Goat farming by impoverished families in Jessore's bordering Sharsha upazila has turned the tables on their fate when only a few years back breadwinners, both men and women, tried to illegally cross over to India seeking to eradicate poverty.
According to the upazila livestock office, altogether 450 people, 150 of whom are women, in 11 unions are involved in farming 500 goats in the upazila.
Nurnahar, one of the women owning a goat farm, said: "Only five years ago we were in deep financial hardship as my husband's income was not enough. Due to the financial crisis we had no scope for providing education to my son and daughter.
“Then I bought a Black Bengal goat by saving rice from our daily ration. Now I have 50 goats in my farm, we managed to buy a piece of land to build a house and my kids are also being sent to school.”
Minati Biswas has 35 goats in her farm. She said: "Once it became very difficult to bear the expenses of our family as my husband could not work much because of his illness. We often had to borrow money. Six years ago, I bought two goats and began raising them. Now the goats I have in my farm are enough to sustain my family. I don't need to take any financial support from others.”
Ikbal Hossain Tutul is another successful farmer; he began farming the goats eight years ago as a hobby. Before farming goats, Tutul was unemployed. Within eight years, his farm now has around 300 goats worth around Tk15 lakh.
After seeing him succeed, many seek frequent advice from him while they are on their own journey toward self-reliance, Tutul said.
Sharsha Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Pulak Kumar Mondal said: "A lot of families were given goats from the government which made them self-reliant. Providing impoverished families with goats is an ongoing initiative of the upazila administration.”
Locals said as cattle are not being imported from Benapole through India over the past seven years, the price of the animal has increased. Raising goats is cheaper than cattle and diseases are also less frequent in them.
Masuma Akhter, a livestock officer of the upazila, said: "Goats are being farmed in a proper manner in the upazila. Sometimes we train farmers through different workshops and provide medical support for their goats. Apart from goat farms,the upazila has around 1400 cow farms.
"In my office there are two other staff with me. We cannot provide adequate support due to shortage of manpower and lack of medical supplies,” Masuma further said, adding that they have built goat farms for two women in the upazila.