This not-for-profit organisation advocates for the rights and livelihoods of pastoral communities inhabiting the Kachchh, Surendranagar, and Rajkot districts in Gujarat, while also conserving biodiversity in the region.
Established in 1991, Sahjeevan is a not-for-profit organisation working with marginalised pastoralist communities inhabiting the Kachchh, Surendranagar, and Rajkot districts in Gujarat to conserve biodiversity and build sustainable livelihoods. ‘Sahjeevan’—which translates from Hindi to ‘living together’—symbolises the interconnected nature of humans, biodiversity, and the environment they inhabit.
Today, Sahjeevan’s interventions span agroecology, pastoralism, water management, natural resource management, livelihoods, and climate resilience. They believe that communities that have evolved a symbiotic relationship with the ecology are best suited to conserve and govern their biodiversity.
Key Areas of Work
Why We Love Sahjeevan
• Conserving the breed diversity of Gujarat: Over the last decade, Sahjeevan has been working with multiple stakeholders including scientists, universities, and pastoral communities to identify distinct breeds that are managed by pastoralists across Gujarat. While large numbers of breeds developed by pastoralists have been inducted into mainstream dairy production, several populations maintained by them continue to be characterised as nondescript and are not accorded formal recognition.
They help in monitoring the productivity, reproduction, morphology, and genetic parameters, as mandated by the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), among pastoral breeds. Sahjeevan’s efforts have resulted in eight of these breeds in Gujarat—including Banni buffalo, Kharai camel, Kahami goat, Kachchhi-Sindhi horse, Panchali sheep, Kachchhi donkey, Nari cattle, and Halari donkey—being registered as distinct breeds. This recognition helps in maintaining and conserving the breed diversity of Gujarat.
• Market linkages for non-bovine milk: Typically, herders tend to be located in forests, grasslands or agricultural fields, invariably distant from milk collection centres. Faced with the lack of access to formal markets, they either sell milk locally at reduced prices or as milk-based products such as cheese or ghee to extend its shelf life. These products, too, are sold locally, in and around Kachchh and Surendranagar. Doing so, however, hinders them from capitalising on the unique qualities of pastoral milk, which is largely organic and is produced by a variety of free-ranging animals feeding off natural vegetation, including goats, sheep, and camels. Sahjeevan helps pastoralists establish market linkages, and promotes entrepreneurship to increase visibility and demand for non-bovine milk products across India. They also partner with state departments of animal husbandry, and mainstream dairy players like Amul to establish cold chain infrastructure to ensure bulk procurement of milk.
• Advocating for grazing rights: While the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has provisions for recognising pastoralist rights, success has been limited. Sahjeevan helps pastoral communities file community forest right claims under the FRA so they can continue accessing and using traditionally grazed lands. For instance, across both Kachchh and Saurasthra regions, agricultural encroachments by powerful members of local communities and increasing restrictions on access to forest lands have led to herders often relying on farm fallows to graze their animals. Sahjeevan’s FRA-related work currently focuses on the districts of Porbandar and Jamnagar where villages have submitted their claims to the sub-divisional committee and formed Forest Rights Committees. They support the legal process for grazing and land rights with applications and participatory interventions, thereby securing rights access to critical forage, and directly impacting pastoralist sustainability and livelihoods.
How They Work
Sahjeevan's work in numbers
- Active Projects: 6
- Number of Districts: 3
- Number of Villages: 226
- Number of Pastoralist Households: 1744
- Number of Community-based Organistations: 5 CBOs
- Social Enterprises: 1
Collaborating with community-run organisations
Sahjeevan engages with pastoral communities primarily through Community-based Organisations (CBOs) that they help in creating and sustaining. Through these organisations, they plan and implement programmes to enhance livelihoods, conserve local ecosystems, ensure health systems, and uphold community governance systems. Their approach is participatory and long-term. For instance, the Banni Pashu Uchherak Maldhari Sangathan (BPUMS) or the Banni Breeders’ Association—the oldest pastoralist sangathan (collective) Sahjeevan has worked with—was formed in 2008. Today, they have more than 1,800 animal breeders as members who work on conserving the Banni buffalo, restoring grasslands on which the animals graze, and establishing an organised milk value chain in the region. They also work toward improving economic and social development in Banni, as well as preserving its local culture.
Similarly, they support entrepreneurs such as Panchal Dairy, a brand making cheese from goat and sheep milk. They do so by marketing their products, and setting up a decentralised milk procurement system that considers the dispersed grazing areas and traditional migratory routes of these herders.
In 2016, in response to advocacy undertaken by Sahjeevan, Kachchh Unt Ucherak Maldhari Sangathan (KUUMS) and other civil society partners, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) finally accorded safe food status to camel milk. Subsequently, Amul and Aadvik Foods have begun procuring camel milk.
Managing and conserving biodiversity
Sahjeevan works with local communities, scientists, government entities, and universities to restore degraded grasslands, thorn forests, and mangroves; natural water resources; and urban forestry. For instance, in Banni, around 50 to 60 percent of grasslands are affected by invasive species like Prosopis juliflora, locally known as Gando Bawal or Mad Babul. Livestock cannot graze on these species; moreover, they rely heavily on sub-soil water. In 2018, with support from Sahjeevan, the Dedhiya Village Community Forest Management Committee (CFMC) in Banni reclaimed 20 hectares of grassland by uprooting the plant and reviving natural grasses. Today, around 26 CFMCs have come together to restore about 3,000 hectares of the Banni grassland.
Sahjeevan’s conservation efforts also include mapping species, working with communities to identify hotspots, raising awareness about encroachment, long-term monitoring, and forming Community Forest Management Committees (CMCFs) to gain legal recognition over biodiversity management. Over the years, they have worked to conserve and monitor several species of flora and fauna, including the Great Indian Bustard, White Rumped Vulture, Chinkara, and Olax nana, and habitat conservation for large mammalian species such as the Indian Wolf.
Making academic research more accessible
Sahjeevan’s Breeds and Health vertical was launched in 2009 to address scarce veterinary services for pastoral herds across Kachchh and Saurashtra. Under this programme, they offer medical services tailored to the seasonal needs of various livestock species. They also undertake registration of indigenous breeds, such as the Banni buffalo, Kharai camel, and, most recently, the Bhagri goat. Without registration, breed characteristics, population, and productivity remain uncertain and undocumented.
In 2023, Sahjeevan—in collaboration with the department of Animal Husbandry in Gujarat—conducted four health worker training sessions in Dayapar, Upleta, and Chotila, focusing on nutrition, breeding, vaccination, and improved management practices for sheep and goats. They also lobbied for health camps for the wellbeing of the Kharai camel in Jamnagar by providing necessary medications and managing camp operations.
How You Can Help
From securing grazing rights to building market access for pastoral products, Sahjeevan continues to expand its work with communities on the frontlines of ecological stewardship. They are seeking collaborators in areas such as communications, value chain development, grassroots capacity-building, and research to deepen the impact of their work.
If you’d like to partner, intern, or contribute in meaningful ways, reach out at sahjeevan@gmail.com.
This story is part of our Organisation Partnership Program. At The Locavore, we strive to keep the practices of an organisation transparent and honest across all forms of partnerships.
