Amirul Islam for Kendrio Krishok Moitree (KKM), Bangladesh
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
Out of 64 districts in Bangladesh, 34 are under complete lockdown, while 26 are in partial lockdown. The military is implementing the lockdown and the government instructed them that law enforcement should be kinder to the people due to the difficult situation they are already experiencing.
Right now, smallholder farmers in Bangladesh cannot go to the market to buy inputs. Farmers have an adequate supply of food, but because of the quarantine, they cannot transport their produce to the market. Moreover, the current situation is not favorable for farmers because of the price ceiling imposed on agricultural products. Farmers of perishable goods are helpless because they cannot sell their produce in the market due to the travel constraints.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
KKM is linking farmers to the market. In some areas, there are people who go directly to the farms but the downside is that farmers are forced to sell it at a very low price. If it continues, they will have a hard time financing their next production.
KKM is also working on bridging and informing the farmers on the investors and government initiatives. There are ministries/departments of the government that are giving subsidies to farms and the farming industries. There are also loans that farmers can avail to be able to continue their production. There is a USD 588 million available for the loan program with only 4% interest but the Bangladesh bank is still preparing the details of the loans. Other government initiatives KKM members are made aware of is the lessening of the cost for irrigation and supporting the farmers in harvesting mechanically because of the critical weather. It is currently AUS season, the government is giving 5 kilograms of rice seeds and 30 kilograms of mixed fertilizer. Fifty KKM members received this support from the government and KKM is working on informing more of their members to avail of this government support. KKM village members are supporting poor people in the area because they have available vegetables that they are not able to sell. They are distributing their goods to poor people in the areas as relief goods.
What are your government’s actions that are good that should be replicated in other countries?
The government initiatives are already mentioned earlier. And we can say that these are beneficial for farmers. But we worry that the implementation will not reach all farmers. KKM and its network are helping each other to raise their voice so that the farmers will receive what is supposed to go to them.
Pan Sopheap and Chhong Sophal, Farmer and Nature Net (FNN)
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
Since 8 March 2020, all schools in Siem Reap, Cambodia have been closed upon confirmation of a COVID-19 positive case. Schools in Phnom Penh were also closed. A ban on the entry of foreigners from Italy, Germany, Spain, and the US for 30 days was implemented. Starting 31 March 2020, Cambodia imposed travel restrictions to reduce COVID-19 transmission.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
To help Cambodian farmers during this time, AFOSP partner farmers’ organizations conducted the following activities:
- Helped agri cooperatives at the community level with food processing and storage at the community level
Allocated reserve or emergency fund to support cooperatives that are capable of stocking and distributing food relief to community members with stable/guarantee prices to minimize the burden on the members
Supported farmer producer groups to maximize their production to achieve food stability
Supported agri cooperatives on processing facilities, packaging and linking the products to the market
Provided support for food relief
Megha Desai and Chhayaben Bhavsa, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
The entire country is on lockdown. Borders are closed in some areas. All states are affected due to the lockdown but the following states have been highly affected: Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir.
Since it is the Rabi harvesting season, almost all 2 million farmers are affected. Those who had harvested could not take their harvest to market and those who were about to harvest do not have labourers to harvest and thus, family members have to do the harvesting. Gujarat experienced unseasonal rain which affected Rabi season wheat and cotton.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
All our partners have taken some or all of the below initiatives. SEWA daily takes stock of the situation by connecting with leaders who are from those villages and leaders connect to farmers and conduct a two-way communication.
- Raising awareness on measures to be taken and at the same time, empathetically providing positivity. We also asked children to draw and we used these to raise awareness on the pandemic.
- Provision of food packs to food-insecure families through RUDI (through essential service provider team who has passes to move out during the lockdown)
- Since it is Rabi season harvesting, we took stock of the situation of farmers and advocating with local, state, and central government to provide relaxation to farmers to go out for harvesting and marketing their crops
- Linked farmers with market locally through Kamla for vegetable produce and through local procurement person
- Advocacy for a moratorium for loans
- Provision of cash in hand of leaders
- Sewing masks and distribution by our members
Lao Farmer Network (LFN)
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
The country was under lockdown on 1-19 April 2020. Meanwhile, the government authorities suspended or postponed all “unnecessary” social events such as weddings and Lao New Year celebrations. The government advised Lao people to avoid large gatherings.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
Farmers are not able to bring their produce to the market because there is no transportation available due to the lockdown. In addition, many shops in the market are closed. So we are helping our members in storing and processing their produce.
Ti Chia Pan, Agriculture and Farmer Federation of Myanmar (AFFM)
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
The government implements restricted travel. There is an increased health check along the border with China and the Visa on Arrival for Chinese nationals is also suspended. President U Win Mying has not been spotted since 8 March 2020.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
AFFM is facilitating direct selling of its farmer members produce to trade union members in the industrial zone as well as to other farmers’ unions. AFFM brings the produce of its farmers to these areas and sells them at a low price so the trade union members and other farmers can afford them. Aside from the affordable price, AFFM also offers free delivery service, specifically in areas that are under semi-lockdown. The marketing of products is also done online on Facebook. This is an initiative with AFFM’s parent organization CTUM.
Govinda Dahal and Rabin Rai, Central Tea Cooperative Federation (CTCF), Nepal
Saraswati Suba & Sundip Shrestha, National Lands Rights Forum (NLRF), Nepal
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
The government extended the nationwide lockdown for 10 more days until the 7th of May. Only essential services are allowed to move. The government is also implementing safety measures such as social distancing.
