THE EARTH TRUST
Sustainable Farming + Health + Livelihoods

Towards Building Healthy Communities

The Earth Trust was established in 2004. The Trust promotes organic, biodynamic farming, sustainable health, eco-education, organic marketing and income-generation projects in The Nilgiris. This is all set in a deep concern for the landscape and environment of the Nilgiri hills.


The friends of H.O.P.E. via The Earth Trust support an indigenous medicinal system in primary healthcare in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu, India. Our funding provides training in medicinal herbs for women’s self-help groups situated in the remote tribal forest communities of the Nilgiris.


No immediate medical support from doctors or hospitals; distances too far or inaccessible, so self help for village communities is important.
Infant and maternal mortality is high in rural areas.
Stress is high among the women in rural areas.

To develop sustainable systems for women’s healthcare and support service to the villages.
To re-connect with ancient traditional systems and reintroduce medicinal herbal knowledge.
To provide nurturing skills to turn around the violence and alienation often found in village communities.
To advise antenatal and post natal women, thus reducing birth mortalities and complications.
To improve the livelihoods of the HIV/AIDS patients by providing counseling, home-based care and helping them rebuild their immune system.
To develop sustainable secondary incomes by creating medicinal herbal products and cosmetics for the women self-help groups.

We have touched 200 villages in the Nilgiri district
Established 35 kitchen herbal gardens
22 HIV positive people were benefited
Adolescent training in four schools; 250 students benefited
Periodic medical camps for remote village areas in the Nilgiris
Knowledge and experience sharing with other NGOs in the Nilgiris and beyond


Training primary healthcare and stress management
Setting up kitchen herbal garden and community herbal garden
Exposure to other similar activities
Counseling and home-based care to the HIV/AIDS people
Create awareness among the women in ante- and post-natal care and STD/HIV/AIDS


Village herbal clinic being run by village health workers
Introduction of herbal medicine preparation unit which will ensure economic benefit for the rural poor