As part of the ‘Learning Enhancement Exercise’, the Ford Foundation-India supported a review of community water harvesting systems in the drought prone regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan in India.

The lack of availability of water in many regions such as Gujarat and Rajasthan (which have been the worst affected by one of the most severe droughts in the past few decades in India) has led to massive crop failures, forcing people to flee to other areas in search of a livelihood. However, there are also communities here whose lives appear to be relatively undisrupted, those that have adopted water-harvesting measures and watershed management, enabling them to meet drought situations. Collective action for reviving traditional methods of water harvesting and innovations in conserving and augmenting water has led to the creation of both natural and social capital for these communities.

The objective of the review was to learn how community water harvesting systems as collective assets can be a conduit for building natural and social capital in semi-arid and arid regions – particularly how communities respond to environmental duress and provide for equitable access to water and livelihood enhancement as part of their coping strategies.

Activities within this project included:

1. Comprehensive literature review on community water harvesting systems, from the perspective of asset creation, for the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan
2. Identifying consultants and selecting site for field studies in Gujarat and Rajasthan
3. Developing specific TORs for individual consultants for multidisciplinary studies
4. Coordinating and facilitating brainstorming sessions among consultants
5. Facilitating the development of research methodology for the study
6. Drawing up an activity schedule for consultants with their consultation
7. Lending logistical support to team of consultants for field visits in selected areas (2 each in Gujarat and Rajasthan)
8. Analyzing research results and documenting in monograph/report, etc
9. Disseminating monograph and other outputs