Fortunately, no member of NLRF has been infected with COVID-19.
The current lockdown prevents the people to go to the fields and it also made the selling of tea difficult. The farmers are currently experiencing food insufficiency and the government has not yet announced any relief packages to the agriculture sector. Nepal borrowed from World Bank to support the sectors of health and agriculture.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
CTCF is supporting the cooperatives in rural areas as well as vulnerable people. Our main problem right now is how to market our tea locally and abroad. We are engaging the local government to address this issue and it has been referred to the national government. In the future, we will conduct interviews on how to address the issue.
NLRF has sent a demand letter that there should be no lockdown in the agriculture sector as it is already harvesting season and it is now monsoon season. They are also working with the local government to loosen the lockdown in agriculture. The importance of agriculture is felt during this time of crisis and people are now planting on barren lands. NLRF has provided food support to seven districts in Nepal. The biggest challenge while providing support is the lack of protective equipment.
What are your government’s actions that are good that should be replicated in other countries?
Nepal is doing a one-door policy for donations and distributions. All the relief is channeled to one government body/office and they are the ones distributing to the people. They have provided food subsidy of 20 kilograms of rice and one-kilogram lentils, but so far, no support has been given to farms yet.
Socrates Banzuela, Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA), Philippines
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
The Philippines still has a high number of cases and high mortality. The entire Luzon is under lockdown, but there will be a relaxation of the lockdown in some areas. The government has allotted at least PHP 90 billion support for social financial aid.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
PAKISAMA continues to participate in the networks to influence policy concerning the pandemic. They are also increasing their capacity in social media and other technological platforms. USD 100 is given to farmers as support and they are helping farmers access it. Seeds are also distributed to farmer members. Cooperatives to help the farmers are also being organized.
PAKISAMA has three learning during this time of pandemic:
- Programs are affirmed such as the asset reform is important to make them pandemic resilient. Monocrop farmers may have land but no food. IDOFS program is important for food and nutrition security. Markets are hard to access but it is easier with cooperatives. The problems faced are because the programs are still not scaled up and the advocacies are still not implemented and it contributed to the suffering of the people.
- Movement of strong food consumers cooperatives. During the time of the pandemic, it is important to have cooperatives working in the urban area wherein the products of the farmers can be directed to the city and bought to a higher price. These cooperatives will have a role in the distribution of food in households.
- Social media is useful in reaching the farmers, and most of them have not utilized it before.
Nguyen Thi Viet Ha, Pham Thi Hong Linh, Tran Thu Phuong, Viet Nam Farmers’ Union (VNFU), Vietnam
What is the COVID-19 situation in your country?
Vietnam is now on the 21st day of social distancing. The government has now opened the economy by opening businesses but only with 50% capacity. Gatherings are still prohibited. The government provides food support to vulnerable groups and financial support to businesses.
What are your initiatives/efforts in responding to the challenges, needs, and opportunities presented by COVID-19 to your members?
VNFU has donated money to the national budget and members donated blood to patients in need. They have also distributed food packages (consisting of sugar, rice milk, noodles) and medical supplies (face masks, hand sanitizers) to farmers. They are also cooperating with enterprises wherein the farmers are connected to supermarkets. The challenge our members are facing right now are:
- Not all of the farmers received support from the government because the financial aid is only for the poor sector and there are farmers that are not classified as such. The farmers have to show evidence that their income is affected in order to receive financial support. Another downside of this is that the location of the farmers affects whether they would be able to access it or not.
- Transportation of agriculture products is difficult due to social distancing because the markets are in urban areas while the goods are coming from rural areas.
- There is a decline in the demand for agricultural products locally and agricultural goods for export. China is one of the biggest importers of these agro products and the demands decreased due to the pandemic and closure of borders. There are also delays since the staffing on the import/export sector is reduced. Imports in Europe are reduced by 50% leading to a reduction in price to 40%. Production materials such as seedlings that are imported from China are also stilted due to the ongoing constrictions.
What are your government’s actions that are good that should be replicated in other countries?
Vietnam has no mortality recorded because of good governance. All sectors were involved in preventing the spread of the virus and now the government has a good commitment to the actions. Measures of preventing the virus were done rather than fighting it. People that tested positive with COVID-19 were identified and placed in lockdown/quarantine earlier to stop the spread. There is also an implementation of a compulsory quarantine of people from other countries. There is no complete lockdown, only social distancing which is implemented clearly. People wear masks in public and production areas are encouraged to continue production.
There are also lots of donations made to provide food support. The donations are directed to rural areas where there are more people who are in need of support.
In terms of the economy, the government encourages enterprises to still continue production and exporting despite the problems. Even if the price is reduced, the government still encourages the resumptions of production. Vietnam is exporting again, including rice, but only limited.
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Farmers are most affected during this time of the pandemic. AFA members responded swiftly to assist their members in various ways including informing their members about the different programs and safety net measures offered by the government and assist them in availing of assistance such as cash transfer, food packs, soft loans, etc. They work to ensure that these programs and assistance reach the farmers, especially their members.
Additionally, FOs continue to do advocacy work to urge the government to enact measures and provide the necessary support to the more vulnerable, and for farmers to continue their work in the farms mindful of healthy procedures to follow such as wearing face masks and practicing physical distancing.
FOs’ also continue to facilitate farmers’ links to markets such as farmers group selling directly to supermarkets and even to subdivisions.
Moreover, FOs, through their own resources or through donations and grants they received, provide emergency assistance such as food packs to the more vulnerable, distributed hygienic products such as face masks and disinfectants, and even donated blood to patients. #
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