Executing for change – Water for Public GoodPDF

ABOUT HUFFuture demand for water resources will increase significantly as the population, rate of economic development, and consumption grows.

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.

By 2020, the cumulative impacts of our collective actions are expected to generate:

6 Cumulative water potential of more than 400 billion litres6 Seven million person days generated6 Enhanced agriculture of 0.3 million tonnes

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. Its projects also comply with the requirements of the Companies Act, 2013.

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Visit us at www.huf.co.inRequest for readers feedback on [email protected]

Executing for ChangeWater for Public Good

Hindustan Unilever Foundation Third Journey Report

The Energy and Resources Institute

We dedicate this report to

Ramaswamy R Iyer

A scholar, activist and policy maker, Former Secretary Water Resources, Government of India,

whose incisive writings have illuminated the understanding of rivers, shaped Indias Water Policy, and had always been a guiding force

during our journey towards facilitating collective action for water conservation and management.

He was a member of our National Advisory Committee.

Executing for Change Water for Public Good

Hindustan Unilever Foundation: Third Journey Report

The Energy and Resources Institute

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of TERI.

Designed and published by: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) TERI Press Tel. 2468 2100 or 4150 4900 Darbari Seth Block Fax 2468 2144 or 2468 2145 IHC Complex, Lodhi Road India +91 Delhi (0)11 New Delhi 110 003 E-mail [email protected] India Website www.teriin.org

Bookstore https://bookstore.teri.res.in

http:https://bookstore.teri.res.inhttp:www.teriin.orgmailto:[email protected]:https://bookstore.teri.res.inhttp:www.teriin.orgmailto:[email protected]

Contents

From the members of NAC................................................................................ v Directors Note.................................................................................................. vii Message ............................................................................................................ ix From CEOs Desk ............................................................................................. xi Independent Assurance Statement on the Performance of the Projects ............. xv Stakeholder Engagement and Learning.............................................................. 1 Mapping the Change......................................................................................... 5 Action the Learning .......................................................................................... 45 Water Projects around HUL manufacturing locations........................................ 67 Climate Responsive Water Heuristic ................................................................. 69 Community Based Water Stewardship............................................................... 75 Unlocking Partner Potential .............................................................................. 77 Overview of Data and Processes....................................................................... 95 Total HUFs Projects ......................................................................................... 99 Annexure .......................................................................................................... 109

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From the members of NAC

"The situation on the ground in India, as far as water is concerned, is getting critical by the day. We cannot continue with our old extraction and construction mode of water resources development. Sustainability, equity and the demand-side must now be given centre-stage. Such a paradigm shift needs to be driven from below by building large partnerships on the ground, that combine the energies and wisdom of our people, creativity of civil society, professionalism of the corporate sector and the vast possibilities of leverage of government resources, so that this change can happen at scale. The HUF work with its amazing partners is an example of such a paradigm shift, which all of India must learn from"

Dr Mihir Shah Former Member, Planning Commission and

Member, National Advisory Committee, Hindustan Unilever Foundation

India is waging a silent and fierce battle on water. To win, we need to ensure ground water recharge, inclusive usage across homes and fields and increase crop per drop. This battle is best fought by local communities. HUF and its brilliant partners are an emerging voice in this area, developing practical approaches suited for differing local contexts. Going forward, I look forward to seeing how they scale up this effort by codifying their learnings and helping individual communities adopt what best suits their context.

Ms Ireena Vittal Former Partner, McKinsey and

Member, National Advisory Committee, Hindustan Unilever Foundation

v

Directors Note

As we set out to release the Third Journey Report for HUF, we note with grief the demise of our esteemed National Advisory Committee member, Mr Ramaswamy R Iyer. We dedicate this report to him and reaffirm to continue our journey for Public Good.

As a part of our effort to bridge implementation action and policy action, we conceived along with the 2030 Water Resources Group and organized a workshop, Agri-Water Sustainability in India: Setting the Agenda for the Alliance for Thought Leadership and Action.

Last year, I had talked about HUF in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Im pleased to inform that we have moved on this journey and facilitated our partners to reflect on SDGs. These have been brought out in a publication with UN Global Compacts CEO Water Mandate titled, Pathways to achieving Sustainable Development Goals related to Water and Sanitation An Experience from India. The publication was launched during the World Water Week 2015 at Stockholm.

I would like to thank the HUL Board CSR Committee and the National Advisory Committee for its inputs and guidance from time to time.

I would request the readers to provide feedback and engage for action by communicating at [email protected]

Sanjiv Mehta CEO and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever Limited

Director, Hindustan Unilever Foundation

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mailto:[email protected]

Message Water is a finite resource and the demand for this pristine resource is on constant rise. It is imperative to manage this resource as it is the fulcrum that connects food security, energy production, social development, economic prosperity and ecosystem functions. With the burgeoning challenges in the sector, sustainable management of water resources is needed. This requires concerted efforts from all the stakeholders and adoption of holistic approach of integrated water resources management.

Taking a step forward, Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) along with its partners has significantly contributed in the socio-economic development through its Water for Public Good programme in diverse project locations across 13 states which fall in 13 river basins, across 90 districts in India.

TERI is glad to be a knowledge partner of HUF in this endeavor, with the common aim of facilitating sustainable management of water resources and ensuring water security for all. As a part of this TERI actively collaborated for organizing the workshop entitled Alliance for Thought Leadership and Action in Agri-Water held in Delhi. This

collaboration was fruitful in carving out the contours of a progressive alliance in Agri-Water This publication is the Third Journey Report of HUF for 2014-15. This details out the journey for Public Good

that Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) along with its partners are on. The interventions made by HUF speak of the diversity of approaches that are needed if lasting solutions to the challenges that water resource faces today are to be found. It is heartening to note that equal emphasis is being given to both initiating measures that help augment supply of water through construction, renovation and rejuvenation of water harvesting structures and those which help farmers manage water demand in agriculture in a more effective and efficient manner. In addition to technical aspects, the interventions that are being made by HUF and its partners clearly reveal that equal focus has to be given to environmental, social, economic and governance dimensions which are extremely important if this very basic resource has to be managed sustainably.

An interesting dimension of HUFs work has been its emphasis to use the ground based evidence to build knowledge.

Partnerships with diverse institutions including civil society organisations, government, financial institutions, international organisations and community are a testimony to different forms of collective action furthered by HUF and can be a learning ground for others.

Future action would entail efforts aiming at exploring contributory potential of new knowledge emanating from practice to policy and as to how the current efforts can be scaled up in sync with ecosystem.

Striving for common goal of water security is a priority for both the organizations, and through the collective efforts with all the stakeholders, we aim to build a better world with water secure future for all.

Dr S K Sarkar Director Water Resources Division, TERI

Former Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources

ix

From CEOs Desk

As, we bring out our Third Journey Report, I would like to thank all our partners who have made this journey with us, in particular our implementing partners, who apart from implementation, have immensely cooperated in unlocking their ambitions, designing systems, and generating data to facilitate sharing and learning.

This was a year of fast paced action as can be seen below;

6 Our National Advisory Committee (NAC) had commented in our previous Journey Report as also those during the various Regional meets.To take these on board and induct into our projects, we facilitated each of our partners to examine them and incorporate as a future agenda into the ongoing partnership. These have been taken up in a different

measure by various partners; a few illustrations being as follows: Development Support Centre (DSC)Action Research Study on Conjunctive use of Surface and Ground

Water in three Water Scarce Irrigation Systems of North Gujarat DHANWater Knowledge Centre Foundation for Ecological SecurityComposite Land restoration Assessment and Treatment Tool BAIF Institute for Rural DevelopmentPiloting Participatory Groundwater Management Project in Rajpura

Block of Punjab using expertise of ACWADAM Efforts have been made in various projects and these can be seen in their individual project annual reports.

