Founded in 1966, as ITDG (the Intermediate Technology Development Group), Practical Action was a new foundation partner for 2007, and one we are really excited about.

Our funding will support a three year project in the districts of Faridpur and Jamalpur in Bangladesh. It will pay for two Rural Technology Centres (RTCs), helping 7,500 farming families to build their skills and overcome the regular risk of malnutrition.

Technologies to improve production and reduce poverty have existed at the international and national levels, but have not been accessible to small rural farmers thus far. These centres will be the first of their kind in Bangladesh, providing an opportunity to learn about improved and appropriate farming technologies, food processing, and providing regular access to key IT services.

Practical Action's approach is simple yet unique: find out what people are doing and help them to do it better.

They started working in Bangladesh in the early 1980s in response to requests from a number of prominent national NGOs. It works using technology to challenge poverty in a flexible way; ensuring it is responsive to local conditions and needs, and that poor people have a say in what, and how, technologies are developed.

Agriculture remains the backbone of the Bangladesh economy and forms a crucial part of the challenge to reduce rural poverty and achieve economic growth for individual communities.

Practical Action is therefore working with poor, small-scale farmers, providing technical support to help improve their productivity, income and ability to meet the nutritional needs of their families.

Our funding will support two Rural Technology Centres, (RTCs), for three years, in the districts of Faridpur and Jamalpur. Each centre will be operated and managed by local partner organisations.

As with all projects we support, sustainability is a key factor and RTCs are essential to sustaining the use of improved technologies, greater production and food security beyond the duration of the project. Both RTCs are to be housed within the buildings of trusted, local organisations which have a long-term reputation for providing other community services.

Objectives Update : August '07

Since February 2007, 750 farm families have been identified and surveyed to get a sense of which services, to be housed at the RTCs, will be of most value. Both female and male farmers have since developed joint action plans on improving seed production and marketing, which will be implemented in the coming months.

The visibility of the RTCs within the local communities is rising rapidly. This is, in part, due to promotional activities such as signboards being put up and leaflets about the RTCs (printed in Bangla) being distributed. The whole community is benefiting. Farmers are visiting for quality seed, marginalised women for information on low-cost income generating activities, and students for ICT services.

The centres are also making an impact beyond the local community: in just 8 months, 130 staff from local organisations, district government administration and extension services have paid a visit.

More specifically, the project has achieved the following:

• A venue for the RTC has been provided.
• 119 farmers (75 male and 44 female) received training on food processing, improving fruit/vegetable production, the characteristics of good seed and improving goat and poultry rearing.
• 318 farmers procured quality vegetable and fruit seeds, jute seed and rice seed.
• 39 local organisation staff received information on farming techniques.
• Local organisations rented the RTCs' mini-conference rooms on seven occasions and organised training for 152 farmers.
• To enable the RTCs to continue to supply low-cost, high quality seeds during the coming year and beyond, a comprehensive seed marketing plan has been developed.

Next steps

Farmers have reported that production of summer vegetables, jute and boro rice has increased by between 15-22% with quality seed from the RTCs. This has, in turn, reduced food insecurity of the poorer farming families.

We are really pleased so much has been achieved already, but there is still much more to do. The next phase hopes to provide common fishery materials (such as dolomite lime and fish feed) and secure livestock and poultry drugs to sell to rural technology trainers.

On the skills based side, they also hope to introduce ICT training for educated unemployed young people, collect information from local organisations, research institutions and private companies, source mobile phone services and install internet access and provide more training for RTC staff.

Objectives Update : February ‘09

Both Rural Technology Centres (RTCs) are now well established within their communities. Over time, local families have developed a sense of ownership of the RTCs, valuing and making significant use of the services at the centre.

Although the majority of the people using the Rural Technology Centres are small scale farmers, the main target group of the project, they are having an impact beyond this amongst more diverse groups. During the last six months, academics, established businesses and representatives of governmental departments have all consulted the materials and expertise developed at the RTCs

Demand For Services

• Remarkably, 9,301 people used the services available at the Rural Technolgy Centres in the 4 month period from September 2008 to January 2009.
• The majority of these women and men are from marginal farming communities who have never before had access to these materials and opportunities.
• The services provided include: quality seed provision, food processing materials, vaccine provision, photocopying, internet access and IT training. These services, although seemingly simple and commonplace, have a genuine impact upon the lives and prospects of isolated families.

