation of watershed works in a professional manner so that transparency is

maintained and quality standards are maintained. Efforts are also extended to create the peer pressure through

common meetings for timely and correct payments to labours. Coordination between Gram Panchayat and other

CBOs is crucial for convergence part and overall development of the village. Other government officers and political

leaders may keep changing but these two are the local bodies and can create synergy effect if they work together.”

Annual Report - WOTR 2015-16

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Continued engagement with stakeholders at different levels helps in synergetic functioning of institutions.

Efforts made in this direction have helped develop functional and organic linkages between community

organisations formed and or associated with project and panchayats in most of the projects.

A common strategy that has been adopted in most of the HUF supported projects is developing functional

linkages between community groups created under the project (which are mostly informal) and functionaries

of Panchayats at appropriate levels. While WOTR has focused on involvement of Rojgar and Gram Sewak in

project related activities and conducting joint monitoring visits to villages where HUF supported project is

being implemented, PRADAN on the other hand has involved panchayat members in its training programmes

conducted under HUF supported project. FES has ensured that the plans made by community groups formed

under HUF supported project are passed through a resolution in the Gram Sabha in addition to imparting

training to MGNREGS mates. PARMARTH encouraged its PANI Panchayats groups to participate in Gram

Sabha meetings. Members of panchayats are also members of Sujal Samitis formed by DSC in HUF supported

project villages that helps in better co-ordination with panchayats.

Sahjeevan, in Kachchh and Gandhidham districts of Gujarat

where it is implementing HUF supported project

‘Jalprabandh’ project is working on improving capacities of

panchayats to plan and implement projects and improving

productivity of natural resources. This has resulted in

improved co-ordination with panchayats.

“This is the first time we will work with an NGO

on local issues. Involving the Panchayati Raj

Institutions (PRIs) are fundamental to the both

short term success and long term sustainability of

the water resource management and

achievement of water security in the region.”

Naranbhai Chaiya, Up Sarpanch, Ajapar Village

Village meeting in Bastora (FES) discussing management of common resources

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2.5.3 Interest

The democratisation process can be influenced by the degree of interest that different stakeholders’ have;

for it will determine the quality and intensity of action that happens at various levels. This includes interests

shown by individuals, group, community organisation, government, private sector or any other stakeholder.

This may also involve reforms in bureaucratic functioning or the manner in which different departments

connected with water management and conservation function. This may range from making updated

information available to community which they can use coupled with measures that facilitate movement

from de-concentration to real devolution of powers to local community institutions so that they are able to

take informed decisions and implement them. Community institutions on the other hand have to be ready

to accept the challenge and gear themselves up to take up new responsibilities. This may mean either

enacting new legislations or amending the existing ones in addition to ensuring that implementation in letter

and spirit or taking several supplementing activities that help community institutions to do so. Similarly, the

private sector should honour community needs and decisions. Developing faith in people’s knowledge,

capacities and capabilities will help ensure that resources are put to use as needed by the community.

In West Bengal, in one of the development blocks of the project district, upon seeing the success of water

harvesting technologies implemented by PRADAN in some villages, the government officials came forward

to give SHGs the responsibility for developing similar plans for all the villages in the block. They also helped

in integrating these plans developed by SHGs in block level annual plans so that these activities are

implemented across all the villages. Similarly, upon coming to know of the benefits of use of hydrogel in

peppermint cultivation, the Peppermint Cultivating Farmers’ Association has come forward and contacted

PANI to help them adopt the practice across Barabanki district.

2.6 Planet Cluster

2.6.1 Influencing

Influencing mainly involves:

Understanding available resources and using them to provide lasting solutions to diverse issues and

challenges that the community faces.

Village Development Plan prepared by Up Sangha members in a village in West Bengal

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Sensitising different stakeholders about the local context of the resource and helping them develop

the perspective.

Concerned institutions functioning in a manner so that capacities are optimally used supplementing

and complementing each other.

For this, it is important to regularly engage with concerned

stakeholders and help them practice the contours and

elements at different levels as per the emerged consensus.

Engagement by some of our partners with flagship

programmes such as MGNREGS led to use of this scheme for

water conservation and management at the local level. It

played an important role in influencing the stakeholders and

institutional functioning. To illustrate community level efforts

led to:

Increased sensitivity towards water conservation and

management that helped in influencing functioning

of panchayats and MGNREGS mates – the two

important entities with respect to MGNREGS.

As a result water agenda got included in the annual

action plans of MGNREGS and panchayats passing resolutions aimed at creation of water harvesting

structures.

FES works towards conservation of natural resources through collective action of local communities with HUF

in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. It furthers the concept of ‘Commons’ as an

effective instrument of local governance, as economic assets for the poor and for the viability of adjoining

farmlands. PRADAN work in the Chotanagpur Plateau region covering Bankura, Purulia and West Medinipur

districts of West Bengal. Of several components of the strategy of PRADAN and FES, an important element

has been convergence with MGNREGS and using its resources for implementation of solutions that help

community at large and are coordinated with the local ecosystem.

Through HUF’s partnership Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) has been concentrating on use of

resources available under MGNREGS for restoration and rejuvenation of common land and water resources.

In addition to village level initiatives such as community awareness, helping community analyse its present

scenario and find solutions to the challenges it faces, community level governance mechanisms are being

strengthened, for convergence with MGNREGS. This been made possible through:

In all 39,778 trained by ‘Prakriti Karyashala’ and project teams on claiming Commons land and water

resources, skills related to planning and implementing MGNREGS and in strengthening institutions. This

has also helped them envision MGNREGS as a programme for better natural resource governance. Mates

under MGNREGS are responsible for several functions including identification of works, supervision and

record maintenance.

Mela for mobilization of MGNREGS

organized by FES in its project area

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Master trainers were developed by ‘Prakriti Karyashala’ who organized capacity building programmes

within and outside the project locations on a large scale in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh to enable

people's capacities on Commons. These master trainers in addition to imparting training to the

community on claiming their rights on commons are also expected to expand project impacts beyond

core areas.

Training community resource persons on developing integrated plans for restoration of common land

and water resources and through Gram Sabha resolution and getting them included in annual action

plans of MGNREGS One line on role of Master trainers

Increased participation of communities in MGNREGA planning and demand for works on common land

and water resources as shown below:

These have resulted in 250 Panchayats in Ajmer pass resolutions for 170 works on common land and water

resources worth Rs. 240 crores through MGNREGA. Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh, 150 villages have passed

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resolutions for plans on restoration of common land and water resources of around Rs.100 crores under the

Common Property Resource – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme –Integrated

Watershed Management Programme (CPR-MGNREGS-IWMP).

In addition to this, FES has also been concentrating on continued engagement with government officials at

district and sub district levels, building their engagement with the community initiatives for having requisite

permissions and approvals issued that help community take initiatives for restoration, rejuvenation and

management of water commons under MGNREGS.

PRADAN, through SHGs and their federations concentrated on mobilising MGNREGS resources for

construction of in-situ rainwater harvesting structures and soil and moisture conservation activities on

individual farmlands in Bankura, Purulia and West Medinipur districts of West Bengal. SHG members along

with PRI representative through participatory planning process in MGNREGS planned to treat their lands

keeping the needs of individual families. Gram Panchayat officials with Community Facilitation Team (CFT)

members have helped the villagers to articulate their needs, prepare different maps and prioritise the works

needed and get it included in the annual action plan of MGNREGS. For financial year 2016-17 SHGs have

submitted a plan for 164 water harvesting structure as well as plantation along with other plan for rain water

harvesting and judicious water use in one GP of Binpur block in West Medinipur district. In a similar vein,

efforts by PRADAN aimed at encouraging women collectives to participate actively in local area planning,

development, implementation and monitoring process in Ranibandh block of Bankura district of West Bengal

has resulted in women collectives preparing village development plan with focus on creation of in – situ

water harvesting assets. Resources under MGNREGS were used for creating these structures.

2.6.2 Geography

Geography plays a critical role in setting up democratic processes and finding locally suited solutions.

Geography has got:

A scale dimension which is determined by size and

A complexity dimension which is determined by topography, socio economic overlay on the

topography, infrastructure for water use and its use pattern.

In areas with relatively small geographic boundaries and having uniform topography it is relatively easy to

find solutions and implement activities that ensure active participation of different socio – economic groups

which further the process of democratisation. As size grows, complexity increases as different solutions may

be needed to the challenges faced by community.

In addition to horizontal variable, the very nature of geography in which the water resources have to be

managed has a bearing on the democratisation process. In areas where there is a high intensity of tube wells

or bore wells – regulation both in terms of use and users becomes critical. Similarly, in canal irrigated areas,

as the imbalance of voice between those near the head of the canal and the tail. Similarly, in areas with

undulating topography, different solutions may be needed with variation in slope.

Further, the very nature of terrain or the geology if highly localised and varying at short intervals may require

highly context specific interventions and hence may need location specific processes to be put in place to

further the process of democratic management of water resources.

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Diverse geographies need diverse solutions that are suited to local conditions. Locally suited and evolved

solutions also ensure long term sustenance of initiatives as they are more probable to get accepted and

adopted by the community, being easily managed and modified if needed.

In pursuit of the same, our partners have taken several initiatives in the projects supported by us. A focus of

HUF has been to bring in soil and moisture conservation as central element in its work across geographies.

The unique aspect is the daily water balance approach that underlies these interventions, realizing that

changes in local weather and temperature will have a bearing on the moisture content and thus can impact

the availability of moisture to crops apart from disrupting local water regimes.

Development Support Centre (DSC) is implementing ‘Integrated Water Resource Management and

Conjunctive Use of Water in the Command Area of Water Scarce Irrigation Systems of North Gujarat’

supported by HUF. It needs to be mentioned here that government has declared Mehsana district as a dark

zone whereas Sabarkantha as grey. The project covers one major irrigation scheme - Dharoi in Mehsana

district and two medium irrigation schemes - Guhai and Mazum – in Sabarkantha and Aravali districts

respectively of North Gujarat’s water scarce irrigation systems. In its pursuit to improve water use application

efficiency, DSC is promoting several agriculture practices including laser land levelling.

“With the support of Gujarat Land Development Corporation (GLDC), Sujal Samiti and DSC, our 1.38 ha of land

(survey no. 364) was levelled. This piece of family land was unproductive since decades. However now, it will start

giving us returns. I can now earn more by cultivating additional area with cotton, castor and wheat crops. I will

use the extra income for levelling my remaining fallow land. I expect to get the investment back in next five

years.”

Jitendrabhai Khodabhai Desai, Dolpur

DSC has promoted use of laser land levelling (the complexity dimension of geography) in the HUF supported

project villages in Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts in Gujarat. It collaborated with GLDC, and with

the help of Sujal Samitis formed in the project villages, motivated villagers to go in for land levelling. As a result,

about 191.48 hectares belonging to 124 farmers has been levelled.

In the HUF-supported project ‘Water for Public Good: Influencing Policy and Practice’ Aga Khan Rural Support

Programme – India (AKRSP – I) is implementing water harvesting and soil and moisture conservation project in

the Dangs district of Gujarat through mini lift irrigation. Dangs is ranked as the first backward areas in India with

respect to Scheduled Caste population, Scheduled Tribe population, agricultural wage and output of agriculture

labour. In its pursuit to promote irrigation structures in this tribal dominated district among farmers, mini lift

irrigation schemes have proved very successful in terms of meeting the needs and managing its operation and

maintenance. Subir, one of the project blocks faces the challenge of availability of electricity. So there is

topographical, socio-economic and infrastructure determined geography that needs a response to lift water

harvested through this partnership. LNG Hazira has supported a solar based lifting device in Vadpada village of

Subir block. The solar system has 12 panels connected to 240 volt battery capable to run three HP submersible

motor. The system has a head of 11 meters with discharge capacity of five litres per second. This has resulted in

farmers saving the money otherwise used to spend for hiring mobile pump sets at the rate of Rs. 30 / hour used

for irrigation for at least 6 hours per watering 6 times a year.

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Similarly, SAMUHA, supported by HUF in the canal – irrigated areas in Karnataka (an infrastructure dimension

of geography) is promoting locally suited solutions such Non Pesticide Management (NPM) in paddy

combined with practices such as alternate wetting and drying and use of azolla.

Alternate wetting and drying process in paddy has resulted in increased yields as well as reduced cost of

cultivation.

To save the crops from being destroyed by animals (the complexity dimension of geography), Sahjeevan in

HUF project supported arid areas of Gandhidham and Kachchh areas of Gujarat is promoting use of ‘Solar

Fencing’ which prevents animals from entering agriculture fields.

In the HUF supported project ‘Promoting sustainable livelihood practices and strengthening livelihood

portfolio through water efficient agricultural practices in Eastern region of Uttar Pradesh” in eastern region

of Uttar Pradesh, People’s Action for National Integration (PANI) is promoting use of hydrogel in peppermint

cultivation – another water intensive crop. India is the largest producer and exporter of menthol and mint oil

in the world12. The crop covers nearly two lakh ha in India, 90% of which falls in Uttar Pradesh alone. Among

the leading areas for the crop is Barabanki, where menthol mint covers nearly 60,000 hectares of land.13 In

eastern U.P. more than 90 per cent farmers are small and marginal and the region has been experiencing

depleting groundwater resources.14

12 NCDEX Brochure on Mentha Oil 13 The mint that grows profits for farmers! Richa Srivastava, Hindustan Times, Lucknow Updated: Apr 29, 2013 11:57 IST 14 Strategic Plan for Extending Green Revolution to Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Department of Agriculture, Uttar Pradesh

“I went to my villager Reddy’s house straight away and brought couple of kilos of Azolla to diffuse in my land.

Now, it has widely spread across my land like a mattress. Combining Azolla with paddy has resulted in reduced

expenditure in weeding. During the last crop, I had to get my land weeded four times and spent Rs. 10,000 for

this. But this time I spent only one fourth of last year’s expenses and made huge profit in terms of reduced

expenses and surplus in production. I got 40 gunny bags of paddy this time whereas I used to grow only 35-36

bags in my previous efforts that too with lesser amount of investment.”

- Shivappa Bassappa of B.Ganekal village in Deodurg taluk of Raichur district

-

Pusa Hydrogel is a semi-synthetic, cross-linked, derivatised cellulose-graft-anionic polyacrylate superabsorbent

polymer. It absorbs water & releases very slowly in field. It was developed by Indian Agriculture Research Institute

(IARI), New Delhi. PANI started trial of Pusa hydrogel with 160 farmers (40 farmers in Barabanki, 40 in Faizabad, 40

in Shrawasti and 40 in Mahrajganj district) in 40 acre (16 Hectare) area in peppermint cultivation. As it was new for

farmers hence its application was closely monitored and supervised. Its application has not only resulted in reducing

number of irrigations by the farmers but also enhancement in yield. “First time I used Pusa hydrogel in my mentha

crop. I used 250gm of Pusa hydro gel in 0.25 acre plot and I saved three irrigations (about 6 hours) and also got 2

litres additional mentha oil production” says Mr. Girjesh of Maholi village in Sohawal of Faizabad district.

Encouraged by the results, PANI promoted its use among farmers in peppermint cultivation and it has expanded to

200.72 acres. PANI plans to document this package of practice through an audio visual and disseminate it among

entire peppermint producing clusters of project area to accelerate the adoption of this practice in next season.

Reimagining Water


Similarly, PRADAN in HUF supported project ‘Securing food and livelihoods through in-situ soil and moisture

conservation in Chhotonagpur Plateau’ is implementing several techniques that help in in-situ rainwater

harvesting and increasing area under cultivation.

Through partnership with PANI trellis method is being promoted because of (a) the project works with small

and marginal farmers and (b) some of the project villages are in flood-prone area, thereby unable to take

kharif crop. Hence, the need is to optimally utilise available resources and the returns. Olam Agro India

Limited (Olam) has made concerted efforts in promoting water efficient agriculture practice in sugarcane

such as furrow irrigation, alternate skip furrow, trash mulching, use of press mud, gated pipes among its

farmers in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Through the project ‘Securing Water and Livelihoods through Community-Led Watershed Development in

Semi-Arid, Drought Prone Region of Maharashtra’ HUF is supporting Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR)

to help farmers adopt use of drip and sprinkler irrigation in its project villages in Jalna district in the state.

PRADAN has been involved in bringing uplands under vegetable cultivation through trellis method or rain shelter

tomato cultivation and thereby enhancing farmers’ income. The project area is part of Chhotonagpur plateau

which is characterized by undulating terrain with hilly outcrops, unpredictable rainfall and high runoff followed

by soil erosion, low soil depth and low moisture retention capacity. Along the land slope, the lands are classified

mainly into four categories as under:

Uplands are mostly wastelands, devoid of farm bunds, un-terraced and highly eroded with very less

vegetation. These have very thin top soil, gravel and pebbles having very low water holding capacity

Medium uplands with sandy or sandy loam soils have field bunds, terraced but devoid of irrigation, hence

monocropped. Paddy cultivation during monsoon is prevalent

Medium lowlands and Lowlands have clay or clay loam with better water holding capacity. These are

used to cultivate longer duration crops, increasingly high yielding varieties of paddy during kharif. These

are the most productive and the only secure source of food crops.

In medium up-lands and medium lowlands, farm ponds are being created that help in – situ rainwater harvesting

and making it possible for farmers to provide critical irrigation for their crops. This method is being resorted to

because there is almost negligible possibility of irrigation. Other technologies e.g. loose boulder rock check, Sabai

(Eulaliopsis binata) grass are also adopted as efficient method to stop soil erosion and gully formation. Uplands

with better/ & deeper quality soil are used for fruit tree plantation to enhance income.

Reimagining Water


Mechanical operations in sugarcane field in Badwani in Madhya Pradesh

Farmers’ training on preparation of organic pesticides in Central Tribal lands

Desilting process in one of the project villages in Andhra Pradesh

Peppermint cultivation on bunds in plains of Uttar Pradesh

Trenching in uplands in Nashik Kuva varo check dam Dedhrota, Gujarat

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HUF is also supporting Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (MITTRA) for

implementation of ‘Barsingve Integrated Watershed Development Project’ comprising three micro

watersheds namely Barsingve, Sonushi and Mydara-Dhanoshi. In this tribal dominated area where paddy is

the main crop, activities implemented by MITTRA focus on both – augmenting supply of water and promoting

agriculture practices that promote water use application efficiency.

In most of the projects, use of organic farm inputs is being promoted. Crop intensification along with

diversification and varietal replacement is being undertaken with use of agriculture implements such as

maize marker, furrow planter. Similarly, use of Trichoderma is also being promoted by several partners as a

bio control agent for soil borne diseases. Olam, for example, has promoted use of Trichoderma in a major

way among sugarcane farmers. Farmers are being trained to make organic manure, vermi compost, and bio

- pesticides and similar products that have helped in improving soil quality and enhancing its moisture

retention capacity as well coupled with reducing their dependence of chemical fertilisers and improving

economics of cultivation.

2.7 Integrated People and Planet Cluster

2.7.1 Making every drop (voice) count

The elements of democratisation focuses upon:

Active participation of all sections of the community in planning, implementation and monitoring.

Developing mechanisms and creating avenues so that policy formers take cognizance of community

voices. This may involve community interface with technical experts, government functionaries,

decision and policy makers, local representatives etc.

Other uses and users of water also need to be taken cognizance of such as industries, urban areas,

needs related to water for life and alike.

“Our village has been facing water shortage due to unpredictable and scanty rainfall in the past few years. For

our farming community this is an alarming situation” says Dadarao Tangde – Wadod Tangda, Bhokardan village.

“We had been thinking of moving to micro-irrigation methods, but we could not afford it. A couple of months

ago, through the project, WOTR installed drip irrigation systems and distributed sprinkler sets. In our 6 acres of

land, we have drip installed in 2 acres, while we use sprinklers for watering 4 acres. We usually take cotton,

soyabean in kharif and chilli, wheat and gram in rabi. We paid 25%, WOTR paid 25 % and Government 50%.

We can certainly see the benefits. The amount of water usually used for one acre, now can be used for one acres.

Last year we used to take Rabi crops in two acres of land due to lack of water, however this season we have

been able to take up crops on 5 acres of land, thanks to the micro-irrigation techniques. Our dream is to bring

the 100% irrigated area under micro irrigation.”

In addition to construction of water harvesting structures, efforts are also aimed at soil and moisture conservation

through construction of gabion structures, construction of farm bunds, loose boulder structures and alike. Farmers

are also being motivated to take up agriculture practices that are more water efficient. Four-step paddy cultivation

has been introduced in the area in addition to drip. During the year 830 farmers adopted four step paddy cultivation

and 22 farmers adopted vegetable cultivation with drip. Raised bed farming, land levelling and paper mulching are

also being promoted in the area.

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In all the HUF supported projects, for example, emphasis is being given to involvement of small and marginal

farmers as also participation of women. Our partnerships in Madhya Pradesh (M.P.), Gujarat and

Maharashtra focus on tribal communities and involvement of socially weak / marginalised groups,

collectivising them and supporting them to take action.

FES focuses on restoration of

commons and lays special

emphasis on improving access of

resources to the poor and

marginalised. Additionally, as can

be seen from the example below,

that FES has also supported communities to frame rules of water use so that needs of all are taken care of

and the resource is not appropriated by a particular section of the community.

Sujal Samitis have been formed by DSC in project villages in Gujarat where

it is implementing HUF supported project. In all 24 Sujal Samitis that have

been promoted have 288 members of which 47 % are small and marginal

farmers and 11 % are women. Panchayat members are also part of this

these Samitis.

