Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is responding to recent rice shortages with an initiative to provide food and education in India’s northeastern state of the Mizoram region. Called MIZOFAM, the emergency food project will last 11 months and assist 25,000 people.

“The MIZOFAM project ensures that the target community has an increased resiliency to the impact of food shortages in the future,” said Paulo Lopes, country director for ADRA India.

About 1 million people are facing famine after a plague of rats destroyed the region’s rice crops. The phenomenon, known in the local Mizo language as “mautam” or bamboo death, occurs every 48 years. The flowering and then death of large amounts of bamboo trigger an invasion of rats that feed on the flowers and bamboo seeds. This year, the sudden boom in the rat population resulted in damages to more than 90 percent of rice paddies and other crops in the Mizoram region.

The MIZOFAM project is worth $1,171,200 and funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) through ADRA Germany. Together, the organizations have partnered with the government of Mizoram to conduct training in capacity building and disaster preparedness and response. The initiative will take place during six community festival days at six different locations, each featuring discussions on disaster risk reduction.

MIZOFAM, which encourages the involvement of community members and Village Disaster Committees (VDC), also provides educational materials for each village.

To aid farmers and their families through the food crisis, ADRA has partnered with VDCs, distributing food and seeds to 45 villages and providing training on effective planting methods. A ‘cash-for-work’ program is available for villagers participating in project implementation.

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