Rural entrepreneurship being created in coastal char areas

 
The 'Integrated Livestock Development Project in Coastal Char Land' under the Department of Livestock has created a huge stir among the underprivileged people in the coastal char areas of Bangladesh. The project is being implemented in 68 unions of 16 coastal upazilas of Barisal and Chittagong divisions. Some 500 people from each union have a total of 34,000 beneficiaries. Each beneficiary gets 20 ducks or 20 hens or 03 sheep for free at the beginning after 3-day basic training. Besides, the trainees will be provide with free sheds, food, medicine, vaccines and medical facilities for keeping ducks, chickens and sheep.

Visiting the houses of various beneficiaries of the project areas on the ground, it can be seen that many of them have already got 20 basic ducks or 20 chickens or 03 sheep and sheds for keeping duck, hen and sheep food, medicine and vaccines from upazila livestock office after completing basic training. Shamsunnahar Begum and her husband Md Waliullah, beneficiaries of Nabgram of Dhansiri Union under Kabirhat Upazila in Noakhali, said that they have produced 120 chickens and 600 eggs from 20 chickens received after 3 days of basic training from this project and have become financially self-sufficient.

Morzina Begum, a beneficiary of Dakshin Jagdananda village of the same union, said, she too got 03 sheep, sheds, food, medicine and vaccines free of cost after completing three-day basic training from the project. Her total number of sheep is now 7. Hosne Ara Begum, a beneficiary of Char Laxmiganj village in Sonagazi upazila of Feni district, has produced 7 sheep from the 3. During exchanging views with the beneficiaries at the meeting held in Barguna Sadar Upazila and visiting the houses of the beneficiaries, Monika, a beneficiary of trained poultry rearing group, said, she gets an average of 12 to 13 eggs per day from 20 chickens received from the project and has produced about 50 chickens so far. She has made a capital of about Tk 7,000-8,000.

Of the 34,000 beneficiaries of the project, 90 percent are women which mean 30,600 are women. They are playing a huge role in the development of the family and the rural economy by rearing ducks, chickens and sheep. In other words, the project has been playing an important role in empowering women, alleviating the unemployment of the disadvantaged people in the char areas and building a meritorious population by meeting the demand for quality nutrition.

In the last 2018-2019 financial year, the contribution of livestock sector to the Gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh was about 1.53 percent. But in the Covid-19 situation, like other sectors, the industry has stumbled a bit. According to the Economic Survey 2019, the unemployment rate in Bangladesh is 4.19 percent. About 53.64 million people were unemployed in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite earning only Tk 160 or USD 1.9 per day.

From March to May, the average family income decreased by about 74 percent. In this uncomfortable situation, keeping cows, goats, ducks, chickens, turkeys, sheep, pigs and pigeons can show the way to light to the unemployed people. In Bangladesh, an adult needs 120 grams of meat and 250 ml of milk per day. In this context, the 'Integrated Livestock Development Project in Coastal Char Land' is playing a major role in meeting the demand for milk, eggs and nutrition, alleviating unemployment and involving the underprivileged people of the coastal land, especially women, in economic activities.

Project Director Dr SM Ziaul Haque Rahat said, "To achieve Vision 2021 and Vision 2041 announced by Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, there is no alternative to include the deprived and neglected sections of the society especially the disadvantaged people in the coastal char areas in the mainstream of the economy. The project is playing an important role in training and empowering the people of the coastal char areas and providing them with 20 ducks or 20 chickens or 03 sheep, ducks, chickens and sheep for free by distributing sheds, food, medicine and vaccines. The local people's representatives and beneficiaries thanked the Prime Minister for the project. Besides, they also demanded the Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim MP, Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Raunak Mahmud and Livestock Services Department Director General Dr Abdul Jabbar Sikder for increasing the project area.

--- Nurey Alam, AA