Some of these have been captured in this report

6 We also encouraged our implementing partners to use our partnership as a trigger to larger ambitions that they would like to pursue. This has been an intensive journey and Im happy to report that most of our partners now have an ambition curve that builds on the existing project and takes a trajectory based on the organisations own aspirations.

6 A step in the direction of scaling up has been our support to FES to man Prakruti Karyashala (Rural Colleges). These have been set up to respond to the learning needs of rural communities, village institutions, Panchayats, as well as Government and Non-Government officials who can steer processes at the village-level to help in the development of their region, particularly in areas of local governance and stewardship of natural resources. These institutions offer large-scale, cost-effective, good quality learning opportunities and plan to work closely with government programmes, schemes, and institutions

6 While public good is the intent of our interventions, in terms of geography, most of HUF action is at locations where our partners already have a presence to capitalise on their existing body of work. However, there are areas around our manufacturing locations where we see opportunities for employee engagement with communities. During the year, the supply chain team at HUL continued to be encouraged to further community-based water projects around manufacturing locations.

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http:meets.To

From CEOs Desk

6 The year also saw ongoing projects DHAN and MYRADA moving towards closure, thus providing an opportunity to commence the capture of outcomes of sustainability efforts taken up during the course of project operations.

6 On the collective action front, progress was made with new partnerships and agendas: With a view to bring about a broad-based alliance for Thought Leadership and Action in Agriculture Water,

HUF explored with various local, national, and international organizations that led to a National Alliance meet in Delhi on the subject. This meet saw the participation of more than 50 organizations representing civil society, multilateral organizations, private sector, and the Government.

Under the ongoing project with HUF, SREC has engaged with United Planters Association of South India (UPASI) and is in the process of engaging with Tea Research Association (TRA) and Indian Tea Association (ITA) to drive the water programme in their member gardens.

SREC is also integrating water into the agenda of its ongoing commodity platforms. One such example has been the National Workshop on Sustainable Sugar organised by International Finance Corporation (IFC), BONSURCO, and SREC, where water was discussed as an issue.

HUF has been trying to further community stewardship of water. An exploration using Alliance for Water Stewardship Framework was attempted in Bhogiramangund and Naglapur Villages of Raichur District, Karnataka, and a joint publication with AWS and SAMUHA was brought out thereafter.

6 Over the past few years, HUF has noticed that climate variability is impacting the traditional understanding of agriculture and water connections. Thus, rain runoff relations need to be examined in the context of soil moisture, particularly in rainfed areas. So we decided to explore a method that has antecedent soil moisture as the basis and simultaneously has the ability to correlate rainfall runoff. Further, we have tried to factor in evaporation and infiltration based on secondary data with a view to mirror the physical process. We hope to continue this learning journey, as a part of which various processes have been initiated. In various projects, trial plots have been laid out to examine water use in different practice conditions, instrumentation has been undertaken, community consultations for external water application continue to be undertaken, etc.

6 HUF believes that its partnerships need to evidence a journey that Has value proposition at micro and macro levels, Help the partners to further their missions

Five Levers of Change: A Synopsis Make it UNDERSTOOD: Do people know about the behaviour? Do they believe its relevant to them? This Lever raises awareness and encourages acceptance. Make it EASY: Do people know what to do and feel confident doing it? Can they see it fitting into their lives? This Lever establishes convenience and confidence. Make it DESIRABLE: Will doing this new behaviour fit with their actual or aspirational self-image? Does it fit with how they relate to others or want to? This Lever is about self and society because humans are social animals. We tend to emulate the lifestyles and habits of people we respect like our parents or sometimes a celebrity and follow norms in society. Make it REWARDING: Do people know when theyre doing the behaviour right? Do they get some sort of reward for doing it? This Lever demonstrates the proof and payoff. Make it a HABIT: Once people have made a change, what can we do to help them keep doing it? This Lever is about reinforcing and reminding.

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From CEOs Desk

Create impacts at local levels that are both quantitative and qualitative

While the quantitative indicators are traditionally reported, we went a step further this year and encouraged our partners to capture qualitative aspects. The focus this year was on behaviour change of communities and stakeholders that is material for land and water-related endeavours. For this, we have tried to adopt Unilevers Five Levers of Sustainable Change.1

Unilever has a long history of both sustainability and the use of marketing and market research to promote behaviour change. It has published its own model for effective behaviour change. The approach is called the Five Levers for Change.

It offers a practical tool, based on what Unilever has learnt over decades of research and observation. It is hoped others will also use it in tackling the big sustainability challenges we all face. At HUF, we believe that this is one of the ways in which Unilevers expertise can be adapted to the water space and so have initiated

this effort. We engaged with our partners to help them think through and articulate these. The Project Annual reports have adopted this change framework for reporting. Needless to say, these are early days and all of us are learning.

HUF thanks all its partners for pursuing this journey as it unfolds and other experts who comment on our reports from time to time, adding on to our quest for learning. This has en-abled us to contribute to various global standards and processes, both directly and through our projects. For instance during the year, we collaborated with SAMUHA (our implementing partner in Karnataka), the communities of Bhogiramangund and Naglapur Villages of Raichur District and Alliance for Water Stewardship to come out with a publication titled, Village in Action for Water Stewardship ACommunity Perspective.

We would benefit from the views of our readers. Ravi Puranik

CEO, Hindustan Unilever Foundation

1 https://www.unilever.com/Images/slp_5-Levers-for-Change_tcm13-387353_tcm244-409796.pdf

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https://www.unilever.com/Images/slp_5-Levers-for-Change_tcm13-387353_tcm244-409796.pdf

Our Partners

Independent Assurance Statementon the Performance of the Projects Undertaken Collectively by Hindustan Unilever Foundation and its Project Implementing Agencies

To The Board of Directors Hindustan Unilever Foundation Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Broad Objective of the Engagement Hindustan Unilever Foundation (herein referred to as HUF) is undertaking various community initiatives [herein referred to as Project(s)], as indicated in Appendix 1, under the nomenclature of Water for Public Good, through various Project Implementing Agencies [herein referred to as PIA(s)], covering various non-governmental organizations and International Financial Institution. We have been requested by the management of HUF to carry out an independent review and submit an independent assurance statement on the performance by the Project(s) and HUF, as presented in their respective Annual Reports as indicated in Appendix 1 and submitted to us for our review.

Responsibility of HUF and the PIA(s) We have been informed by HUF that: 6 It encourages PIAs to develop working arrangements and identify opportunities of convergence with relevant

stakeholders, including co-funding agencies for the Project(s) 6 There is a working arrangement between HUF and the PIA(s) for each Project, whereby the latter are expected to

implement the respective Projects and aided either by HUF or jointly by HUF and other co-funding agencies, wherever applicable and identify and present the performance, with support of and in consultation with HUF

6 While HUF has provided the architecture of principles and laid out the KPIs and advises the PIAs on bringing robustness to these, the PIA(s) establish relevant and appropriate performance management system and internal control frameworks

Our Responsibility This report is made solely to HUF, in accordance with the terms of our agreement. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume any responsibility to anyone, other than the management of HUF for our work or for the conclusions that we have formed for the review carried out by us. We have no duty of care or any liability to any third party and cannot accept any responsibility for reliance by them, in acting or refraining from acting on the contents of our reports.

The Scope of Work Our Scope of Work as agreed with HUF is as follows:

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6 To review on a sample basis, the performances mentioned in the following, specific to the assessment period indicated in Appendix # 1: CSR based annual reports of the PIAs CSR journey report of HUF for FY 14/15

6 Review to be carried out on the basis of the following standards: Limited or Reasonable Assurance Engagement, as per the International Standard on Assurance Engagement

(herein ISAE) 3000, issued by the International Federation of Accountants (herein the IFAC) Type 1 & Moderate or Type 2 & High Assurance of AccountAbilitys AA1000AS Assurance Standard (2008)

6 Conduct Limited Assurance Engagement as per ISAE 3000 & Type 1, Moderate as per AA 1000AS for the following performance: In the CSR based annual reports of the PIAs:

Sections pertaining to the (i) Organizational Vision and Mission and its relationship with project, (ii) HUF Partnership in Organizational Context, (iii) Value Proposition, (iv) Change Actions, (v) Proposed Improvements based on HUF National Advisory Committee comments, (vi) Ambition Curve and (vii) Challenges and Next Steps.