FES is implementing ‘Water Commons – Influencing Practice and Policy’ across five states covering eight districts

namely Chittoor & Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, Chikballapur in Karnataka, Bhilwara, Udaipur and Pratapgarh in

Rajasthan, Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and Yavatmal in Maharashtra

Habitation level institutions consisting of all the adult members of the village have formulated specific byelaws for

governing land and water resources. During the year, habitation level institutions have initiated the management of

20699 ha of common land and 610 water bodies within the vicinity of their habitations across the project locations.

People have initiated discussions at the community level towards better water distribution and sharing mechanisms.

There are examples where communities have crafted rules limiting the number of hours that a farmer can run the

engine to lift water so that water is available for all.

Village meeting in Bastora (FES) discussing management of common resources

Block level convention of Up Sangha and SHG members in West Bengal

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Chapter 3: Towards More Responsive Community Behaviour One of the main objectives of democratising water resource management is sustained use and availability of

water resources. A pre-requisite for this is that all stakeholders act in a responsible manner geared towards

effective and efficient of water resources.

Among others, it calls for changes in behaviour and habits. In the context of sustainability, it is important to

identify the reasons behind this habit loop reflecting the behaviour having the impact being witnessed. The

complexities of local and global issues such as climate change, increasing population together with the basic

priorities for dignified life with livelihood and food security requires a change in the way the communities

engage with their natural resources.

‘Unilever’s Five Levers of Change’ model has been used globally by Unilever to get insights into consumer

behaviour and helping them change it with the objective of achieving sustainable living. It is a set of principles

brought together in a new approach, which, when applied to behaviour change interventions, will increase

the likelihood of having a sustained impact.

At HUF, we realise that the behaviour and habits associated with water stem from the context within which

individual or society is situated and understanding of the interplay between resource dynamics (availability

and demand) and use dynamics (timing, quantity, practices that can influence quality of water). Such an

interplay can operate differently at an individual and collective level as also in the short and long run. If the

end objective is to have a continuing equilibrium between these, the behaviour change has to recognise

firstly

the factors that influence this interplay,

the extent to which they contribute to such interplay,

the seasonality of this interplay,

the ways in which such interplay affects at an individual and collective level as also in short and long

run

The understanding then must lead to action that strives towards the continuing equilibrium state including

interventions on triggers and barriers.

At HUF, since water use in agriculture and related livelihoods is the focus, hence community initiatives

supported by HUF have been making concerted efforts for bringing about desired behaviour change among

rural communities. Supporting communities to adopt water efficient agriculture practices without

compromising productivity is helping them better govern and manage water resources and promoting

judicious use of water.

The Unilever’s Model of Five Levers of Change provides a framework with which the aforementioned

behaviour change is being explored in our various projects. HUF has shared this model with its partners to

help them map initiatives taken by them to bring about desired behaviour change among the rural

community. It has brought out a publication titled “Changing Behaviour for Sustainable Management of

Natural Resources” that can be accessed on our website

Narrated below are the five levers of change and the ways in which they have been explored during the year.

Reimagining Water


2.1 Helping the community to understand

For bringing about desired behaviour change among communities in the project area, several approaches

have been adopted by partners. To help community understand their present behaviour and how it is

impacting their lives following several methods have been adopted by partners. These mainly include:

Making the community aware on water

related issues through organising rallies,

‘Padyatra’, use of folk media, meetings,

discussions, undertaking information

dissemination through radio.

Mobilising and collectivising community

to form village level community

organisations

Helping them analyse their current

situation, causes thereof, understand

linkages between different elements of

ecosystem and develop a common vision

Disseminating information about government programmes and schemes from which resources can

be leveraged for restoration and rejuvenation of land and surface water resources

Engaging with agriculture trainers on issues related to agriculture and water

Engaging with communities to develop mind maps which help them understand and reinforce

immediate and long term benefits accruing to them as a result of land and water conservation

Using different tools such as aquifer mapping, crop water budgeting, experimental games to help

understand the quantity of water available for domestic and agricultural use based on rainfall, run-

off and recharge and develop shared understanding of groundwater as a common pool resource and

the potential impacts of individual decisions on crops to grow on the availability of resource for

others.

In SAMUHA, however the major focus and achievement on behaviour change was through the radio

modules. The narrowcast of these modules has had immediate impact in many cases: JLG formation,

Azolla practice, diversified cropping etc. Broadcast of the same modules by All India Radio led to over

150 listeners from across the district writing directly about these programme being invited by AIR to

Raichur for a live dialogue on the impact of these programmes. Other initiatives related to iTV or the

Village Information Board is at the prototype stage.

Celebrating world water day in one of the project villages of FES project area

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The efforts undertaken by our partnered projects by FES

and PRADAN over time have led to changes in the basic

approach taken for planning and execution of the

MGNREGS work. As a marked shift from the earlier

process, which involved male members mainly from

political affiliations, it’s now the community that takes

part in the participatory planning process and SHG

members get actively involved in the process.

Prioritization of the work is as per community need.

Apart from the infrastructure development and water

conservation efforts, initiative around agriculture allied

works like mango & cashew orchard, social forestry,

plantation of Tasar for sericulture, farm pond, nutrition

garden for malnourished children etc. are bring observed.

The results of behaviour change and attitude is reflected with the increased participation of women folks

into supervisory and decision-making roles with both male and female supervisor and nomination of women

SHG members by Upa-sangha in block planning team.

Case I: Developing Commons through MGNREGS

FES has been facilitating implementation of MGNREGS in Chikkaballapur and Kolar districts of Karnataka

since 2008 with focus on planning and implementing MGNREGS activities with a watershed approach. One

of the major components has been training of Kayaka Bandhus (mates) on their roles and responsibilities,

rules and procedures, benefits and importance of commons and the possibilities of their development using

MGNREGS. In addition, ‘one- day’ orientation programmes on Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise

(IPPE) were also conducted at the GP level involving Kayaka Bandhus, elected GP members, representatives

of Milk Producer’s Cooperative Societies (MPCSs), SHG Federations, MGNREGS staff, ASHA workers etc.

These orientations enabled participants to prepare comprehensive MGNREGS Plan for their villages. FES

engaged resource persons from State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD), Mysore to deliver these

trainings to Kayaka Bandhus in the Gram Panchayats.

On completion of training, a series of write-shops were organized to document their learning, achievements,

challenges faced, future training needs, and follow-up support required. Most of the Kayaka Bandhus felt

they had much better clarity on MGNREGS implementation, had better coordination with engineers of

MGNREGS and were able to actively support in updating the MIS. They also felt that trainings provided them

with information on importance and benefits of common land and water resources and about opportunities

of their development under MGNREGS. They requested for (i) handholding support by FES for developing

their Commons under MGNREGS, (ii) regular monthly meetings, (iii) frequent communication through

telephones and mobiles, (iv) circulation of MGNREGS newsletters, (v) deployment and support to select good

Kayaka Bandhus for trainings on MGNREGS, (vi) experience sharing with other Kayaka Bandhus.

Padyatra (rally) organized by AKRSP – I in its project area

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2.2 Making it easy

The above have been supplemented by several other efforts to help increase people’s confidence to adopt

improved practices of cultivation, take initiatives for improved governance and management of water,

supporting community organisations undertake advocacy efforts at the local level and alike. These have been

mainly in the form of:

Conducting exposure visits, establishment of

demonstration plots, use of audio visuals on

successful case studies

Interface with technical experts

Organising training programmes and other

capacity building measures on issues that

concerns community

Strengthening functioning of community

organisations by supporting them to frame rules

for resource use and help implement them

Helping community develop plans

Facilitating interface of community organisations

with formal institutions such as panchayats

Identifying and updating local knowledge and

technologies that are easy to adopt and replicable

Creating and establishing asset management systems in the planning stage itself

Demystifying complex processes related to water use and conservation, demand management and

agriculture

Developing an enabling environment at the macro level that helps community take initiatives and

action

Motivation though Radio programme: HUF-SAMUHA project has been actively advocating low water paddy

cultivation and Non Pesticide Management in this village of 260 families. A 27-member farmer group has been

part of this programme. Broadcast of sustainable agricultural practices was aired through Raichur Akashvani.

Mr. Gajendra, son of Shivappa, a young, enthusiastic farmer from Bommanahalli village in H.Siddapura Gram

Panchayath, which is at a distance of 25 kms from Deodurga Taluk, also heard this programme. He was

particularly inspired by low water paddy and NPM practices broadcast. Motivated by the broadcast, he

cultivated paddy in his 3 acre land in low water and NPM method. He says “I retained around 1-2 inches of water

in the field and as a result, pest and disease attack were controlled and the yield was high.” He was able to save

water as earlier he used to keep 6 inches of water in the paddy field and spend money on chemical fertilizers.

Gajendra harvested 150 bags of paddy from three acres. The cost of cultivation has reduced, and he is able to

control the spread of disease and pests through low water and NPM practices, reaping a bumper crop. He is one

among the many farmers who have been motivated by broadcast and narrowcast agricultural radio talks.

Training on Treatment of sugarcane planting material to farmers in Badwani, Madhya

Pradesh

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To further sensitise farmers and develop their confidence, events on specific days were organised. PANI, for

example, in our partnered project in eastern Uttar Pradesh organised an event on World Water Day having

representation from various stakeholders including community.

2.3 Make it rewarding Both qualitative and quantitative benefits and rewards have helped community to come forward, adopt

recommended practices and behaviours in the form of:

Local availability of employment due to project work hence reduction in migration

Basic needs of fuel, fodder and water are fulfilled locally

Water availability enhanced both in terms of quantity and duration resulting in availability for critical

irrigation, increased cropping area, cropping intensity, production and improved economics of

cultivation

Supporting community to adopt water efficient agriculture technologies and practices

Felicitating and recognising community efforts and encouraging them to take initiatives

Enhancing capacities and knowledge about new practices and technologies

Qualitative benefits such as recognition of efforts either as a group or individual, enhancing their capacities

and knowledge has prompted community members in several instances to come forward and adopt water

efficient agriculture practices on seeing the benefits of their peers.

Celebrating World Water Day: PANI along with its network partners celebrated World Water Day on March 22,

2016 in nine blocks of seven districts of Uttar Pradesh. Theme of the event was “Water and Jobs”. Participants

included members from women group of project area, representative from media, educational institutions,

government officials and research institutions. Discussions during the event concentrated on Agriculture and

Water conservation with through different techniques and behaviours. Sri Rajeev Kumar Singh, Honourable

Agriculture State Minister, Government of Uttar Pradesh was the chief guest. In the event farmers were

sensitised on water conservation through video shows and print media. Sri Rajeev Kumar Singh drew attention

towards seriousness of the water crisis in Bundelkhand and Maharashtra and encouraged the efforts being made

for conserving water. Considering the theme of World Water Day Mr. R.B. Singh Program Director - Technical,

PANI described that how water and employment correlate with each other. Almost half of the world's workers

are working in water-related sectors and nearly all jobs depend on water and those that ensure its safe delivery.

Yet millions of water workers are not recognized or protected by basic labour rights. In the event, 1078 persons

participated including 482 men and 596 women farmers, in addition to government officials, people’s

representative, social workers, representatives from media and other dignitaries.

On seeing the benefits of system of rice intensification in Kumarbandh in West Bengal, farmers of other

villages have also adopted the technique. Further, these practices were introduced in Kharif season in 2014.

The community voluntarily continued these practices in the following year and also adopted them in summer

paddy. The upland which used to remain barren is now under vegetable cultivation by trellis method or Rain

shelter Tomato Cultivation.

Reimagining Water


Further, use of organic farm inputs such as vermi compost, organic manure, farm yard manure, NADEP, and

bio - pesticides is also being promoted in a major way along with water friendly agriculture practices among

farming communities in the project villages.

In addition to quantitative benefits accruing to the community that have acted as a motivating factor for

them, partners have also resorted to recognising the efforts put in by community and rewarding them on a

public platform.

This programme has been beneficial to the community and the efforts of the community resource persons

have been recognised and rewarded by government as is exemplified below.

Increased work demand under MGNREGS has also helped in improving livelihood of Rojgar Sevaks who are

also realising benefit of the approach adopted.

A total of 12232 farmers across the project locations of FES made a shift in their present agricultural practices

through measures such as seed varietal replacement, seed treatment, use of organic manure, nutrient

management, non-pesticide management, irrigation scheduling, shift from conventional to SRI techniques, as

well as crop replacements in some of the cases.

In Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, Olam has been successful in motivating farmers to adopt agricultural practices

such as trash mulching, drip irrigation, green manuring, furrow irrigation, application of farm yard manure,

skip furrow in sugarcane cultivation. As a result, 18608 ha of area has been stabilised (due to promotion of

agriculture package of practices, micro irrigation, treated to reduce the demand of water etc.).

One of the community resource persons in the project

area of PANI was felicitated by Honourable Chief

Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mr. Akhilesh Yadav for her

concerted efforts in imparting training to women

farmers on improved agricultural practices and helping

them adopt the same. This happened because she was

helped adoption of SRI by 60 women farmers in 20 Acre

of farm in just 3 months of her tenure and trained 223

women farmers on improved farming techniques. In lieu

of this, her work was also covered and highlighted by the

state news agency “Gaon Connection” in collaboration

with Aajtak – a national news TV channel.

Neetu – a Community Resource Person in HUF supported project implemented by PANI

in UP felicitated by Government of U.P.

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Similarly, adoption of improved agriculture practices has also helped farmers reap benefits in the form of

increased agriculture production and hence increased incomes. Farmers are being supported and

encouraged to adopt these practices. In addition to adopting such practices for high water consuming crops

Cultivating onion the improved way

Smt. Surjamati and her husband Ramdeen of Kudiya Gram Panchayat in Uska Bazar block of Siddharth Nagar

District in eastern Uttar Pradesh have only one acre of land and on which the entire family is dependent. There

are instances when Ramdeen has to migrate to nearby towns for work as labour to make both ends meet.

PANI along with its partner advised the family to go in for cultivation of Onion during the rabi season. But the

family was hesitant as it had never cultivated the crop. Hence, a training was organised in the village and a

resource person from the agriculture department was involved. With continued interaction and persuasion, the

family agreed to go in for onion cultivation. One kg of onion seed was provided to prepare nursey for their 0.5

acre of land as per recommended package of practice. However, that was more than enough and the family sold

one-fourth of their nursery. As per the recommendation, he resorted to raised bed cultivation and irrigated in

the channels on the side of the bed once in 15 days. In all six irrigations (irrigations – could you explain what this

means?) were given resulting savings of water & diesel. Earlier they were under the practice of flood irrigation

and hence they were irrigating their farm for longer time.

These practices bore fruit. The family have got 48 quintal onions from 0.5 Acre of land which worth about

Rs.48000/- after investing Rs. 12000/- only. They said that if they would have not gone for onion they would

have opted wheat in the same land got only 10 qt. wheat worth of Rs. 14000/- after investing about Rs. 5000/-

like last year. Not only the family got an additional net income of Rs. 27000/- from 0.5 acre land but also saved

24 lakh liter water in comparison to flood irrigated onion.

Drip irrigation boon to tribal farmers

Maganbhai Anasyabhai Gavit resides in Divadiyavan, a tribal village located 30 km from Waghai and in the banks

of Purna River where AKRSP – I is implementing the project. With 15 acres of land for his family with five brothers,

he uses three acres of for his livelihood, which he irrigates by lifting water from river with 10 hp engine. He cultivates

paddy, groundnut, watermelon, Bengal Gram (Tuvar), Black gram (Adadh) and green fodder during different

seasons in a year.

In the year 2015, he showed interest in undertaking drip irrigation. A survey was undertaken by NETAFIM, after

which an estimate in a group of five farmers was prepared amounting to Rs. 2.2 lakhs. Out of the total amount, Rs.

1.4 lakhs of subsidy was granted by Gujarat Green Revolution Company (GGRC), farmers contributed Rs.16, 000 and

rest from the grant of Axis bank foundation (ABF).

He installed drip in the plot where he cultivates watermelons. With the support of Krushi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)

Waghai, he received four rolls of Plastic sheets for mulching worth of Rs. 6,000 and used in the drip fields.

As a result, he harvested 4 tons of melon in the same plot where he used to harvest not even a ton earlier. Earlier

he could sell in the local market due to less quantity but this time sold his produce in Dharampur market and realized

Rs. 30,000, in comparison to Rs. 5000, which he used to get by selling in the local market. Also he has reduced the

cost of lifting of almost Rs. 2000 per season for the same crop. There are more than 30 farmers in Divadiyavan

village who have undertaken Drip irrigation in their fields and got such benefits and inspiring other nearby villages

to undertake this intervention.

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such as paddy, wheat and sugarcane, other crops such as onion are also being focused upon in an attempt

to encourage water friendly behaviour in agriculture as a whole.

2.4 Make it habit Making changed behaviour a habit requires regular support and follow-up for some time for enhanced

confidence and belief of community. Following elements have had a positive impact on making improved

practices a habit among the community:

Continued nurturing, follow - up and hand holding support

Developing support systems for farmers. In several of the projects a cadre of community resource

persons has been developed to guide farmers and their institutions continue the practice.

Benefits arising out of project activities such as improved situation of natural resources, enhanced

yield, and local availability of wage

employment, better financial stability and

improved standard of living are the factors

identified by WOTR in our partnered

project areas as having helped farmers

continue changed behaviour.

Generating awareness through

programmes that are organised on a

regular basis coinciding with Gram Sabha

when annual action plans for MGNREGS

are made

Organising events like Rozgar Diwas

helping people to register their demand

for work and discussion on MGNREGS

related issues

Watershed Project in Nashik implemented by MITRA being felicitated by NABARD

Exposure visit of farmers to Onion and Garlic Processing Centre, Maharashtra

Regular training and inputs have helped rural community adopt water friendly practices and develop

water centric thinking

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Providing hand holding support as and when needed

Supporting and encouraging community to discuss and disseminate the achievements among

others

In project interventions the efforts have been to strengthen the community capacity to develop and

implement rules and regulations for optimum use of reservoir water for irrigation and drinking water and

providing rights to poor and women led households. The case of FES in its efforts of ‘Commoning the

Commons’ reflects such measures adopted.

“I have been cultivating paddy for many years, but this year I adopted the SRI method

and got two quintals of increased production in 0.25 acre area and saved two hours in

irrigation. I will continue this method in my whole field during next season and also help

generate awareness in the neighbouring community.”

Smt. Sangeeta (Village: Maholi, Block: Sohawal, District - Faizabad)

Further, there have been cases when community of nearby areas have invited their peers to train and support

them in initiating water efficient activities in their area.

Bringing about behaviour change in rural community on practices that they have been conducting since

decades requires patience, perseverance and concerted efforts in developing an understanding of the

present set of practices. Convincing farmers that the new practices will be beneficial for them and help them

improve their standard of life takes time, as it needs a new mind-set and perspective. The results that we see

today have been possible only after intensive efforts for a considerable period – in most cases for a year or

Commoning Reservoir – Strengthening collective action to boost economy: village Bhatgaon, Mandala

The residents of Bhatgaon, a predominantly tribal village in Niwas block of Mandla district, depend on

agriculture and agriculture labour for their livelihoods. The 14-hectare reservoir, with a 1000-hectare

catchment area, plays a significant role in their lives as it is a source of irrigation, provides water to the livestock

and is viable for fishing all year round. But none of this was able to deter the local elite from leasing the

reservoir to a private contractor for fishing, thus devoiding the entire community of their collective right on the

use of reservoir water and its produce.

In its efforts of ‘Commoning the Commons’, FES as a first step undertook training of villagers on various facets

of the legal framework of the fisheries sector and helped them register a fisheries cooperative, ensuring

participation of the poor as well as the elite. A Gram Sabha meeting ensured leasing of the reservoir to the

Fisheries Cooperative of the village. Starting with a membership of 27 families, the cooperative now has 52

families and with ongoing efforts to involve the remaining households. The fruits of this collective action

showed when the cooperative earned Rs. 15,000 from its first harvest, after first sharing some part of the catch

with all the families in the village. With this income and initial savings, the community has purchased 100,000

fingerlings and released it in the reservoir.

Rules have been put in place for optimum use of the reservoir water for irrigation and drinking water for

livestock and for providing fishing rights to the poor and women led households. Furthermore, the people of

the community have the initial right to buy fish at a lower price.

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two. Bringing about desired behaviour change also requires implementing different strategies – may be in

two different villages. These have included demonstration plots, convincing farmers to adopt new practice

on a part of his land, facilitating engagement with technical experts, engaging with opinion makers,

identifying progressive farmers and developing them as early adopters and alike. Once a farmer gains

confidence then there have been cases that they themselves propagate the idea among their peers.

Community members measuring water level in well in one of

the project villages in Uttar Pradesh

Intercropping with chilli (above) and gram

(below) in sugarcane in Barwani

In Arraha panchayat in West Bengal there was installation of vermi beds with 90 families in two sub clusters.

Here, the trainers from adjacent Sub-cluster gave the training to this Sub cluster (Baramara) and groomed the

farmers on the maintenance of these beds.

Balimundi sub cluster leaders invited Baramara sub cluster agriculture trainers to train the farmers for the

installation and maintenance demonstrating lateral transformation of knowledge.

On seeing the benefits of system of rice intensification in Kumarbandh, West Bengal, farmers of other villages

have also adopted the technique. Further, these practices were introduced in Kharif season in 2014 and

community on its own continued them to next year and adopted them in summer paddy too. Additionally the

upland that used to remain barren is now under vegetable cultivation by trellis method or Rain shelter Tomato

Cultivation.

