Empowering Sustainability: Lessons from the Bhil Adiwasi Community

India faces numerous ecosystem challenges, ranging from water scarcity and agricultural sustainability to energy demands and global warming. In 2021-22, the country's per capita electricity consumption was 1255 kWh, which is around one-third of the global average of per capita electricity consumption. Increasing this consumption using fossil fuels would result in massive emissions. Therefore, India must find alternative energy sources and focus on transitioning to renewables like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power to sustainably meet its growing energy needs.

Against this backdrop, earlier this year, the Policy and Development Advisory Group hosted a webinar titled "Reclaiming it from Below: Fighting for Socio-economic and Ecological Justice" as part of its "Where’s Public in Public Policy" series. The webinar explored insights from the decades-long efforts of Subhadra Khaperde and Rahul Banerjee from Indore, who have worked to uplift the Bhil Adivasi communities in Madhya Pradesh. They highlighted how the Bhil community has customs conducive to moving away from a fossil fuel-based economy. Their work intersects public policy with gender equality, agricultural sustainability, Adivasi rights, forest communities, and environmental consciousness.

About the Bhil Community?

The Bhil community, one of the oldest and largest tribal groups in India, represents approximately 38% of the country's total scheduled tribal population according to the 2011 Census. Predominantly residing in the hilly and forested regions that stretch from Southern Rajasthan through Eastern Gujarat and Western Madhya Pradesh to Northwestern Maharashtra, the Bhils also have a presence in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Tripura. Known for their subsistence, and non-accumulative economy, Bhil tribes sustain themselves through traditional practices that ensure their resources are preserved for future generations. Their social structure is characterised by small, tightly-knit communities bound by strong kinship ties and cooperative labour practices. Renowned for defending their resource bases, the Bhils' livelihoods are deeply intertwined with the forests and hills they inhabit.

Communitarian Ecosystem Restoration?

From their experience of working with the Bhil community, our panellists shared the various steps taken by the community in ecosystem preservation:

• Labour Pooling System: In this system, communities and families collectively come together to complete certain tasks with no monetary exchange. Examples included agricultural activities, house building, soil and agricultural conservation work, and forest conservation efforts. This approach fosters community cooperation and reduces dependence on the market.

• Protection and regeneration of forests: In pieces of land that are 60-70% forested, the Bhil community protects these forests and harvests resources sustainably, obtaining timber, food, and other necessities without harming the environment.

• Bunding and gully plugging (Soil and water conversation): A significant problem in India is the over-extraction of groundwater for agriculture. One way to address this is by promoting the cultivation of water-efficient crops such as millet. However, The Bhil community also works to increase water supply by recharging rainwater for agricultural use and preventing soil erosion through bunding and gully plugging. This is a community-led initiative aimed at enhancing soil and water conservation.

• Sustainable Agriculture: The community recognises the limitations of conventional agriculture and embraces practices to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and enhance productivity. They prioritise soil health, carbon sequestration, and local resource stewardship, embodying principles of resilience and equitable living.

• Gravity-based irrigation: In hilly areas, the Bhil community cuts running streams to create channels that direct stream water to their fields. By positioning the stream at a higher elevation and the fields at a lower elevation, they utilise gravity to irrigate their fields without energy. This method efficiently channels water to crops using the natural topography of the land.

Principles for Way Forward?

The webinar discussed how while charting the course for sustainable development and equitable progress, certain foundational principles must guide the approach. These principles are essential to ensure that the strategies are not only effective but also inclusive and respectful of local communities and environments. Requirements in the development principles to ensure a sustainable economy and equitable development are:

• Subsidiarity: Subsidiarity, emphasising the decentralisation of authority, dictates that actions beyond the capacity of local governance should be reserved for higher levels only when necessary. This approach resonates with systems like the Panchayati Raj Institution, which similarly entrusts authority to the grassroots. This means tasks such as forest protection and water conservation are ideally managed at the local level. From planning to execution, this process guides that it should be grassroots-driven, ensuring community involvement at every stage.?

• Trickle-up (Investments at the grassroots): ‘Trickle-down’ investments traditionally entail central-level investments expected to filter down to local levels. However, a shift is needed toward an inverted narrative, where investments are done at the grassroots. Aligning with subsidiarity, the focus is on empowering grassroots communities first, enabling them with opportunities. Investments then follow suit, providing the necessary resources for locals to capitalise on these opportunities effectively. This approach ensures that development efforts are rooted in community needs and capabilities, fostering sustainable growth from the ground up.

Conclusion?

The Bhil community's knowledge system serves not only as a technical resource but also as a social framework, integral to their collective efforts. Central to this is the Dhas custom of labour pooling, which facilitates collaboration and mutual support within the community. This social cohesion is essential for implementing bunding and gully plugging or gravity-based irrigation. While technical knowledge is valuable, social knowledge and collective understanding within the community drive these initiatives forward. The idea of coming together for the greater good of the community underscores their approach to ecosystem preservation, emphasising the importance of shared values and cooperation in achieving sustainable development.

The recording of the webinar can be accessed from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFNPosLTgHM?

References

1. https://subhadrakhaperde.in/sustainable-agriculture/?
2. https://www.rahulbanerjeeactivist.in/about.html?
3. https://dhaaramagazine.in/2021/01/31/bhil-tribal-traditional-agricultural-worship/?
4. https://idronline.org/article/livelihoods/why-do-labourers-from-adivasi-communities-migrate-between-villages/?
5. https://www.samparkmp.org/demography-of-bhils#:~:text=Population%20%2DSize%20and%20Distribution,of%20the%20total%20ST%20population
6. https://www.samparkmp.org/demography-of-bhils#:~:text=Population%20%2DSize%20and%20Distribution,of%20the%20total%20ST%20population.?
7. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1885752?