Results presented in Table reflecting Project Performance, across the Principles of (i) Governance for Water, (ii) Quantity of Water and (iii) Benefits to the Community, in columns indicating Limited Assurance Engagement as per ISAE 3000 & Type 1, Moderate as per AA 1000AS

In the CSR journey report of HUF for FY 14/15: Chapter # 2 to 7 indicated in the Table of Content of the Report

Results presented in Table of Chapter # 8 reflecting Project Performance, for all PIAs combined together, across the Principles of (i) Governance for Water, (ii) Quantity of Water and (iii) Benefits to the Community, for columns indicating Limited Assurance Engagement as per ISAE 3000 & Type 1, Moderate as per AA 1000AS

6 Conduct Reasonable Assurance Engagement as per ISAE 3000 & Type 2, High as per AA 1000AS for the performance presented in the annual reports of the PIAs and CSR Journey Report of HUF for FY 14/15 in the Table reflecting Project Performance, across the Principles of (i) Governance for Water, (ii) Quantity of Water and (iii) Benefits to the Community in columns indicated as Reasonable Assurance Engagement as per ISAE 3000 & Type 2, High as per AA 1000AS

6 Assess the type of CSR programs implemented as per activities defined in Schedule VII of the amended Companies Act notified by Govt. of India as presented in the performance Table of each report

6 Submission of an Assurance Statement as per the aforesaid standards, based on review of the aforesaid scope of work

Our Approach and Methodology We have engaged an appropriate multi-disciplinary team to perform the assurance engagement and to obtain information and explanations that we considered are necessary to provide sufficient evidence to support our conclusion on the engagement.

To form our conclusion we carried out on a sample basis the following procedures for the projects indicated in Appendix 1: 6 Test of data, records, relevant documentations and analytical procedures submitted by HUF and its PIA(s), to arrive

at the data and qualitative performance presented in their respective annual reports of FY 14/15 6 Analysis and review on a sample basis the key structures, systems, processes, procedures relating to collation,

aggregation, validation and reporting processes of the selected performance indicators

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6 Review and test of activities/engagements executed/implemented by the PIAs in the sample sites visited by us 6 Conducted stakeholder consultation with select external and internal stakeholders, covering HUF and the PIA(s),

inclusive of communities, village level institutions and other relevant stakeholders, whom we considered necessary for the purpose of our review, on a sample basis in the project sites visited by us

We have relied on the information, documents, records and explanation provided by the management of HUF and PIAs for the purpose of our review. Contents related to (i) technical assessment of practices or efficacy of equipment or practices and (ii) macro level economic, environmental and social scenarios of any locale, presented in the report are beyond the scope of our review.

The sample sites that were visited by us for the purpose of our assurance engagement are provided in Appendix 1.

Our Conclusions Based on our discussions with relevant internal and external stakeholders of HUF and the PIA(s); the documents and records that were made available to us for our review and according to the information and explanations provided to us by HUF, the PIA(s) and the impacted communities consulted in connection to the review of the projects for the assessment period of FY 14/15, for performances presented by HUF and the PIAs in their CSR based annual reports, we believe our work for the aforesaid scope of work, provides an appropriate basis for our conclusion for the Project, which are as mentioned below:

6 Reviews carried out as per Limited Assurance Engagement of ISAE 3000 & Type 1, Moderate of AA 1000AS

As per AA 1000 AS: Inclusivity - As per the information provided to us, we are not aware of any matter that would lead us to

conclude that the criteria related to the inclusivity principle has not been applied for the key stakeholders for whom the Projects are meant.

Materiality - As per the information provided to us, we are not aware of any matter that would lead us to conclude that HUF and the PIA(s) have not applied the criteria related to or identified the issues that are material to the impacted stakeholders covered under the Projects.

Responsiveness - As per the information provided to us, we are not aware of any matter that would lead us to conclude that HUF and the PIAs have not applied the criteria related to or lack in their commitment to understand the concerns of relevant stakeholders, as evident from the various stakeholder consultation and engagement mechanisms that have been applied.

As per ISAE 3000: Nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the performances presented are materially misstated.

6 Reviews carried out as per Reasonable Assurance Engagement of ISAE 3000 & Type 2, High of AA 1000AS

As per Principles of AA 1000 AS: Our work provides an appropriate basis for our conclusion for the Project(s) and aligns with the criteria related to principles of Inclusivity, Materiality and Responsiveness as outlined in the Accountabilitys AA 1000AS.

As per ISAE 3000: In our opinion and in all material respects reported by HUF and the PIAs are fairly stated.

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Our Observation and Recommendations We have been informed by HUF that they intend to continue creation of positive impact on the community through the water based programs that are being implemented through their PIAs.

Key Observations: 6 HUF and PIAs have progressed in respect to improving the robustness, quality and reliability of data. HUF and the

PIAs have made progress in the assessment of water savings for the supply side projects, however the method is yet to be strengthened for the demand side projects and hence has not been subjected to current assurance cycle.

6 Some projects in the demand side have also estimated water savings based on theoretical computations, on the basis of research papers available, in areas which have been covered under interventions (which would lead to water savings). The potential water savings in some projects have been calculated on the basis of recall survey of the farmers, who have taken up multiple water reduction initiatives in the demand side, as compared to their traditional practices. A range that spans both the recall survey and research paper based estimations has been disclosed by the relevant PIAs of such demand side projects.

6 In both the cases of recall and research paper based water saving estimation, the baseline is fixed. The assessment of water savings has been compared with baseline scenario even if some intervened areas have already completed one cycle of cropping, post signing of agreement with HUF.

6 We have been informed by HUF that some of the PIAs have already initiated or are in the process of setting up controlled/experimental programs/plots for estimation of water savings across the demand side.

Key Recommendations: 6 It is recommended to strengthen the processes and management information systems pertaining to actual

water savings based performance parameters. The processes could be supported by proper Standard Operating Procedures.

6 It is also recommended that phase-wise audit at appropriate time of the season/year could be carried out to be able to effectively capture the data of key performance indicators of high significance.

Our Independence and Competencies in Providing Assurance Our team consisted of professionals having substantial experience in providing assurance in corporate social responsibility and sustainability related services. We have complied with EY LLP independence policies, which address the requirements of the IFAC Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants in the role as independent auditors. We also confirm that we have maintained our independence in the Report and there were no events or prohibited services related to the Assurance Engagement which could impair our independence.

for Ernst &Young LLP

Sudipta Das Partner

19th November 2015 Kolkata

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Appendix # 1

Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF)

Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Water for Public Good Executing for Change, Hindustan Unilever Foundation : 3rd Journey Report

April 2014 to March 2015 Sites as mentioned in all

projects of respective PIAs

Society for Promotion of Eco-friendly Sustainable Development (SPESD)


Integrated Watershed Management Programme in Madhya Pradesh

Integrated Watershed Management Programme in Madhya Pradesh

April 2014 to March 2015

Pathrai, Kudila and Malguvan

of Baldeogarh Block

Tikamgarh District, Madhya

Pradesh

Peoples Action for National Integration (PANI)


Promoting Sustainable Livelihood Practices and Strengthening Livelihood Portfolio through water efficient agricultural practices in eastern region of Uttar Pradesh

Promoting Sustainable Livelihood Practices and Strengthening Livelihood Portfolio through water efficient agricultural practices in Eastern Region of Uttar Pradesh


Maholi Gram Panchayat;

Ramnagar Dhaurara Gram

Panchayat of Sohawal Block,

Faizabad district, Uttar

Pradesh

International Finance Corporation (IFC)


