Poor fishermen no more poor

The lives of 446 economically marginal fishermen and their families in Magura used to be without hope. With water bodies in Sadar, Mohammadpur and Shalikha upazilas under the control of local influential people the traditional fishing community found itself with nowhere to fish. But thanks to the initiatives of the non-government organisation, the Rural Organisation for Voluntary Activity (ROVA), the future for Magura's fishermen looks bright.

“We used to pass days unfed and half-fed, especially during the dry season when we couldn't fish,” says Sanjoy Biswas from Akshi village in Sadar upazila. “Nowadays we face no difficulties.”

“Our poverty is over,” agrees Bijoy Biswas from Bunagati village in Shalikha upazila.

Change arrived in 2013 when ROVA launched its project, funded by Manusher Jonno Foundation, to assist the fishermen, not least to access local water bodies. It had been the case that whenever the government invited tenders to lease the water bodies, the fishermen found that due to poverty they were unable to raise the necessary funds for a competitive bid.

ROVA organised the fishermen into cooperative societies and granted access to interest-free loans for water body tenders; thereafter the fishermen successfully leased eleven of them, including Alukdia Baor, Ghope Baor and Rampur Tank.

The Alukdia lease, which was secured by a cooperative of 45 fishermen with the help of a Tk 2 lakh loan, has returned the families involved to economic solvency, with half of the loan already repaid.

At Rampur Tank meanwhile, where 35 fishermen formed the Bunagati cooperative society to secure the lease with the assistance of a Tk 5 lakh loan, earnings have been similarly lucrative with Tk 3 lakh of the loan already repaid. Bijoy Biswas is one of the fishermen involved. “Obtaining the lease for Rampur Tank has changed our lives,” he says.

In addition, to combat the challenge of low water levels in the spring and summer months, ROVA has involved several fishermen in other income generating activities, including by providing 32 families with sewing machines and involving 25 families in cattle-rearing. “I can earn up to Tk 150 daily from milk sales,” says Sanjoy Biswas, who has one cow as a result of the project.

ROVA's engagement with the community has also targeted improving education outcomes. Only a few years ago many Secondary and Higher School Certificate candidates were unable to complete their examinations due to a lack of money to pay enrolment fees. Nowadays project funds support 145 students in general and have helped 34 students to cover the cost of exam enrolment.

“I wouldn't have been able to pass my Secondary School Certificate exams this year without project support,” says one beneficiary Mitaly Joarder. “I have also been promised assistance for higher education, which brings much optimism to my life.”

In light of the inability for fisher families to access private tuition, the project has opened 12 learning centres as well, which cater to 180 students from classes V to X, free of cost.

“My father can't afford a private tutor for me,” says Sathi Biswas from Tiorkhali village in Shalikha upazila. “Without the learning centre I could not have achieved my A+ result in the Primary School Certificate.”

“Fishermen contribute a lot to society,” says ROVA's Executive Director Kazi Kamruzzaman. “They were being deprived of their basic rights, so we took on the challenge of bettering their economic circumstances. If we can continue the project for a further five years, all the fishermen in Magura should achieve sustainable solvency.”

Magura district's Fishery Officer Chandra Shekhor Nandi agrees that ROVA's initiative has brought remarkable change to the lives of the fishermen involved and their families.