(bottle gourd, pumpkin, red amaranth, bitter gourd). In addition she decided to plant turmeric, chilli, jute leaves, bin
Changing Life: Homestead Vegetable Gardening Success story from SHOUHARDO II Program Background: Sultana Rowshanara (35) is a beneficiary of SHOUHARDO II Program and lives in the Ukhiar Ghat Village located in the Cox's Bazar District. She has been married for 19 years and has been living in her current residence for the last 14 years. Her husband works in a tobacco factory as a labourer. Her sons go to a primary school and her daughter goes to "Madrassa" (Islamic Educational system). She has her mother-in-law living with her. Her eldest son is physically challenged (speechless and hearing-impaired). Prior to her engagement within the SHOUHARDO II program, Rowshanara used to sell vegetables, which only provided her with a limited monthly income of BDT 700-800 (or USD10). Program Activities: In 2011, Rowshanara enrolled as a beneficiary in the SHOUHARDO II Program. As part of the livelihoods part of the program, she received training in July 2012 and now she participates in the program’s Comprehensive Homestead Development interventions. After the training she received “input support”, which allowed her to start her new income generating activities. As part of the inputs she received a range of seeds, which she planted on a small plot of land (2 decimal). After the initial cultivation she was able to make a small income of BDT 1,500 (or USD 20). Rowshanara is showing her vegetable seeds preservation
SHOUHARDO II has been supporting processes to economically empower the poor and marginalized farmers within the target communities. Comprehensive homestead development (CHD) is a holistic approach of interactive exchange among vegetable gardening, plantations and poultry. CHD of SHOUHARDO II Program ensures maximum production around the year by optimum use of open space surrounded by any homestead through environmental exchange management techniques. SHOUHARDO II provided support to 159,100 farmers in FY 2012 through various mechanisms, including training on comprehensive homestead gardening, new technologies on cultivation, water saving technology etc., input support like improved variety crop seeds, fruit saplings, fishing net, etc.
Photo: ©Asafuzzaman/CARE
In the next phase of the program, she received 4 chickens, as well as some additional seeds (bottle gourd, pumpkin, red amaranth, bitter gourd). In addition she decided to plant turmeric, chilli, jute leaves, bindweed, and okra based on her own initiatives. After the harvest, she was able to generate a net income of BDT 25,100 (or USD 300). From this production cycle she has preserved seeds of turmeric, pumpkin, red amaranth, bottle gourd and ridge gourd to be used for plantation in the next cycle. As a result of her improving income levels, Rowshanara was able to foster some important changes within her household. Utilizing her initial income (from the sale of the above mentioned vegetables and income from an existing cow), as well as a micro credit loan of BDT 10,000, allowed her to buy 60 decimals of land costing BDT 44,000. She invested another BDT 9,000 in leasing 120 decimal of land for crop cultivation. These crops are exclusively planted for her own consumption. With the support of CARE’s Village Development Committee, she was able to enrol her eldest child to join a program for disabled children and access disability benefit (BDT 12,000). She initially used this money to buy cow, which produced a calf. For the last 6 months, she has been selling 1/2 kg of milk at the rate of BDT 60 per Kg, which compliments her monthly income by another BDT 900 (or USD 11).
"SHOUHARDO has brought a lot of changes in my life. I have learnt many useful things. Now I can teach constructive and productive things related to agricultural production to others. There are 11 CHD beneficiaries in this village and out of them, 10 are women. They come to me for suggestion. People honors and admires me." -Sultana Rowshanara
Conclusion: The core occupational groups are very much appreciated by the CARE beneficiary households as they provide immediate benefits through training and input packages. These interventions make significant contributions to food availability and accessibility through households’ own production and increased income. Vegetables grown in individual's homestead have positively contributed to household nutrition, particularly among women and children. Sultana's life has changed a lot. Her decision making and mobility has increased. She travels to the Union Parishad office whenever she needs. She consults the Chairman and the members by herself. She hires labours for her crop cultivation and now produces crops herself, rather than selling them.
