Gender, Droughts and Development in Rajasthan
Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (GRAVIS), Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Contact: Dr. Prakash Tyagi
Dates: October 2021 – September 2024
Total Budget: Rs. 13,33,080
2022 Budget: Rs. 4,35,160
The overall goal of this project, now beginning its second year, is to promote community development, improved agriculture, and gender equality in three remote villages in western Rajasthan. As the villages are in the Thar Desert, improved water management is essential. For this purpose, GRAVIS has constructed five taankas (underground water storage tanks) and five bio-sand water filters to accompany them for producing pure drinking water, and has provided training in their use, to the benefit of several hundred villagers. GRAVIS has also conducted training sessions in each village on climate-resilient farming techniques and established four seed banks. Village Development Committees and Self-Help Groups have been established and trained in various leadership and management issues. Finally, last March GRAVIS organized an exchange convention in Jodhpur where farmers came from all the villages to meet with agricultural scientists and learn about effective practices concerning crop varieties, water harvesting, seed storage, and other agricultural matters.
