The rising issues of food insecurity and the devastating effects of lean season and natural calamities on the communities led to the establishment of Community Grain banks as a step towards empowerment of the bonded labourers to achieve sustainable freedom via food self-reliance. It is a step to curb the situations of laborers where under the incapacitated circumstances of starvation they are forced to take loan from the contractors to purchase grains for their consumption which later leads to inevitable debt-bondedness.
Zero hunger Allahabad, an initiative to end hunger in the district of Allahabad outlines a framework to achieve food security and improved nutrition. Food insecurity being one of the major causes for bonded situations inherently pushes the laborers into conditions of debt. Therefore, the initiative of Zero Hunger Allahabad takes into account food availability in times of starvation and famishment. We aim to achieve this through Community Grain Banks.
Discover more . . .
Around 25,000 people of AdivasiKol communities who earn their livelihood by breaking stones in open cast stone quarries are located in Koraon, Meja, Manda, Shankargarh, Jasra and Kaundhiyara blocks of Allahabad. These blocks are located across the river Yamuna. On the other hand, Bahadurpur, Saidabad, Handiya, Prataapur, Dhanupur and Phoolpur, located across the river Ganga are Vanvasi(Musahar, Venvanshi, Dhaikaar and Nat). These people account for 10000 families who earn their livelihood by working in Brick Kilns or through traditional sources of livelihood like selling leaf plates or bamboo crafts.
Most of these families are landless; they reside in extremely unsafe conditions near railway lines, footpath or in the orchards, land of others or forests. Malnutrition, inability to access medical care, food insecurity deteriorates the situations in which these people are living. Malnutrition thereby leads to the inability of their children to attend schools on a regular basis. Most people are unable to get treatment which thereby leads to some family member constantly suffering from one or the other forms of illness. Food availability and accessibility being one of the major issues leads to most of the families being constantly struggling for survival. These families live under dismaying conditions and spend most of their life worrying about arranging food for their family members. Moreover, if the head of the family falls sick, they are forced to live in hunger risk situations. Such conditions add to the helplessness of people which leaves them with no choice but to sleep in hunger.