In Kaptel village, Tedim township, Chin State, Myanmar, a wedding has been arranged years back. A young man returned to Yangon from the United States on the 13th of March 2020 for his wedding. He took photos for his pre-nuptial and head home for the traditional dinner to celebrate his engagement. Later, the would-be groom fell ill.
In the hospital, he was diagnosed to be the first confirmed patient of COVID-19 in his village. This led to the lockdown of the entire village to prevent the spread of the virus.
February and March are the planting season for corn, rice, and beans, but under the lockdown, farmworkers are not allowed to go to their farms. There are 40 farmer members of the AFFM in this village. Understanding the difficulty that they are into, AFFM provided them with basic food packs consisting of rice, oil and dal, and soap good for 15 days to help them through this crisis.
About AFOSP-MTCP2
AFOSP-MTCP2 is a capacity building program funded by the European Union (EU) with co-financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The program is being implemented in seven ASEAN countries through the consortium Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) and La Via Campesina (LVC). AFOSP-MTCP2 supports the strengthening of national farmers’ organizations (FOs) and their national platform towards improving their institutional capacity to deliver economic services to their members as well as to effectively engage them in policy processes. At the ASEAN level, the consortium AFA – LVC works in partnership with the ASEAN Foundation in expanding the spaces for the engagement of FOs in ASEAN processes.
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