10. At the end of 7 - 8 months an initial audit needs to be made of the credit groups to assess their mobilisation of savings, management of the common fund, general performance and progress in developing their patterns and rules of behaviour; briefly the audit should cover both financial and social indicators.

During the entry phase no attempt is made by MYRADA staff to introduce the concept of micro watershed management. The strategy to implement this concept requires that the people have confidence that they can mobilise the entire community of the watershed to achieve atleast part of the watershed plan. An overview of all the watershed programmes that MYRADA is involved in, indicates that it takes several months of interaction (including community action as described earlier), for the people to take the initiative or to respond willingly to any initiative to bring all together; besides all the groups may not agree to work together at the first attempt. During the entry phase the small and marginal farmers, who perhaps benefit the most from watershed management activities, do not have the confidence to bring all other groups, or even all of their own group together. The larger farmers may be willing to try, but they are not trusted since they have a history of putting their interests first; their actions are also often symbolic and geared to demonstrate their continuing influence in the area. They are aware that though people may attend their meetings, few will really cooperate, and even among these, several will respond only because they are dependent on them. But more importantly as far as the programme is concerned, many do not trust the agency that attempts to intervene, (the NGO or Government). The NGO staff have particularly to prove that they do not want votes, bribes or land and that they are not aligned with the larger farmers or interest groups(4) .

The lack of trust is aggravated by the history of watershed treatment works which many of the older farmers still recall. The conservation work done free of cost by Government agencies in some areas during the sixties and seventies focused on contour and earthen bunds which were obstacles to field operations like ploughing, often created new gullys,and took a large part of the fields away from cultivation; they also breached regularly due to heavy rains. Since the Government had paid for the works with the main purpose of controlling silting of the tanks and reservoirs lower down, the farmers were not allowed to break them; infact in some States, laws to punish acts destructive of bunds were not only enacted but enforced by enthusiastic and well-intentioned officers. With this background, the new approach of watershed treatment is bound to meet with scepticism in certain areas where it had been a failure previously. The farmers are also aware that to implement some of the management activities, like drainage, requires thecollaboration of several farmers. They often do not have the confidence to approach all those involved directly due to several reasons, including neighbouring or family feuds over the years. This is why an outside agency or a third party which has no particular interest to support, is required to start the process.

The NGO staff have to build confidence gradually through regular visits at arranged times and by adopting an approach which is respectful, open and willing to listen to peoples views. The success of watershed management programme particularly if measured in terms of achieving equity and sustainability, depends to a great extent on the approach of the NGO during the entry phase. While establishing this relationship of "confidence" the NGO should exercise care that it does not slip into one of dependency. While, the image people have of Government is that the "Government gives money", it is often discovered that the image they have of NGOs is that the "NGO will do it for us".

CHAPTER II

The Planning Phase

1. Stabilise the Credit Management Groups : An ongoing effort is required by theNGO to stabilise the credit management groups until there are indicators that the groups are stabilising and developing a culture that will support their growth not just as organisations (set up to implement a project or to receive grants) but as institutions which develop and accept behaviour patterns and norms that are higher then those practiced around in society. For example, group support, (what we call "sideways linkages" shared responsibility, regular recoveries, acceptance of sanctions for behaviour that departs from accepted norms like fines imposed on drinking, smoking, coming late to meetings, default on loans and large families. The indicators of the progress of the credit management groups during this phase could be the following : 

- regular meetings - atleast 4 times a month (one or two for business and the others to discuss issues or for literacy and numeracy classes).
- improvement in group management - better organised meetings, maintenance of books and records (this requires specific training inputs).
- regular financial operations like savings, loans, recoveries.
- stabilisation of membership - some may leave or be asked to, and others may be allowed to join.

The NGO staff should now introduce the topic of a micro watershed management at group meetings. The message at this stage should not be too complex; it could be reduced to the following :

a) the concept of one drainage system; this could be done through a PRA transect exercise, if possible after a heavy shower of rain when the drainage systems and the impact of erosion are striking.

b) the message that the people can and must take charge of the work in their watershed; that they have the skills, as is evident from the work they or others in the area have done in the past; that their ideas and suggestions on the design and location of structures, drainage systems and regeneration of resources are important and take priority, and that

c) they require institutions to support the planning and implementation of the micro watershed programme and to sustain atleast some of the activities. These institutions must include representatives from all the groups who have an interest in the micro watershed like the big farmers, the landless and even those who have lands in the watershed but live outside it.

The NGO staff must ensure that the vulnerable sections (tribals, landless, women) are included in the credit groups or, if they form a significant number, should start groups of their own. It has been observed that it is these credit groups that form the basis of a Watershed Development Association or Implementation Committee; they play an important role in monitoring the activities of the members of the WDA/WIC and ensure that it serve the interest of all groups.

2. Collect Materials (Maps) required for the Treatment Plan : A drainage map and a survey map showing individual holdings are required; other relevant maps if available should also be collected from various Government offices; this takes time and effort.