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Chapter 4: Prabhat Water Projects at HUL Manufacturing Locations Sustained availability, use and management of water resources requires all stakeholders to act in a

responsible manner. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has been making conscious efforts around its factory

locations for water conservation and management and, supporting farming community to adopt improved

agriculture practices which on one hand help in improving agriculture production and are water efficient on

the other.

Below is the description of the efforts that have been made by HUL for water harvesting, conservation,

management and strengthening livelihood of rural communities around factory locations. Farmers have been

supported and capacitated to adopt improved and water efficient agriculture practices and form community

institutions for improved governance of water. Concerted efforts have been made to further employee

engagement in community interventions and set - up institutional mechanisms involving HUL, community

and partner NGO that help in collective management of projects.

In December 2013, Hindustan Unilever Limited launched project ‘Prabhat - a Unilever Sustainable Living Plan

linked program aimed at providing holistic solutions to improve the lifestyle of communities living around

Unilever South Asia locations.

Over the years, our factories have played a major role in driving and shaping the socio-economic landscape

around each of our units. These efforts have evoked a sense of pride in our employees and their families.

Thus to create synergy between factory and the community around it, Prabhat projects are initiated.

The objective of project Prabhat is to create a positive impact through sustainable interventions in pillars of

water conservation, enhancing livelihoods and health and hygiene. Presently, Prabhat water conservation

pillar works in alignment and support of HUF at nine manufacturing sites of HUL.

While HUF provides the programme framework, supports in identifying implementing NGOs and funds the

water pillar, the supply chain team of HUL drives the program on the ground. Prior to commencing a Prabhat

water programme, a risk opportunity mapping is conducted for the manufacturing locations and basis the

priorities programmes are assigned to the respective locations. Post selection of the factory location,

implementing partner/NGO is finalized through a due diligence process. These NGOs may or may not be local

to the selected project area but are reputed and renowned in their domain. Thus, HUL gives our partners a

chance to explore and evolve their capabilities in new areas by creating a favorable ecosystem for them in

project locations. Team formations are the next step where NGO appoints the implementation team on

ground and factory assigns employees who will anchor this programme from the unit’s end.

For evaluating the project progress, every month, the NGO partners share the ‘Water Scorecard’. These

scorecards, designed by Prabhat central team ensure standardization of reporting and reviewing across

multiple partners spread across multiple sites. The scorecards highlight the key activities undertaken and the

plans for the following month. This is followed by a review call between all the key stakeholders nominated

to anchor the programme. Field visits are conducted by the factory team member, in co-ordination with a

representative from the NGO team. For quarterly progress evaluation, a joint review committee is set up

which includes

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1. From HUL & HUF – factory’s Unit HR Manager and Prabhat central team - Water Program Lead

2. From the NGO - two representatives nominated by NGO and

3. From the community - two representatives mutually agreed between NGO and HUL & HUF

representatives.

Thus, the monthly field visits and review call helps factory team in monitoring as well as connecting closely

with their communities which are called the ‘Prabhat communities’.

This programme certainly creates awareness about the innovative water-agriculture interventions in the

community as well as factory teams contribute positively by applying their engineering skills and agro based

knowledge for the benefit of society. Below is the list of HUL factory locations and NGOs currently working

on the Prabhat water projects:

Factory Implementing Partner Project start date

HUL Silvassa BAIF – DHRUVA Oct 2013

HUL Khamgaon BAIF- MITTRA Oct 2013

Lakmelever Private Limited, Gandhidham

Sahjeevan Dec 2014

HUL, Etah BAIF- BIRD UP Feb 2014

HUL Orai Parmarth Feb 2014

HUL Sumerpur Parmarth Sept 2014

HUL Puducherry DHAN Foundation Mar 2015

HUL Hosur IRDT Dec 2015

HUL Rajpura BAIF-BIRD UP Dec 2014

HUF supported Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM) to

initiate a groundwater study at Rajpura last year to understand ground water contamination and aquifer

mapping. With the support of BAIF for conducting soil and water testing, the study has been completed in

this assessment year.

Amongst the water projects few have completed more than one year and some have just started but the

impact these projects have already been registered among factory team, community and local government

that has helped in securing their involvement. The participative approach of the HUL unit team anchoring

the programme on ground and supporting the NGO for the benefit of the community has had a win-win-win

outcome for all stakeholders involved.

Here are instances and moments shared by factory team of all the manufacturing sites.

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4.1 Prabhat Jal Samruddhi Project, Silvassa

This project was amongst the first few projects started during the launch of Prabhat in December 2013. The

factory team has been very spontaneous and helpful in supporting NGO in implementing the project. This

year, the project has implemented one diversion based irrigation system where the water from upstream

has been managed to flow and use in field with zero energy utilization. Water transports to the farmlands

using gravity force hence this makes project activity extremely financially viable. This system of irrigating

farmland is very inexpensive and has environmentally sustainable design of water supply system.

Mr. Sundar Mahajan, Factory Manager, Dapada factory says – “It has always been a delight for me

whenever I meet people and they share their happiness and success stories of increased crop and water

supply even during the odd times of the year. I remember once they told me how the check dam has been

a relief to them during summers, and even people travel around 1 km from the nearby villages to the

check dams. Water projects have also helped the villagers to increase the income generation of

households through secondary vegetable cultivation. I would also like to appreciate the continuous efforts

& active involvement of our volunteers, Keep it up!!”

The benefits due to the on-going project work in their villages in terms of

increase in income, livelihood options and water availability in the structures have created a sense of pride

amongst the factory employees coming from these villages.

Mr. Ragao Nakare, factory employee expresses his gratitude by saying, “I’m thankful to Prabhat for

constructing check dam which has helped a lot in recharging our bore well since the water level had

initially gone low. It has also helped my family and the nearby families for self-sustenance since we’ve

been using the water from check dam for growing vegetables in order to meet our daily food

requirements.”

BAIF-DHRUVA’s field project team have taken a lot of efforts in making this project reach to remotely situated

tribal households in Silvassa. The joint efforts of HUL and BAIF-DHRUVA have been recognized at various

platforms such as HUL Silvassa factory team has received award for best CSR initiative in Silvassa in 2014.

4.2 Prabhat Jal Samruddhi Project, Khamgaon

Khamgaon, in Vidharbha region of Maharashtra is one of the most water scarce areas. Infertility of land,

insufficient water resources, lack of new technologies to use water efficiently in agriculture etc. are the

Soniben of village Karchond, Hamlet Khadkipada in her agriculture farm. Khadakipada check dam photo

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challenges for the farmers of Khamgaon. As part of this programme, HUL through BAIF-MITTRA has

constructed 18 check dams and desilted six check dams thus creating water conservation structures. HUL’s

Khamgaon factory team has been actively involved right from location selection to check dam maintenance.

They further extend support through continuous inspections and monitoring. In fact, since start of the project

282 farmers have come together through the water user group, which works for check dam and thus

maintains the sustainability of the intervention.

“Unilever always believes in creating a better tomorrow. And our dream is to create a

bright future for everyone. In Khamgaon region, Project Prabhat is enabling us to extend

our USLP agenda to the communities in which we operate. Helping them to become a

part of sustainable future through water conservation…”

Sugam Kumar, Factory Manager at HUL Khamgaon

“At Khamgaon water conservation has become an

integral part our life. We strive for saving each and

every drop of water. Project Prabhat has given us

opportunity to inculcate the same habit in nearby

community members…”

Gautam Kumar, Unit HR Manager

“Project Prabhat has brought a new dawn in our

lives...It has given us vision to look for better water

conservation techniques and help my community to

fight the war against our life long problem of water

scarcity...”

Naren Bidwai, HR Executive

4.3 Prabhat Jal Samruddhi Project, Orai Prabhat’s Jal Samrudhi programme for communities around our factories at Orai and Sumerpur has proven

to be beneficial to the farmers in rural areas of drought hit Bundelkhand. It is one of the most challenged

ecosystems characterized by scarce ground water resource & scanty rainfall. The Prabhat water programme

is funded and facilitated by HUF and implemented by the NGO Parmarth.

Sachin Palamwar Factory Manager Orai has said, “The check dam made in Daulatpura and other

villages under our program is highly beneficial in water shading. One farmer from Daulatpura has

given feedback, that he was able to produce wheat in his plot due to check dam. Also, the check dam

made under our program is very sustainable and has more water holding capacity.

Our shop floor employees from these villages where project is undertaken feel proud of the work

done by HUL. In the words of Indal Singh Barar, a resident of Rageda village and also an employee at

factory says, “Spillways made under program is beneficial in stopping earth erosion and increasing

ground water level”.

Crop with installed Drip irrigation

systems in the field of farmer Rahul Kale

in Ghatpuri village, Khamgaon

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“Check dam made under the programme is holding good amount of water and helpful in increasing

ground water level and also helpful in irrigation “, feedback given by Seva Singh, HUL employee at

Orai factory resident of Ragauli village.

4.4 Prabhat Jal Smaruddhi Project, Sumerpur

Parmarth Seva Samiti mainly works in the drought prone areas of Bundelkhand. In Sumerpur, HUL works

along with Parmarth for implementing water projects in the surrounding rural areas. The efforts taken by

field project team lead by Sivmangal Singh has been recognised by the district collector of Sumerpur.

Mr. Dhiraj Singh, Unit HR manager says,

“Water, the very essence of life is a

commodity that is very hard to come by in

the Bundelkhand area. Droughts are as

frequent as power cuts and for the past 2

years this area has been termed as a dark

zone. Yes. Such is the dearth of water here.

Sumerpur factory has stepped up and

decided to do something about this

problem partnering with Paramarth.

The plan was to construct check dam, water bund

and pipe spill way , to contain water and increase

the ground water level. In total we have

constructed four Check dams , farm bunds and

eightPipe spill way.

Through these efforts, 35 acres of farmland will be irrigated as well as water level of nearby hand-pumps and

tube well will increase, with sustained maintenance of this good practice by “Pani Panchayath” we are

hopeful that the drought would be a story of past and this would turn into a green belt.”

New innovative schemes like seed banks have been introduced in the project during the assessment year

2015-16. Six seed banks have been created to benefit farmers with improved variety of seeds in the project

location.

Shachindra Kumar, Factory Manager, Sumerpur who often takes time out to visit the project site along with

his team says ,”We feel thrilled to see the impact that our Prabhat water programme with Parmarth is having

on ground. When we recently visited the check dams, which were overflowing post this year's monsoons, so

many farmers came and shared with us, how happy they are and how their lives have improved due to the

water programme running in Prabhat villages. It was a truly a proud moment for us”.

Jal Prabandh project at Gandhidham focuses on creating water goveranance model by involving Gram

Panchayats in the programme.

Gajendra Pal Singh, Factory Manager says, “The goodwill created, thanks to the work done in the area of

water availability and water conservation has been overwhelming. This initiative is certainly building close

bonding of LLPL with local stakeholders…”

Radha Rani – one of the project beneficiaries in

Sumerpur sharing her experience

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Mukta Vishwakarma, unit HR Manager further adds, “The Unit along with team Sahjeevan meets every month

regularly to review the progress which certainly helps in seeking faster solutions. By working in the area of

actual need of the communities, we are making a sustainable impact.

“Factory has done a great job in making the pond available. Earlier, the rainwater would flow into

the river, which is now getting stored and as a result, the water level on the ground has gone up. This

has benefitted the cattle, birds and animals of the village.” – Gagubai Humbal from Bhimasar Village

(HUL Shop floor employee)

4.5 Prabhat Jal Samrudhi Project, Puducherry

The water conservation project at Puducherry is implemented by Dhan Foundation with an objective of

enhancing the water security and protect the ground water from seawater intrusion to stabilize the

livelihoods of poor marginal farming and dependent communities. In this assessment year, Dhan with

support from the HUL factory team has been successful in mobilizing communities of the selected project

locations and renovating one feeder channel.

Bala Murgan, Safety, Health and Environment Manager at the Puducherry factory’s home and personal care

unit, works closely on this project . He has been actively involved in all the activities and programmes

undertaken by NGO. He says,

"Our initiative to renovate 30 ponds and thereby recharging the ground water level has helped the

community significantly because of increased water levels. Since Puducherry is a notified area under

’Highly Depleted’ Ground Water Levels, authorities were initially reluctant in granting approval for

our 260KL ground water consent for Home Care Liquids Projects. By submitting our proposal of

renovation 30 Ponds to improve the ground water levels helped us in getting approvals from the

authorities for additional water requirement"

"The synergy among the working committee members acted as a catalyst in our successful journey in

water conservation projects. High amount of involvement from local community enthused the team

to spread the projects to more locations", says Joseph Alexander, unit HR Manager.

"HUL's initiative in ground water conservation projects especially in the western parts

Puducherry is highly appreciable. Recharge of water will be highly effective in these

areas considering the geographical advantage of western Puducherry being the entry

point of River Varaga"

V Radhakrishnan, Member Secretary, Regional Committee Ground Water Authority,

Government of Puducherry

4.6 Win-Win Situation at Manufacturing Sites

Prabhat water projects at manufacturing sites sets a real example for creating win-win situation for HUL’s

business as well as the community. The water conserved over the period of time is beneficial for agriculture,

thereby helping the farmers. The water projects create opportunities for villagers to increase agriculture yield

and livelihood in local area. These projects have resulted in people being aware of HUL’s commitment and

involvement in development of the communities’ right at the grass root level, thereby enhancing the

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relations between the factory and its ecosystem. Also at locations like Orai and Sumerpur, Jal Samruddhi

project models have been recognized by local government who have suggested that such interventions and

practices are replicated in other parts of the district.

Prabhat’s water projects provide an opportunity for the factory team to connect with the community and

NGOs for working towards a common goal. Their efforts and the progress of the programmes are recognized

and shared within the Unilever community as well. This brings alive Unilever’s belief that employees are an

important stakeholder in creating social impact while working with communities. Thus, HUL motivates its

employees to become agents for social change and to adopt socially responsible behavior. The efforts by

employees and the leadership team involved in Prabhat water projects are recognized internally by

publishing success stories of villagers on internal communication platforms. There are various awards where

factories get a chance to nominate themselves for the social and environment work carried out by them. In

addition, an annual event is conducted where efforts of the NGOs and the factory team members involved

in driving Prabhat are recognized by the Prabhat Central and Unit Leadership team. This further helps to

motivate our partners and team members to bring the Prabhat vision alive every single day at every possible

touch point.

The key reason for success of these programmes is the active involvement of our leaders and employees in

driving it and completely owning the initiative. The central team puts together the roadmap, identifies the

operating partners, initiates baseline surveys and handholds the ground teams at every step - from project

initiation to execution. On ground, the factory team passionately leads the initiative in their local

environment and engage with the communities through multiple forums and opportunities as has been

shared in this report.

4.7 Alignment with other pillars of Prabhat Currently Prabhat has been focusing on the three key USLP pillars - health and hygiene, enhancing livelihoods

and water conservation (as part of reducing environmental impact). Depending on the location and its

requirement, multiple Prabhat interventions are currently being implemented. While the programmes are

created basis the need of the community and are currently executed independently until the model is

stabilized, it is not far-fetched to hope that in future, integration between these pillars will further help the

interventions become more sustainable and holistic with community reaping its complete benefit.

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Chapter 5: Water harvesting through soil and moisture conservation

measures and water harvesting structures: Methodology and analysis from

HUF project area. India, which accounts for one-sixth of the world’s population, already faces water stress that is likely to

exacerbate in future. Unsustainable agricultural practices, industrial pollution, and poor civic planning have

further decreased the per capita availability of utilizable water. Water shortages will not only severely

restrain the nation’s ability to sustain its economic growth but also lead to food shortages and more conflicts,

with negative social and political consequences.

The present chapter details out the efforts that HUF has made in developing a methodology to assess the

quantity of water that has been harvested and conserved as a result of water harvesting and soil and moisture

conservation activities implemented in the project area. It needs to be mentioned that the methodology is

still evolving and efforts were made to further strengthen it. The methodology takes into account the

evaporation and percolation factors as also the soil type, topography and rainfall.

Water scarcity is among the main problems that the world faces today. India is no exception, as it grapples

with the problem of water shortage in many of its regions. Analysis from several international studies

indicates that by 2030, demand in India will grow to almost 1.5 trillion m3, driven by domestic demand for

rice, wheat, and sugar for a growing population, a large proportion of which is moving toward a middle-class

diet. Against this demand, India’s current water supply is approximately 740 billion m3. As a result, most of

India’s river basins could face severe deficit by 2030 unless concerted action is taken, with some of the most

populous —including the Ganga, the Krishna, and the Indian portion of the Indus—facing the biggest absolute

gap.

Ministry of Water Resources data indicates that out of the total average annual rainfall, 17.25% water

resources are harnessed through surface water harvesting measures and 10.82% water resources are

recharged into the ground water. The water harvesting quantity depends on the runoff generated in the

catchment area, and storage capacity of the structures. Ground water recharging quantity from the

watershed area mainly depends upon the rainfall intensity, amount of rainfall, rainy days, soil type of the

area, soil textures, soil depth, topographical slope, geological formation of the watershed area, types of soil

and water conservation measures in the watershed area etc. So far, the designs of the water harvesting

structures and soil and moisture conservation measures are carried out on the basis of stability analysis,

socio-technical feasible site, Existing situation of project sites and proposed use. The water harvesting design

can use the storage capacity of the structures but analysis was not attempted so far to calculate daily-based

water availability from runoff, actual evaporation and infiltration from structure.

If we want to work to address water related issues, detailed water budgeting and water balancing is

important. Unless we do proper measurement of available surface water, ground water recharging from the

watershed area through different interventions we cannot assess actual availability of water resources. Large

temporal and spatial variations are observed in rainfall and hence in water availability. Most of the water is

available during the monsoon period and that too, through a few spells of intense rainfall, resulting in floods

Reimagining Water


in major river systems. The changing rainfall patterns are affecting available water in water harvesting

structures and ground water recharging rates.

Quality of rain

PIA Project Location Rainfall (MM)

Runoff Generated (MM/Ha)

Runoff (% ) of Rainfall

AKRSP Ahwa 1286 469 36.47

DSC Visnagar 1262 557 44.14

DSC Modasa 907 395 43.55

DSC Himmatnagar 997 420 42.13

SIED Sakri 1073 418 38.96

SIED Navapur 934 329 35.22

MITTRA Nashik Igatpuri 1074 381 35.47

In the HUF project area, an attempt has been taken to calculate actual runoff availability from catchment

area of different water harvesting measures, daily basis quantity available in structure, daily evaporation and

infiltration from the structure. We believe that the methodology will be create a platform to discuss the

improving the designing of water harvesting structures based on recharging of required quantity from the

catchment area and improve the availability of surface water. If we improve and adopt the design of water

harvesting measures based on required recharging quantity against the current changing climate scenario,

we will be able influence the current surface and ground water available at large scale.

HUF has been supporting the process of democratisation of water thinking and action through its various

projects and initiatives. Based on its experience since 2010 and the increasing portfolio of more than 2500

project villages which focus on supply side project interventions in different parts of the country we realise

there is huge potential to contribute in India’s development through sharing our learning. The continuous

encouragement from different project stakeholders have helped to share learning from devised water

harvesting methodology. The main objectives of the methodology are given below.

1. For water democratisation, various stakeholders need to understand associated water related

factors in simple ways. The attempt has been taken here to explain rainfall analysis, runoff generated

from project area based on antecedent soil moisture condition, water availability in the water

harvesting measures on daily basis, infiltration and evaporation from structures

2. The methodology will help to establish field level instrumental set up for collecting real time data

and assess the runoff, surface water availability, possible recharging from project area and hence

water budgeting based on annual precipitation.

3. The methodology will help to change the designing parameters of different soil and moisture

conservation measures for maximising the surface storage, ground water recharging and hence

effective planning of available resources.

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4. This will also provide a discussion platform for different water practitioners to improve the methods

and contribute to improve the methodology for maximising the benefits at micro to macro level.

5.1 Future trajectories and potential application associated with the methodology

1. HUF has developed excel-based programming for getting automated calculation of soil and moisture

conservation measures, water-harvesting structures like farm ponds, earthen dams / check dams etc.

2. Excel and Java-based programming has been developed which gives automatic analysis of rainfall-

runoff, storage capacity of all interventions, runoff generated in project area, volume harvested by

particular structure, actual water infiltrated and evaporated from the structure.

3. The methodology can be used for water budgeting based on real time weather data.

4. It is possible to use this methodology for watershed based crop planning based on available water

resources.

5. The methodology can also be used for soil moisture analysis and preparing agriculture crop specific

advisories.

5.2 Process adopted for devising the methodology:

1. The initial method for calculating the water harvested by the structure was storage capacity

multiplied by the expected number of filling. This was upgraded to daily runoff availability from the

catchment area, discounting of excess runoff water than storage capacity and evaporation losses on

daily basis and infiltration happens from the structure on a daily basis.

2. Initially, excel based programme was developed to carry out water harvesting analysis of various

structures in consultation with various partners. The excel-based programme now gives us

automated analysis of water harvested by the structures once we have provided the basic structural

dimension details, evaporation losses and rainfall analysis.

3. An excel based programme has been devised for intervention specific water harvesting analysis. In

order to reduce the time taken for analysis a Java based programme has been developed with the

support from interns from SPJIMR (SP Jain Institute of Management and Research) Institute Mr.

