Socio-economic Conditions with Special Reference to Common Access Resources: a Case Study from Gujarat and Rajasthan

Abstract

A total of 66 villages were surveyed from six types of degraded land areas in arid and semi-arid parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Availahility of common access resources (CARs) i.e. Gaucher/Oran and Community wasteland varied from 4% in Johrheed (Bikaner) to 93% in Ramgarh (Jaisalmer) of Rajasthan. Arahle farming and animal husbandry are the main occupation in the area with very high cattle population. 62-100% household fall under the category of marginal land holding (<5 acres) and are totally dependent upon CARs for getting fuel , fodder and even food. The average fuelwood and fodder requirement per household in the area were worked out to be 3.46 tonnes and 2.07 tonnes per year , respectively. To meet this requirement on sustainable basis , productivity of the available CARs need to be maintained at 4.2 tonnes ha^-1 yr^-1. Female members of the family and children mainly carry out collection of fuel and fodder for which they devote 30 to 40 % of their time.