The Pandemic Pushed This Farmer Into Deep Poverty. Then Something Amazing Happened | NPR

The pandemic has been tough for Eric Dossekpli. The 49-year-old farmer from Anfoin Avele, a town in the west African country of Togo, had trouble selling his peanuts, black-eyed peas, maize and cassava at the market. Customers couldn’t buy much because of their own pandemic income loss. Then he couldn’t afford fertilizer to keep growing his crops.

“I didn’t know how I was going to buy food, to buy what’s needed at home,” he says. And with four of his six children in school, he needed to pay for their tuition.

Then around October, he heard people in his community buzzing about a program: The government was giving away free money: $13 for men, $15 for women every month for 5 months (women get more because of their caregiving role). All he had to do was dial *855# to register to see if he qualified for an instant mobile payment.

Source: The Pandemic Pushed This Farmer Into Deep Poverty. Then Something Amazing Happened | NPR