Kaushal Kapadia and Mr. Amit Pallav. The developed programme / App able do automatic daily-based

rainfall analysis and activity wise water-harvesting analysis within a short time.

4. Feedback has been requested from several partner organization on the water harvesting

methodology and automated programme as incorporated where necessary.

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Water harvesting methodology flowchart

5.3 Data points required for calculation for water harvesting

Sr. No Data Points Unit Source

A Interventions detail Type of structure

1 Structure type Project MIS / Measurement Book

2 Structure length Meter Project MIS / Measurement Book

3 Structure maximum water storage height

Meter Project MIS / Measurement Book or technical report

4 Submergence area slope or bed gradient

% Project MIS / Measurement Book or technical report

B Soil and Topographical details

1 Soil type of the area Field test or secondary data source

2 Total Catchment area Ha Project MIS / Measurement Book or technical report or toposheet

3 Catchment area considered for calculation

Ha Assessment by project team based on type of catchment area and available structures in it.

4 Average Slope of the catchment area

% Assessment by project team based on toposheet or Google Maps or google earth or sourced from government documents

Rainfall Dry

Damp

Wet

Length (M)

Height (M)

Project data book

Secondary data points

Data Source

Rainfall analysis based on IASRI

for Antecedent Soil moisture

Rainfall-Runoff Analysis supported by

ECON Consultancy Nagpur

Rainfall

Analysis

Treated Area (Ha)

Structural

Dimension

Runoff Analysis

Slope of treated Area (%)

Storage capacity analysis of

the treated area or

interventions

Catchment Area (Ha)

Runoff analysis - based on

treated area or catchment

area (Cum)

Yield (Cum) /Ha of

project area

Actual water

harvested by the

structure

Water harvesting

potential created by

the structures

Analysis of

available quantity

in the structure

after discounting

evaporation loss

and discounting

excess runoff from

structure

Data Points maintained in

ProjectData Analysis

Arriving at the

quantity

Evaporation analysis from

harvested quantity

Analysis of number of

days in which structure

get overflow

Analysis of water

infiltrated in the ground

from the structures

Daily Analysis of the

available quantity of

water for harvesting

Discounting of excess

runoff beyong harvesting

capacity of structure

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C Rainfall – Day wise rainfall of the project location

MM Rain gauge station installed in project area or nearest rain gauge / weather station or website15

D Runoff analysis – Based on antecedent soil moisture condition, strange table and daily rainfall

MM Analysis by PIA or associated person.

E Evaporation – Monthly evaporation rate of the project location

MM/hr Nearest weather station, KVK or Agriculture University or government documents

F Soil Infiltration rates of the project location

MM/Hr Field experiments by PIA or by KVK or Agriculture University or from reference document

G Siltation rate – Annual siltation rate in structure

% Assessed by PIA, maintained in siltation record/ secondary source may also be referred (http://www.fao.org/docrep/s8684e/s8684e0a.htm

5.4 Rainfall – Runoff Analysis

The methodology for Runoff estimation from antecedent soil moisture condition and from Strange’s table as

depicted below.

Step I: Analysis of Antecedent soil moisture condition

15 www.awhere.com

WET

DAMP

DRY

Dry To Damp :

a. >=6 mm rainfall in the last 1 day

b. >=12 mm in the last 3 days

c. >=25 mm in the last 7 days

d. >=38 mm in the last 10 days

YIELD HEURISTIC

SO

IL M

OIS

TU

RE

RAINFALL

Wetting Process Drying Process

Dry to Wet :

if rainfall of present day

is equal to or more than

64 mmDamp to Wet :

a. >= 8 mm in the last 1 day

b. >=12 mm in last 2 days

c. >=25 mm in last 3 days

d. >=38 mm in last 5 days

Wet to Damp:

a. <=4 mm rainfall in the last

1 day

b. <=6 mm in the last 2 days

c. <=12 mm in the last 4 days

d. <=20 mm in the last 5 days

Damp to Dry:

a. <=3 mm rainfall in the last I

day

b. <=6 mm in the last 2 days

c. <=12 mm in the last 7 days

d. <=15mm in the last 10 days

http://www.fao.org/docrep/s8684e/s8684e0a.htm

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Step II: STRANGE’s TABLE (Showing Daily Runoff Percentage)16

Strange’s Tables: percentage of daily rainfall. These are based on extensive studies in the then Bombay Presidency but can be applied in similar areas.

16 Manual on artificial recharge of ground water, GoI, Ministry of water resource, Central Ground water board, Sept

2007

Daily Rainfall-

MM

Runoff Percentage and Yield when the state of Ground is

Dry Dry Damp Damp Wet Wet

% Yield % Yield % Yield

Rain Dry Dry Damp Damp Wet Wet

5 0 0 4 0.2 7 0.35

10 1 0.1 5 0.25 10 1

20 2 0.4 9 1.8 15 3

25 3 0.75 11 2.75 18 4.5

30 4 1.2 13 3.9 20 6

40 7 2.8 18 7.2 28 11.2

50 10 5 22 11 34 17

60 14 8.46 28 16.8 41 24.6

70 18 12.61 33 25.1 48 33.6

75 20 15 37 27.75 52 41.25

80 22 17.6 39 31.2 55 44

90 25 22.5 44 39.6 62 55.8

100 30 30 50 50 70 70

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5.5 Day wise Water Calculation Cycle

Excel-based programming has been developed as per following method and formulae linking for

automatic calculation. The programme will be having Area treatment details input file, Evaporation

rate input file, Rainfall-Runoff analysis file and automated water calculation.

Particular Unit Formula Remark

Date

Precipitation mm From rainfall - Runoff analysis

Runoff Yield (mm) mm From rainfall - Runoff analysis

Effective catchment area Ha From INPUT - Treatment details

Runoff generated for the particular day

Cum (Rainfall Yield (MM) / 1000)* Effective catchment area * 10000

From INPUT - Treatment details

Maximum submergence area of the structure

Sqmt Structure water storage length (M) * Structure water storage Width (M)

Storage capacity analysis

Maximum storage capacity of structure

Cum Maximum water storage height (M) X Submergence area (Sqmt) X 0.5

Storage capacity analysis

Runoff Closing balance of last day Cum

Total Runoff availability for the particular day

Cum Runoff generated for the particular day + Runoff Closing balance of last day

Opening balance at start of the day

Cum

Minimum of (Total Runoff availability for the particular day) and (Maximum storage capacity of structure)

Discounting of excess runoff available against structure storage capacity

% of the maximum storage capacity

% % of the maximum storage capacity

Available Submergence area of the harvested water for the day

Sqmt Maximum submergence area of the structure * % of the maximum storage capacity

Infiltration rate mm / hr INPUT - Treatment details

Evaporation rate mm/hr INPUT - Evaporation Rate

Quantity of evaporated water for the day

Cum (Evaporation Rate mm/Hr * 24) *Available Submergence area of the harvested water for the day

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Water Available in structure after discounting evaporation for the day

Cum Opening balance at start of the day - Quantity of evaporated water for the day

Maximum Vol that could potentially get infiltrated in 24 hrs, from available submergence area of the water body for the day

Cum (Infiltration Rate mm/Hr * 24) *Available Submergence area of the harvested water for the day

Volume infiltrated from the structure for the day based on availability of water

Cum

Minimum of (Water Available in structure after discounting evaporation for the day) and (Maximum Vol that could potentially get infiltrated in 24 hrs, from available submergence area of the water body for the day)

Vol of water available at the end of the day after evaporation and infiltration (Closing balance at end of the day)

Cum

(Opening balance at start of the day) - (Quantity of evaporated water for the day) - (Volume infiltrated from the structure for the day based on availability of water)

Volume of water overflow from the structure for the particular day

Cum (Total Runoff availability for the particular day) - (Opening balance at start of the day)

Runoff added in structure on particular day after discounting excess runoff

Cum (Opening balance at start of the day) - (Runoff Closing balance of last day)

Subsurface water availability at the end of the day after discounting evaporation and Infiltration

Cum

(Opening balance at start of the day) - (Quantity of evaporated water for the day) - (Volume infiltrated from the structure for the day based on availability of water)

5.6 Analysis from HUF project Area:

Project location considered for water harvesting analysis

Sr. No

PIA Block District State Soil type

Topographical slope at the interventions

Soil Infiltration

rate ( mm/hr)

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1 AKRSP Ahwa Dangs Gujarat Sandy Clay loam

4 to 10 % 15 to 20

2 DSC Visnagar Mehasana Gujarat Sandy Loam

1 to 3 % 15 to 25

3 DSC Modasa Sabarakantha Gujarat Sandy Loam

1 to 3 % 15 to 25

4 DSC Himmatnagar Sabarakantha Gujarat Sandy Loam

1 to 3 % 15 to 25

5 SIED Sakri Dhule Maharashtra Loamy 1 to 15% 10 to 20

6 SIED Navapur Dhule Maharashtra Loamy 1 to 15% 10 to 20

7 MITTRA Nashik

Igatpuri Nashik Maharashtra Clay Loam

1 to 8 % 5 to 10

Rainfall Vs Runoff Yield 2015-16

PIA Block District State Rainfall (MM)

Rainy Days (More than 20 MM rainfall)

Runoff Generated (MM/Ha)

AKRSP Ahwa Dangs Gujarat 1286 18 469

DSC Visnagar Mehasana Gujarat 1262 15 557

DSC Modasa Sabarakantha Gujarat 907 12 395

DSC Himmatnagar Sabarakantha Gujarat 997 14 420

SIED Sakri Dhule Maharashtra 1073 13 418

SIED Navapur Dhule Maharashtra 934 14 329

MITTRA Nashik Igatpuri Nashik Maharashtra 1074 16 381

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5.7 Water harvested from Area treatment work in project location:

The following table shows analysis of water harvested from structures constructed till last financial

year and were subjected to rainfall:

Sr. No Location

Area treated (Ha) or

Number of Structures

Catchment Area (Ha)

Total structure or

Bund length

created (M)

Water storage

Height - Avg Max (M)

Storage capacity created (Billion Litters)

Water harvested

(Billion Litres)

1 Ahwa Dangs 744 744 150395 0.45 0.1852 1.98

2 Ahwa Subir 853 853 155931 0.35 0.23 2.13

3 Visnagar 206 206 25538 0.3 0.079 0.61

4 Modasa 59 59 5613 0.3 0.012 0.094

5 Himmatnagar 17 17 1122 0.3 0.002 0.023

6 Sakri - Dhule 1365 1365 323967 0.3 0.2879 2.2

7 Navapur - Nandurbar

1289 1289 222941 0.35 0.4 2.21

8 Igatpuri - Nashik 920 920 199101 0.3 0.14 1.66

Location Rainfall Cum / Ha Runoff Yield Cum/Ha Water harvested Cum /Ha

Ahwa Dangs 12860 4690 2661.290323

Ahwa Subir 12860 4690 2497.069168

Visnagar 12620 5570 2961.165049

Modasa 9070 3950 1593.220339

Himmatnagar 9970 4200 1352.941176

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Ahwa Visnagar Modasa Himmatnagar Sakri Navapur Igatpuri

Rainfall (mm) Vs Runoff Yield mm/Ha : 2015-16

Rainfall (MM) Runoff Generated (MM/Ha)

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Sakri - Dhule 10730 4180 1611.721612

Navapur - Nandurbar 9340 3290 1714.50737

Igatpuri - Nashik 10740 3810 1804.347826

5.8 Water harvested through water harvesting structures

The structure created till June 2015 and subjected to rainfall has been considered here:

Sr. No Location

Area treated (Ha) or

Number of Structures

Catchment Area (Ha)

Total structure or Bund length

created (M)

Water storage

Height - Avg Max (M)

Storage capacity created (Billion Liters)

Water harvested

(Billion Litres)

1 Ahwa Dangs 3 12 3779 330 1.89 0.037 0.6277

2 Visnagar 18 1231 334 1.7 0.021 0.48

3 Modasa 7 16842 237 1.88 0.48 3.71

4 Himmatnagar 7 615 86 1.74 0.01 0.1453

5 Sakri - Dhule 40 1977 5298 0.71 0.036 0.5149

6 Navapur - Nandurbar

10 677 552 0.75 0.006 0.1182

7 Igatpuri - Nashik

8 2000 1146 0.88 0.047 0.6724

0100020003000400050006000

Area Treatment: Runoff Yield ( Cum/Ha) Vs Water harvested (Cum/Ha)

Runoff Yield Cum/Ha Water harvested Cum /Ha

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0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

Storage capacity created ( Billion Litres ) Vs Water Harvested ( Billion Litres)

Storage capacity created ( Billion Liters) Water harvested ( Billion Litres)

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Quality of rain.

Sr. No

PIA Location 2015- 16 RAINFALL

(mm)

2015- 16

YIELD (mm)

2015-16

YIELD /ha

(Cum)

EVENTS - Dry/damp/wet

condition

Dry Condition

Dry- Yield (Cum) / Ha

Damp Condition

Damp- Yield (Cum) / Ha

Wet Condition

Wet- Yield

(Cum) / Ha

1 AKRSP(I) Dangs-Ahwa (GJ)

1286.05 465.38 4653.75 40 9 58.01 8 261.70 23 4334.04

2 DSC Sabarkantha-Himmatnagar (GJ)

997.93 385.13 3851.32 23 5 34.02 6 80.37 12 3736.93

3 DSC Sabarkantha-Modasa (GJ)

903.84 394.67 3946.73 22 6 15.47 3 102.24 13 3829.02

4 DSC Mehasana-Vadnagar (GJ)

1270.16 587.55 5875.53 28 5 58.19 5 159.55 18 5657.78

5 DSC Mehasana-Kheralu (GJ)

1269.61 587.55 5875.53 28 5 58.19 5 159.55 18 5657.78

6 MITTRA Nashik-Igatpuri (MS)

1349.80 461.44 4614.38 44 6 17.39 10 318.85 28 4278.15

7 SIED Dhule-Sakri (MS)

1073.08 423.05 4230.49 34 4 5.68 5 57.40 25 4167.41

8 SIED Nandurbar-Navapur (MS)

934.20 340.44 3404.43 30 2 1.06 6 163.50 22 3239.87

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Hindustan Unilever Foundation 138

5.9 Quotes from the partners on water harvesting methodology and app

“The methodology used for calculating water harvested by HUF is one of the most advanced methodology.

It calculates water harvested considering all important parameters like daily rainfall, daily evaporation,

infiltration rate, catchment area and storage capacity of structures. Last year we used this method and

calculated water harvested on excel based programme. The Excel based programme was good but took

a lot of time for calculating daily runoff off generated based on protocols; also, we had to calculate water

harvested separately for each structure.

The Java based application is an excellent programme that saved about 90% time in calculating the water

harvested. It automatically calculated the daily run off generated and the water harvested of all

structures at one time. We would like to thank HUF for designing such a programme that made our job

easy and saved a lot of time.”

Rajesh Verma, Programme Manager

Coordination Office, FES, Anand (Gujarat)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"With this application, we can calculate, analyse and use the quantum of water available in the water

body (Water harvesting structure) at each day considering all the parameters effecting water

harvesting like rainfall ,Runoff generation, infiltration rate, silt deposition rate and evaporation rate for

the same water harvesting structure. This will be helpful for all of us to predict and manage cropping

pattern as well demand of Water in command area laying after a water body in participatory manner with

users (groups) and community."

Pranav Chauhan, Programme Executive (IWRM), DSC-Ahmadabad

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Chapter 6: Value of Water – Shared Solutions Water for Public Good, has been the cornerstone of planning and implementing of HUF’s water projects.

Traditionally, water is valued in terms of its harvesting cost – energy, damming it and so on. The benefits

are associated with enhanced agricultural yield and other parameters. However, at HUF, we realise the

context of natural dynamics and the interrelation with people and their needs and so the value

proposition is much deeper both as an economic resource while also having social and environmental

value.

In this section of the report, we highlight the value of water and adoption of improved agriculture

practices as seen by different stakeholders in different contexts and results that have unfolded over the

year. While some of these are quantitative, others have qualitative dimensions associated with them.

Increased availability of water in quantity and time, adoption of water efficient agriculture practices

including use of organic farm inputs, organic insecticides and pesticides, shift to non-pesticide

management have resulted in several benefits for the communities. With passage of time, community has

also started according increased importance and value to these practices.

6.1 Health Improvement

In project villages of SAMUHA, for example, women have realised health benefits as a result of the shift

towards non – pesticide management in paddy.

6.2 Increased collective action FES notes that ‘as the implementation of the project is in the third year, the aspect related to water

conservation, savings and use efficiency is becoming central to the common discourse at community level.

There are observed behavioural changes at community level in terms of crop choices, moisture

conservation techniques in agriculture, irrigation scheduling and irrigation techniques. The

demonstrations have helped farmers to scale up through capacity building support and peer learning.’ In

addition to this, communities have established or strengthened rules to prioritize water for household use

and for livestock consumption.

Mrs. Savithremma, 26 years, is wife of project farmer Shekarappa Kuri, of Mustoor village in Marali hobli

of Gangavathi taluk. The family has been cultivating paddy in their two-acre land traditionally. Till 2014,

Shekarappa used to apply synthetic pesticide Phorate, twice during the crop season at the rate of five and

10 kg / acre. His wife Mrs. Savithremma used to work in the field. She says, “I used to have head-ache and

fever after coming back from the field during the season. As I was working with chemicals, cracks & ulcers

developed between my toes causing irritation. We used to go to hospital and spend about Rs.1000 to 1500

during the season. Further, due to more quantity of water applied for irrigation in the field, my legs were

deeper in water during weeding making it difficult to walk, leading to joint pain. However, during the season

of kharif in 2015, I did not come across any of these problems as we adopted NPM approach and water

management in our paddy field. I have taken my children to the field confidently. The grass and weeds

collected from our NPM field were fed to our cattle without any problem. I am happy about this and thank

Samuha-HUF project for bringing such an opportunity to our village. As family we will share these benefits

with other women farmers in the village to adopt the NPM approach in their fields”.

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AKRSP – I interventions in the Dangs on

collective agricultural input supply

reflects how farmers through collective

processes, reduce cost involved in

procurement of seeds, transportation

and other farm supplies including

equipment’s thus reducing the cost and

enhancing return potential.

Low cost high return interventions in

Dangs - A case of Collective input supply,

Landless gardens and System of Root

intensification

The Dangs is located in the southern part

of Gujarat and is one of the poorest tribal

districts in India, with 98% of its

population being tribal, the highest

proportion for any district in the country.

AKRSP (I) with the support of Axis Bank Foundation initiated livelihood promotion initiatives from the year

2013 and since then Natural Resource Management and non-farm interventions have been done with the

tribal communities in The Dangs and Navsari districts. In this context, focus has been given on introducing

low cost interventions, which give higher returns in terms of livelihood improvements over a period. Some

of the interventions are:

Collective agricultural input supply

Landless gardens/vegetable cultivation in Gunny bags

System of Root intensification in food crops

Collective Agricultural Input Supply

Quality seeds and fertilizers are two major inputs that farmers require at the right time. The nearest place

to purchase seeds from the villages is either Ahwa town or Waghai in Dangs district, which falls on an

average radius of 40 kms from the villages. If the seed varieties are not available in these places, then

more options have to be explored in Vansda in Navsari District, which is 50 kms away from Ahwa town.

This process not only increases the travel expenses by the individual farmers, but also forces to purchase

seeds at higher prices. When AKRSP (I) began work farmers were facing these problems in accessing

quality inputs at a reasonable price in the district.

AKRSP(I) therefore began facilitating village institutions and farmers for collective purchase of quality

seeds and fertilizers not only to make it available at the right time but also at lowest prices. AKRSP (I) plays

a role of facilitator for the benefit of farmers and ensures maximum benefit by collective purchase of

seeds and fertilizers. This facilitation is based on the underlying belief that water harnessed through the

project continues to be available for the crops when needed.

Jan Jagruti - Padyatra (rally) organized by AKRSP – I in its project area

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Steps involved in collective input supply are as follows:

An initial dialogue is done with the Gram Vikas Mandals (GVMs) which are at pan village level

Community based organization supported by AKRSP (I) on the merits of input supply.

Demand is then generated at GVMs for the variety and quantity of seeds and fertilizers required

for each season.

Inviting quotation from the vendors from the nearby places.

After negotiating the seed prices with distributors, AKRSP (I) along with village leaders finalize

the vendor for supplying the seeds, considering the quality of seeds, price and potential of the

vendor for timely supply in bulk quantity on right time.

At village level, bulk procurement is then done and payment to party is done through Gram

Vikas Mandals (GVMs)

For fertilizer procurement, discussions are held in advance with cooperatives to procure

fertilizer as per estimated demand.

Outreach

Every year more than 2000 farmers are participating in this process with purchase of seeds worth Rs. 40

lakhs, unlocked by water being available. Up until the end of June 2015, almost 7000 farmers participated

in the process with due guidance of AKRSP (I).

Notable results

This has enabled major results due to input supply activity that are as given below:

Each farmer gets a benefit/saving of Rs. 35-50 per kg for seeds and on an average the travel cost

of Rs. 70 per farmer is saved for transportation of fertilizers.

Farmers receive reliable information like date of maturity and suitability for respective area,

regarding different seeds from AKRSP (I) staff.

Other distributors in the local market are then forced to reduce the price in local market

therefore those farmers who are not members of AKRSP(I) supported GVM too benefit

Assured and timely availability of quality inputs for agriculture

Reduced exploitation by traders during peak periods.

