In 2020, more than 15,000 individuals participated in agricultural programs through Convoy of Hope. Each one found new ways to feed their families, generate income, and spread hope throughout their communities. In total, 39,936 people have been empowered through this initiative since it was created in 2011.
One of the most dramatic examples of the power of agriculture took place in a small village in Nepal. It and the entire surrounding area was devastated in the 2015 earthquake that rocked the entire country.
“That day, I feel like I’m dead,” said one resident. “My children were down in the city, and my husband was in India, working. I was alone here. We didn’t know who was alive and who was dead.”
Thankfully, this resident was reunited with her family. Many others living in the village survived, but all of their crops were destroyed.
Samuel Tamang, a key Convoy of Hope partner in Nepal, visited the village and met with its leaders after the earthquake.
“When we saw the children, they were malnourished and very weak. Our goal was, we’re going to make this community sustainable … Because of the devastation from the earthquake, all of the people are suffering.”
Samuel gathered the entire community, and together they created a vision for what they would look like in the future. It was a plan for them to grow crops that would feed their families, supply them with income, and allow them to help others by selling what they produced.
“It was very difficult for the people to accept what I said, because they were living in a hopeless situation,” he remembered. However, the results soon spoke for themselves. Farmers had previously relied on millet and corn to earn 1,500 rupees a year. Now, that same plot of land was earning them up to 60,000 rupees.
“For that amount, I can feed my family for a whole year,” one farmer said with a smile.
The cash crops began to multiply. Soon, the small mountain town was brimming with tea plants, banana trees, lemon saplings, cardamom, tomatoes, goats, and cows.
“When the farmers began to collect money, their eyes were so big,” Samuel recounted.
Now, the community is thriving and self-sustaining. They have hope, and that hope has spread to other neighboring villages. The entire region is rebounding through agriculture. Convoy of Hope continues to provide knowledge and resources to communities around the world where hope is ripe for the harvest. To learn more about our Agriculture initiative, click here.
