“It was all on their terms.”

Eliza Pahadin (front left) and Salomi Malto (right) storing seeds at their local seedbank.

Do you ever feel like you're on a train that can't be stopped? 

With the economic and political forces that surround us - it's like hurtling in a direction we don't control and we can't pull the brake.

But this Christmas, we want you to see that with one powerful donation you can take control and change things for the better. In real and tangible ways, your generosity matters.

For farmers from the marginalised Pahariya community in Jharkhand, India, too many things are outside of their control.

Erratic weather, crop diseases and pests are all threats to farmers like Eliza (pictured below) - and they can't be controlled. 

“The weather has changed a lot in recent years, and it’s affecting our crops. When we plant cowpea, it often doesn’t rain at the right time. And sometimes, just when the plants begin to flower, there’s too much rain—and that destroys the flowers. When we plant corn, strong winds often come with the rain and break all the stalks. This never used to happen before. We didn’t have this kind of heavy wind and sudden storms. 

These days, instead of proper rainfall, we mostly get ‘toofan’ —stormy weather. Sometimes at night, it gets so bad that all of us in the village huddle together because it feels unsafe. Trees fall, plants get damaged—it’s frightening. Our local seeds are strong, but even they are struggling with these sudden changes in the climate.”

But Eliza's community have a solution to safeguard their future - and it's one you can help strengthen and grow this Christmas.

"For us, seeds are not just something to grow food - they are sacred." - Eliza Pahadin, farmer, at her local seedbank.

Eliza's community have created a seedbank, because not only are they at risk from the climate – often they are exploited by predatory middlemen:
 
“Before the seed bank, we had to depend on the Mahajan (moneylenders). If we needed seeds, we had to either buy them at high prices or sell something to get money. Sometimes, they wouldn’t even give seeds unless we had taken a loan earlier. It was all on their terms.”

Farmers like Eliza are taking control, shaping trade on their terms - can you help them to build a brighter future this Christmas?

Just one gift could give many blessings to farmers in the Pahariya community.

Seedbanks allow farmers to deposit and store their best seeds for the next growing season. This gives future crops a better chance of good yields despite unpredictable weather, and prevents farmers needing to buy expensive seeds from moneylenders. 

You can help more producers like Eliza to power forward their farming businesses - to increase their incomes and change the future for the better. 

Thank you for your generous support this Christmas.