This initiative of Transform Rural India and Hindustan Unilever Foundation is working to restore land and water ecosystems in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh by layering scientific principles while planning and executing local development plans.
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), approximately 40 percent of the world’s land is degraded, directly impacting half of the global population. Since 2000, droughts have increased by 29 percent, and without urgent action, they could affect over 75 percent of the world’s population by 2050. Desertification, land degradation and drought are among the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
Drought results from prolonged periods of insufficient rainfall, drying up water sources. Desertification is the process of land degradation in which fertile land transforms into a desert by losing its flora and fauna, caused by deforestation, climate change or improper agriculture. In the face of these challenges, urgent global cooperation and sustainable land management practices are essential.
Healthy land not only provides us with almost 95 percent of our food but also so much more: it clothes and shelters us, provides jobs and livelihoods and protects us from worsening droughts, floods and wildfires. But this has come under immense pressure due to growing populations coupled with unsustainable production and consumption patterns.
The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance celebrated each year on June 17. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought, highlighting methods of preventing desertification and recovering from drought. This year’s theme, “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future,” puts a spotlight on the future of land stewardship — our most precious resource to ensure the stability and prosperity of billions of people around the world.
India is significantly impacted by both desertification and drought, with nearly two-thirds of the country experiencing drought during 2020-2021. Additionally, 21 drought-prone districts saw over half of their areas turn into desert between 2003-2005 and 2011-2013.
The causes of desertification and drought are complex, involving both natural and human-induced factors. These include soil erosion, vegetative degradation from overgrazing and deforestation, salinity and waterlogging from poor irrigation practices, climate change, and human activities such as urbanisation and population growth. These challenges severely impact ecosystems, agriculture, biodiversity and human societies.
India has been at the forefront of bringing the issue of land degradation to the core of relevant international alliances for the protection and conservation of the environment. India hosted the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 14) UNCCD in September 2019 and presented recommendations from the Inter-Governmental Working Group report on Drought in COP-15. India is striving towards achieving the national commitments of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and the restoration of 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
Chhattisgarh is one of the poorest states in India, with a third of the population living below the poverty line. Poverty is concentrated in the northern and southern districts, owing to the hilly and undulating terrain of the region. Despite high annual rainfall and good forest cover, districts in southern Chhattisgarh face challenges of high water and soil run-off, land degradation and biodiversity loss. The water-ingress entering the sub-surface is limited, making agriculture beyond monsoons unfeasible. This adversely impacts the 80 percent of small and marginal farmers in the region.
Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) has joined hands with Transform Rural India (TRI) for an initiative to combat land degradation and restore land and water ecosystems in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. The overall objective is to restore and revive the landscapes of the region using nature-based solutions while enhancing local livelihoods across five aspirational districts of Chhattisgarh.
The programme recognises water as a critical component in leveraging outcomes for the ecological and economic development of the region. In this context, the programme aims to develop models that systematically layer scientific principles while planning and executing local development plans.
Flagship government programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) serve a common target population and are being leveraged to achieve these shared goals. The intent is to create durable assets by integrating natural resource management (NRM) principles into MGNREGS execution (viz. water harvesting structures, ponds, plantations, orchards, etc.) and integrating them with livelihood and farm-based programmes promoted through NRLM’s self-help groups (SHGs).
The government functionaries and women collectives of the region are being trained on participatory planning and integrated natural resource management principles (INRM). They are creating locally relevant and holistic land and water use management plans. These plans are fed into the regular gram panchayat development planning process for approval and execution.
The programme places the community at the centre to find solutions for localised problems and drive their own development agenda. The underlying idea is to break the silos and create integrated and holistic landscape restoration plans with better coordination between communities, panchayats and government administration.
This programme aims to develop region-specific models across five districts of Chhattisgarh to ensure that state livelihood models are aligned with the revival and restoration of landscapes. Successful models will be documented and replicated in other blocks and districts of Chhattisgarh with government support. These models also hold relevance for other similar tribal-dominated regions of Jharkhand, MP, eastern Maharashtra, northern Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The hope is to unite all the stakeholders for the revival and restoration of the land and leave behind a legacy for future generations.
The lead image on top shows community members discussing locally relevant and holistic land and water use management plans. (Photo courtesy HUL)
Nivedita Ghonge works as a Program Lead at Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUL), managing programmes in the domain of water security across Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
Priyanka Rawat works as Consultant- Communication at HUL.
