Adivasi Farmers in West Bengal

by Ruth Zimmerman

“Do you have Adivasis where you come from?” the Adivasi farmer in rural West Bengal asked when I was introduced as a former farm girl from the United States. Adivasis are the tribal or original inhabitants of India. I was visiting their community as the director of the MCC India program to see the results of our four year project for food security and livelihood promotion.

Adivasis have suffered much in India like tribal people have in many other parts of the world. As newcomers arrived, they were pushed to more marginal, highland areas where life has been extremely difficult. I responded to the man’s question, “Yes we also have tribal people. They have lost many of their lands to foreign settlers and have suffered much.” He nodded his head in sympathy. He knew what that was like.

I visited the fields of these marginal farmers and could see flourishing fields of tomatoes, eggplants, lentils, cauliflower and giant green beans that benefited from the new water sources, such as a recently built check-dam, provided by MCC. Community members shared how the vermiculture and composting methods they learned loosened the formally hard packed soil. They proudly showed us the compost with lively worms that enriched the soil and was the reason for the healthy vegetation. Commercial fertilizers or pesticides are not needed.

Staff, from MCC partner agency ISARA, told of the many changes brought about by their work over these years. At one time the daily diet consisted mostly of rice with very limited amounts of corn and lentils. There was only one growing season during the monsoon rains. After the monsoon they often had to survive on one meal of rice or corn a day. Many would be at the edge of starvation. Drought years, when the monsoon rains failed, were doubly difficult and drove them into egregious debt to high priced money lenders.

Simple water harvesting technology has made it possible to introduce vegetables as a second crop after the monsoon season and (if water is sufficient) even a third crop. They not only have nutritious vegetables to add to the daily rice and lentils but they are able to raise enough to sell to others in the local markets. In addition they can sell worms from their vermiculture project.

The villagers smiled brightly while telling us how they no longer have to borrow from the money lenders and their children are now going to school. Migration to other areas of India for work during the dry season has also been much reduced.

ISARA helps form farmers groups and women’s self-help groups. The groups are now able to confidently access government banks for loans at much reduced rates and also take advantage of other government programs that have recently been introduced. In addition ISARA staff noted that to the incidence of deadly malaria seems much reduced in the villages that introduced vegetables into their diets.

Flood Relief in Andhra Pradesh

Disasters bring out the best and the worst in us.

MCC India was discussing how we might do drought relief work in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Indian government was calling it the worst drought in 40 years. Then unprecedented torrential rains lashed the region for more than a week, causing massive flooding. Within living memory, such heavy rain had never been experienced before in this commonly drought affected part of India.

The Indian government was able to give an early warning to low-lying towns and villages, else there would have been many more than the reported 226 deaths in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Millions were forced to evacuate and hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed. Many of these families are still living in refugee camps.

The floods struck immediately before Ruth and I went to Indonesia for our semi-annual Asia Leadership Team meetings. From there we were in touch with both MCC disaster response people in North America and our MCC India staff in Kolkata. An earthquake had hit Sumatra, Indonesia at the same time and a cyclone had struck the Philippines and Vietnam a little earlier. MCC put out an appeal for these Asia disasters and we spent time, outside of our regular meetings in Indonesia, helping to coordinate this effort.

MCC India was able to secure $475,000 for flood relief from the Canadian Food Grains Bank. This is being managed through the Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action, the relief and development arm of 24 Protestant and Orthodox churches in India. We were able to secure another $40,000 through the Asia disaster relief appeal to be distributed in the Mahabubnagar District of Andhra Pradesh through the Mennonite Christian Service Fellowship of India (MSCFI).

Several Mennonite Brethren congregations are located in the flooded towns and villages in Mahabubnagar. MCSFI targeted this area for its relief effort in coordination with three small Mennonite Brethren related relief and development organizations. MCC India staff was also directly involved in managing the effort. We distributed 10 kilos of rice, 1 kilo of lentils, and one blanket to a total of 4,115 families.

Disaster situations bring out the best and the worst in people. Many want to help but coordinated effort is difficult. Volunteers such as the students at the Mennonite Brethren Bible College brought what little they had and helped clean mud out of houses. People from the nearby city of Hyderabad donated clothes. On the negative side, many of these used clothes were unfit to wear and most villagers refused to accept them. The clothes were lying there in huge piles that a few desperate people were picking through.

When a disaster happens, our MCC India office is flooded with appeals from local agencies that want to deliver relief aid. One of the most difficult tasks is determining which agencies are reputable and have the capacity to deliver the aid. Delivering relief is a business and many want in on the action. Getting aid to the neediest people is not an easy task. Surveys need to be taken and lists of beneficiaries must be drawn up.

The distribution itself must be well organized to make sure the relief goes to the people it’s intended for. Fights easily break out as others try to get some of the supplies. Sometimes whole truck loads of relief supplies are broken into. At one aid distribution point this week things almost got out of control because of the number of desperate people and a lack of careful planning by the people in charge of the distribution center.

I have mixed feelings about relief aid. I’d rather give a hand-up than a handout. Yet relief can make a huge difference after a disaster. The Indian military provided much needed early rescue and relief efforts that nobody else could provide. Other NGOs provided additionally needed initial food and shelter.

MCC India is not a “first responder.” We need several weeks to choose local partners, purchase supplies, conduct surveys to develop a list of beneficiaries, and finally deliver the aid. This, however, fills an important role after initial relief efforts have ended. People have lost everything and their crops have often been wiped out for the entire growing season.

What we are able to provide is so little compared to the need after a disaster like the flood in Andhra Pradesh. Yet it is something that is much appreciated. I saw one little boy, no more than ten years old, leave the distribution center with his family’s relief supplies, cheeks wet with tears. His load was almost more than he could carry. Helping that little boy is what good disaster relief is all about.