Help 50 farmers sow the seeds of COVID recovery

THE PROBLEM

7 million cases.

120 million farmers.

In India, the COVID crisis has plunged millions of smallholder farmers into financial insecurity - they have lost one season's income, and the prices of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides have skyrocketed. Rural India in particular has been hit hard. How can farming communities socially distance when daily labour is their livelihood? And what of regular hand washing when water is a luxury?

Randhir Singh was living with his family in their modest village home when the pandemic struck in March 2020. Already in debt, the lockdown took away the last of Singh's livelihood: his one-acre cotton farm yielded no profits, and he lost his side-job as a bus driver. Overcome by poverty and hopelessness, Singh often stared blankly into his cotton fields while pacing around on nearby railway tracks. Singh would kill himself on those same tracks in May. Recounting the incident, Singh's 22-year-old son, Rashpal Singh, shakily cried, "the lockdown killed my father." (Read more about Singh's plight here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/world/asia/india-coronavirus-farmer-suicides-lockdown.html.)

Singh is not alone. Every year, more than 16 000 farmers commit suicide in India. This tragedy has been dramatically exacerbated by COVID.

OUR SOLUTION

Here at VOICE Trust, we aim to provide disaster relief for impoverished farmers while promoting sustainable agricultural practices. This past June, to celebrate World Environment Day, we distributed 10 types of vegetable seeds to over 100 farmers in the small village of Edumalai in Tamil Nadu, India. We supply non-GMO seeds that can be banked for future seasons along with natural pest repellent that are non-toxic for both farmers and customers, nutrient-rich manures that produce abundant crops, and other farming equipment to farmers in-need.

Farmers are among the groups hit the hardest by COVID-19. Please help another 50 small-hold farmers secure next year's crops by buying them what they need to replant now. Give them a future they can look forward to with hope rather than with despair.

Although the effects of the pandemic are far from being over, we can start sowing the seeds for recovery now.