The fields in Kamarkhola, a rural community some 150km southwest of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, are lush and green even as the hot May sun beats down on the farmers who tend their crops. The heat is heavy, but the farmers are unruffled. For the first time in many years, they are looking forward to a good summer harvest, bigger incomes and a more secure future.
Sukanto Mistry is 25 years old and had to drop out of education to support his family. Discouraged by the long summer lean season that had hindered farmers in the community since a 2009 hurricane damaged local water supplies, he was initially hesitant to rely on farming for his future income. But a locally conceived project finance through the UN Capital Development Fund has changed his perception.
Kamarkhola lies in Khulna District and is wrapped inside two mighty rivers, the Dhaki and Bhodra. There was a time when the people of this village were entirely dependent on agriculture and enjoyed three harvests a year. But everything changed after the Cyclone Aila struck in 2009. The raging winds not only shattered their houses, shelters, and scattered cattle but damaged their livelihood and future prospects as it destroyed the canals that irrigated their fields with fresh water.
Protiva Rani, a farmer shed light on the circumstances, “Since Aila, we consider the months from January to June as dry period. We wait till monsoon for harvesting. This is the first time after that we are having crops in summer”.
She reminisced how more than 200 farmers in nearby villages became unemployed after Aila. “The male members of the families started migrating to bigger cities for work and it made us (women) insecure in our own homes,” said Protiva. Read more