3. A two day workshop should be arranged by the NGO with DLDB (Govt.) staff (where relevant) especially the field level staff. It has been observed that in PIDOW Gulbarga a great chunk of time is devoted to interaction among senior staff of Government and MYRADA, but hardly any time is given to organising workshops and discussion sessions with field level staff. This workshop should bring together all the staff of the NGO involved in the sub-watershed (of which the micro watershed is a part) and the senior staff of the NGO with the field level staff of DLDB (Government). The purpose of this workshop is to :

- establish a rapport between DLDB staff and the NGO.
- expose the DLDB staff to the credit groups and to help them to gain confidence in each other.
- place before the groups the survey and drainage maps and to verify the survey map containing details of private holdings in the watershed with the actual situation on the ground; this can be done by organising a transect along with the groups. The Khatedar list can also be finalised.
- explain the role that the people will play in planning and implementing the treatment of their watershed and the formation of a Watershed Development Association or Implementation Committee with the representatives from all the groups in the watershed including the large farmers; the role of this committee could be discussed especially since it will be the institution with which the DLDB will relate and which will organise and manage all further activities in the micro watershed.
- Fix the date for the PRA to prepare the treatment plan of the watershed.

4. Prepare the Micro Watershed Map : For this the survey map (after verification on the ground) needs to be superimposed on the drainage map (drawn from the topo sheet).

5. Prepare for the PRA Exercise : This is done by the NGO together with the groups in the watershed. The steps required for the preparation of the PRA exercise, to prepare a treatment plan for the Watershed are given in a separate paper. Briefly, however the PRA exercise should focus on :

5.1. The Status of Private Lands : The types of soils in each cultivated field, which fields are single and which are double cropped, which fields are lying fallow and why: whether productivity has deteriorated and why.

5.2. The Status of Common Lands : How they contribute to erosion, especially if located on high or steeper slopes; usage of these lands; are there any traditional or customary rights for grazing, collecting fuel or other resources; who uses these lands - whether farmers living within or outside the watershed, when and for what periods? 

5.3. The Status of Government Lands : Identify the following categories : Degraded Forest Lands - Revenue Lands - Panchayat Lands - PWD(5) lands. In each case identify where located, who uses them; are there traditional user rights; their location in the drainage system and the impact they have on erosion on the lower reaches; what resources are collected - fuel, fodder, quarrying, etc., and who benefits from these resources.

5.4. Identification of the Drainage System : It is evident that people give priority to conservation of water above soil; this is a common experience in all watershed programmes where MYRADA is involved. This data is collected together with the people through transects and group mapping as well as through group discussion and interviews with key persons. The data collected could then be cross checked with all present and differences sorted out in public. As customary all presentations are made by the villagers and not by the NGO or outside participants in the exercise.

5.5. The Identification of Groups : Most of the families will already be members of the credit groups. But it is necessary to collect information about the vulnerable groups like tribals, landless and women and to ensure that all of them participate in planning and implementation and share in the benefits; as for the large farmers it is necessary to know how many are involved in the watershed, since they will not be in the credit groups. We also need to finalise the number of farmers with lands inside the watershed but living outside, farmers with lands outside but living inside, and to ascertain how many of these two categories are members of credit groups ( either of the watershed or of others) and how many are not. Unless a special effort is made, farmers living outside but with lands within tend to be left out of the PRA Exercise and will therefore not be fully involved in the watershed treatment plan which could create problems later in management.

One of the vulnerable groups that tends to get marginalised in a programme that focusses on watersheds is women. The case of PIDOW is illustrative. When the Project started, though the theoretical focus was on an area namely a micro watershed, the staff began with an integrated programme which focusses on livelihoods of the poor living in a wide area. The Project Officer at that time was a medical doctor who naturally gave priority to health though it did not figure in the project concept. As a result of his interest, however, several women health animators were trained and several groups of women formed mainly to tackle their problems of health. As the focus shifted towards an area - the micro watershed, however, these womens group found that they were marginalised. Some of them, who had formed credit management groups, continued to function, but there was no doubt that, the message they were receiving indicated that the focus had moved away from them. Micro watershed management was the message and all interest and resources were directed to this objective. A year or so later the women in one watershed took an interesting decision, they seemed to say ‘if you cannot fight them, join them’. They came up with the proposal to develop a micro watershed entirely by the women in the group. While our staff have found this an exciting proposal, they have to sit down with the women to work out what this actually means in terms of access to and control of resources, and in terms of responsibilities and strategy. Unless this is done, the phrase "A Womens Watershed" may draw applause but it will be devoid of content. 

5.6. Identification of Traditional Practices still existing and those that have died out are found appropriate by the people. These practices relate to the whole range of land management, not only to structures for the conservation of soil and water; they also cover the use of humus and biomass, management of grazing lands and common assets like tanks and drinking water sources, fuel plots and cropping patterns and cycles. They also include post harvest activities like storage, selection of seed and marketing. The PRA exercises used here could include Time Line and Transects, semi-structured interviews with farmers and with womens groups, and discussions with key informants.

5.7. Selection of Trees : The local trees and those which people find useful and important due to religious and other reasons need to be identified; this can be done through a Transect if there is some forest, however degraded, and through matrix ranking and scoring. It is however important to note that though people may rank certain trees high in terms of their use it does not follow that it is these same species that they will opt for when it comes to raising a nursery or deciding to plant on lands both private and common. The assumption that the matrix ranking during a PRA exercise indicates their ultimate choice needs to be tested.

5.8. Comparative Models : It is also important to conduct an exercise in which the people depict on the ground what their watershed looked like fifty years ago, what it is today and what they want it to be in the future. The discussion that could be started around these three models on the ground should focus on why the changes occurred and on the linkage between the degradation of the watershed and falling productivity which they have experienced. Common resources which have been badly managed like tanks and community wells and shortage of fuel, fodder, water, food and daily needs are other issues which can be incorporated.

Other exercises like modelling of the village and the fields, identification of traditional fodder grasses, a Resource Flow diagram or map - are to be included in the PRA if relevant to the area.