Learnings

The collective initiative has a larger influence on local traders and local market price benefitting

the larger regional population in addition to direct beneficiaries

Proper facilitation and regular follow-up is required, to initiate the process especially after

withdrawal of direct support by AKRSP – I’s.

Briefing of merits of input supply with

Village institutions

Demands generated from Village

institutions (GVMs)

Inviting quotation from the vendors

Vendor selection after proper negotiation

Bulk procurement by village institutions

Quality seeds with

reduced price

available on time

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6.3 Reduction in migration

In the project villages of AKRSP – I the community sees

an increase in livelihood options in agriculture due to

the enhanced availability of water and so reduced

distress migration, labour generation at local level

during the peak seasons of migration, be it through

watershed activity or irrigation facility to undertake

agriculture activity.

6.4 Availability of wage employment locally

Mobilising MGNREGS resources for creation of water

related assets has helped generate local wage

employment as a result of project activities. In addition

to helping them with a disposable income and

contributing to their livelihood, it has also helped the

community spend more time with their families.

6.5 Ecological Restoration

Efforts aimed at ecological restoration have helped in checking water run-off, increased its availability of

longer duration and has helped groundwater recharge. The communities also see an improvement in the

soil and moisture regime, rejuvenation of land and

water resources.

6.6 Pivot for networked solutions

In their pursuit to find solutions to challenges being

faced by communities, organisations have come

together to make coordinated efforts. In eastern

region of Uttar Pradesh, PANI is leading a network

of organisations engaged with bringing about

behavior change among communities to adopt

water efficient agriculture practices. In addition to

direct implementation, PANI provides technical

Ecological Restoration is one of the cornerstones of the interventions by FES. The approach has been to work

closely with the communities to understand the different connections and feedback mechanisms between

human and natural resource systems. The aim has been to identify a set of interventions that can address

the ecological and livelihood concerns of these communities. The interventions on this front have focused

on water savings through improved agricultural practices, creating water storage structures in order to assist

with improving critical irrigation and soil moisture regime on private and common lands alike. Restoring

commons through soil moisture conservation interventions and strengthening institutions has also been a

part of these interventions.

Video dissemination on water efficient

agriculture by a community resource person in

eastern U.P.

Farm construction in West Bengal by mobilising

resources from MGNREGS has helped in generating

local wage employmwnt

Reimagining Water


inputs to partner organisations and undertakes several capacity building interventions for them.

6.7 Resolving conflicts and improving

access

Institutional strengthening associated with

improved management of land and water

resources, improved access of poor and

marginalized to benefits such as fodder, firewood

and water and fostering unity in the village. In

several instances, village institutions have also

been instrumental in resolving conflicts – both at

individual level and at the village level.

Synergising efforts through networked action – Case of PANI

Efforts to find solutions to water challenges have helped non-government organisations come together and

implement project activities. In Eastern U.P. for example, the project is being implemented by a network of NGOs

led by PANI covering 10 districts in the region. Main issues in the project districts can be grouped as under:

• Project villages in the districts of Siddharth Nagar, Faizabad and Barabanki face flood for about 4 months

during monsoon hence they are unable to cultivate a major part of their agriculture land. Hence, the need

is to optimise productivity of land because whatsoever escapes flood is left with farmers Further,

availability of water for summer crop cultivation is scarce hence the need to intervene for the same.

• In Pratapgarh a major part is alkaline where water scarcity is common around the year except in the

monsoon season. Farmers are heavily dependent on ground water for irrigation. The issue here is to

improve economics of agriculture by improving water use application efficiency in agriculture thereby

reducing dependence of farmers on ground water, make attempts to save ground water so that water

levels are maintained in the area.

• Flood irrigation is common with ground water being the main source and use of diesel pump-set for

groundwater withdrawal is most common. Water markets are prevalent. These affect the overall

economics of agriculture. Hence, it is important to improve water use application efficiency by supporting

farmers as they change their agriculture practices and adopt cropping patterns that are more water

friendly without compromising agriculture productivity

• Peppermint is intensively cultivated in Barabanki district. Apart from it being a water intensive crop with

groundwater being the main source, its cultivation is mainly localised. This necessitates interventions that

must help reduce dependence of farmers on groundwater.

Further, issues of water availability during summers are in general common across the project area. These aspects

have led to organisations come together around these issues and initiate action at scale so that demonstrable

impact can be seen. Further, with 10 districts out of 27 in eastern region of Uttar Pradesh being covered under

the project intervention results need to have replicable and scalable potential for the region as well as state.

Reimagining Water


6.8 Women Empowerment Project interventions have also included

collectivising and mobilising women to

form groups. In addition to training

them on agriculture related activities,

women have also been encouraged and

motivated to participate in Gram Sabha.

SHGs have helped women to come

together, come out of their houses,

interact with bank officials, increased

capacities in areas like financial

management and maintain accounts

and alike. In several cases, it has also

enhanced their reputation among family

members as due to improved availability

of water, women have taken up several

income generation activities such as

vegetable cultivation. During the year

(number) of SHGs were formed and/or associated with the project activities and (number) of women were

benefitted.

In project areas of PRADAN in West Bengal, for example, women after being oriented on water related

issues, have actively engaged with Panchayats, sensitised them on water conservation and management,

developed plans focusing on water conservation, management and creation of water harvesting assets.

A 64-year-old farmer, Bhagchand Devchand Gomladu of Ibrahimpur village, Bhokardan in Jalna has seen it all -

water problems, loss of crops due to drought, meagre produce and feud over land. Sharing how this project

solved his problems, Bhagchand says, “When the project team approached us, none of us were ready to get

Compartment Bunding (CB) work done on our fields. However, when we went for the exposure visit, we learnt of

similar projects executed by WOTR in our neighbouring villages of Malkheda and Soygaon. When we witnessed

the benefits with our own eyes, we trusted the project and were on board at once.

In these past few drought years, my 60 feet deep well used to have merely 2-3 feet water during Rabi; summers

were even worse. In April 2015, bunding work was carried out on my 7.5 acres of land. As a result, not one drop

of water went out of my field. This year in spite of meagre rain, there is 30 feet water in my well. This has

increased my Rabi cotton yields from 3-4 quintals to 10 quintals per acre. I am still expecting 5 quintals more.

Through the project, we not only got CB work done on 7.5 acres of our land for free but also made money working

under MGNREGA. This work would otherwise have cost us at least Rs.1.5 lakh. Two members of our own family

worked as labourers for the CB work in our farm. They made Rs. 4000 each in a month.

The project has brought along harmony in our village. There used to be many fights here over land divisions. In

fact, I had a long conflict which was even taken to court, but because of the bunding work, it was settled outside

court. I think our village has become more united than what we were in the past 30 years.”

Up Sangha member monitoring construction of farm pond in a

project village of PRADAN in West Bengal

Reimagining Water


They have also moved ahead in influencing the district and block administration and getting their plans

included in annual action plans of MGNREGS.

Awareness to Action – Value realization fuelling collective action

Changes seen: Bandhgora is a village in Nercha samsad of Sijua Gram Panchayat which is located in Binpur-I

Development Block of Paschim Medinipur district. It comprises of 40 households of which 10 are Scheduled Caste

families and 30 Scheduled Tribe. The continuous use of groundwater to meet irrigation needs arisen out of high

yielding varieties and inefficient use of water led to manifold increase in use of submersible pump. This over

utilisation has led to tube well getting dried and there has been loss of crop.

Changes realized: The installation of another pump, continued use of groundwater, leading to scenario where

villagers were faced with scenario of reduced water supply and forced to go to adjacent village for meeting their

water needs. PRADAN intervened at this juncture and decided to orient on water usage and planning with support

from HUF.

The approach – Engaging with the SHGs: PRADAN engaged with SHGs with water crisis as one of the subject and

engaged with women to realise to have common vision, long term perspective and motive to solve their problems

by themselves. The SHGs, slowly began to understand the strength of collectives and initiated to work around

common issues. The women and the community were oriented around underground water management and

National Water Policy. Having realized the value of water, they decided to initiate on conservation techniques. In

the conservation context, they have learnt to conserve rainwater by creating Water Harvesting Structures (WHSs).

Effort over Changes: The women Self Help Groups (SHGs) along with other SHGs in their samsad formed the

Primary Stakeholders’ Group (PSG) on water conservation and management. The use of submersible pumps was

avoided and they started thinking about constructing WHSs and the process of arresting rainwater in situ and work

upon the slogan “Jal Dharo Jal Varo” principle. It was decided to seek the help of the Government, Panchayat and

get their schemes on WHSs implemented through MGNREGA.

They participated in series of trainings on Natural Resource Management to understand the processes of

regenerating resources and sustainable ways of rejuvenating natural resources to make better usage of the same.

They involved all people in the planning process and prepared plans; submitted plans to Gram Panchayats through

Gram Sabha and negotiated with the Block to get the plans implemented. SHG got approval of creation of farm

ponds in respective farmer’s field.

Community spearheads the changes: The PSG took the implementation of the works to another level by consulting

with the Community Resource Persons (trained by PRADAN) to get the responsibilities of supervision of these WHSs.

Having trained by community resource persons, women from different SHGs of the PSG were entrusted with the

duty of supervision of excavation of these WHSs so that quality of work could be ensured. Simultaneously,

orientation of Panchayat members was undertaken on water conservation and management and National Water

Policies.

Changes rewarded: The results were encouraging; people coming forward to have WHSs and message spreading

to nearby villages. The Panchayat Members who never gave priorities to schemes on WHSs are inviting the

Community Resource Persons to make plans around them in their respective villages. Such small initiatives do help

to make a big difference.

Reimagining Water


6.9 Impact on life and livelihood

SIED is implementing the project on natural resource

management project on watershed in 26 tribal villages

of Sakri and Navapur blocks in Dhule and Nandurbar

districts in Maharashtra respectively. Results of Social

Return on Investment (SROI) exercise done by SIED in

its project area reveals several qualitative benefits to

the community in addition to those mentioned above.

These mainly include:

Increase in soil fertility and area under

horticulture

Availability of safe drinking water

Availability of information has helped in having

increased knowledge available at local level

and well informed society

It has also contributed to better livestock management and start of milk distribution

Financial empowerment of women

Energy savings resulting in decreased fuel consumption

Goat rearing

Community participation in decision making and respect for everyone

6.10 Change in thought process

Increased sensitisation of the community on water

conservation and management and its judicious use

have helped in bringing about desired change in

thought process at community level. Being aware of

the impact of the inter-relationship between different

components of the ecosystem have helped them

prioritise the use of resource. This has also resulted in

community organisations developing rules and

regulations for its use and getting them implemented.

Solar-based water lifting device in Vadpada village of Subir block in the Dangs

Improved maize cultivation in the farm of Nakul Suklal Bagul, Bhortipada, Dhule

Reimagining Water


Chapter 7: Social Return on Investment

HUF and its partners have been conducting exercises in the project areas to gauge social return on

investment (SROI) accruing to the community. Moving beyond a simple cost-benefit analysis, the SROI

framework helps in assessing the social, environmental and economic changes from a stakeholder’s

perspective. The assessment tries to understand how various initiatives are influencing the community

practices and thought process, factors that are catalysing people to collectively engage to find solutions

to the challenges that they face, the quantitative and qualitative benefits accruing to the community.

Key indicators for assessing the changes have been identified and they were monetised where possible,

such that the value of benefits could be measured against the value of the investment. Mind mapping and

perception assessment exercises are also undertaken with stakeholders.

Traditional method of estimations were resorted to in certain cases and in other cases innovations were

brought about. FES, for example, attempted at identifying ‘barriers’ (what stops people from adopting a

new behaviour towards bringing the desired change and initiatives being undertaken to overcome these),

the ‘triggers’ (initiatives being undertaken to get people to start a new behaviour towards the desired

change), and the ‘motivators’ (initiatives that are being undertaken to reinforce or sustain the desired

change) for ‘Environmental Restoration’, ‘Environmental Governance’, ‘Energising MGNREGS’ and

‘Livelihood Enhancement’.

In addition to quantitative benefits, qualitative benefits were also reported by the community members.

These included:

Reduction in migration resulting in avoidance of costs associated with it

Improvement in soil and moisture regime

Institutional strengthening contributing to improved management of land and water resources,

improving access of poor and marginalized to benefits from Commons and fostering unity

Village institutions proving to be instrumental in resolving conflicts pertaining to issues such as

encroachment of commons, tank catchment, boundary conflicts, trespassing etc.

Increased engagement with panchayats and other external actors

Sanctioning of plans for NRM based works in MGNREGS annual action plans and improved

responsiveness of the local officials

Skill enhancement of mates helped in improving the quality of work and ensuring appropriate

wages to the persons working on MGNREGS work sites

Increased community's participation in MGNREGS work execution and maintenance of the

community assets being created

Stakeholder groups vary from project to project. While the farming community was a common stakeholder

across all the projects, several others including MGNREGS mates, women, CRPs, vulnerable and marginalised,

representatives of village institutions, panchayat and MGNREGS officials, participants of training programmes

were also consulted by FES during the exercise. Similarly, in case of SPESD, discussions were held with members

of SHGs, WDCs and User Groups. In case of SIED, in addition to members of SHGs and WDCs, members of

Common Interest Groups (CIGs) were the main stakeholders.

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Triggers

Development of common lands

(fencing, trenches and other soil and

moisture conservation works,

plantation); Drainage line

treatment; Construction,

renovation and deepening of water

harvesting structures such as

anicuts, tanks, check dams, ponds;

Boribunds and farm ponds; Land

leveling and farm bunding.

Barriers

Increasing climatic variability

and water demands

Degradation of catchments of

surface water sources

Depletion of water table.

Collapse of indigenous systems

of water management.

Motivators

Reduced water run-off and soil

erosion; Increased duration for

which water stays in WHS and

in the streams; more water

available livestock and

domestic purposes.

Increase in cropping area and

agricultural production due to

better availability of water

Improved availability of fodder

and firewood availability.

ENVIRONMENTAL

RESTORATION

Triggers

Awareness generation and

sensitization around significance of

Commons; Mapping of common

land and water resources

Organizing and strengthening

village institutions; Strengthening

local stewardship; Formulation of

bye-laws for land and water

governance; developing integrated

plans for natural resource

management.

Barriers

Individual vis-à-vis collective

interests; Privatization of

Commons; Lack of cooperation

and coordination amongst

different stakeholders;

Changes in value perceptions

around Commons.

Motivators

Benefit sharing arrangements

improving access of poor and

marginalized to benefits from

Commons; Transparent and

participatory planning and

decision making; Increased

trust and confidence;

Conflict resolution mechanisms

fostering unity

Increased access to

government programmes and

schemes.

ENVIRONMENTAL

GOVERNANCE

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Triggers

Engaging with Panchayat, Block

and District administrations to

channelize more funds for works on

land and water resources; Assisting

communities in passing resolutions,

planning and registering demand;

Skill enhancement of Mates and

local cadre; Establishing systems for

use and maintenance of community

assets created under MGNREGS.

Barriers

Lack of information and

awareness on provisions; Lack of

motivation to participate in

MGNREGS due to issues such as

low wages and late payment;

Limited local capacities in

planning and execution of works

under MGNREGS.

Motivators

More wages generated;

Improved responsiveness of

local officials to the village

institutions;

Better quality of work;

Environmental benefits such as

reduced water run-off and soil

erosion, improved water

availability, increase in

groundwater recharge,

biomass (fodder and fuelwood

availability).

ENERGIZING MGNREGS

Triggers

Seed / crop varietal replacements

Increased information on good

agricultural practices (low external

input and water saving practices);

Application of tools such as crop

water budgeting and experimental

games to stimulate discussions at

community level and help in taking

more informed decisions.

Barriers

Increasing variability in rainfall;

Increasing soil erosion and land

degradation;

Depleting water table;

Increasing costs of cultivation;

Lack of information about good

agricultural practices;

Low productivity of seeds.

Motivators

Increase in crop yield;

Reduced cost of cultivation;

Less chances of crop failure in

instances of low rainfall.

LIVELIHOOD

ENHANCEMEMENT

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In the SROI exercise of SPESD, participants highlighted the following:

Run-off water gets stored and is available for a reasonably good period to protect life around it

and improves local ecology

Increase in the groundwater leading to enhanced water levels in the dug, bore wells

Provides drinking water to the cattle and small ruminants in the area

Help farmers irrigate their horticulture plants by carrying water using the pots, within the reach

Silt traps that arrest the soil erosion from the farm fields and periodical application of these silt

traps again in the farm fields helps enrich soil health

Harvesting copious amounts of water in the farm ponds and dug out ponds also contributes to

the improvement in soil moisture retention capacity

Promotion of diversified cropping system and bio-mass mulching practices, increased availability

of soil moisture leading to sustainable crop yields

Voices from Grassroots—Communities’ Views on Interventions under Water Commons

“We are five in our family. I’m the only one in the family who works under NREGS. The number of works have

gone up, in the recent past, due to the involvement of the organization. Through the money, which I got, I

bought few goats and sheep. By selling them in the market after few years, I got around two lakh rupees for

my sister’s wedding. I’ll continue to save and buy sheep which in turn could help me in buying a small piece of

land.”

-- C. Ravindra Reddy, Marrikommadinne Panchayat, N.P.Kunta

“Ranging from microbes to small insects every number has to be in balance; only then the existing crop and

livestock diseases can be checked. If any harm is done to even one species, the entire balance will be lost leading

to an increase in diseases. All this happened only due to the extensive usage of chemical fertilizers and

pesticides. It gives short-term results but in the long term, it is leading to crop loss due to land degradation. The

Gujarat Organization’s efforts has made us realise the same. We will be able to give product land parcels to the

next generations. I’ve changed and transformed my farm. There will be change in the entire village, slowly.”

--Nagamuni, Papannagaripalle.

“Last year I got fodder seeds from FES. I am growing them in my field for my cattle. Before that I used to buy

fodder for my cows and I fed them with dry grasses. But now I feed them with fresh grass due to which milk

production raised. Now I am getting more profit as my fodder expense is saved and milk production also rose.”

– Umesh, Tholopalli

“Because of groundnut seed treatment the crop was very good. There used to be 10- 15 pods in a plant but this

there were about 25- 30 pods per plant. Due the heavy rainfall just before the harvesting time destroyed all the

groundnuts.”

Maddi Reddy (45) Kothoor

“I have attended training on Sustainable Agricultural practices in Chinthamani conducted by FES. I have

implemented my knowledge in my field but due to very low rainfall the result was not as expected. I will again

implement it next year and I believe I will get more profit out of it.”

Yammanna (45) Tholopalli A.K. colony

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Mind mapping exercises were also done in the project villages through which attempts were made to

draw interlinkages between different activities and the benefits that are accruing to the community.

Visualisation of future benefits was attempted at during the discussions. Below is the mind map developed

by villagers of Tinmauli – one of the project villages of SIED.

As can be seen from above, several qualitative dimensions were identified by stakeholders during the

exercise. These included related to:

Effects seen as a result of soil and moisture conservation works carried out

Water harvesting and conservation measures adopted

Regularisation in functioning of village institutions

Enhanced capacities of rural community

Prioritisation of development works to be carried out in the village

Increased cohesion among community

Reduced migration and improved health

Similarly the mind map developed by FES highlighted the following:

Increased access of poor and marginalised to common resources

Increased fodder availability

Increased agriculture productivity

Improved quality of work and appropriate wages

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Duration for which water stays in stream and structures

Increased groundwater recharge

Conducting SROI exercises has been helpful in villagers analysing the qualitative benefits and

improvements that are accruing to them as also those that they visualise in future. This helps them in

taking appropriate actions and appreciating the efforts being put into the exercises. It may also help in

furthering sustained collective action at the community level and increased engagement between formal

and informal village institutions.

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Chapter 8: HUF and Sustainable Development Goals On September 25, 2015 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the resolution

‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ as post 2015 development

agenda. The resolution has 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets and seeks to build

and complement the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They are integrated,

indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and

environmental.

At HUF, we believe water is central to the development agenda. The thought of sustainability into

operations and projects elicits different responses. At HUF we work and operate with an ingrained view

of devising sustainability and integrating it not from the point view of placing it as an additional criteria

and/or component but with the idea of co-creating it as we embark and move along.

So, for us sustainability of each of our initiatives is a continuum that starts from project design itself. For

ingraining sustainability into the community led projects, it is important to move away from the traditional

approach of the community engagement and engage. The aspect of building ownership within the

community has to be ensured. Community engagement is central to our approach. This provides the

opportunity to transform from the regular approach and creating a better understanding on the issues,

its multiplicity and interrelation with lives of diverse set of stakeholders. The case of water is an important

one, as it touches everyone lives; be it for irrigation or for life. The role of community assumes significance,

as it not only connects with economic aspects but also connects on the social aspects, both cohesion and

lack of it.

This section of the journey report details out our perspective with respect to SDGs and the role HUF has

been playing to integrate sustainability measures in the community initiatives that it supports as also the

project cycle. It also details and maps the activities and initiatives taken in project area that may help in

achieving several targets laid out in SDGs.

At HUF, we have consciously striven towards covering water as ‘Water for Public Good’. The whole aspect

of water governance to create an institutional structure that builds in itself the components as required

for governance of water. These include institutional structure at village level and supra village level,

knowledge systems, social equity, performance indices on quantity of water both supply side and demand

side, along with benefits to community in

terms of productivity enhanced, income

generated, work created, area stabilised,

household benefitted and other

sustainability outcomes are accounted for.

