Mitigate Climate Challenges

Mitigating Climate Change Challenges including Water Security & Food Security

The overwhelming number marginalized communities, targeted by UJAS, stay in western desert parts of Rajasthan. Their livelihoods are mainly dependent on agro-forestry activities and livestock rearing, besides handicrafts as an alternative means of income. Part of rural socio-economic fabric of western Rajasthan, the targeted communities do have following arrangements in place to access the water and food, as basic commodities for their survival.

Means of Accessing Water:

1. Groundwater through tube-wells and traditional dug-wells (replenished/recharged through annual rainfall)
2. Water through lift-water canal schemes (in some of villages with provision of limited water supply)
3. Water through rainwater harvesting as traditional source (practice is declining)

Means of Accessing Food:

1. Rain-fed agriculture, wild/forest foods of desert (people traditionally not only used both agro & forestry food products directly but they also preserve and use it for across the year) and dairy products (mainly milk, yoghurt, yoghurt beverage and ghee) getting from livestock rearing

Challenge:
The drastic but adverse changing in climate leading to droughts, flooding and temperature hikes have had badly affected the water security and food security in desert villages of western Rajasthan. In addition, the modern development practices & lifestyle have introduced sophisticated groundwater extracting motor-pumps which is leading to depletion of groundwater on every coming day and this is further aggravated when the traditional practice of groundwater recharge through rains is being vanished. Besides, the traditional practice of rainwater harvesting has also been declining a lot leading to threaten the water security in the area. Similarly, with the change of lifestyle and influx of consumer market with less options of cash availability in in hand among people, living in rural setup of western Rajasthan, have had badly threatened the barter nature of socio-economic fabric in this western rural part of Rajasthan leading to create challenge for food security in the area. The practice of collecting, preserving and using agro-forestry organic food products & the practice of livestock rearing and producing as well as using dairy products have also been reduced on one hand and marketed on other hand leaving inadequate food stuffs to be used by locals. This situation poses serious threat to the water security and food security status in villages of rural western Rajasthan.  

Goal of UJAS:
UJAS has been endeavouring to help the targeted communities, in its programme area, to educate, advocate and opt other suitable ways ensuring various sort of adaptation measures that deal with climate variability. For the purpose it also strives to build upon indigenous but improved habits, practices, technologies and infrastructures for protecting the threatened sources, species and practices of harvesting rainwater and protecting, promoting as well as preserving indigenous and organic agro-forestry and livestock derived sources of foods.

Mission/Activities:

• Conducting researches on various related themes including to know the current status of traditional rainwater harvesting & groundwater recharge practice versus modern motor-pumps based water related solutions. Also find ways for strengthening and scaling of improved rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge practices as sustainable source mitigating the looming issue of water crises.
• Conducting researches on water, sanitation and health/hygiene education status in communities, and executive redressal interventions ensuring the targeted communities should have access to improved water sources, sanitation facilities and health/hygiene education/awareness. WASH in communities and WASH in schools (both UJAS own schools and government schools) are two key approaches of UJAS to accomplish this task.  
• Conducting researches on indigenous but endangered species of livestock, their worth in local food security and finding ways out for their protection and promotion
• Conducting researches to know the prevalent status of agro-forestry foods being grown, protected, collected, preserved and used contributing in local food security. Besides finding ways for the niche of marketing of such organic food products chain. 
• Creating technological and infrastructural models adhered with grassroots institutional mechanisms for empowering communities further to drive advocacy campaigns for policy and practice changes in the focused thematic areas of interest.  
• Promote solar lightening/energy as effective alternative energy source in targeted area aimed at saving of environment non-friendly sources of energies including cutting of trees for use of woods as local fuel source and contribute in preventing deforestation and climate change