Asia was hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, with farmers and other rural stakeholders struggling to sustain their livelihoods and facing threats of food insecurity. Yet despite the challenges of today’s times, there has been no shortage of civil society action.
Asian CSOs have been actively calling on their countries’ governments to address the crisis through mass testing, support for the public health sector, and aid for poor and vulnerable populations. Undeterred by logistical difficulties, ANGOC member-CSOs have also engaged in efforts to support communities through the pandemic.
In South Asia, organizations such as the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN), and Ekta Parishad (EP) had implemented programs to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. In Bangladesh, ALRD published public awareness materials on COVID-19 and on how people may protect themselves from the disease. In addition to providing information to its partners and organizing media reports, ALRD also launched an initiative to monitor the implementation of the government’s commitment to the agricultural sector.
NFN members across Nepal also supported government response efforts through relief distribution, gathering information on the crisis, and providing spaces to serve as quarantine centers. Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram-Ekta Parishad has been involved in the distribution of food and masks to underserved communities, and in providing shelter to stranded migrant laborers in India.
In Nepal, NFN also forms part of the high-level monitoring team along with the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal, the Nepal Bar Association, and Federation of Nepali Journalists. The NGO Federation has also begun its research and fact-finding missions regarding the impacts of, responses to, and the country’s recovery from COVID-19.
Meanwhile in Southeast Asia, the Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA) in Indonesia has been facilitating mass food distribution. By sourcing crops directly from farmers in villages and cooperating with labor unions in cities, KPA is able to help smallholders transport their produce to provide much-needed food aid to laborers impacted by unemployment as many factories close down. KPA also organizes food exchange mechanisms between fisherfolk and farmers affected by the crisis.
In the Philippines, the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA) has partnered with an online market to deliver fresh produce from smallholders in the countryside to cities in locked-down Metro Manila. Through their Instagram account, PhilDHRRA also provides visibility to other online markets directly working with small farmers.
These initiatives serve to highlight the ingenuity of land rights CSOs in persevering to help communities during extraordinary circumstances. And while the world continues its battle against the microscopic enemy, civil society also continues to advocate for secure land rights which will lead to better food security and greater adaptive capacity during pandemics such as this one. ☐
