I’ll never forget meeting Joybun Nessa. She lives in the chars of Gaibandha -- a place where the Brahmaputra River redraws the map every single season. She, like so many others, has rebuilt her life more times than she can count.
Floods have taken her crops, her cattle, and sometimes the ground she stood on. But when I asked her what her greatest struggle was, she said something that stopped me in my tracks.
It wasn’t the river.
It was the market.
She talked about prices that never seem to honour the back-breaking work she puts in.
She wasn’t just talking about survival; she was talking about justice.
She’s not alone. Farmers who feed our nation are the ones who get the least reward for it. This isn’t just a shame; it’s a crisis that leads to debt, children dropping out of school, and a future that just keeps shrinking.
According to recent research, Bangladeshi farmers often sell crops at prices that fail to cover costs -- they spend up to Tk 650-700 per maund of Boro rice production but may only receive Tk 420-450.
And though countless programs and reforms have been introduced, the gap -- between what farmers give and what they get -- never seems to close.
A little while later, on another river island, I met Shabana.
She was a bright seven-year-old, and while we were setting up a new digital initiative, I noticed her completely absorbed in a mobile phone. But she wasn’t learning. She was just scrolling -- an endless stream of reels, short videos, flashy distractions.
It hit me hard. Here we are, connecting the entire country -- but are we guiding our children? At an age when she should be filled with curiosity, all that “access” had become digital noise.
Two stories, one truth
At first, Joybun and Shabana seem to have totally different problems. One needs economic power; the other needs intellectual guidance.
But the more I think about it, the more I see it’s the same problem.
Both of them are being left out of systems that were supposedly built for them.
Joybun is a passive price taker. She has no power or say in the market that decides her fate.
Shabana is a passive content consumer. She has no ability to navigate the digital world that’s vying for her attention.
It made me realize that “development” isn’t about how many devices we hand out or how much infrastructure we build.
It’s about building dignity and capability.
Imagine Faatiha was born in Gaibandha and now she is seven. What do you really think about her position today or after more than seven years?
The highest possibility is that Faatiha will get married, even though she may have a child. And 23 years later, we can meet Faatiha asking for better market access for selling her crops that Joybun was seeking during our visit.
It can be the vice versa if we think Shabana was born in Faatiha's family and she is living in the USA.
Is this a curse to be born in Gaibandha? Is this a curse to live with Shabana's parents?
No, it's the failure of our policymakers, our ongoing governing system. It's carrying curses year after year, generation after generation.
What I believe
This is the shift in thinking that I believe is necessary. We can’t just be focused on giving people things. Farmers like Joybun need more than just training; they need the power to negotiate a fair price, the tools to access markets directly, and the confidence that they aren’t in this alone.
Children like Shabana need more than just screens; they need guidance with safe, age-appropriate content, curiosity and digital literacy instead of dependency, and a space where they can actually learn.
I truly believe this is the only way to make a difference that lasts. It can’t be about any one project; it has to be about building real power and real ability within the community.
For me, success isn’t a number in a report.
It’s the look on Joybun’s face when she sells her harvest without fear.
It’s knowing that when Shabana picks up a phone, she’s about to discover something meaningful.
It’s when a whole community can stand up straight and say, with real confidence: “Yes, we can.”
Faruque Ahmed is a Social Activist and Chief Executive Officer, Cultivera Limited, and Vice-chairman of Bidyanondo Foundation. He can be reached at faruque@cultivera.net.