India Sugar Advisory Programme

India Sugar Advisory Programme

June 2014 to March 2015

Olam, Barwani, Madhya

Pradesh

Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN)


To increase water, food and biomass availability through enhancing agricultural productivity and formation and capacity building rural institutions

Securing Food and Livelihoods through in situ soil and moisture conservation in Chhotanagpur Plateau


Nekrapahari Village of

Moshiara Gram Panchayat,

Hirbandh Block, Bankura

district, Matangini Biplabi

Sangh Bramondiha Gram

Panchayat, Indpur block,

Bankura District, West Bengal

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Dharampur Utthan Vahini (DHRUVA) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Integrated Water Conversation project (IWCP), Silvassa

Integrated Water Conservation Project (IWCP)

April 2014 March 2015

Vansda, Karchond and

Mandhoni

PARMARTH (Sumerpur) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Jal Sambrudhhi project Ensuring the livelihood and yearlong Food Security of target community through promotion of Soil & Water conservation techniques and Sustainable Agriculture practices in Sumerpur block of Hamirpur district

Jal Sambrudhhi project towards Ensuring the livelihood and yearlong Food Security of target community through promotion of Soil & Water conservation techniques and Sustainable Agriculture practices in Sumerpur block of Hamirpur district

June 2014 - March 2015

Inghota, Chandrapurva

PARMARTH ,Orai Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Jal Samridhhi Project Ensuring the livelihood and food security of target community though promotion of soil and water technic and sustainable agriculture practices in Orai, Jalun District

Promoting Sustainable Livelihood Practices and Strengthening Livelihood Portfolio through water efficient agricultural practices in Eastern Region of Uttar Pradesh

June 2014 - March 2015

Rewa, Ragholi and Rageda

Maharashtra Institute Of Technology Transfer For Rural Areas (MITTRA, Khamgaon)


Jal Samriddhi Integrated water conservation project

Water Conservation for Community Development

April 2014 March 2015

Ghapuri, jalka bhadang and

Makta Kokta

Aha SAHAJEEVAN


Jal Prabhandh project Strengthening Local Governance and Peoples Institutions for Sustainable Rain-fed Agriculture and Livestock Economy in Kutch District of Gujarat

Jal Prabhandh project Strengthening Local Governance and Peoples Institutions for Sustainable Rain-fed Agriculture and Livestock Economy in Kutch District of Gujarat

April 2014 March

2015

Bhimasar

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BAIF institute of Rural Development (BIRD) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited Integrated Water Management project Jal Samriddhi in Kasganj District of Uttar Pradesh

Integrated Water management project Jal Samriddhi in Kasganj District of Uttar Pradesh


Naugaon , Tyabbpur

Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Securing Water and Livelihoods through Community-Led Watershed Development in Semi-Arid, Drought Prone Region of Maharashtra.

Securing Water and Livelihoods through Community-Led Watershed Development in Semi-Arid, Drought Prone Region of Maharashtra.


Vadhona, Vizora ( Bhoakaradan Block), Pimparked, Vithalwadi ( Ambad Block) District Jalna

Development Support Centre (DSC) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Integrated Water Resource Management and Conjunctive Use of Water in the Command Area of Water Scarce Irrigation Systems of North Gujarat

Integrated Water Resource Management and Conjunctive Use of Water in the Command Area of Water Scarce Irrigation Systems of North Gujarat


Lolasan, (Himmatnagar Block) Garudi (Modasa Block), Kevadasan (Mehsana Block) Dedasan (Kheralu Block)

Foundation For Ecological Security (FES) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Water Commons Influencing Practice and Policy

Water Commons Influencing Practice and Policy


Falased, kotri , Keserpura, Naya Talab Ka Badiya, (Mandal Block), Bhatkeri (Mandalgarh Block), Dist -Bhilwara

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Water For Public Good Influencing Practice and Policy

Water For Public Good Influencing Practice and Policy


Amasarpada (Subir Block)

Chikitiya, Nadagkhadi,

(Ahwa Block) Dist - Dangs

Sanjeevani Institute for Empowerment and Development (SIED) Name of the Project Report Titled as Assessment Period Sample site(s) visited

Regeneration of the Natural Resource base through Participatory Watershed Development in Dhule & Nandurbar Districts, Maharashtra, India

Regeneration of the Natural Resource base through Participatory Watershed Development in Dhule & Nandurbar Districts, Maharashtra, India


Domkani, Waskhedi, (Sakri

Block, Dist Dhule) Mentalav

(Navapur Block, Dist

Nandurbar)

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Maharashtra Institute Of Technology Transfer For Rural Areas, (MITTRA, Nashik)


Barsingve Integrated Watershed Development Programme

Barsingve Integrated Watershed Development Programme


Sonoshi, Barsingave, Igatpuri

Block, Dist - Nashik

SAMUHA


HUF-SAMUHA Partnership Optimizing Agriculture Returns And Enhancing Climate Adaptation Through Water Conservation As A National Model For Canal-Irrigated Paddy Cultivation


Deodurga Town, Devdurga

Taluk, Raichur District,

Karnataka

Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (MYRADA)


Community-Led Sustainable Management Of Water Resource For Promotion Of Livelihoods And Secured Natural Resource Base

Community-Led Sustainable Management Of Water Resource For Promotion Of Livelihoods And Secured Natural Resource Base


Chitradurga (Karnataka)

Development of Humane Action (DHAN)


Tank Cascade Development for Development of Livelihood Security: The Revival of Traditional Tank Systems in Gundar Basin, South India

Tank Cascade Development for Development of Livelihood Security: The Revival of Traditional Tank Systems in Gundar Basin, South India


Madurai (Tamil Nadu)

Solidaridad Regional Expertise Centre (SREC) (Commodities of Sugarcane, Soy, Cotton and Tea)


Water Efficiency and

Sustainability in agriculture

Supply-Chains

Water Efficiency and

Sustainability in agriculture

Supply-Chains

June 2014 to March 2015 6 Sugarcane Mundiyapakkam, Tamil Nadu

6 Soy Dewas, Ujjain (MP)

6 Cotton Mysore, Karnataka

6 Tea Connor (Tamil Nadu)

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Stakeholder Engagement and 1Learning As the number of partnerships reach a mass covering 90 districts, with diverse approaches being followed in varying contexts, there was a need to explore collective engagement and learning opportunities.

During the year, apart from individual meetings, we organized regional partners meets across the country. Southern Region Meet was organised in Bengaluru,2

the Western and Northern ones were held in Anand3

and Gurgaon,4 respectively. The meets saw the participation of expert institutions like Indian Institute of Science; Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology; Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM); Centre for Technology Alternatives for Rural Areas, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay; Advanced Center for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM); International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Arid Communities and Technologies (ACT), Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), in addition to the Members of National Advisory Committee (NAC). The regional meets focused on sharing experiences and strategies followed by inputs from experts and Members of NAC.

The NAC comprising Dr Mihir Shah, Ms Ireena Vittal, and Late Ramaswamy R Iyer actively participated in the Northern Region Meet and gave its inputs summarized as follows: 6 Irrespective of the nature of the project, there is a

need to pay attention to ground water management,

2 Southern Regional Meet was organized during 2527June 2014. 3 Western Regional Meet was organized during 1012November 2014. 4 Northern Regional Meet was organized during 1315October 2014.

Western Region Partners Meeting

improving water efficiency, and surface water. Further, it will also be helpful to develop an understanding on the nature and characteristics of aquifer.

6 NAC appreciated the selection of partners and active participation of HUF team in projects.

6 NAC opined that at present HUF is in a learning phase and different partners are looking in different ways as regards water conservation and management is concerned.

6 Since efforts are being made in different typologies, hence different approaches are being deployed to address the issues.Specific solutions can be expected. We need to move from water savings to water management. These can later be used for replication in similar areas.

6 Our approach has to be farsighted also looking towards intergenerational aspects.

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2

Executing for Change: Water for Public Good

Northern Region Partners Meeting

6 Punjab presents a unique scenario wherein Uranium contamination is being found in groundwater. Hence we have to be cautious in our approach.

