2010 Rickshaw Run Project

The 2010 Rickshaw Runs will fund a new Mercy Corps project in Jasodapur, a rural agricultural village in the region of Orissa, India. Orissa is one of the poorest states in India with roughly 40% of the population living below the poverty line.

Photo: e christie

In the village of Jasodapur, 80% of the population live in rural areas and are dependent on farming to support their families. The villagers have to face many daily challenges that make surviving a constant struggle:

The village lacks basic health facilities, which means that 80% of births are forced to take place at home. This leads to extremely high infant mortality rates because of the unhygienic conditions mother and baby face immediately after birth.

Women and children in the village have very low iron levels and the entire village population has a poor nutritional diet. The major diseases affecting community are malaria, scabies, leprosy, and water borne illnesses.

Jasodapur has low crop yields and lacks basic employment opportunities; this means that roughly 80% of households are forced to send at least one family member to neighbouring states where they are more likely to find work.

Low interest loans through the banks are largely unavailable to the poor, so many turn to moneylenders who charge extremely high rates that leave people perpetually in debt.

The area is susceptible to natural disasters like, droughts, cyclones and floods which reduce the agricultural production for the farmers.

Due to a lack of farming knowledge and access to water and credit, farmers in the village only plant rice in during monsoon season and do not use the land at all in the winter. This reduces the steady level of income that the farmers could make throughout the year.

With the funds raised from the 2010 Rickshaw Runs, Mercy Corps will work to help this isolated community to live independent, sustainable and secure lives.

The most effective way to improve the quality of live for the residents of Jasodapur is to improve farming practices. To do this efficiently Mercy Corps in partnership with local charity partner Adhikar will work with the Jasodapur Farmers Cooperative.

The cooperative currently has 1040 members and since the group formed in 2005 its primary activity is to support the farmers by giving them access to credit and trainings which will improve the quality and quantity of their farming.

Mercy Corps will further improve farming practices in this region by increasing the volume and quality of food, increasing incomes, improving health through a nutritional diet and reducing seasonal migration.

Thanks to Rickshaw Run funding this project will support approximately 25,000 people.