Our approach to integrate sustainability

within initiatives has been

1. Set up participatory process

2. Quantify tangible and intangibles

3. Collective action with partners

4. Systemic view

Quantify tangible and intangibles Collective action with partners

Systemic view Future view - post project closure

Set up participatory process

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5. Future view - post project closure

8.1 The engagement process

The participatory process of engagement keeps resources, assets and practices central to its agenda. It

approaches with the underlying principle to enhance participation to create such resources, build

ownership to maintain and continue practice and inculcate responsibility to have an equitable and

sustainable allocation and utilization to sustain the initiative undertaken. Experiences generated through

HUF activities reflect that, resources and assets i.e. the hardware are the starting point where the

community gets benefits that improves their life, and continuance of these hinges on the practices that

are set in and established by within the community and practitioners. The practices that form the software,

helps in capturing the views on development priorities and at places aligns with available resources while

in other leverages its potential with other players. The process enables and empowers with the

distribution of knowledge and skills amongst wider section and bring in self-sufficiency within the system.

8.2 Quantifying tangibles and intangibles

Often we are face to face with the situation of positing sustainability, reflected through additional set of

indicators and being seen as an add-on component. For sustainability to be integrated it requires a

medium and cannot happen in vacuum and this is the understanding we bring in. It operates with in a

cyclical loop, where the effective governance creates an enabling environment for benefits to accrue and

these leads to empowerment of the institutional structures created to effect these into practice. It has to

be integrated in the way so that the

changes are visible, accounted for and

available for the community to accrue the

benefits arising out of it. Good

governance of water requires the quantity

of water and the visibility of change to

happen to provide adequate attention to

the complexity of the issue.

Over the period, we have adopted process

to quantify and monetize the benefits

accrued both, through creation of

resources and its distribution along the

hydrological chain. The aspects of social

and economic dimension covers the equitable and efficient use of resource. Water being unevenly

distributed across space and time and amongst different sections of society requires governance

mechanism to address the inequity and have the social return distributed amongst the society. The HUF

approach towards measuring Social Return on Investment (SROI) reflects such an approach. Often we are

face to face with the situation of positing sustainability, reflected through additional set of indicators and

being seen as an add-on component. The understanding we bring in is that for sustainability to be

integrated, it requires a medium. Sustainability operates within a cyclical loop, where the effective

governance creates an enabling environment for benefits to accrue and these leads to empowerment of

the institutional structures created to effect these into practice. It has to be integrated in a way that

Trellis cultivation with drip in one of the project villages of PANI in Uttar Pradesh

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change are visible, accounted for and available for the community to accrue the benefits arising out of it.

Good governance of water requires the quantity of water and the visibility of change to happen to provide

adequate attention to the complexity of the issue.

Over the period, we have adopted processes to quantify and monetize the benefits accrued both, through

creation of resources and their distribution along the hydrological chain. The aspects of social and

economic dimension covers the equitable and efficient use of resource. Water being unevenly distributed

across space and time and amongst different sections of society requires governance mechanism to

address the inequity and have the social return distributed amongst the society. The HUF approach

towards measuring Social Return on Investment (SROI) reflects such an approach.

There is temporal and spatial distribution of benefits and interventions of such nature provides for both.

Moving beyond a simple cost-benefit analysis, the Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework helps in

assessing the social, environmental and economic changes from a stakeholder’s perspective.

The framework recognizes that the capital and/or physical assets are required to be supported through

human, financial and social assets. These assets provide and strengthen the framework to optimally

deliver the intended outcomes. They inherently supports and derives from each other. The social return

maximizes the level of assurance of the community derived directly from the physical assets and sustains

itself at times of stress. The benefits may or may not be tangible and qualified in terms of monetary

benefits drawn. Our attempt has been to bring indicators in place, to quantify these outcomes. The Social

Return on Investment (SROI) assessment involves valuation of indicators like increase in additional income

due to employment guarantee scheme, improved agricultural and water practices, accrued due to savings.

The sustainability of these practices further enhances the viability of the initiatives and thus getting it

ingrained within the system.

8.3 Collective action

The deployment of these approaches and

integrating them into the programme

requires complete understanding of the

context, prevalent practices, institutional

capacity as well as people’s willingness to

respond and act to the given challenges

and the opportunities. At HUF, we place a

strong emphasis on the capability and

credibility of the partners who take the

lead and co-create the structure around

the given framework adopted. This also

requires different teams to come

together and undertake a detailed

process oriented due diligence, covering

organizational, financial, legal and

regulatory requirements. This process

De-siltation of Tank in Somarajukunta village in the project area of FES

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provides a robust understanding of the systems in place, builds trust and institutional capacity building

required, if any in the long-term interests.

The approach provides basic ground for collective action as the dialogue emerges. The process is then

supported with structured guidance on activity, its planning, and identification of institutional

requirements, milestones to be set and deliverables identified. The very idea of collective action requires

and mandates opportunity to the community to engage and be part of the planning process to co-create

the project. It also requires co-financing to be built in through community or through other partners.

8.4 Systemic view

When considered from the systemic point of view, we believe a bottom – up approach will work. This

approach involves bringing communities in the centre space while designing the process, which leads to

long term sustenance of the activity. While doing so, it takes into account the interrelation and

dependence of initiatives on other factors and initiatives. This approach prevents working and planning in

silos and provides opportunity to collaborate and work together. This process serves two advantages; it

prepares and builds itself to withstand those triggers and identifies ways of enhancing effectiveness and

delivery through leveraging other initiatives.

The relationship with the state agencies and government programmes is case in point, which illustrates

the advantages HUF intervention has brought it. The case of MGNREGS – additional employment

generation and planning, where in desired level of effectiveness and efficiency was brought in while

building on to the state funds.

8.5 Post Project Closure

While the above are key to identify and have systems in place that ideally would bring in sustainability in

the project and its management, the traditional approach has been to ensure post project closure through

sustainability. We define a project closed,

where all reporting requirements within the

project period are met and the financial

closure is awarded. Planning withdrawal from

the project arguably remains a key challenge

in all development processes.

Through our experience, we can suggest this

phase to be the most engaging one as we plan

to rely on the systems put in place to have the

same level of output delivered in absence of

resource as allocated earlier. At HUF, we have

attempted to put together the phase of post

project closure, a regular engagement

process, where in the data sets from the NGO

and community both are fed in to evaluate the

effectiveness of assets and monitor progress for assurance. We believe that the intent to continue or not

Trash mulching in sugarcane in Barwani

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can be evaluated through such engagement processes which are built on data support while connecting

with the partner and the community in the endeavor to leverage its potential.

We approach the SDGs from the process perspective. We believe that achieving a goal would be only as

realistic as the involvement of stakeholders in working towards it. In a sense therefore, HUF sees itself

1. As a bridge that links:

a. Macro aspirations of policy shapers to micro interpretations at the local level

b. Ambitions with delivery

2. As an enabler which facilitates

a. Development articulations by communities

b. Providing inputs into the ecosystem of policy shapers

To illustrate the above, HUF undertook a joint publication with its partners and the UNCEO Water

Mandate on ‘Pathways to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to Water and Sanitation: An

Experience from India’ during World Water Week (WWW) at Stockholm 2015. This publication shares our

partner experiences in communities and suggests possible pathways for the SDG movement. The various

KPIs being tracked by HUF and its partners contribute to SDG goals as reflected in this Annual Report. At

the micro level HUF has enabled SAMUHA to connect the community articulations of its development

dreams in the former’s working areas with the SDGs.

Presented below is a snapshot of certain activities taken up by HUF supported projects during the year

8.6 Defining Water for Public Good within SDG context

Water for Public Good

Goal 2

[..Promote Sustainable Agriculture] Goal 5

[..Sustained food

production ..and improve land and soil

quality]

Goal 6

[..Water for All]

Goal 12

[..sustainable management and efficient

use of natural resources]

Goal 13

[..institutional capacity impact reduction and early warning]

Goal 16

[.. participatory and

representative decision making]

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8.6.1 Engagement with SDGs Goals and Targets

Below is an attempt to evidence the contribution of initiatives that have been taken up by our partners in

their project areas to different SDGs.

Goal 2

2.3 - By 2030, double the

agricultural productivity and

incomes of small-scale food

producers, in particular women,

indigenous peoples, family

farmers, pastoralists and fishers,

including through secure and

equal access to land, other

productive resources and

inputs, knowledge, financial

services, markets and

opportunities for value addition

and non-farm employment

Community interventions focus on rationalising use of water and

other farm inputs have helped increase agricultural productivity

and production. Increase in cropping area and cropping intensity

owing to increased availability of water has added to the same.

Increased coherence between tail end and farmers at the head of

the canal has also ensured that water is available to farmers at tail

end of the canal thereby resulting in increased agriculture

production. In almost all the projects supported by HUF, women

participation is being encouraged and actively facilitated in local

development and decision making process. In states such as Gujarat

and Maharashtra and Central India interventions are focused on

enabling tribal communities to enhance their agriculture

production by adopting better agriculture practices. Non-farm

income generation activities are also being promoted.

2.4 - By 2030, ensure

sustainable food production

systems and implement resilient

agricultural practices that

increase productivity and

production, that help maintain

ecosystems, that strengthen

capacity for adaptation to

climate change, extreme

weather, drought, flooding and

other disasters and that

progressively improve land and

soil quality

Use of organic farm inputs in the form of vermi compost, farm yard

manure, green manuring, use of bio – pesticides, practicing NPM in

paddy is being promoted in the project villages. On one hand, these

inputs help in improving soil properties and its quality they also help

in increasing soil moisture retention capacity and improving water

quality on the other as substantial quantity of water leaches in the

soil during irrigation. This coupled with soil and moisture

conservation activities such as construction of farm bunds, gabion

structures and alike has also helped enhance community’s ability to

adapt to climate change.

Use of agriculture technologies such as drips and sprinklers have

also helped farmers cope with climatic shocks such as drought and

less than normal rainfall. Farmers have also resorted to changing

crops. In Mandla district, for example, in the project areas of FES,

farmers shifted to Black Gram and Green Gram instead of paddy in

their effort to cope with climate change. Crop intensification has

also helped farmers cope with limited availability of water and at

the same time increasing their agriculture production.

Agricultural practices such as Direct Seeded Rice and trellis

cultivation on uplands are being promoted by PRADAN in West

Bengal. Farmers are being supported to grow crop varieties that are

suited to local ecology. The communities have developed rules to

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prioritise use of water based on its quantity through crop water

budgeting exercises so that it is available to all and throughout the

year.

Farmers have been trained to prepare bio pesticides and

insecticides, farmyard manure and take up green manuring. In a

similar vein, Olam has been promoting use of press mud – a bye

product of sugar mill – as fertiliser among sugarcane farmers

associated with its mills. This has led farmers reduce use of chemical

fertilisers in agriculture. Practices like Low External Input

Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) are being promoted and farmers are

being supported to rationalise use of fertilisers. Farmers have also

resorted to soil testing so that they are aware of the requirements

of the soil.

Water harvesting coupled with soil and moisture conservation has

proved to be beneficial in ways more than one. It has helped

farmers increase cropping intensity by use of residual moisture and

also in groundwater recharge coupled with arresting soil erosion

thereby maintaining productivity of the soil.

Goal 5

5.5 - Ensure women’s full and

effective participation and equal

opportunities for leadership at

all levels of decision-making in

political, economic and public

life

Community interventions by partners focused on having equitable

representation of women in community institutions as well as

supporting them to take active participation in local development

and decision-making process. Initiatives by PRADAN in West Bengal

and PARMARTH in Jalaun and Sumerpur districts of Uttar Pradesh,

geographically situated in Bundelkhad region; specifically focus on

collectivising women and encouraging them to engage with local

governance institutions and government. In the project villages of

West Bengal, women have been actively involved in local planning

process aimed at creation of water harvesting structures and

successfully advocating for use of MGNREGS resources for creation

of water harvesting assets. Similarly, WOTR focused its efforts on

advocating for active participation of women in Gram Sabha

meetings.

5.b Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women

Use of information and communication technology by women is

also being promoted in several locations. In eastern region of Uttar

Pradesh, for example, PANI has been focusing on developing

capacities of women from the community as Community Resource

Persons (CRPs). They are being trained in developing audio visuals

on improved agriculture practices adopted by the farmers. These

‘community videos’ are used by women CRPs for imparting training

to farmers in other villages. Similarly, in West Bengal, PRADAN has

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trained women from the community to use tablets for collecting

agriculture information from individual farmers. These ‘Community

Data Collectors’ (CDC) not only collect information but also discuss

it in village meetings which help women farmers plan better for

future.

Goal 6

6.4 - By 2030, substantially

increase water-use efficiency

across all sectors and ensure

sustainable withdrawals and

supply of freshwater to address

water scarcity and substantially

reduce the number of people

suffering from water scarcity

Efforts aimed at water conservation, harvesting, management and

soil and moisture conservation have helped enhance water

availability in quantity and time thereby making critical irrigation

available for crops which otherwise was not possible. This has also

resulted in expanding cropping area and increasing cropping

intensity.

Increasing water use application efficiency in agriculture is one of

the focal areas of HUF supported community initiatives. Adoption

of practices such as trash mulching, skip furrow irrigation, farm yard

manure, laser land levelling, crop intensification, machan

cultivation, varietal replacement, use of cono weeder, maize

marker and furrow planter has helped farmers increase water use

application efficiency in agriculture. This has helped farmers reduce

number of irrigations for the crop thereby leading to decreased

groundwater extraction in areas where irrigation is groundwater

dependent. Practices such as trash mulching, furrow irrigation and

use of farmyard manure have been adopted on a large scale by

sugarcane farmers associated with Olam in the states of Madhya

Pradesh and Maharashtra. Similarly, use of hydrogel by farmers

cultivating Peppermint in Eastern U.P. is also gradually gaining

ground as farmers report reduction in number of irrigations applied

after adoption of these practices.

6.6 - By 2030, protect and

restore water-related

ecosystems, including

mountains, forests, wetlands,

rivers, aquifers and lakes

Conjunctive use of water is being promoted by DSC in its project

villages. Similarly, FES is supporting farmers to plan restoration and

rejuvenation of common water and land resources in the villages

with an ecosystem perspective taking into consideration the

interlinkages between different components of ecosystem and

impact of human actions on the same.

Indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers has adversely affected soil

quality as well as water quality. The study by ACWADAM in Punjab

reflects the requirement and action in this context. Understanding

the hydrological profile of aquifers to address depletion of ground

water and farmer distress due to reduced availability and increased

contamination of water. The vicious cycle of water abstraction and

investment to go deeper to results in unsustainable abstraction and

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associated impacts on production. The study was especially

oriented to understand the context and the arena for artificial

recharge, which is being promoted in Patiala district to tackle falling

water tables and mitigate groundwater contamination issues.

FES has been focusing on restoration of water commons with an

eco-systems perspective thereby helping communities understand

linkages between different components of eco-system. PRADAN

has been focusing on brining uplands under cultivation and

vegetation in addition to medium uplands and low lands. Ridge to

valley approach is being adopted across all watershed projects.

6.8 - Support and strengthen the

participation of local

communities in improving water

and sanitation management

Adopting participatory processes enhances community

participation into the activities. Community is being encouraged

towards co-ordinated development and management of water,

land and related resources for optimal realisation of social and

economic benefits at the same time taking care of the ecosystem.

This is being made possible through building, development and

strengthening community institutions. As a result of collectivisation

efforts, a variety of community institutions have been formed. The

community institutions exist in the form of:

Village Development Committees in Jalna in Maharashtra

Watershed Development Committees in Tikamgarh district in Madhya Pradesh, Nashik, Khamgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra

Habitation Level Institutions in Chittoor and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, Chikballapur in Karnataka, Bhilwara, Udaipur and Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and Yavatmal in Maharashtra.

Gram Vikas Mandals in the Dangs,

Sujal Samitis and Kisan Clubs in Mehsana and Sabarkantha districts of Gujarat,

Pani Panchayats and Farmers Clubs in Southern and Eastern Regions of Uttar Pradesh respectively and

Upa Sanghas in West Bengal

These community institutions are trained and capacitated on a

sustained basis. They are supported to frame rules and regulations

promoting sustainable management and judicious use of water and

making it accessible to community at large. Exercises such as crop

water budgeting, use of experimental games, promoting peer

learning, exposure visits, demonstration plots, interface with

experts are being undertaken to enhance their understanding on

water related issues and develop their knowledge and capacities.

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Goal 12

12.2 - By 2030, achieve the

sustainable management and

efficient use of natural

resources

HUF has been supporting several community initiatives that focus

on small and marginal farmers, tribal communities and socially and

economically marginalised sections of the society residing in rain-

fed and dryland areas of India. Whether it is the tribal dominated

districts of the Dangs of Gujarat or Dhule, Nashik and Nandurbar

districts or Vidarbha and Marathwada region of Maharashtra or

Chhotanagpur plateau of West Bengal - the focus is on enabling

farmers, especially small and marginal, to adopt agriculture

practices that enhances sustainable use of the natural resources in

the region and also enhancing resilience of the ecosystem.

WOTR has taken up a study on climate – food – energy – population

nexus through vulnerability assessment in its project villages. The

assessment examines the existing supporting systems - institutional

and social. It highlights key approaches within the system that work

and those that require further improvement. It has been promoting

low external inputs, increase land productivity, use of indigenous

seeds, and reduce cost of cultivation. This is being effectively

combined with water budgeting to make agriculture not only

sustainable but also efficient and adaptive. Integrated Crop

Management (ICM) and Low Water Agriculture have had significant

impacts on conserving the resources and on farmers and their

households.

Goal 13

13.3 - Improve education,

awareness-raising and human

and institutional capacity on

climate change mitigation,

adaptation, impact reduction

and early warning

Responding to climate change risks requires capacity across levels,

both in generating credible data sets, its processing and information

sets and people capacity to understand and receive it well. We

propose actions that are built on a participatory approach among

institutions, bring in innovations and leverage the role of

Information and Communication Technology in comprehending

climate risks and challenges at the local level.

Localized Met-advisories and Agri-met advisories provide timely

information to farmers in the Jalna district in Maharashtra, so that

they can plan their agricultural activities. Witnessing the success of

this initiative a MoU has been signed between WOTR and

Government of Maharashtra to expand this initiative across the

state.

In several other areas farmers are being educated on adopting such

crop varieties and cropping patterns that are coordinated with the

local ecosystem and help them in coping with climate change.

Community initiatives by FES on strengthening governance of

common water resources focus on enhancing access of the poor

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and vulnerable to the resource. Emphasis is also being placed on

taking up afforestation and reforestation activities where needed

so as to arrest soil erosion and these also contribute to water

recharge. Diversification of livelihood portfolio is also being

promoted. Improving quality of livestock is one such area that is

being focused upon in several project locations.

Goal 16

16.6 - Ensure responsive,

inclusive, participatory and

representative decision-making

at all levels

Interrelated with Goal 5.5

Bottle gourd production from trellis

cultivation in Eastern Uttar Pradesh

Tomato cultivation on Rain shelter in

uplands of Dhansola village of Binpur-

I block in West Bengal

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8.7 Case studies

Building women participation into processes and decision making

Kamal Deepak Tangde, Gram Panchayat Member, Wadod Tangda, Bhokardan, Maharashtra

As we call out to the 32-year-old Kamal Deepak Tangade of Wadod Tangda village as a Board member, she

smiles proudly. Eager to talk about how the project has changed her life, she enthusiastically begins,

“Before the project team came to our village and I became a part of the Self Help Group, my husband did

not respect me or value my opinion. But, the project turned things around.

The fact that I have my own savings, from which I can withdraw money at minimal interest rate and help

my household in the times of need, has earned me respect. This has boosted my morale and that of my

sisters in various SHGs.

Through the project, we began attending Farmer Field Schools (FFS). We have learnt how to farm using the

modern methods. The distribution of sprinkler sets has further increased our production. Now I know about

which fertilizers and pesticides to use for increasing agriculture yields. Now my opinion is valued, not just

at home but also in farming.

A few months ago, all women here got a platform to begin a Farmer Producers Company through the

project. This dream has finally been realized. I still have difficulty in believing how far we have come. I

remember, not long ago, my husband denied me even Rs.100 to put in the SHG, and today, without even

asking why I need the money, he at once handed me Rs.11000 to pay my share as a director.”

Enhancing capacity and infusing technology into processes

In West Bengal, PRADAN has trained women from the community to use tablets for collecting

agriculture information from individual farmers. These ‘Community Data Collectors’ (CDC) not only

collect information but also discuss it in village meetings which help women farmers plan better for

future. Use of information and communication technology by women is also being promoted in several

locations. In eastern region of Uttar Pradesh, for example, PANI has been focusing on developing

capacities of women from the community as Community Resource Persons (CRPs). They are being

trained in developing audio visuals on improved agriculture practices adopted by the farmers. These

‘community videos’ developed by PANI, are used by women CRPs for imparting training to farmers in

other villages.

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Engaging community to conserve natural resources – The SAMUHA experience

Tail-end farmers have been struggling for water even after a decade of irrigation facility created by construction

of Narayanapura Right Bank Canal. Hence, SAMUHA piloted a program ‘Field Irrigation Channel’ to transform

the situation by motivating farmers to go for efficient water management, non-pesticide management in paddy

crop, etc. One of the beneficiaries which is a non-project tail end farmer, Hanumantha Hanumanna from

Hemanuru village shared his experience and said, “We are nine members in the family, including grandchildren.