6 Collaboration with government institutions such as CGWB and others needs to be furthered.

6 Efforts need to be put in for orientation of Nari Sanghs formed by Peoples Action for National Integration (PANI) under Empowering Rural Women Programme on groundwater management, conservation, and water management.

6 In future, we need to have strategies on how community and the market can come together.

6 There is a need to conduct scientific studies of practices such as SRI and SWI thereby building a case for their wide-scale replication and sustained usage.

Along with this, the experts provided useful insights on issues related to water conundrum including: 6 Ecosystem perspective with respect to groundwater

irrigation 6 Typologies of Indias aquifer systems

Southern Region Partners Meeting 5 The meet was organised on May 5, 2015.

6 Rainwater harvesting as a bridge between water demand and supply: A Case Study of Bangalore

6 Role of Remote Sensing and GIS in monitoring irrigated areas

6 Water Standards for Business and Communities 6 Participatory Groundwater Management as a tool

in ensuring efficient supply and equity in demand 6 Policy Shifts & Governance Challenges in Providing

Rural Drinking Water in India 6 Resourcing the architecture for enabling impacts on

communities

Needless to say, to move in this direction, there is a need for a broad-based Alliance that looks both at Thinking and Action on water. So we thought through and put together a National Alliance Meet for Thought Leadership and Action in Agriculture Water5 at Delhi to harness collective potential of diverse actors. The meet saw the participation of more than 50 organizations representing civil society, multilateral organisations, private sector, and the government. It dealt upon the following issues and provided insights for further inquiry and action:

6 Recognizing that private sector investment in the irrigation sector in India has been highly limited due to several reasons, the meet recommended the following for unlocking it: Tapping into capital markets and Non-Banking

Financial Companies. Leveraging water benefit certificates, raising

finance through national or state schemes, and using national funds committed for the purpose such as National Adaptation Fund.

Implementing measures for attracting private investment such as policy reforms, ensuring

Stakeholder Engagement and Learning

availability of reliable data, reforming PPP design, and public recognition of investment.

6 More effective implementation of SDGs, specifically Goal 6 can be achieved by: Conducting water balance estimations and

enhancing water use efficiency in all sectors Adopting multi-stakeholder and participatory

approaches Developing site specific business models Extending financial help to farmers and

influencing behavioural change Encouraging the concept of water footprint Learning from the experience of other countries

and supporting current initiatives Adopting circular economy pathway

6 Over the years, several factors have led to water scarcity and water quality degradation in Gangathe lifeline for almost 450 million people. Rejuvenation process of the basin needs to consider: Understanding the administrative set-up Learning from existing experiences and

understanding water use efficiency at the basin level

Establishing a common platform for all stakeholders involving community

Implementing public-private partnership (PPP) models

Understanding groundwater Deploying water efficient technologies The meet also witnessed the launch of Ganga Multi-Stakeholder Action Forum to foster collaboration across the government, private sector, civil society, and academia.

6 Recognizing that a robust database is of prime importance for proper planning and equitable water resource allocation, following were mentioned for consideration: Bottom-up development of information system

able to be interpreted at different scales Develop common vocabulary, standardized

terminologies and nomenclature that is easily understood by farmers.

6 The meet also recommended the development of Practice Based National Agri-Water Policy targeting (a) improving water productivity and (b) improving livelihood status of farmers following the bottom-up approach.

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Mapping the Change

Working towards water friendly change including behaviour aspects is an important part of HUFs agenda. Having initiated various projects over the last few years and evolving the quantitative delta, we now have taken the journey to explore qualitative elements, one of them being around behaviour. Needless to say, since most of our projects are in early stages, efforts leading to change would be more dominantly seen.6 As we go along, the adaption to the Unilever Five Lever Model would get explored in greater depth. In some of our older projects, the change is relatively more visible. Below is a compilation of change as the project partners have narrated. In certain cases, these pertain to the ongoing year only as the occasion was to report for that period. To preserve its flavour, we would also be sharing the detailed narration through the partner annual reports that would be made available on our website.7

DHAN FOUNDATION For the project titled Tank Cascade Development for Livelihood Security in Gundar basin, HUF partnered with the DHAN Foundation. The main focus of the project was on conservation and development of irrigation tanks and ponds through a community-based model. The partnership has helped in reaching out to 1,454 farming families in the year 201415 and to over 600 in the SC/ST category with a substantial number of active women members spread across 44 irrigation tanks/water bodies, falling under 30 tank associations in 31 villages (29 panchayats), across 11 blocks, in

6 Please see Five Levers of Change referred to elsewhere 7 www.huf.co.in

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Community engaged in local planning

5 districts of Tamil Nadu. These members are further sub-grouped into 93 agricultural microfinance groups for agriculture development and microfinance to improve the livelihoods of the members.

From July 2010 to June 2014, first phase of the project was implemented in 15 tank cascades of Gundar basin and showed promising results and successful impacts like incremental yield, increase in cropping intensity, crop diversification, and strong people

Community members sharing their experiences

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http:www.huf.co.in


institutions. These positive changes motivated both the HUF and DHAN Foundation in scaling up water supply and demand side management interventions at both Gundar and Vaippar river basins as a follow-up on project in PhaseII. The aim is to cover 450 water bodies in the basins. Another dimension attached to the project is to converge with development projects of District Administration, NABARD, International Network Organizations, Corporates, Bank, Academia, and Individual Philanthropists.

The overall objective of the Phase II is to contribute to community-led water conservation and agriculture development for achieving livelihood sustainability in drought prone Gundar Basin and Vaippar basin of South India.

The value propositions of the project objectives are: 6 Since irrigation tanks are small in size, they provide

space for local management and give substantial scope for livelihood enhancement and poverty reduction

6 People investment and ownership through nested institutions beyond panchayat on hydrologic framework

6 Building capacity and skill through knowledge and experience gained for improved productivity and income

6 Building leadership for development action that can lead institutions for generations

6 Promoting and sustaining partnerships between poor and different stakeholders are an essential element of a strategy to scale up

To achieve the objectives of the project it was important to connect to the local communities and bring change in their attitude and behaviour for improving the situation of the area, which in this case pertains to conserving water and soil, generating livelihood options and enhancing agricultural productivity. To bring the requisite changes, DHAN together with local community took strategic steps as mentioned below.

Efforts to Convince Community DHAN Foundation made efforts from capacity need assessment, building skills and attitude, leadership development of stakeholders, mainly to govern the

natural freshwater assets after rehabilitation in a sustained manner. A series of trainings were organized in the region. Some of the trainings organized like Zero Budget focused on creating awareness on organic farming and undertaking farming activities without chemical fertilizers. In addition to the above, training was conducted on improved paddy cultivation and exposure to agriculture departmental schemes also for formation of Farmers Producers Organizations. In some locations, trainings on improved cultivation of paddy, chillies, and cotton, and the exposure visit to Cotton Research Centre were organized.

Community Acceptance and Involvement Special trainings were imparted to the field staff in the project. Training programmes were conducted for Community Accountant on the aspects of DHANAM Software Update, Federation Software Update and Development Management Appreciation programme, and State Balance Growth Fund, Proposal Writing & Implementation. Through these capacity development programmes, the community accountants acquired knowledge on new accounting software and operational knowledge for writing proposals on behalf of peoples institutions.

DHAN also organized mass events such as Tamil Nadu Water Week and Walkathon to raise awareness of community members.

Through these above trainings, the small and marginal farming community got sensitized about the improved cultivation practices, water

Community members explaining village resource map

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Mapping the Change

demand management practices, organic farming, crop diversification practices, minimizing loss and maximizing yield, procuring quality seeds, and seed treatment practices. Through a combination of training and implementation in the project area, the tanks have been able to harvest rain water, enabling farmers to start paddy cultivation on time. Leakage in sluices in the project area has been arrested, thus saving harvested water. The farmers have also started to manage the water properly. They have not purchased water from open well owners, and they obtain water on time, whenever required for the paddy crop and hence the yield has also improved, compared to last year.

