Urban Farming: COVID-19 Resilience Building Program, Chennai

Early in 2020, when the lockdown in Chennai came into effect as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable communities across the city were the hardest hit. Adrienne Arsht – Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Centre came forward to fund food relief distribution to daily-wagers, women-led households, scheduled caste and tribal communities, and other vulnerable groups that two NGOs, Pudiyador and Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), were working with in Chennai.

Through Pudiyador Association for Community Empowerment (PACE), who supported both IRCDUC and Pudiyador, 4 rounds of emergency relief food rations were distributed over 2 months, while community needs were monitored. After the 4th round of distribution, it was clear that emergency relief rations were no longer required and so, the Urban Farming project was born.

The Urban Farming project is designed to be run by community members for the community. The vision of this project is to provide gardening kits for each family to grow their own produce sustainably.

A detailed survey of 500 families was conducted to identify beneficiaries of the Urban Farming project, and as a result, 130 mobile home garden kits were purchased, 65 each for distribution by IRCDUC and Pudiyador.

Pudiyador also wanted to engage children in this project, as it would serve as a great practical learning opportunity. Towards this end, funds have been allocated to pay Pudiyador alumni (youth and teens) to monitor and evaluate this project within the communities for a 6 month period.