Agriculture on our two acres of land is the main source of earning. Even after a decade of Narayanapura Canal

Project, we were struggling to get water to irrigate our fields. Endlessly waiting for water, we faced crop failures

and poor yield. SAMUHA helped us to come together and discuss importance of water and solutions for tail-end

farmers. By adopting improved cultivation methods. The guidance helped with the upper farmers started using

less amount of water. As a result, surplus water was available to us at tail end. This year we didn’t encounter

this issue. Repair of breakages and leakages has also conserved water resources available to us. I am really a

happy man this season. Though the monsoon was weak, we were able to get a voluminous cotton crop with

canal water. There was no shortage of water this year.”

Enhancing water use efficiency - Increased productivity with reduced Water

A success story on efficient Water usage by a project farmer Mr. Pampapathy of Halasamudra village

of Boodagumba panchayat at Karatagi.

Mr. Pampapathy is one of the project farmers in this village and owns three-acre land in this tail-end

village. The area under cultivation has been one acre of paddy under irrigated condition and two acres

of Bajra under rain fed condition. Usually, he maintains 4 to 5 inches of standing water for paddy

assuming that paddy requires that much level of water for better yield. As a result of project

intervention in kharif 2015, he has adopted alternate wetting and drying approach to irrigate his paddy

and excess water to benefit his own field cultivated under Maize in kharif 2015. The result was

increased paddy from 35 bags to 37 bags and reduction of 38% reduced cost of cultivation. He has

spent just Rs.17, 590/acre against the conventional cost of Rs.28, 128/acre in the village. In the

remaining two acre, he was getting about four quintals of Bajra/acre under rain fed condition earlier.

In kharif 2015, he has cultivated Maize in those two acre. Despite poor rainfall in the region, has got 30

qtls / acre with assured irrigation made through Water saved from his own paddy field.

The exposure and learning on optimum usage of water so that the excess water is made available to

the rain fed crops increases the productivity and net income. He has become the model to many of the

farmers in the village in efficient and productive way of using the Water for better crop productivity.

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Chapter 9: Unlocking Partner Potential Last year HUF had initiated a process along with its partners to help them visualise their organisational

potential and develop a path that they would like to traverse to further collective action at various levels.

Accordingly, the partners detailed it into current, desirable and aspirational ambitions. While ‘current’ is

related to the project achievements as per the MoU with HUF, desirable and aspirational were beyond its

scope. In addition to this, we also requested members of our National Advisory Committee (NAC) for their

inputs and guidance. In the description below, we give the progress made by our partners on both – the

ambitions and the inputs provided by members of NAC.

In this section of the report, we have detailed out the initiatives taken by our partners during the year

that will help achieve desirable and aspirational goals that they had outlined for themselves.

9.1 Aga Khan Rural Support Programme – India

AKRSP - I believes that access to water is critical for rural India, for domestic needs and livelihoods.

Technologies to access, appropriate and allocate water vary depending upon the context, and

organizations have therefore to contextualize their interventions in alignment with the community. With

decline of community – evolved traditional management systems new institutional forms and rules and

technologies have to be developed marrying the best of traditional and modern. Experience reveals that

at the village level integrated plan helps in furthering efficiency and accessibility.

AKRSP – I has partnership with the following organizations and network for policy influence:

Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC) which focuses on problems of coastal salinity faced by rural

communities in Gujarat state

State Level Working Group for Women and Land Ownership which supports NGOs and Women

Federations to access land rights for women

Sajjata Sangh: NGO network in Gujarat which works on agriculture development in the State

Pravah: A state level network of NGOs working on issues of drinking water in Gujarat

Progress on Ambitions:

Aspirations:

1. Behavioural change of tribal communities on agri-livelihood interventions to reduce their migration:

Mitigation efforts included preponing watershed interventions to this year to stop community from

migrating, which was expected because of less rains in last season.

2. Develop possible partnerships at national/international level with CSR/funding agencies, government

departments to replicate at larger level:

Partnership with Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) has been developed to enhance

capacities of PRIs and enable fund leverage from various schemes

Partnership has been developed with LNG Hazira for creating solar based irrigation structures

3. Initiate discussions at different levels/platforms to influence policy level discussions on tribal specific

on farm livelihood interventions: Discussions have been done with Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK),

Waghai and Navsari Agriculture University on development of Millet crops.

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Desirable:

1. Pilot and Standardize location specific sustainable irrigated agriculture-tribal livelihood models and

share the results/ learning at larger level: Pilot on Conservation agriculture has been done with 10

farmers to demonstrate sustainable agriculture practices.

2. Develop an integrated water usage model for Dangs tribal areas for the domestic, drinking and

agriculture water collectively: With the Partnership with LNG Hazira, solar based drinking water supply

schemes and solar based pump sets for irrigation have been implemented in the project locations.

3. Field study to analyse interrelations between livelihood - water resource development/management

and its end use to suggest a unified program code that can be used by the Government for tribal

specific on-farm livelihood programme: A study has been initiated in the project area to explore

possible irrigation structures considering tribal contexts.

9.2 BAIF Institute for Rural Development – Uttar Pradesh National Advisory Committee (NAC) inputs have helped to achieve and enhance the value proposition at

micro and macro level. At micro level inputs have broadened thinking about the project outputs and

implementation strategy. They have also added new direction as earlier project was just around the water

conservation and harvesting. Now it has been moving around the multiple uses with sustainability. It has

helped project team and community to look beyond project activities and develop broader perspective.

Inputs provided by NAC members have helped partners’ critically look and analyse their on – going

interventions in the field.

Progress on ambitions

The objective of BIRD-UP is demonstrating different livelihood models and sharing it with other

stakeholders for scaling up and replication.

The following activities were completed against those planned during the year:

Demonstration of different agriculture practices and models

Sharing findings with related government departments

Capacity building community and other stakeholders

9.3 Development Support Centre

The guidance provided by NAC has further strengthened the ongoing work of DSC on Participatory

Irrigation Management (PIM), sustainable agriculture and promotion of the Farmer Producer Company.

DSC focuses on (i) participatory land and water management including canal management, (ii) promoting

sustainable agriculture through promotion of IPM and Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) and (iii)

agri-enterprise development. These include demand side management soil and moisture conservation,

improving soil texture, improved practices of water application and promotion of micro irrigation systems.

It has also promoted Krishidhan Producer Company, which provides quality inputs at reasonable rates.

Many of these, such as vermi-compost and bio-pesticides are developed by the Farmer Clubs and SHGs.

Local level cleaning, grading and packing of produce such as wheat, gram, cumin and mustard helps

farmers to get a better price for their produce.

Following are the activities initiated in the project based on inputs provided by NAC:

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1. Action Research Study on Conjunctive use of Surface and Ground Water in three Water Scarce

Irrigation Systems of North Gujarat: NAC has emphasized on participatory management of water.

Collective groundwater management and transfer of irrigation commands will be the focus areas of

DSC’s intervention in the command area of its project villages. Based on NAC recommendation, IWRM

is focused in project essentially looking at the supply and demand side of water in a holistic and

sustainable manner. It recognizes the need to develop various sources of water such as surface and

ground water through:

Improving the performance of irrigation systems through Participatory Irrigation Management

(PIM) and regular measurement of performance in terms of water use, agriculture productivity,

cost recovery etc.

Management of aquifer recharge through water harvesting, soil and moisture conservation

measures, plantation, recharging etc.

Demand side management of water of both surface and ground water by promoting practices,

technologies and crop varieties that require less water such as drip irrigation, SRI, SWI etc.

Setting up an institutional mechanism to spread the learning’s of surface and ground water

management.

In the study covering 24 villages, so far 20 para-workers have been appointed and imparted training.

Instruments for collecting field information have been installed in project area. Readings of pH, TDS,

geotagging of selected water resources, tube well/ irrigation well inventory are regularly recorded.

Proposed Indicators: No. of Para workers appointed and trained for aquifer management.

2. Multi stakeholder engagement: DSC has partnered with knowledge partners like ACT, IWMI and the

Govt. agencies like water Resource Department etc.

Alignment of project activities with NAC comments

Project activities Alignment with NAC comments

Baseline survey A comprehensive Baseline Survey at the household and village level and baseline

of groundwater situation have been undertaken. Based on the findings, DSC has

appointed a multi-disciplinary team having community mobilisers, agriculture

engineer and an agriculture specialist. In addition, it has also taken the help of

organizations such as ACT and IWMI for providing expertise on geo-hydrology and

water management.

Participatory planning of

natural resources

particularly water

resources

PRA techniques and other participatory tools are employed to support community

take participatory decisions and all the stakeholders are consulted/ involved at

each stage of planning, implementation and monitoring.

Formation of Sub village

Level Institutions

User Groups have been formed to inculcate sense of ownership and responsibility

towards the assets created

Dialogues with Panchayats

and users for convergence

of schemes

Panchayat members are made part of the local institutions such as Sujal Samitis.

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Project activities Alignment with NAC comments

Training of village

functionaries and

institutions on technical

and institutional aspects

Several training programmes on various aspects have been conducted for village

level functionaries and local institutions involved in water management.

Preparation of Detailed

Project Report (DPR)

DPR has been made through participatory process and focusing on local solutions

based on local wisdom along with new methods after being satisfied of its

feasibility in the locality.

Land treatment and water

harvesting works

While planning, the project takes care that overall geo-hydrology and natural

hydrology is not disturbed much and leads to better management of land,

vegetation and water. Attention is also paid to gel local knowledge with modern.

Establishment of

Maintenance Fund

The farmers have contributed Rs. 35.36 lakhs towards the project. The fund will

help in maintenance of physical structures in future.


Basic

Sl. Activities Target Achievement

1. Collective and cumulative water storage potential in billion litres 21.95 14.52

2. Supply Side Management in billion litres 9.86 6.859

3 Demand Side in billion litres 12.09 5.987

4. Additional agri-production in tons 9035 5574

5. Generation of Person days through physical works 41732 2244

6. Numbers of Households Benefitted 1893 520

7. Women and SC/ST household beneficiaries Women – 500 SC/ST – 112

Women- 213 SC/ST – 9

Progress on Desirable

1. Partnership with IWMI, CGWB, ACT for promoting conjunctive use, IWRM and PGWM has been

developed. Various capacity building programmes for community workers and studies are being

conducted in collaboration with these organizations.

2. Developing partnerships with companies producing Seed, Pesticides, Drip, Sprinkler, Bio Compost,

Bio Pesticides etc.: DSC has promoted “Krushidhan Farmer Producer Company Ltd.” functional in five

districts of Gujarat. The major work of KPCL is to make quality agriculture inputs available easily, on

time and in an affordable manner to farmers. Currently the KPCL has partnered with agencies such as

UPL, Nico Orgo, Surajshri and Netafim for input supply and drips.

3. Dialogues/workshops with policy makers and donors for integrating IWRM and PGWM in

mainstream programmes such as IWMP, PIM, and MGNREGS: To start with DSC in collaboration with

ACT, PRAVAH and IWMI organised a Sub Regional Workshop for North Gujarat on ‘Improving Water

Security in River Basin through Participatory Ground Water Management’ on 6th October 2015. Team

members also participated in a workshop by CGWB on ‘Rights Related to Ground Water in Gujarat’ on

30th March at Ahmedabad. ACT also shared the initiative taken on PGWM in the ‘National Workshop

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on Community Managed Water Resources’ conducted by the Water Management Forum, AKRSP and

DSC in 15-16th December 2015.

4. Piloting solar pump use by farmers: To understand the usefulness of solar pumps, DSC in

collaboration with IWMI conducted (i) Anil Shah Memorial Lecture by Dr. Tushaar Shah on Promoting

Solar Power as a remunerative crop, (ii) Field Visit by team members of all the three command areas

to see the Anand Pilot of SPaRC (Solar Power as Remunerative Crop), (iii) conducting scoping study on

solar pumps in all the 3 project areas, what is the greatest motivating factor and survey regarding

capacity of pumps usage, electricity charges maintenance etc. and (iv) participated in the ITP-CCAFS

SPaRC Stakeholders Consultation Meeting at Anand on 28th March 2016 followed by a field visit to

Dhundi Saur Urja Utpadak Sahakari Mandli.

Progress on Aspirational

Financial sustainability of Krushidhan Producer Company: In the year 2015-16 the Krushidhan Producer

Company has a turnover of Rs 1.07 crores. However, its operational expenses are supported through

grants from DSC. During the next three years, focus will be to have a business plan which enables to meet

its own costs from fourth year onwards.

9.4 Foundation for Ecological Security Inputs provided by the NAC of HUF provided a holistic picture for managing and governing water. The

suggestions provide some important aspects that require strengthening in the projects being

implemented and focus on a multi-disciplinary approach to looking at water governance.

Following are some of the important leads from the inputs provided by NAC members that we have been

able to work on during the project period and last year in particular:

Multidisciplinary approach: Our team includes geo-hydrogeologists, agriculture experts and social

scientists who work together for improving discourse on water governance. Tools such as CLRATT,

crop-water budgeting, experimental games have helped in facilitating information based planning

and bringing behavioural changes.

Watershed approach and understanding of water: FES believes in the approach and that uplands

need to be protected for the provision of clean water. FES has been actively engaging with rural

communities in the restoration of the watersheds through revegetation, checking soil erosion and

undertaking activities for in-situ water conservation. They have also engaged with the state

governments towards mainstreaming the ‘Commons’ agenda in the dominant public discourse and

enable policy and programmatic action on Commons.

The Information Portal on Rainfed/Dryland Areas would help in providing information for improved

planning thereby leading to informed decisions for land and water use. By addressing information

and knowledge gaps through data analytic platform and tools, the portal will also assist in decision

making at different levels. A block level atlas has been developed to assist in decision making and

planning processes at different levels. (http://dp.observatory.org.in)

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We are working towards influencing district and block planning for efficient land and water use by

bringing together different actors from government, media, academia, community representatives,

NGOs etc. to collectively engage towards evolving better plans for land and water use.

Partnership with government in improving implementation: FES aims to leverage about 42 crores

from MGNREGS and NABARD for the restoration of common land and water resources. FES has

evolved arrangements in each district to work towards energising MGNREGS and leveraging its

funds for restoration of common land and water resources. FES is engaged as the Project

Implementing Agency in Bhilwara, Udaipur and Pratapgarh; supporting Panchayats as Project

Facilitating Agency in Chickballapur, Mandla, Anantapur and Chittoor; as Cluster Facilitation Team

implementing NRLM-MGNREGS in Yavatmal; and as a capacity building organisation for the IWMP-

CPR-MGNREGS project in Andhra Pradesh.

FES, through Prakriti Karyashalas, is working towards building capacities at the grassroots and

partner organizations to actively assist in MGNREGS implementation. FES also has been compiling

and sharing MGNREGS Update, a fortnightly compilation of news, articles and circulars on

MGNREGS.

Management of water through participatory approach: FES is assisting communities by organizing

inclusive institutions in mapping surface and groundwater flows, interactions between water uses,

the catchment and command to value water and aquifers as common resource and reinforce the

forest-farm-water interconnections.

Participatory aquifer mapping, system dynamics, experimental games and crop water budgeting

have helped in developing collective action and better water management. The tools have also

helped in evolving the perception of water (surface and ground water) as commons and in devising

collective arrangements for better conservation and use of water resources.

Optimize match between cropping patterns and ecological conditions: Communities have a good

understanding of their local agro-ecological conditions and appreciate inter-linkages among various

components of the ecosystem. We continue to work with communities in using and enhancing

customary rules for water use, applying local environmental knowledge, and adjusting cropping

practices. The aim is to make it is easy for communities to adopt and replicate even in absence of

any external support.

Tools like crop-water budgeting have helped in developing understanding of the quantity of water

available for different purposes based on rainfall, run-off and recharge (based on local geology);

understanding water requirements of crops and consumption of water at habitation level based on

cropping pattern and evolve cropping decisions for the same. Rules have evolved to ensure

equitable sharing of water and to avoid growing water intensive crops in downstream. Learning

documents on collective crop planning at habitation level based on water availability and crop-

water requirements would also be developed.

Shift in technologies of agriculture for water saving: Various agriculture interventions i.e. growing

low water requiring crops, varieties & agronomic practices to reduce water consumption like

system of crop intensification, irrigation scheduling, use of micro irrigation technologies etc. are

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being demonstrated to make community understand the impact of such interventions. Field level

learning workshops would be organized for cross learning among farmers as well as awareness on

demand management through crop-water budgeting and experimental games would be developed.

Upscaling capacity building: Through Prakriti Karyashalas, which are aimed to scale up learning by

building capacities of about 100,000 trainees on aspects of claiming and securing commons,

institutions for governance of commons, skills on SWC, MGNREGS, agriculture, etc. Modules for

training Panchayats, MGNREGS functionaries and community institutions for local governance and

restoration of commons have been developed. Collaborations with district administration, milk

unions and NGOs have evolved for continued support to trainees and engagement with panchayats.

We believe Prakriti Karyashalas can help in strengthening local capacities at a large scale on aspects

of better planning and management of land and water resources and help in taking informed

decisions on resource use.

Ambitions: Water

Commons Project

Steps taken to achieve

ambition

Strategies developed

to achieve ambition

Activities

implemented during

the year to achieve

ambition

Plans and

follow–up

actions for next

year

Influence policies

and programmes

for managing

surface and

groundwater as

Commons in 2-3

States

Furthering engagement

with the State

Governments of

Rajasthan, Andhra

Pradesh and Karnataka

towards mainstreaming

the Commons agenda in

the dominant public

discourse and enable

policy and programmatic

action on Commons.

Build up economic and

empirical evidence

across diverse settings

on community level

arrangements

Meeting decision

makers to influence on

policy and

programmatic action

on governance of

natural resources,

water in particular as

commons.

Promote application of

more practical

approaches to local

groundwater

management

Meeting Senior

Officials in Rajasthan

and Karnataka.

Facilitating

programmatic action

in 23 blocks in

Rajasthan and

extension of MoU in

Chickballapur

Applications/ practical

approaches to

influence local

groundwater

management through

use of participatory

aquifer mapping,

groundwater games &

crop water budgeting

Prepare policy

briefs based on

our learnings for

sharing in

various forums.

Improve plans and

decisions for land

and water use by

addressing

information and

knowledge gaps

through data

Plan to influence district

and block planning for

efficient land and water

use by bringing together

different actors from

government, media,

academia, community

representatives, NGOs

Tools such as

Comprehensive Land

Restoration and

Assessment Tool

(CLRATT) would be

used to facilitate

information based

planning. We would

Training has been

provided to

government officials

in some states where

FES is operational.

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analytics platform

and tool

etc. to overcome

knowledge and

information gaps and

collectively engage

towards evolving better

plans for land and water

use.

develop Atlases to

assist in decision

making and planning

processes at different

levels.

Build evidences

and pathways to

improve corporate

investments for

supporting civil

society

organizations

working towards

energizing

MGNREGS and

public funds for

land and water

restoration

We develop case studies

and learning documents

based on our experience

from the project for

sharing with various

organizations.

In collaboration with

the University of

Michigan we would

undertake a study to

improve

understanding of the

impacts of

interventions made on

demand side

management/

institutional

investments in

MGNREGS and

watershed

development

programmes that are

aimed towards better

environmental

governance and

livelihood

strengthening of the

rural communities.

We would conduct

Social Return on

Investment (SROI)

assessments to better

understand

community

perceptions of the

impacts of the

interventions and

thereby improve the

intervention plans and

pathways.

Scale up using

capacity building

for better

governance,

productivity and

sustainability of

land and water

Commons by

strengthening

capacities of about

100,000 local

resource persons

With the help of Prakriti

Karyashalas, we desire

to strengthen capacities

of about 100,000 local

resource persons on

various themes such as

securing and claiming

forest, land and water

Commons, improving

local self-governance,

planning and restoration

of land and water

resources through

MGNREGS and

watershed development

programmes and

This would be done in

collaboration with the

government, district

administration, and

actors such as the

State Institute for

Rural Development

(SIRD), Milk Unions

etc. The aim is to

deliver large scale, low

cost and high quality

trainings to

community

representatives, PRI

functionaries,

MGNREGS mates,

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improving agricultural

practices.

grass-root level NGO

functionaries, and

government

functionaries from

block to district level.

9.5 Parmarth Samaj Sevi Sansthan (Orai) The project has made conscious efforts to incorporate NAC inputs. Structure and functioning of

community collectives such as PANI PANCHAYAT, SHGs, Farmers’ Clubs for taking forward the agenda of

water has been strengthened. These institutions have been playing important roles in promoting water

use efficiency, soil and water conservation, protection and management and improved agriculture

practices. The project has also facilitated community level processes towards equitable distribution of

water, sustainability of water sources and yearlong availability of drinking water for all with dignity.


Aspirational

• PANI PANCHAYAT has been emerging as strong Water Advocacy Network in the areas and taking

initiatives for redressal of water agenda in their respective areas. PANI PANCHAYAT has played an

important role during PRIs election held on Nov 2015.

• Regular facilitation and planned capacity building training programs helped in developing 24 water

practitioners in the areas, who are contributing in ensuring maintenance & management of structures.

These water practitioners are also contributing in ensuring equitable distribution of water.

• The project team members under the leadership of PANI PANCHAYAT have been approached by

representatives of Agriculture Department, District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Revenue

Department, Irrigation Department, Soil and Water Conservation, NABARD, Jal Nigam and Jal Sansthan

for sharing project agenda and initiating convergence. More than 313 farmers received compensation

package of their crop failure (amounting approximately Rs. 16, 00,000) from Revenue Department due

to regular advocacy under the leadership of PANI PANCHAYAT. A Watershed Development Proposal of

Ragoli village has also been submitted to NABARD, Lucknow. Online registration of 200 farmers was

done with Deputy Director, Agriculture Department, Jalaun for receiving benefits related to agriculture.