Results & Benefts Vayalagams have made an endowment corpus with individual contributions ranging from Rs.10000 and above in respective associations. The interest earned out of the endowment is used regularly for maintenance. The Associations/ Federations also converge with local gram panchayat to tap resources under MGNREGS, Agricultural, and Horticultural programmes in vogue by collaboration with the line departments in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivagangai, and Ramanathpuram district.

Sustainability The DHAN Foundation works for rebuilding the community ownership and management through creation of farmers organizations called Vayalagam

around each tank, network them in to Tank Cascade Associations around a chain of tanks, and federate them into sub-basin and basin level network institutions. These community organisations provide a platform for collective action to rehabilitate and regular upkeep of the tanks, ensure equitable distribution of water, and collective crop planning, based on the water available in the tanks, keep a vigil on encroachment and misuse, resolve issues arising within and across the Cascade, sub-basin, and basin.

The DHAN Foundation takes up an enabling role through the Vayalagam nested institutions in building linkages between the community organisations and the mainstream institutions such as banks and government development agencies. It has established linkages at an affordable rate of interest for many families from nationalised banks. The people organisations also work with four District Rural Development Agencies, social safety net by way of insurance coverage to families to cover the risk of crop loss due to climate change induced deficit rainfall and health cover of a substantial number.

Sustainable development could become a reality only through the local management with empowered community leadership in the Vayalagam Nested Institutional Models. The functions and interrelated roles between Vayalagam, Cascade Vayalagam, and Vayalagam Federations open a space for them to converge with government agencies programme and also earn support from gram panchayats locally.

Tank rejuvenated in Viridhunagar district Explaining watershed model to community

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MYSORE RESETTLEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (MYRADA) The partnership with HUF was actioned through a project, Community led sustainable management of water resources for promotion of livelihoods and secured natural base in five watersheds covering an area of 7,267 ha in the districts of Bellary, Bidar, Chitradurga, Gulbarga, and Kolar in Karnataka, targeting both landed and landless families. The partnership also had support of NABARD. The project interventions focused on natural resources, livestock, and livelihood of people through a community-led participatory method.

The project had the following objectives:

6 Increasing the ground water recharge in the watershed area

6 Increasing water use efficacy in agriculture and domestic sectors by adoption of water management techniques

6 Improving health and nutrients of the soil of watershed area

6 Increasing income of the poor (landless, small and marginal farmers) through farm and non- farm based interventions.

6 Promoting community based organizations to manage the implementation of the project and sustainable management of water resources

The Value Proposition of the project objectives are as follows.

The site of the project lies on the arid and drought prone areas of Karnataka, with limited irrigation

Community Meeting

Community members involved in construction of soil and moisture conservation structure

opportunities. Because of deforestation, soil erosion, and over-exploitation of water for both domestic and agricultural purposes, the natural resources of the region are in a poor state. As per the category of groundwater extraction, the region is classified as a critical area. Water storage structures were insufficient or defunct. All these factors together severely impact the livelihoodopportunities for small and marginal farmers and the landless living in this area leading to increased migration and a decline in the younger generations interest in continuing agriculture as a vocation.

MYRADA sought to change the scenario starting from water conservation to building social institutions which will ensure their sustainability and profitability in the future.

Efforts to Convince Community To involve communities from the inception stage, a Participatory Rural Appraisal exercise was conducted. Specific problems related to issues like livelihood, agriculture, and water resources were identified by the villagers themselves through this exercise. Efforts were made by the MYRADA team to raise awareness of targeted farmers, women, Gram Panchayat (GP) members, government departments, and representatives. Several one-day orientation programmes to GP members and Gram Sabha were conducted in the villages. Another set of activities to involve stakeholders included exposure visits to well-developed watershed areas along with trainings for farmers in natural resource management. After these activities, preparation of Net Plans was done to identify the feasible activities and their suitable locations. As a major part of this exercise, micro planning was carried out with individual farmers

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Mapping the Change

Orienting women on water management efforts

for private lands and for the landless to identify their needs. During the exercise, landless persons selected their livelihood activity and also identified the source of funds and micro-finance opportunities.

Communitys Acceptance and Involvement The project community was involved in construction and maintenance of the watershed infrastructure, monitoring its progress, as also the implementation of livelihoods component As a part of the project, rain gauges were installed at the project sites, enabling better recording of the rainfall data, and reporting actual data of water saved. This helped the community to develop a better sense of water savings due to tangible quantification.

Another important aspect in the project was convincing farmers to treat the common land. This happenedonlyafter thefarmers experienced anincrease in water availability and productivity of their lands, through support of MYRADA both technically and financially. Because of the project interventions such as creating pebble bunds, live bunds, plantation of horticultural trees and fodder, creation of farm ponds were undertaken on privately owned agricultural land and have shown increased productivity. In Chitradurga, farmers have started plantation of castor on bunds which has added to their income potential. Similarly, in Gulbarga, farmers now purchase government certified seeds for cultivation instead of relying on dubious sources.

Results and changes The other reported positive changes observed include cultivation across slopes, following the furrow method of plantation, and maintaining distance in sowing of

Increased availability of water: A relief for cattle

crops. Due to training and capacity building, several farmers made use of government schemes, apart from project funds, and installed drip and sprinkler irrigation.

As a result of water conservation, the availability of fodder increased, enabling about 347 landless persons to be given hybrid cows, goats, etc. This helped the families to earn higher income from milk production and also enhanced their protein intake through milk. Livelihood activities which included skill development in areas such as carpentry, auto driving, support for purchase of machines, vehicles, and equipment helped over 500 individuals and brought a positive change in the life and attitude of the people. The resulting additional income will lead to other consequences such as timely repayment of loans, better education to children, purchase of utensils, appliances and assets such as vehicles, TV, etc., for the household.

Sustainability The institutional process for the project started with building peoples institutions, training and awareness generation. It was followed up with federating them and linking them to Community Managed Resource Centres (CMRCs) which planned, implemented, and monitored the project work. CMRCs also played the role of distribution of project information to the communities. The unique point in this watershed project carried out by MYRADA was linking of all beneficiaries to Self-help Affinity Groups (SAGs) and CMRCs. CMRCs helped to bring together different schemes and programmes to facilitate the communities to invest in productive activities. Another important role played by CMRCs was to actively promote organic and sustainable agriculture practices, crop intensification strategies, water efficient irrigation

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systems, awareness on groundwater conservation, roof water harvesting, kitchen gardens, etc.

The CMRCs and SAGs will continue to operate beyond the project period and assist members to build on their experiences in water conservation, land development, and also for value addition to their agricultural produce.

PEOPLES ACTION FOR NATIONAL INTEGRATION (PANI) PANI in partnership with HUF under Water for Public Good has initiated a project focusing on improving water use efficiency in agriculture, with an aim to empower people through knowledge and make them more responsible through a greater control of their environment in eastern region of Uttar Pradesh. Water conservation & management efforts make agriculture more profitable & sustainable.

The main objective of the programme is to improve the livelihood conditions of small and marginal farmers and ensure water and food security through improved water friendly agriculture practices. The project also aims to bring about a change in behaviour of the community towards water conservation and to enhance convergence of government and other agencies programmes with those who need it the most through knowledge building and mobilisation.

A major impact that is expected out of this project is the improvement of water level status of Ganga basin in eastern Uttar Pradesh through saving 73.51 MCM water in project area. It is projected that there will be a changed scenario of agriculture through water friendly agriculture practices which will additionally

Community meeting in Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh

produce 28,495 tonnes of agriculture produce and make agriculture more profitable, viable,& sustainable in eastern Uttar Pradesh & impact positively on small & marginal farmers lives.

