On the road to collective solvency
The phenomenal role played by four Jhenidah women in empowering marginal women and making them financially solvent by providing training on vermicompost has been recognised by the government.
Monoara Begum, Rezia Begum, Sukjan Begum and Rebeka Begum have been conferred with the Joyeeta Award for their outstanding contribution to the field of agriculture.
Joyeeta Award --a government initiative introduced in 2011--has had a tremendous impact on society in issues of women empowerment.
Locals highly acclaimed the contribution of the four women for having life-changing impacts.
Previously they used to plead the local UP members for various kinds of relief assistance but now they can manage three square meals a day being inspired by the Joyeeta awardees, the villagers said.
Vermicomposting, the natural process of converting organic wastes into fertilisers using earthworms, is bringing extra income to many farmers in the district following the trail of them.
Besides, producing and using vermicompost in their cropland, many farmers of the district are earning an extra sum by selling the natural fertiliser.
Vermicomposting has spread in Kola, Sundarpur, Maliat, Ganna and Barobazar unions of Jhenidah on a largescale.
Monoara Begum, 56, wife of Abdus Sattar of Mostabapur village under Kaliganj upailza in Jhenidah said that they used to live on another person's land. After struggling a lot, she joined Brac School in 1990 as an Adult Programme (AP) teacher at a salary of Tk 350 per month. They passed their days in extreme hardship.
But her lot started changing after she received training in vermicomposting from Helal Uddin, the pioneer of vermicomposting in Jhenidah, back in 2007. Since then she did not have to look back. Now she sells around 3,000 kgs of fertilisers at Tk 10 per kg. Besides, she also sells 10 kgs of earthworms per month at the rate of Tk 1,000 per kg.
She did not thrive on her own rather her journey to solvency was a collective one. So far, she has trained around 1500 women in vermicomposting in the district.
Razia Begum, 47, wife of Abdul Wadud of the same village, got married in 1989. They lived on only 14 decimals of land. Due to extreme poverty, they had to sell five decimals of land. Her husband worked in a fruit processing factory and earned Tk 50 per day. At that time, they had to pass their days unfed and half-fed.
Like Monoara, she also initiated her journey in vermicomposting collecting earthworms from Helal Uddin. Now, she produces 2800 kgs of compost fertilisers and earns Tk 38,000 per month. She also sells 10 kgs of earthworms per month at Tk 1,000 per kg. She has also provided training to 1200 women in different areas in the district.
Shukjan Begum wife of Sharbat Ali and Rebeka Begum wife of Aktar Hossain of Dapna village also faced hard realities like Monoara and Rezia. They have also overcome their odds by vermicomposting. Many housewives throng their houses for taking training and suggestions.
They said that that they will work for the distressed and helpless women in the future.
Dr Gul Hossain, former director (technology transfer) of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council, Dhaka, said that vermicompost contains all the nutrients a plant requires. It increases the fertility of the soil.
He added that the productivity of the soil is decreasing due to excessive dependence on chemical fertilisers. This compost fertiliser can regain the lost productivity of soil gradually and boost its water retention.
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