Vegetable farming on house yards has changed life of thousands of extremely poor women living in remote char areas of the Teesta and Dharla rivers’ basin under five upazilas of the district.
Besides homestead farming, they are also doing some other income-generating activities under the assistance of the Char Livelihoods Programme (CLP) jointly run by the government and non-government organisations.
Acording to local sources, over 20,000 extremely poor families living in char areas of Sadar, Aditmari, Kaliganj, Hatibandha and Patgram upazilas have been able to overcome poverty.
While talking to some CLP beneficiaries including Rasheda Begum, 58, Nurjahan Begum, 50, and Jolekha Begum, 48, of Char Gobardhan under Mohishkhocha union in Aditmari upazila; Rehana Khatun, 45, Ayesha Begum, 56, and Kakoli Begum, 42, of Char Kalmati under Khuniyagachh union in Sadar upazila; and Muhuri Begum, 48, and Nurnahar Begum, 50, of Char Sholmari under Votmari union in Kaliganj upazila in the district narrated their success achieved through vegetables farming on their homesteads.
They are mostly cultivating pumpkin, sweet gourd, bitter gourd, pointed gourd, teasel gourd, cucumber, brinjal, cauliflower, chilli, spinach, amaranth and other vegetables and are happy, earning additional income to support their respective family.
Laily Begum, 48, of Char Gobardhan said: “Before taking up vegetables farming as the means of our subsistence, most of the women were in abject poverty in the erosion-and poverty-prone sandy char areas of the Teesta River basin. Now our children go to schools. We are dreaming for a better life in the desired middle income Bangladesh.”
Project Manager of Char Health and Education Project under NGO Own Village Advancement (OVA) funded by CONCERN Worldwide and Irish Aid Ahsanul Kabir Bulu said, huge quantities of vegetables are being produced in over 65 char villages of the Teesta basin under five upazilas with the joint assistance of Agriculture Department and Char Livelihoods Programme of government and non-government organisations.