The value proposition of the project objectives has various dimensions such as:

6 To benefit small and marginal farmers and others as well in terms of knowledge building, technology transfer, and change in practices.

6 Saving water in agriculture through various water saving technologies and practices

6 Leading the farmer to play an important role in water management and sustainability of natural resources

6 Mobilize resources from government programmes like MNREGA & other agriculture & allied departments

6 Empower farmers through knowledge building to make access on government schemes to enhance realization of benefits to community.

Efforts to convince Community PANI core principle is peoples action for their development & this project is completely based on peoples action & their initiatives for changes towards water conservation. To bring the requisite changes, PANI together with local community took strategic steps as mentioned below.

Since the project has just been initiated, efforts during Kharif season were missed due to late start of the project. However, some efforts were undertaken during the Rabi season. Around 7,047 farmers were collectivized in 421 groups of which 1,151 group

Sensitising women farmers on water conservation

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Mapping the Change

members (including 431 women) were trained on improved agriculture/water conservation practices (like System of Wheat Intensification (SWI), multilayer vegetable cultivation through Machan, System of Sugarcane Intensification (SSI) & water saving practices in sugarcane. Community Resource Persons (CRPs) were trained on video production to prepare films of water saving practices for their dissemination among the community.

Communitys acceptance and involvement The community understood the new initiative & correlated project objectives with their daily life. They actively participated in project meetings& started adopting water saving practices in their agriculture. The achievement of the projects KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) presently provide a proxy that allows to gauge on how well the project is being understood and internalized at different levels: the communities, CRPs, field staff, programme staff, and the institution.

Results and changes The community is aware about the requirement of these changes because they observe water scarcity during summer season & destruction of water resources in surrounding areas. They reflect their views regarding current situations during meetings & FGD sessions and they also admit gaps in their behaviour regarding water. They are also ready to initiate process wherein some farmers have started water saving technologies/ practices in their own field after project team facilitation. Now they see water as a precious resource and a common resource.

Janki Devi taking care of her SWI field

There was a collectivization of farmers in group & a platform to discuss about their farming regularly was created. About 1,151 group members were trained on water saving practices (SWI, Machan Farming, sugarcane SSI & intercropping & water saving in peppermint). Facilitation & handholding support was given to farmers for adopting practices in their field. All the stakeholders (including community, government department & institutions) viewed water as a precious resource after interaction with the project.

Currently, farmers at the individual level have taken the issue seriously. They correlate with past situations and their current status & are taking initiatives in their field & actively participating in project activities. There were 443 farmers who have sown wheat in their field by SWI method & 153 farmers practising Machan farming in their field; 257 farmers are practicing water saving techniques in peppermint cultivation; 247 farmers in sugarcane and 215 in vegetable cultivation (onion, garlic,and intensive brinjal cultivation)

Sustainability Farmers acceptance and voluntary implementation play a critical role in ensuring sustainability of these adopted practices. The main strategy planned has been to reach out to marginalized farmers and ensure their water and food security through improved water saving practices that also ensures sustainable enhancement of production. The benefits of the projects focus on water friendly agriculture, water friendly behaviour of community, and enhanced productivity of agriculture produce will make the farmers adopt them voluntarily thereby enhancing its sustainability.

Results of machan practice

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Woman explaining village situation to staff member of Hindustan Unilever Limited

PARMARTH SAMAJ SEVI SANSTHAN PARMARTH has been working in partnership with HUF and implementing Jal Sambrudhhi' project towards Reducing the vulnerability of the community by securing water management through communitys participation in Jalaun district of Bundelkhand region in Uttar Pradesh, since February 2014. The project aims to enhance the role of water conservation, protection and management in providing food security and livelihoods in the proposed area through:

6 Building & strengthening a community-based approach in water conservation, protection, and management

6 Facilitating the application of irrigation promotion 6 Enhancing Water Use Efficiency Practices in their

regular behaviour, and 6 Enhancing social and economic status of the poorest

and socially excluded community members.

The focus initially would be on addressing the water needs of poor and small landholders through empowering and inspiring them on water and its multidimensional approach.

The project has ensured water availability through creation & revival of various water bodies and water conservation in agriculture areas. Efficient water usage practices are being adopted by the community through improved agriculture practices like Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) and SRI, resulting in increased productivity with less input cost.

Staff members of HUL, partner agency and community members participating in a village level meeting


6 Strengthening of Village Level Institutions (PANI PANCHAYAT & SHGs) and formation of farmers association towards promotion of adaptation measures

6 Building capacity of farmers and enhancing technical skills on climate change, integrated water resource management and integrated sustainable farming

6 Public debate and interfaces with diversified stakeholders like PRI members, line department functionaries and mobilizing their support & solidarity in promoting the project concept & its value propositions

6 Promotion of integrated approach of diversified pattern of livelihoods and adopting integrated agriculture and livestock rearing to efficient water management and soil conservation and growing resilient crops

6 Package of practices pattern will be changed

To achieve the objectives of the project it was important to engage with the local communities and bring change in their attitude and behaviour for improving the situation of the area which in this case relates to community based holistic water management, improved agricultural practices and efficient water use. To bring the requisite changes, PARMARTH together with local community took several strategic steps.

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Mapping the Change

Training on improved agriculture practices

Efforts to Convince Community Quality inputs based village level discussions with community members for injecting the importance of integrated water resource management, water use efficiency; integrated sustainable organic farming, adverse impact of climate change, etc. were held. This along with trainings and field demonstration on improved farming were used to convince the community. Quality inputs about roles & responsibilities of village level institutionsin sustaining the agenda of water management and improved agriculture in the areas was provided to guide them. Through the project, creation & revival of water bodies towards water conservation & its better management was done through community participation.

Communitys Acceptance and Involvement The community knows about the importance of water conservation along with using measures of water use efficiency. In this direction, they are taking forward the water agenda with their active participation & engagement. The community members are participating

in village level meetings, getting aware, and contributing in preparation of water security plan, attending capacity building training & adopting new practices / methods of improved farming, and contributing to water conservation. They are also placing their demands related to water conservation management and drinking water with the district administration.

The community members are aware and confident about possible changes and they have shown their interest for doing it. They have witnessed successes and positive results in the present course of implementation of the project. It was observed that people have interest in promotion of long-term sustainable livelihood through adaptation of integrated farming and integrated water resource management.

Results and changes Through the interventions, there has been an increased level of awareness and understanding about package of practices, integrated water resource management, measures of water-use efficiency, etc. Community members are sufficiently well-informed to demand the right of self-governance and responsibilities for maintaining water resources. Water conservation practices have been initiated in the target villages along with community participation.

There is an increase in the use of bio-fertilizers and improved agriculture practices such like LEISA, SRI/ SWI, etc., for better water usage with low input cost. Community members get additional wage work under MGNREGS.

Sustainability The community witnessed an increase in livelihood options in agriculture and an improved water regime. Moreover, social efforts such as water resource-

Construction work being undertaken by the community

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related management plan development collectively by engagement of people, strengthening of PANI PANCHAYAT helped in bringing clarity in roles & responsibilities towards community-led sustainable development. Using traditional knowledge related to water harvesting & management has helped to revive the legacy of the community.

Community institutions play a critical role in ensuring sustainability of these adopted practices. The community and the other stakeholders were sensitized towards expected value proposition by the means of capacity building of the community and stakeholders in monthly meetings and various other activities.

PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR DEVELOPMENT ACTION (PRADAN) PRADAN in partnership with HUF under Water for Public Good has initiated a project designed to build womens institutions which in turn will work to enhance the local carrying capacity through efficient water use / introduction of better farming practices and strengthening linkage with PRIs and other stakeholders.

The main objective of the programme is to help to understand how equity plays on ground in the context of sharing of water. The activities undertaken in this project mainly consist of enhancing food security through increasing water use efficiency, building,

developing and capacitating womens institutions to further equitable sharing of water resources, enhancing the carrying capacity of local community and ultimately enhancing the livelihood of targeted community.

