Christian World Service: Plant Seeds of Hope.
She wants to share this new eco-argicultural apprpoach with others in her area and work with others on big problems - like elephants. Please read her story to find out how she and her community are improving their livelhoods and working to protect humans and elephants from harm. If you can, please donate to our Small-scale Farming Appeal and Plant Seeds of Hope.
Your generous gifts have helped Dayaseeli and many other small-scale farmers learn new skills to cope in the climate crisis. She tells her story of hope in We are a Changed People.
Heavy rains and prolonged drought mean crops will fail. In Sri Lanka, elephants are demolishing crops and home because there is not enough forest reserve for their needs – endangering humans and elephants.
Small-scale farmers are being pushed to the limit and they have nowhere to turn. CWS partners with organisations like the Movement of Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) who are ready to teach climate resilient farming techniques and support villages to find ways that will manage the big challenges such as elephant protection or water shortages.
A gift today will plant seeds of hope.
Dayaseeli lives on a two-acre plot of land in the Hambantota district of Sri Lanka, famous for its elephants. She worked hard to raise her two children after her husband was killed. Now 65, she is teaching other mothers how to earn more from their land and start small-scale businesses. An active member of our partner MONLAR, Dayaseeli is helping to create a sustainable future for rural people and elephants.
She wants rural communities to find solutions to local challenges and families to have good food to eat.
Until a few decades ago, Dayaseeli says she seldom saw elephants and if she did, they would quickly disappear. But now large-scale development has destroyed large areas of the forests where the elephants lived. Thanks to research by MONLAR and others, she knows that this loss of habitat has forced elephants to seek food and water in and around the villages in her area, with devastating results.
Dayaseeli is an advocate for the elephants in her neighbourhood and campaigns for their protection.
“MONLAR has helped us with sustainable agriculture and promoted the rights of peasants. We are a changed people," she says.
Climate change and economic conditions are making life harder for rural people everywhere. Many more people need access to climate resilient seeds and eco-agriculture techniques. You can help them grow a more resilient future.
Please help more farmers. Make your donation to the Small-scale Farming Appeal today
For more information, please contact: Rev Dr Tim Pratt, National Director tim.pratt@cws.org.nz
NB: CWS is a member of ACT Alliance a coalition of over 140 churches working together on humanitarian, development in over 120 countries.
