By Muktar Hossain, from Harirampur, Manikganj
Nabiron, a woman at the village village of Notakhala in Harirampur Char, Manikganj has achieved success in producing safe food through a homestead garden and vegetable cultivation adopting eco-friendly way. She once lived at Leshraganj Union in Harirampur upazila but had to move with her family to Notakhala five years ago after their home was lost due to river erosion. Her husband, Joynal Hossain, is a day laborer.
Nabiron’s family depend on her husband’s income, barely making ends meet. As prices increased, managing household expenses on just her husband’s income became very difficult for them. Thus she thought of ways to reduce expenses and contribute financially to ease their hardship. With this thought in mind, she decided to establish a small family nutrition garden on 10 decimals of land around her home.
In order to make her thought a reality, Nabiron sought advice and support from various sources. Eventually, she connected with BARCIK and became members of Notakhala Women’s Development Association in her area, which has been formed with facilitating support from BARCIK. Since then she received technical guidance on family vegetable gardening and nutrition, vermin compost making from BARCIK and took additional training in poultry farming from both BARCIK and government institutions.
Nabiron collected seeds of various local crops from her association members and followed their advice properly on cultivating these crops. Her hard work paid off, and her nutrition garden began thriving. Recognizing her success, BARCIK integrated her into its “Shotobari” (Nutrition houses) model, where women receive support for environment-friendly agricultural practices.
Through the Shotobari model, BARCIK trains participants in agroecology, vermicompost production, climate change adaptation and seed conservation and multiplication and provides one-time material support, including local seeds when needed. Since joining, Nabiron has utilized this assistance to enhance her gardening efforts. She grows bottle gourd, pumpkin, eggplant, sponge gourd, and sweet pumpkin on trellises, producing enough to meet her family’s needs and sell surplus in the market, enabling her to save some earnings each month.
With her savings, Nabiron started a small shop on her veranda, selling snacks like biscuits and chanachur, and gradually expanded to essentials such as rice, lentils, oil, and salt. Today, she is a proud owner of a small shop, known as a budding woman entrepreneur in her community.
By making the best use of her land and practicing environment-friendly farming, Nabiron does not only improve her family’s financial condition but also contributes quietly to environmental conservation and biodiversity through safe and environment-friendly agriculture.
