In the 1980s the nomadic tribal community of Bawariya—traditionally known to make and sell local liquor illegally—owned land in Sadawton, a village in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district, but never settled there. As the village was located in a hilly area, rainwater would flow down its slopes, making the region arid and farming impossible.
Around 10 years ago, Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (Gravis), an NGO, decided to work on food and water security in Sadawton by “going back to the basics”; it meant …