Cashew harvests affected by the flood of the century
Heavy monsoon rains have been battering the state of Kerala for more than 10 days and more than 220,000 people have had to leave their homes. The approximately 5,500 small farmers of our long-standing partner "Fair Trade Alliance Kerala/Elements - FTAK" with their cultivated products cashew nuts, spices, coffee, cocoa and coconut products are also affected. "The many landslides in the mountains caused by the heavy rains have led to considerable losses of property and crops. Fortunately, the farmers themselves are in good health," Tomy Mathew - founder of the Fairtrade Alliance - told us today.
According to forecasts, the heavy rainfall should ease in the coming days, the water is slowly receding and the end of the monsoon season is approaching.
Some of the farmers in the Sugandhagiri project area can now return to their homes. However, many still have to hold out in the relief camps, as the risk of landslides is still very high and their homes are partially damaged or even completely destroyed. The difficult and lengthy task of reconstruction is now slowly becoming the main focus of the small farmers of the "FTAK/Elements" cooperative.
A committee of the Fair Trade Alliance will meet tomorrow to initiate (agricultural) emergency aid measures. Firstly, financial aid for the next harvest in December/January will be paid out to small farmers as emergency aid. The damage to the houses and farms will then be recorded and assessed and, in a further step, a roadmap for reconstruction will be defined.
Pakka is part of Elements and Elements is part of Pakka. Not only because the fine cashews that we bring to Switzerland and Europe are still our core business, but also because we have been on the same path since the beginning of our company history.
In these difficult times, Pakka is supporting "FTAK/Elements" and the small farmers behind it in reconstruction and rebuilding and will pre-finance future harvests. Pakka wishes the Fairtrade Alliance/Elements a lot of energy in the reconstruction and that their harvests will soon be "Pakka*" again.
*Pakka comes from Hindi and describes something "mature" or "solid".