RID POVERTY & HUNGER IN 50 INDIAN TRIBAL VILLAGES

In the current unfolding of the geo-political scenario in the world, even contemplating the ordinariness of our days, seems like a betrayal. We are Blessed in our corner of the world subject only to the vagaries of Nature and Climate. Elsewhere both the land and people are bleeding. in this context writing about we have been doing over nearly 2 decades  seems almost irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Though the 'dailyness' and the' ordinariness' of it is reassuring. 

Any good NGO, movement/ activity aimed at Communal development  needs to have a Beginning and an end. Eventually, the specialised activity or work started by them  becomes mainstream activity and the need for a 'Big Brother/Sister' entity is phased out. This is a real success for the organisation.  Where organic farming is concerned, The Earth Trust has phased itself  out 'Organically', pun intended. The State Government and Horticultural Departments have kicked in.  TOHFA- The Organic Horticultural Farmer's Association of Nilgiris is the fulcrum of this movement. It is supported by the State Government and with incentives offered by the Central Government. The Farmers have started to 'Own' their work and are involved in growing  and marketing their produce. Our work is truly done. We are resting on our laurels. We can say with a sense of quiet satisfaction that we are still the bench mark for Organic produce. We still have a lot of work ahead. Seed safety is paramount. So we are slowly transitioning to a 'Safe Seed Space'.

From our Archives, From GlobalGiving field audit visit ,quote from the In-the-Field Traveler, October 2017
"The Earth Trust is bringing back ethical, sustainable practices in the field of agriculture, one farm, one farmer, and one citizen at a time"..

We really dug ourselves in, toiled, just hung in there and now it is pay-off time. Please forgive us if we sound smug!!

Our three programmes  viz The Farming, the 2 Womens' programme and the Eco-club programme for Middle school children have all been successful. The Farming programme as mentioned above has taken off. We started our Womens' programme in 2007. It covered both skill development and Health. The Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR) act of the Indian Government in 2014, made possible a lot of programmes for Women's Skill Development by very many companies. So again The Earth Trust had to re-invent it's Women's programmes as there were very many other players in the field. We are again slowly evolving to suit changing needs. Big corporates have a large presence in this area. Since we are not about 'box ticking', sometimes we run our programmes for just 6 women or 4 women. It needs  just one bright spark to get a conflagration going, just one inspired soul  to make a difference in her environment. ET students volunteered  at the district weekly market for organic farmers...celebrating freedom from chemicals in farming  and Seed Sovereignty as part of Indian Independence day week.

Our Eco-club programme has taken off with a lot of computer related activities to introduce both Environmental concerns and Organic Farming activities . There is a lot of scope here for us, but as always funding is an issue.

On the whole there seems to be a natural flattening of our activity curve. Only time will predict it's future shape. GlobalGiving has as always, been part of our Story.