The programme aims to help the community (women collectives) to take up various activities to understand the water in the village and in totality; the availability of water in different component of geo-hydrology, requirement, current and projected gaps, and scope for augmenting supply. Another aim is to help the stakeholders understand the national water principles and revalidate those in the light of their own experience / context.


6 In the selected project area, a higher level of farming families are smallholders (marginal farmers, having landholding of

Mapping the Change

Needless to say, communities and change in their outlook and response to water is crucial to achieve the objectives of the project. In this case, since PRADAN works with women, their priorities need to be used as an entry point to catalyse the change. To understand and bring the desired changes, PRADAN, together with the local community, took strategic steps as described below.

Peoples Support Groups (PSGs), synonymous with the sub-clusters, are the nodal point of intervention in the scope of this project. Each PSG is comprised of 6 to 10 SHGs. They were then organized and imparted with requisite training to help them make a greater impact on the governance of their resources. This helped them realize and build a shared vision around the primary motto of coming together and how could this forum contribute meaningfully in reducing various kinds of discriminations they face. Once these PSGs were regularized, the next phase of training was conducted on use of water and how effective adoption of technology could result in judicious use of water. Women trainers amongst the PSG members were selected and they imparted training to the SHG members. In each PSG, women are being trained to develop a detailed resource map for further planning.

Efforts to Convince Community

These efforts helped to generate a better understanding of societal discrimination. Regular meetings and

the consistent participation which earlier seemed burdensome to them was converted into an essential activity.

Activities such as calculation of per capita water requirement and the availability of water were new to them and once they identified the gap, it prompted them automatically to focus on the measures of water conservationand judicious use of existing water. They had a more holistic plan rather than just to install a submersible pump, rather they talked about - availability of quality drinking water, efficient use of water to preserve it for future, adopting water efficient farming systems, conservation of water to increase the sub-surface water table, etc.

Results and changes Through the interventions there has been a change in the community and PSGs. They have resolved to work on the water issues in their villages. Some of the villages already have water governance norms. After the PSG formation, the women have decided to participate in the water governance issues to influence the norms like, accessibility of water for all, adoption of crops consuming relatively less water, and use of water as per the water availability. The PSGs have made a plan for water harvesting and also initiated awareness campaigns on water harvesting through MGNREGS.

Inter-culture operation in DSR field for optimum use of water in medium upland in Dangardiha village of

Binpur II block, West Bengal Field Officer conducting FSS training session at

Bommanahalli

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SAMUHA SAMUHA in partnership with HUF Water for Public Good is working with the premise of helping farmers in flood-irrigated paddy cultivation save up to 2 million litres of water per acre/crop. The objective is to shift the present flood-irrigated HEIDA (High External Inputs Destructive Agriculture) paddy cultivation practices that introduce unacceptable levels of systemic chemicals and synthetics into the food chain to NPM (non-pesticide management), SRI (System of Rice Intensification) or wet/dry paddy cultivation practices that allow the food chain to feed with reduced pollution and hazard to the environment, resulting in reduced water usage in Indian agriculture.

The main objective of the programme is to improve the quality of life of rural and tribal communities and conserve the environment with a special focus on water conservation. The activities undertaken in this project mainly consist of runoff harvesting measures, conservation of fertile soil through soil, and moisture conservation, which leads to improvement in agricultural production and ultimately enhances livelihood of targeted community.


6 water savings at the farmer/plot-level

6 reduced exposure to hazardous synthetics in agriculture at the farmer, farmer household, and agriculture labour levels

Training to Field Officers and Farmers on Estimation of Productive tillers in Paddy at Pannapura

6 policy influencing for replication and upscaling at the Command Area Development Authority (CADA), State, and National levels

6 an integrated supply chain that optimizes farmer returns

6 a farmer-consumer continuum based on a concern for their shared environment as well as on the ambition to achieve a healthy environment

6 technology for dissemination, transparency, and accountability at the plot, Field Irrigation Channel (FIC), village and project levels

6 behaviour change at the farmer and market levels, and

6 integration of water and CO2 savings for a focused response to Climate Change at the farmer, CADA, State, and National levels.

To achieve the objectives of the project it was important to connect to the local communities and bring change in their attitude and behaviour for improving the situation of the area which in this case pertains to conserving water and enhancing agricultural productivity through sustainable and organic agriculture.

Efforts to convince Community Monthly Project and Institutional Reviews, Staff and Master Farmer meetings and trainings and the fortnightly Farmer Field Schools (FFSs) provide the framework for this learning to be transferred and practiced.

These efforts helped to generate awareness and demand amongst the community members of the

Measurement of Water in the Reference plots

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Mapping the Change

target site. However, the full extent of the acceptance of the conservation and management practices will be understood only by the end of the season and also when the number of farmers, who have signed up for the following Kharif season, are known.

Communitys acceptance and involvement With the understanding of a package of integrated crop management practices, Farmer Field Schools have been instrumental in helping farmers to undertake the changes required in non-pesticide management of their paddy crop. Adoption has been driven by lower costs and better extension. However, causative factors for lower costs are more difficult to discern since reduction in cost of cultivation is reflected by savings and more involvement of the farmers towards preparation of local natural pesticide formulations.

Results and Changes Since benefits from Community-guaranteed Water Credits, CO2 savings, and a franchisee will be operationalised in Kharif 2015, the results and changes observed will be addressed subsequently in the near future. However, it is expected that there will be an increased income from Community-guaranteed Water Credits and CO2 savings and increased yield from SRI practices. Organised production of Panchagavya and other bio-pesticides and growth promoters, at the village level, to replace the inorganic pesticides and growth promoters is currently being developed.

Joint meeting on project orientation for staff members of HUL, partner organisation and community

Community members participating in a training programme

BAIF INSTITUTE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (BIRD)-U.P. BIRD-UP in partnership with HUF under Water for Public Good has initiated a project in 14 revenue villages (26 hamlets) of two blocks of district Kasganj (namely Kasganj and Soron) since March 2014 for the period of next five years. The focus is to strengthen farmers institutions at the field level through social mobilization, for example Farmer Clubs (FC) and equipment banks have started to play a vital role in enhancing crop production and judicious use of water as well as in decision-making. The major challenge is to bring people together to work for a common interest.

The most important component of farming and human livelihood security is water. The main objective of this project is judicious use of water. There were two methods that were adopted to ensure water saving, first through enhanced crop production and second through efficient use of water in agriculture.

The focus is on using traditional knowledge with scientific solutions through training and implementation of integrated water saving activities in participatory mode. The emphasis on minimization of use of water is done through techniques like promotion of laser land leveller, SRI, and SWI.


6 Awareness generation, community mobilization, capacity building, and improved agricultural

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Village level meeting conducted by BIRD

practices will contribute to enhanced crop and livestock production

Strengthening social institution plays an important role in conservation of natural resources/ and in sustainable use of natural resources like water and enhanced production in term of raise in income to help farmer in up-lifting their livlihood 6 Blending traditional knowledge with scientific

solutions and planning and implementation of the integrated water conservation activities in participatory mode

To achieve the objectives of the project, given that BIRD-UP was entering into the area for the first time, it was important to secure the farmers and local communitiesacceptance and bring a change in the behaviour of the farmers in the context of a not-so-evident water stress situation. To bring the requisite

Villagers in an audio visual session

changes, BIRD-UP together with the community took steps as mentioned below.

Efforts to Convince Community There have been a total of 28 trainings conducted for farmers to deliver advanced and appropriate technology to the farmers for enhanced crop production for different crops. There were 1,111 farmers who had participated in these trainings. Different issues were covered during these trainings such as field preparation, soil testing, seed selection, seed treatment, control on plant population, balanced use of fertilizers, weed management, pest & insect control, artificial insemination, and vermi-composting, etc. Transfer of technology of preparation of herbal pest control was also a part of these trainings.

Trainings were also organised for 24 farmers with the hel

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