The CREATE Food Security project near Madurai, India, has completed its second year of working with and through farm community organizations to help poor farmers and landless farm laborers to improve their earning capacity and secure increased stability for their families.  Global Ministries, One Great Hour of Sharing, Week of Compassion, and the Foods Resource Bank have provided the funds for this multi-faceted program in its first year. 

Villagers and farmers have been involved in the planning and implementation through new community organizations.  With their guidance, support, and labor, the program has provided funds for low interest loans for farmers to fund the planting of crops which are repaid at harvest when the crop sells.  These low interest loans eliminate the past necessity of borrowing funds from local loan sharks who charged as much as 100 percent interest over a four-month growing season.  The program also has provided loans of cows to landless villagers who cooperate in running a dairy.  The loans are repaid with half of the milk production over three years.  The remaining milk provides nutritional support for village children under five and is sold to local dairies for income. 

A local agricultural specialist is advising farmers on organic farming practices which will make them less dependent on expensive agricultural chemicals and some local women are beginning to provide organic fertilizers through a vermin-culture business.  The programs have met with remarkable success and the local communities are enthusiastic in support of continuing the programs. 

The vast majority of loans are being repaid on time and insurance for cows has limited the losses due to an outbreak of Hoof and Mouth disease.  Continuing challenges include controlling the rat population which thrives in the warm moist climate where their natural predators (owls) have been declining in population.  Also, efforts to develop direct marketing of rice to consumers (which would increase the profit to farmers) have shown only limited success.  In 2008, the project will be expanded to include two new communities.

Global Ministries is pleased to participate with CREATE in these efforts and is supporting the endeavor in its second of the current three-year plan.