Deaths over human-animal conflict: Coffee farmers' body seek Rs 1 crore compensation

New Delhi: Alarmed over the increase in human-wildlife conflicts, Coffee Farmers Federation of India (CFFI) has demanded that governments give a compensation of Rs one crore to the families of those who lost lives and doubling the price for loss of cattle and crops in such incidents.

The CFFI, affiliated to the All India Kisan Sabha, has asked for constructing dual protection measures such as Elephant Proof Trenches (EPT) and wire mesh fencing at a height of four meters to prevent intrusions by elephants, wild boar, and deer, as well as building elephant walls and bridges as required, through MGNREGA.

CFFI president HR Naveen Kumar and General Secretary P Krishnaprasad have also demanded replenishing forests to ensure adequate food and water for animals by clearing artificial plantations of teak, eucalyptus and mahogany among others in a phased manner besides eliminating invasive weeds such as senna spectabilis, which wreak ecological havoc in forests.

Urging the President to give her assent to Kerala's "pro-farmer" wildlife law, they asked all other state governments in coffee belts to initiate similar legislations.

The CFFI said incidents of elephants, wild boars, deer, monkeys, peacocks, and other protected species raiding coffee plantations have become frequent and devastating and thousands of small and marginal farmers who form the backbone of the coffee industry are bearing the brunt.

"Beyond crop loss, these encounters pose a direct and serious threat to the safety and lives of farmers and plantation workers. Due to the wildlife menace, farmers and workers are unable to manage coffee plants effectively, severely affecting production and productivity," it said.

The CFFI called upon farmers to form joint action committees to conduct mass campaigns, collect signatures, and organise mass resistance, including day-and-night protest struggles, until these demands are met, a statement said.

The CFFI said the "severe problem of wildlife-induced crop loss and livelihood destruction is not receiving urgent, focused attention in policy circles" and the "immense scale" of this crisis is "starkly" highlighted by a recent study from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, which said the economic damage in Maharashtra alone is Rs 40,000 crore in a fiscal.

"This staggering figure is not merely a result of direct crop loss but also stems from the sustained decline in agricultural production and productivity caused by persistent wildlife conflict, which disrupts farming cycles and devastates farmers’ confidence to invest in agriculture. A similar scientific study in the coffee-growing regions would reveal the depth of the crisis faced by coffee farmers and workers," it said.