Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR)

Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) is one of the premier NGOs tackling water scarcity, rural poverty, and food insecurity in the dry-lands of India today. Our specific objectives are to regenerate the natural ecosystem with a strong participatory, people-centric approach that simultaneously repairs the torn social-fabric of the community; addresses the severe water-scarcity, recurring drought, low-agricultural productivity resulting in starvation, chronic hunger and severe malnutrition in rural communities; creates alternative, diversified livelihood opportunities that can bring communities out of poverty; and forges partnerships between diverse groups: villages, governments, financiers and the private sector, civil society including NGOs, donors and collaborators both national and international. We have carried out developmental work in over 2,500 villages in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Orissa. In our 20 years since inception, we have organized over 1,100 watershed development projects and 65 climate change adaptation projects, covering around 700,000 hectares. Over one million people’s lives have been impacted by our developmental interventions. Our involvement in over 8,300 women’s SHGs, micro-finance, trainings and other initiatives have benefitted over 100,000 women. Similarly, over 300,000 people from 27 states in India and 35 countries have participated in our Training and Capacity Building programs.