Teaching farming to over 1,000 families in India

Happy New Year from the team at Shivia!

We are looking forward to achieving great things in 2020 and helping more farmers in West Bengal earn a decent living from the land. However, there are constant challenges for them to face and we are doing our very best to help our farmers navigate their way through troubling times.

Reports of changing weather patterns and global warming across the world are rarely out of the news these days.  The effects of these changes are very real when it comes to small-holder farming in rural India.  In 2019, the farmers we are working with had to deal with some extreme conditions, the likes of which they have never experienced before - from incredibly high temperatures in the summer months to the late onset of the monsoon followed by unpredictable cyclones.  These conditions had a devasting effect on the land, to the extent that whole crops were wiped out.  

One of the ways we can help farmers overcome these challenges is to help them seek compensation for the damage via government crop insurance schemes.  Our field team are experts in navigating what can be a complicated system of recompense, requiring much form-filling that is beyond the means of many rural farmers.  We are pleased to report that, following one of the latest cyclones to hit West Bengal - Cyclone Bulbul in November - all our farmers have their claims in the system and are waiting to receive compensation for their loss.

This is just one example of how our holistic approach is making a real, tangible impact on these otherwise marginalised, small-holder farmers - helping them to make farming, sustainable and affordable in the long term and revitalising rural communities that depend on the land for their livelihoods.

Thank you for your support in 2019 and we look forward to being in touch with more news throughout the coming year.

Watch our video on YouTube here