Pastoral nomads on the brink as grazing lands, migration routes vanish

In Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, Narayan Rabari, 42, walks with his sheep and camels, looking for fields with fodder. He has travelled on foot for over two days, covering 17 kilometres, but his journey is far from over.

Since leaving his village in Rajasthan’s Pali district, Narayan has already covered nearly 300 kilometres, moving across highways, fenced farms and settlements where open grazing once existed. He belongs to the Raika community, a nomadic agropastoralist community from Rajasthan, which followed seasonal routes across western India.

Today, shrinking grazing lands, disappearing migration routes and declining access to commons are pushing the Raika pastoralists to the brink.

As younger generations leave herding for waged labour, older Raikas continue to migrate on foot, trying to sustain their traditional agropastoral system, now struggling to survive amid rapid land-use change.

Walking farther, resting less

“When I was young, I remember there was grazing land around, not enough for all the cattle in the village, but still there. But over the years, the grazing open lands were converted into private farmlands; some were diverted for road construction,” Narayan said. “What remained hardly had any grass. It was all deserted,” he added. “There is no grazing land near our home.”

He began herding livestock at 10-years-old, joining his father...

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