One house one farm scheme kicks off next month

The government will start implementing 'one house one farm' project within a month to cut poverty by creating jobs and ensure overall rural development, a top government functionary said yesterday.
Under the scheme worth around Tk 1,197 crore, a total of 578,400 farms will be set up for as many households in the rural areas.
The government expects to create employment for around 29 lakh people directly or indirectly.
“We hope to begin the implementation process at field level within a month,” said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, state minister for LGRD and Cooperatives, emerging from a workshop on the contribution of Bangladesh Rural Development Board in poverty reduction and rural development.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Rural Development & Cooperatives Division and Ministry of LGRD & Cooperatives organised the programme in Dhaka.
Nanak said five villages in four unions each under 482 upazilas will be selected for the five-year project, scheduled to complete by June 2014.
Later, based on a survey, 30-60 families
will be selected to help them set up farms by providing training, asset and post-training support, officials said.
“We will provide appropriate training and other supports so they can gradually set up farms,” Md Humayun Khalid, director general of Bangladesh Rural Development Board, told The Daily Star.
The officials said female-headed poor households will be given priority in the selection process, followed by the families having only lands for homes, marginal farmers with a maximum of 0.5 acres of land and wage labourers.
“If we don't get families based on the set criteria, we will look for small farmers having maximum 2.5 acres of cultivable land,” said Khalid.
Bangladesh Rural Development Board will act as the lead agency for implementing the project under Rural Development & Cooperatives Division.
Under the project, around Tk 538.83 crore will be spent for assets meant for the selected households and Tk 308.48 crore for post-training supports such as microcredit for them, he said.
The remaining amount will go for setting up data centres at upazila levels, pay and allowances, procurement of computers and accessories, and conducting surveys, said Khalid.
He said cooperatives would be formed by the beneficiaries so they can market their produce easily.
The move to start implementing the scheme comes after Executive Committee on National Economic Council approved the fund early last month.