All-India Meeting of Pastoralists and Herders Organizations
22-23 March 2002, Sadri, Rajasthan
Alsipura statement
Members of pastoral communities from all over India met in Alsipura (near Sadri, District
Pali, Rajasthan, India) on 22-23 March 2002 to discuss their mutual problems and exchange experiences.
At the end of the conference, the participants issued a strongly worded
declaration on the importance of the pastoral economy and the need to promote
pastoralists' rights. Click here to view the
statement.
Conference background
Pastoralists are people who primarily depend on livestock for their income and
keep them on communally owned grazing resources. The World Herders Council (WHC)
is an intercultural forum for the exchange of information and experiences of
pastoralists throughout the world. A proponent of ecologically and socially
responsible animal husbandry, the WHC was founded in Burkina Faso in 1996 and
has its secretariat in Lucerne, Switzerland. It also has sections in several
African countries, including Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cameroon, as
well as some European countries. An Indian section was started in September
2002, which is administered by Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan, a local NGO that has
been working with the Raika pastoralists in Rajasthan since its inception
in 1996. The annual meetings/conferences of the WHC have taken place at
various places in Africa and Europe. The next meeting is
scheduled to take place in India from November 4-11, 2002. It
will be organized by the Indian section of the WHC, in
cooperation with the National Dairy Development Board in Anand,
Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan and the League for Pastoral Peoples,
an international advocacy and support organization for
pastoralists.
The problem
Although India is home to a large number of pastoral groups – which include
the Rebari/Raika of western India, the Gaddi, Gujjar, and Bakharwal of the
Himalayas, the Monpas, the Dhangar of Maharashtra, as well as various groups in
South India – these grazing communities have very low public and political
profile. The various groups are much less organized than their African
colleagues and are even hardly aware of each other’s existence. All of them
share similar existential problems, are being sidelined or ignored by government
policies and accused by scientists of clinging to an outmoded form of
production, despite their large contribution to the national economy in terms of
the production of milk, meat, leather, dung, and other products.
Despite the common discrimination the Indian pastoralists face, there has never
been any attempt to bring them together to build a common platform.
In order to build a forum of India’s pastoral groups and of preparing the
ground for the first World Herders Council meeting in India, Lokhit Pashu-Palak
Sansthan, Sadri, is hosting a three-day preparatory meeting for Indian
pastoralists and representatives of herders organizations with the support of
Winrock International India.
Objective
The objective of the planned meeting/workshop is to better understand and
analyze the problems experienced by pastoralists, especially with respect to
grazing and their resource base, and to discuss possible strategies for
influencing policy makers. The realization that they all share common problems,
particularly with respect to their traditional grazing rights, is expected to
galvanize the diverse groups into one common forum.
Focus
The largest crosscutting problem of Indian pastoralists is undoubtedly the
shrinking of their pasture resource base. The establishment of national parks
and sanctuaries, in combination with the expansion of agriculture into marginal
areas has undermined the traditional livelihoods of all of them. As a result,
practically all of the groups are involved in long standing conflicts with
forest authorities and many of them have experienced the forceful expulsion from
their traditional grazing areas. These policies continue even though there is
now mounting evidence that livestock grazed in national parks may actually
contribute to the conservation of biodiversity and the overall health of the
eco-system. Some recent insights include:
 | Livestock forms a large component of the diets of large
carnivore species that are protected by the parks. Exclusion
of livestock often leads to the outmigration of predator
species (lions, leopards, tigers) from the parks. One
example for this is the Gir Lion sanctuary where, in a
reversal of the earlier policy, once again livestock is
allowed into the park to prevent lions from straying and
seeking prey outside the park. |
| Lack of grazing by livestock can destroy nesting habitats
for rare bird species – as has been observed in Bharatpur
sanctuary. |
| Livestock grazing also represents an important means of
nutrient recycling from forests to adjacent agricultural
fields – whose fertility can not be maintained without the
dung of animals grazed in the forest. (Example: Kumbhalgarh
Sanctuary in Rajasthan.) |
Making such information available to pastoralists can enable them to better
argue their case versus the Forest department and other concerned authorities.
Venue and date
The meeting will be held at the LPPS training center in Sadri, District Pali
which is located in the heart of the Raika/Rebari area of Rajasthan, and
adjacent to the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary.
Participants
Efforts are made to invite pastoralists from all parts of India and especially
to encourage women herders to attend. A few NGOs working with pastoralists will
also be invited for translation and acting as facilitators.
Programme
The programme will consist of the following points:
| Sharing of knowledge between participants about their
respective cultures and their way of life |
| Discussion of the problems faced by them, specifically
with respect to grazing conflicts and access to protected
areas |
| Orientation about the activities and goals of the World
Herders Council, the global context of pastoralism and
grazing conflicts |
| Agreeing on a common agenda, possibly arriving at a joint
statement that outlines the situation of Indian pastoralists
and suggests possible solutions to grazing conflicts. |
| Field visits to Raika herders, to the Kumbhalgarh
sanctuary, audiovisual shows etc. |
Outputs
The expected outputs of the meeting include
| Overview of different pastoral groups and their problems,
especially in regards to grazing conflicts |
| Heightened awareness among pastoral groups through
exchange of knowledge and interaction among themselves |
| Formation of an informal network of Indian pastoral groups
and of NGOs working with them. |
| Raised public awareness about pastoral groups and their
problems. |
Organizers
| Hanwant Singh Rathore, Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan, Desuri
Road, Sadri 306702, District Pali, Rajasthan. Tel
02934-85086, e-mail lpps@sify.com,
website www.lifeinitiative.org |
| Mr. WMK Warsi, formerly World Herders Council, India section, c/o
LPPS, Desuri Road, Sadri 306702, District Pali, Rajasthan.
Tel 02934-85086, E-mail wmkwarsi@yahoo.com,
website www.condial.org |
| Dr. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson, League for Pastoral Peoples,
Pragelatostr. 20, 64372 Ober-Ramstadt, Germany. Tel.
0049-6154-53642, e-mail gorikr@t-online.de,
website: www.pastoralpeoples.org |
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