Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Report

Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Report

Rural Life Programme
Diocese of Sambalpur, Church of North India

The Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) is a program created by the Rural Life Program of the Church of North India. The Center has been supported by Global Ministries’ funding since July 2006 and serves three hundred men and women living and farming in the rural areas of the Diocese of Sambalpur.

Rural Life Programme
Diocese of Sambalpur, Church of North India

The Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) is a program created by the Rural Life Program of the Church of North India. The Center has been supported by Global Ministries’ funding since July 2006 and serves three hundred men and women living and farming in the rural areas of the Diocese of Sambalpur.

Most of these farmers live at or below the poverty line and struggle to deal with the challenges brought on by cyclically damaging weather, the pressures of globalization, and extremely high interest rates imposed by local money lenders. When crops fail, families must often migrate elsewhere to look for work in industries which are often hazardous. Migration also puts women at an increased risk of exploitation and harassment, diminishes the likelihood that children will attend school, and increases individuals’ exposure to different diseases, which are often costly to treat.

CARD has worked hard to implement educational programs for the farmers on the topics of:

  • Organic Farming
  • Dry Land Cultivation
  • Irrigation
  • Compost Manure
  • Horticulture
  • Cooperatives: Vermiculture, Goatery, and Dairy
  • Poultry
  • Sanitation and Safe Drinking Water

In the first twenty months of the program, about 300 individuals have participated. Participants range in age between 20 and 60. About 40 percent of all participants were female, about 60 percent male.

The Centre is utilizing the services and expertise of experienced resource persons on agriculture, cooperatives, resource mobilization, organization, community development, health, and mother and child care. The Diocese has had better results with this sort of staffing in the past and has the added benefit of saving CARD the expenditure of full-time staff salaries and remunerations. An additional expenditure for building renovations was also realized, due to a recent price hike in building materials and labor charges.

It is CARD’s hope that these programs will help provide area farmers with better food security and income; and, therefore, halt the need for families to migrate to find employment. The response of the participants has been enthusiastic and encouraging, though funds are still needed to allow for more and continuous programming and to financially assist the farmers to allow them to implement what they learn.

Prepared by:  Office of Resource Development
Global Ministries
P.O. Box 1986
Indianapolis, IN  46206
Tel:  (317) 713-2555
Fax:  (317) 635-4323
Email:  gifts@dom.disciples.org

June 2008