“Farming community is in crisis and distress because of recurring droughts that have gripped Central India. As organisations with strong roots to Catholic faith, we need to fulfill our mission of standing with communities and help them become more resilient”, Archbishop Elias Gonsalves of Nagpur said this while addressing Caritas India partners who had converged to deliberate on the strategies to support farmers achieve agriculture self-reliance. Archbishop Elias reminded the participants their mission of “being with the communities” and urged them to work more intensively with communities to identify cost-effective solutions for making small-holder farming more sustainable.

The workshop on agriculture and food sovereignty was organized alongside programme reviews of three major cluster programmes of Caritas India which works on sustainable agriculture, resilient farming and promotion of Adivasi food systems. Archbishop Elias Gonsalves appreciated Caritas India partners for the results accomplished so far and said that empowerment of farmers should lead to their greater self-reliance. “Farmers have tremendous knowledge and experience resources. We need to recognize and respect this vast resource of farmers. We should create community-based platforms and opportunities for the farmers to exchange their wisdom and experience”, Archbishop Elias said. He also reminded the assembly that farmers have the confidence and capacity to train themselves.

Fr. (Dr.) Jolly Puthenpura, Assistant Executive Director of Caritas India detailed on Caritas India strategies for safeguarding the interests of smallholder farmers and said that Caritas India endeavors to reach to the last person of the society. “Caritas India remains committed to reach to the last person of society. Our priority is empowering communities and helping them identify solutions to their backwardness without becoming enslaved to external world”, Fr. Jolly said. “Climate change which manifests as recurring drought in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra has jeopardized not only the livelihoods of smallholder farmers but their food and nutrition security as well. There is a need to work with famers, especially women farmers to secure their livelihood and food and nutrition security systems”, Fr. Jolly added.

Earlier, Fr. Jolly felicitated His Grace Elias, the recently elevated and ordained Archbishop of Nagpur. He informed him about the patronage of late Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara towards Caritas India programmes and expressed confidence to received continued guidance and support for Caritas India programmes. The workshop held in Nagpur on 19 to 20 March was attended by two implementing partners from Madhya Pradesh and four partners from Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra.

During the workshop, Caritas India partners shared their accomplishments in the sectors of localizing agriculture, good governance and strengthening tribal identity. The partners also highlighted their successes in promoting women farmers, developing nutrition gardens, popularizing poison-free farming, localizing agriculture inputs like manure, pest control solutions and seeds. A consensus also emerged during the workshop to initiate community-led campaigns for soil and water conservation for making villages and households water-sufficient.