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KANDY, Sri Lanka -- The potential threat of food insecurity following Covid isolation prompted five IP Teams to join in a Home Agriculture project. As a massive economic meltdown has plunged the country into deep crisis, this has become a lifesaver.
The local Buddhist temple provided land to be used as a nursery for vegetables and yams, from which, IP Team members took plants to cultivate in their backyards. With technical assistance for using organic methods from the Agriculture faculty at the university, the nursery’s yield was bountiful. This resulted in a new Farmers’ Market to which the IP Team members also brought produce from their own backyards.
These actions resulted in two important victories:
At the outset, some politicians tried to stop the project. The IP Teams using the OMNIA’s organizing strategy, did one-on-ones in the community, built coalitions and alliances, and out-organized them.
The temple gained goodwill of the community. A defunct Montessori School in the temple premises was resurrected by an IP Team member, Kusum Kumari Sandarath who attributes her success to the agitation she received from the OMNIA training.
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