Farm bunds were constructed by mobilizing MGNREGS resources in the project villages.

• The project has successfully linked the project with advocacy issues of Jal Jan Jodo Abhiyan and

contributing in building an enabling environment for ensuring implementation of Water Security Law

and River Rejuvenation Policy in India.

• The project has prepared seven water security plans in the project area and legitimized it in their

respective Gram Sabha meetings towards ensuring implementation of the same through convergence

approach. Thirty percent of these plans were implemented through Panchayat and respective

departments.

Progress on Desirable

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• 36 small & marginal farmers received support of quality seed in time

• Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) technically assisted in promoting vegetable cultivation to 12 farmers and

provided training to 93 farmers on SRI / SWI / SVI and LEISA

• Three quarterly newsletters (Jal Adhikar Jeevan Aadhar) and one Annual Report of the organization was

published and disseminated.

• Project operational areas have been developing as learning sites, where other farmers, CSOs

representatives and government representatives and line department functionaries are visiting.

9.6 People’s Action for National Integration

Progress on ambition Basic

Code Proposed planned

activities/potential in project

Proposed Indicators Progress till 31st march

2016

1 Formation of community

institution such as WMC, WUC,

farmer group & FIG etc.

Capacity building of CBOs on

water management

Improved crop practices

Renovation of ponds

Adoption of water efficient

technologies/practices in

farming

Water saved due to adoption of

water efficient

technologies/practices

Collective water management

- Enhancement in productivity

Increase in gross cropped area

due to water availability

Area irrigated through water

structure.

7276 farmers adopted

different practices in

1564.13 ha

2.18 MCM of water

saved

Farmer clubs have

been formed and

trained in water

efficient agriculture

practices and use of

organic inputs

5 Promotion of drip irrigation in

Machan model and in

Sugarcane

Use of Pusa hydro gel in

peppermint crop

Sowing of wheat by zero

tillage & Paddy direct sowing

by zero tillage

Farmers using drip/ Pusa hydro

gel / zero tillage in their field.

Water saved due to adoption of

drip/Pusa hydro gel/ zero tillage

technology.

Enhancement in productivity

due to use of drip / Pusa hydro

gel / zero tillage

Gross area covered under drip /

Pusa hydro gel / zero tillage

technologies

Piloting use of Pusa

hydrogel in

peppermint cultivation

done. This year 200.72

ha of area was covered

under the initiative.

7 Promotion of water

conservation practices in

Vegetables & Spices (use of

compost)

Promotion of bio-compost pit

Like-vermi-compost, NADEP,

HEAP etc.

Promotion of Green manure

Vegetable producers using

compost in their field

Bio-compost pit Like-vermi-

compost, NADEP, HEAP etc.

prepared & used by farmers.

Families using improved cook

stove

Quantity of water saved due to

composting.

Different types of

compost and bio

pesticides are being

promoted in the area.

Green manuring by

Dhaincha (Sesbania

aculeate) is also being

encouraged

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Promotion of Dhaincha seed

production

Promotion of improved cook

stove to reduce use of Dung

cake (kanda) & also reduce

smoke

Farmers have taken

initiative to develop

organic farm inputs

and bio pesticides

8 Live demonstration of

different technology/practices

Sharing / interface workshop

with govt. departments

including PRI members

Site visit of live demonstration

Popularity of issue / work among

stake holders.

Demonstrations of

different crops have

been conducted on

farmers’ fields.

10 Capacity building of CRPs

Capacity building of sub-

partner organization

CRPs serve as change agent for

water management.

Organizations recognize as water

saving implementer / facilitator.

57 CRPs capacitated &

working in 45 GP for

water management

through improved

agriculture practices.

Aspirational:

In its pursuit to develop as a state level organisation on water management for all stakeholders,

linkages have been developed with government at state and district levels.

For creating an eco-system of community around water management process of Jal Gram has

been initiated in the project area.

Discussions have been initiated with member organisations of SATHI network. Meetings were

held with the objective of sensitising member organisations of the network on promoting

judicious use of water in their respective project villages.

Desirable:

Package of Practices (POP) on water efficient agriculture practices in Eastern Region of Uttar

Pradesh for farmers has been developed

Audio visual shows in villages and events like World Water Day and International Women’s Day

have been organised to sensitize and organize farming community on water management and

governance

Write – up on use of hydrogel in peppermint cultivation has been developed

Case studies and project achievements were shared with media and published in several

newspapers

9.7 Professional Assistance for Development Action

The components of the ambition curve are described below:

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Forming Primary Stakeholders Group (PSGs): Representatives from existing women SHGs have

been collectivised at Sansad (ward) level under Gram Panchayat. These members are nominated

by SHGs.

Orientation of PSGs: PSGs have been orientated, sensitized and trained on governance of water,

national water principles, planning for efficient water use, equitable sharing

Linkage with PRIs: PSGs have been supported to work in tandem with Gram Sansad (ward) in

planning and implementation of development schemes and programmes including those aimed

at augmenting water resources in villages.

Farmers have been educated to adopt practices/ technologies to enhance water use efficiency

(including enhance rain-water productivity), bringing additional area under improved farming

practices and increasing cropping intensity.


Desirable:

Behaviour change among communities towards judicious use of water and mobilising resources

from MGNREGS was documented

PSG members shared their experiences in local events which had participation of panchayat

members

Community members were supported to develop development plans of 189 villages in Ranibandh

block in Bankura district and get them included in annual action plans of MGNREGS

9.8 Watershed Organisation Trust

The inputs of the NAC of HUF have enabled a more holistic understanding of water. Most of the NAC

inputs are in alignment with the project activities.

During reporting period, we continued working on some of the key elements at micro level. Further, these

actions (current as well as proposed) can also be looked from a different perspective for wider impact.

We have attempted to link NAC inputs with current and proposed actions in the project and have classified

indicators as Basic, Desirable and Aspirational. Summarised indicators under each category are as follows.

Basic: Building capacities of Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Developing community managed

water governance systems, linking local CBOs with various projects/schemes supported by government

and other donors, promotion of water saving technologies, sharing of climate resilient good agriculture

practices and working as knowledge hub for three blocks in the project area on integrated natural

resource management.

Desirable: We agree to support district administration for integrated participatory planning of aquifer

mapping, development and management; facilitating other companies to chip in for collective actions;

process documentation and sharing of project results and learnings at block level.

Aspirational: Sharing the learnings of integrated participatory planning, Ground water mapping, cost

benefit of value additional activities at various platforms- state and national level. Advice climate resilient

based feasible good agriculture practices in Jalna district through NGO network.

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Alignment of the project activities and indicators with the NAC input is presented in the table below.

Code Proposed planned activities/potential in project

Proposed Indicators

1 Crop planning based on water budgeting, Micro irrigation techniques, Hydrogeological study

Developing systems on community based integrated participatory planning in 76 villages. Building capacity of CBOs on participatory planning, execution and operation and maintenance. Soil and water conservation measures on more than 8000 ha area have been undertaken.

2 To undertake hydro geological study and sensitize the community to undertake efficient irrigation technology such as Drip, Sprinkler

Community awareness and educating on feasible interventions on it in project area. Developing community managed system on aquifer management in project area.

3 Village level institutions 291 water allied and livelihood institutions are formed.

4 Crop water budgeting, Farm field schools, Micro irrigation

1642 farmers have adopted better agriculture techniques and are managing the conserved water for productivity improvement. Weather based information used by 789 farmers making decisions for 30% of net cultivated area. 5.18 billion Litre water saved due to water management.

5 Comparative studies, Documentation 15 Process Documentation studies/impact studies/best practices on various thematic (equity aspects, technology, traditional water conserving methods, action research etc.)

6 Creating peer pressure for water policies 75 Villages Development Committees and PRIs, 225 SHGs, 150 farmer's groups, 15 sub-cluster level committees will be capacitated to create peer pressure. 30 block level experience sharing workshops will be conducted

7 Crop planning based on water budgeting, Micro irrigation techniques, Hydrogeological study

30 farmers group / water user group are managing the stored water for productivity improvement. Weather based information used by 150 farmers making decisions for 30% of net cultivated area.

Progress on Ambitions:

Experiences and learnings emerging from this project are being shared with Government and NGOs in the

backdrop of the relevant policies. This is done through periodic “news and information” postings,

newsletters, publications and through District, State and National workshops organized/attended by

WOTR.

Since the last two years of project implementation, more than

8,028 ha area has been stabilised through soil and water conservation measures,

1,510 farmers have been benefited through agriculture and SMC activities,

435815 person days generated through project works.

The project has created 11,008 million litres of water potential helping farmers mitigate and secure their

agriculture production of about 939 tons despite of drought situation. This has resulted in more than 1500

households securing and increasing their household income.

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Conservation practices and efficient water use technologies in agriculture are promoted in the project

area. Vulnerability assessment to understand climate change impact has been conducted in five clusters

in the project area. Weather based crop specific integrated advisories are provided to 789 farmers.

Stakeholder engagement workshops were conducted at block level and methodology for participatory

water budgeting has been developed and promoted in sample villages. Development of implementable

methodology to undertake works on watershed basis through MGNREGS is under progress. Efforts have

been made to develop collaboration with district and state authorities, IMD, State Agriculture Universities

and Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA) in regard to MGNREGS, IWMP and Agro

metrology.

During the reporting period, WOTR established “Centre of Excellence in Adaptation, Research and Practice”

(CEARP) to address the impacts of climate change on ecosystem, water and agriculture. An innovative

“Water stewardship project” is being launched in partnership with HUF in 106 villages of Maharashtra and

Telangana.

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Chapter 10: Sustainability: People institutions As has been mentioned earlier in the report, special emphasis is given to integrate sustainability measures

in the project from the beginning itself. These measures vary from project to project. Depending on the

scalable and replicable potential of the project and its ease of adoption in the community, attention is

given to the project. The focus also lies on the evolution of measures from the community and their

ownership, so that even after project withdrawal, the community is able to take the processes initiated

under the project forward.

The present section details the sustainability initiatives taken by DHAN Foundation in the HUF supported

project in South India. Community mobilisation and collectivisation efforts have led to formation of

people’s institutions around individual water bodies, which have been then federated at block level.

Several capacity-building measures were also undertaken thereby enabling these institutions to take up

governance mechanisms that further sustained use of water resources and enhance equity and access.

Efforts also included revival and establishment of traditional water management and distribution systems.

10.1 Sustainable people institution for water governance - DHAN DHAN’s model of nested people institutions around water bodies. DHAN believes in community-led

conservation and management of water resources in the rural areas. Based on this belief, DHAN has

created the model with nested people institutions around water bodies. The DHAN model of people

institutions consists of a Vayalagam around each water body say tank and cascade Vayalagam around

group of tanks linked together on hydrology basis. Block level Vayalagam Federations group all primary

Vayalagams existing in the block. DHAN has defined the roles and responsibilities of people institutions at

each level and each unit is functioning independently and interdependent with the other for mutually

agreed basis. DHAN has created 256 Vayalagams 21 cascade Vayalagams and eight Vayalagam Block level

Federations through phase 1 project with financial support of HUF. From the beginning of the project

DHAN has promoted community institutions as sustainability measure for maintaining the Vayalagams for

their regular functioning. Meetings of these groups are monitored regularly by the federations promoted

at block locations. All these federations are registered under trust act and they regularly conduct their

monthly executive committee meeting on prescribed date with structured governance mechanisms. The

eight federations and their distribution of 256 Vayalagams and cascades are shared here under:

Sl.No Federation name Vayalagams

1 Mudukulathur 75

2 Manamadurai 10

3 Narikudi 84

4 Thiruchuli 12

5 T.Kallupatti and Sedapatti

18

6

7 T.Kallikudi 58

8 Ramanthapuram District Federations

-

Total 256

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Sustainability initiatives of DHAN Foundation through Federations: The following are some of the

interventions for sustainability of the people institutions as –

Regular meetings of Vayalagam through the AFGs created on monthly basis: The community institutions

regularly meet every month and they discus about their agriculture status, development plan in addition

to their regular savings, credit interventions. By this intervention, more than 50% of the Vayalagams

regularly meet and discuss about their agriculture, tank and water related matters. In the remaining tanks,

Vayalagam Executive committee meets and discuss about their agriculture and other aspects once in a

quarter.

Regular cascade meetings: Cascades are regularly conducting their monthly executive committee

meetings. During the cascade meeting, the representatives from the tank Vayalagams participate and

discuss about their Vayalagam needs and other development issues. These cascade leaders are part of

the Federation meeting at block level and they pick up the issues from the cascades to federation level

for discussion. During the rainy season, these cascades are playing critical role for water sharing issues

among the tank and from the anicuts of the streams for water diversion. They would also handle the

conflicts arise out of water sharing and distribution related matters during the rainy season.

Regular functioning of Federations: The block level federations are apex institution represented by the

primary Vayalagams as General Body of the Federation and cascade wise leaders are represented at the

executive committee of the federation. They meet every month and discuss about the current issues of

the federation. During the reporting year the federations have achieved the following for sustainability of

people institutions as narrated here:

All federations are regularly meeting every month at our federation offices at respective cluster which we

have taken up during the DHAN 1 project.

During the period 1.5 crores worth of bank linkages for agriculture credit and other livelihoods have been

mobilized from the mainstream banks with Rs.25 lakhs of Savings mobilized from the community. This has

given the sustainability to the Vayalagams to continue their regular works with its members.

In addition, all the federations have sent their leaders and office bearers regularly to respective district

administrations for attending the agriculture grievance days for raising their demands for addressing the

encroachment issues, village development issues and to have effective relationship with their federations

for mobilizing the support from the mainstream.

In many tanks, the Neerkatti system of water management has been in place to manage the water during

the scarce rainy seasons for ensuring the water distribution with equity and based on the need.

The endowment fund has been created at 98 Vayalagams out of 256 Vayalagams and it would give the

financial sustainability to these Vayalagams. In future, these funds could be used for regular maintenance.

All these eight federations have conducted their Annual General Body meetings last year and they shared

their annual reports and audit reports to their member Vayalagams for sharing the experiences and

getting their solidarity for strengthening the federation every year.

The leadership rotation is ensured at federations and at cascade levels every three years and eligible

institutions on the current year have rotated their leadership systems and procedures.

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At all places where Agriculture Finance Groups (AFGs) are present, the collective purchase of seeds and

fertilizer during the agriculture season have been facilitated by our teams.

All the eight federations are mobilizing the community finance to pay the honorarium of staff and office

administration and federations are at various stages of community financing for sustainability.

Way forward:

DHAN’s approach of sustainability is institution building for generations. After the project period is

completed, the institutions should continue their functions as the field staff are placed and they promote

AFGs and through that multiple services are mobilized and community would pay the service cost for the

services offered by the federations and through that the regular functioning of Vayalagams are ensured.

The projects are supporting for three to five years and after that federation would continue the

monitoring of Vayalagams and meet their demand through staff and federation offer demand based

services to the member Vayalagams.

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Chapter 11: Conclusion and way forward The period gone by saw initiatives on several fronts. While new partnerships were developed resulting in

supporting interventions in several locations, the efforts put in by our partners also resulted in developing

knowledge products in the form of studies undertaken on several issues related to water. These helped

in furthering our understanding on dimensions and issues that affect water resources and further enrich

in developing an integrated perspective with respect to water conservation and management. In some

cases set of package of practices suited to particular agro climatic zone were also developed. Plans are to

disseminate them on a wider scale among relevant organisations so that they can be adopted by farmers

in other locations as well.

Intensive efforts were put in by our partners in dovetailing project initiatives with government

development programmes and schemes. Of several government programmes and schemes with which

collaborations were established, MGNREGS needs special mention. Intensive efforts put in the project

area resulting in use of resources for creation of water related assets – both at community and individual

level and rejuvenating the commons.

The period also saw community gradually changing its behaviour and adopting water efficient agriculture

practices and technologies that have positive bearing on agriculture production also in addition to

reducing input costs thereby shifting economics of cultivation in favour of farmers. In addition to this,

efforts were made to help community develop an integrated perspective with respect to water thereby

being able to understand and analyse the inter-connectedness among different components of ecosystem

that would help them plan better.

In some of the project locations, formal community institutions such as panchayats were oriented and

sensitised to focus on management of natural resources in general and water in particular. Similar efforts

were also made at block and district levels through continued engagement with government officials.

The period also saw crystallisation of our thoughts on Democratisation of Water Management and

codifying the elements that have a bearing on the same. Additionally, we also made an attempt to analyse

the alignment of projects and activities that we support with respect to SDGs.

In order to have a common understanding of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that we monitor,

Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) was developed. Partners were supported to develop SOPs for each of

the individual projects taking into consideration their organisational procedures and local conditions. The

year also saw implementation of SOPs but plans are to make them fully operational from next year

onwards after further refining them based on the experience gained during the period.

While on – going efforts will further intensify, future plans include taking initiatives that help further refine

our integrated perspective with respect to water and intensify our policy contribution – both at the state

and national levels. Focus will be laid on furthering our engagement with academia and policy makers so

as to gradually move towards synchronisation between policy and practice. Emphasis will be laid on

generation of practice based information and generate products that possess scalable and replicable

potential and help better implementation of national and state policies.

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At the field level, focus will be on expanding and intensifying demand management measures for water

intensive crops. Collaborations with technical institutions will be developed seeking their input and

guidance. Farmers will be supported to adopt cropping pattern suited to ecosystem backed by adequate

support systems that help them take advantage of economy of scale.

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Annexure 1 No. Functional (a) Non Functional (b) Semi Functional (c)

Set of Reasons I – Beyond Correction and/ or Repair

1 Physical feasibility checked in

terms of adequate land

available for agriculture

Adequate land not available for

agriculture

2 Life span of intervention is not

over

Life span of intervention is over ……………..

3 ……….. Location is technically unsuitable

(e.g. in submergence zone)

…………

Set of Reasons II – Technical/Execution

4 Farms are not too far or high

from intervention

Farms are too far or high from

intervention

Some farms are near and some

farms are far/high from

intervention

5 Adequate quantity of water

for the user group

Inadequate quantity of water for the

user group

Quantity of water available not

sufficient for all the members

6 No delay in acquiring a three

phase electric connection

Delay in acquiring a three phase

electric connection

Only single phase electricity

available

7 Good quality material and

good quality construction by

the executing agency

Poor quality material used and poor

construction by the executing

agency

Over time quality of material has

degraded or depreciated

8 No cost escalation Cost escalation of project due to

delay

…………

9 Use of electricity to pump/ lift

water

Electricity not used to pump/ lift

water due to ignorance

Erratic supply of electricity

10 Ability to extract water at any

time

Inability to extract water at any time Inadequate watering time

11 Shifting from liquid fuel to

electricity for pumping/ lifting

……… …..

12 Head is less, consumes less

energy

Head is more hence more energy is

required

Initially energy was used to draw

water, but now energy not

available

13 ……… Presence of a more reliable/

affordable alternate source of water

Few farmers have more reliable/

affordable alternate source of

water

Set of Reasons III – Operation and Maintenance

14 Silt is removed Silt is not removed …….

15 Handing over process

appropriately done

Handing over process not properly

done

Incorrect handing over process

16 Accessing mechanic for the

repair of the intervention is

convenient

Accessing mechanic for the repair of

the intervention is not convenient

No support for repair of the device

17 …………………. Delay in repair leading to

discouragement for agriculture

O&M agency’s apathy for

maintenance

18 One time repair support

available, if required

Even one time repair support is not

available

……

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19 …………. …. Lifting device exists but storage

device is damaged

20 ……………. ……. Due to extreme weather

conditions, infrastructure is

damaged

Set of Reasons IV – Community Engagement

21 Information flow between the

beneficiaries and the

promoter

No Information flow between the

beneficiaries and the promoter

Partial information flow between

the user and the promoter

22 Farmers demanded the

intervention - Demand based

Not all farmers interested Limited farmers interested in the

intervention in the command area

23 Farmers suggestion taken for

the location of the

intervention

Farmers suggestion not taken for

the location of the intervention

Farmers suggestions not

incorporated appropriately for the

location of the intervention

24 Farmer contribution in the

construction of intervention-

Labour or Monetary

No Farmer contribution in the

construction of intervention- Labour

or Monetary

Limited contribution of farmers in

the construction of intervention

25 Presence of Mandali Absence of Mandali Inactive Mandali

26 Mandali is registered ….. ……………………

27 Appropriate and agreeable

distribution of available water

Inappropriate and non - agreeable

distribution of available water

Due to non - agreeable distribution

not all users are able to irrigate

28 Small user group Large user group- leading to

conflicts

small group of beneficiaries but

conflict in the group

29 Community lifting facilitated …… Community lifting not facilitated

30 …………… Perception reasons - apprehension

of failure by experience of other

villages

…..

Set of Reasons V – Socio Economic

31 Near uniform landholding of

users of the intervention

Varying landholding leading to

conflict and abandoning the

intervention

Varying landholding of users of the

intervention

32 Users that share an

intervention are related

………….. …………..

33 Have the means to afford a

lifting device

Don't have the means to afford a

lifting device

N

N.B.: Highlighted cells in the above table show reasons not existing in nonfunctional or semi functional Irrigation

types, but prevalent in the Dangs as a reason of functionality from farmers’ point of view.

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