Knowledge Sharing

• Seminar sessions were organised for local women and men, focusing on vegetable and fruit tree management, poultry and cattle rearing and fish farming – issues in which there is significant interest and the potential to maximise profits. A total of 184 people attended these sessions.
• The sessions were delivered by staff from local government departments, which is testament to the relationship the RTC is building with experts across Bangladesh.
• The Rural Technolgy Centres are starting to address a wider variety of needs, with sessions in the last few months on pest management, arsenic removal and family nutrition.

Film Showings

• Given the relatively high illiteracy rates across the two project areas, showing films is a great way to raise awareness and provide an opportunity for communities to come together to discuss what they have seen.
• A film focusing on the arsenic contamination of local water supplies was shown to local families, followed by advice on the best ways to ensure access to safe drinking water.
• An educational cartoon film, produced with help from the RTC, was shown at three local schools. The film focused on the importance of IT skills, breaking down some of the barriers to usage, and was shown to some 450 students.

Next steps 

As the project is scheduled to end in May 2009, each Rural Technology Centre is beginning to save any income generated from the sale of resources to help maintain the centres for future years.

The nominal amounts which local people are paying to purchase quality seed, fish feed or vaccines are being collected to help ensure the sustainability of the Centres and their much needed services.

August 2007 Floods

The floods which hit Asia in late July and early August 2007 were of a magnitude not witnessed for decades. Many hundreds of people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands of families lost their homes and livelihoods. The floods hit hardest those families already living in abject poverty and the districts of Jamalpur and Faradpur, in which the project is active, did not escape.

As the project had already helped to increase the income and nutritional status of local families, there was no severe food crisis amongst the small-scale farmers during or after the flooding. However, a number of families involved in the project were displaced and some of the crops which they had been supported in growing were destroyed.

Practical Action has an acute awareness of the growing frequency and intensity of such disasters as the climate changes, and this has informed their decision to 'climate-proof' all of their programmes. The project had therefore, from its early stages, put flood resistant measures in place:

• Many small-scale farmers have been growing flood-friendly rice varieties, such as Tulshimala, Kalzira and Gianza, which have been introduced to the area through the project.
• Farmers involved in rearing fish had been trained in how to protect their fish during times of flooding (using flat bars made from bamboo and netting).
• Seedlings have been planted on areas of higher ground, such as fertile strips of land along roadsides.
• The livestock and poultry disease management campaigns (which are part of the project) prevented cattle, goats, sheep and poultry from contracting infectious diseases and helped to control the mortality of livestock in project areas.
• Silage preservation techniques, which the project has trained farmers in, helped to ensure that fodder was not destroyed during the flooding.

We will update you as we get any more reports from the ground on this.

Altaf Islam

Altaf Islam is a small farmer living with eight family members, in the village of Mazalia in Jamalpur.

Rice is the staple food in the area, which Altaf was previously only able to produce for seven months of the year. For the remaining five months, he and his family were short of food. Altaf lacked access to the tools and the training to maximise the amount of rice he produced. As a result, his rice harvest was only some 60% of potential yield.

Considering his family's need for food and Altaf's interest and enthusiasm, the project selected him as one of the farmers to receive training. He was supplied with the recommended doses of seed and organic fertilisers, and provided his own cow dung. Altaf then established a demonstration plot on 0.30 acres of leased land.

Initially, some neighbours discouraged him from what seemed a risky venture which could end in failure. However, with technical assistance from the project and 'learning by doing', Altaf's confidence soon grew.

He tells us that the cost of rice production is some Tk.670 less per acre compared with his earlier farming. He is also using pest management techniques which are environmentally friendly. Altaf's first harvest on the demonstration plot generated 675 kg of paddy rice which is 150 kg more than his previous rice production record. Out of the 675 kg, Altaf preserved 40 kg as seed for next year's production, sold 75 kg and kept the remaining 560 kg to ensure that his family's food needs were met.

16 of Altaf's neighbours have now requested improved varieties of rice seed from him and are keen to take part in the training through the project so that they too can benefit.

Conquering the lean months – Abdul Latif Shekh

Until recently, Abdul Latif Shekh found it extremely difficult to feed his family year-round - buying essentials from the market was almost impossible as he barely earned enough income to meet their basic needs. As a share-cropper, he tried to survive by cultivating other people’s land – which enabled him to provide for his family for just nine months a year. In the lean months, they faced starvation – some days, food was just not available to them.

Through a two day training session at the Rural Technology Centre in Rajoir, Abdul developed his skills and knowledge of rice cultivation and was introduced to a new, more productive variety of rice. Following this training, he expressed interest in joining a local project group to help support his new venture.

Over the months since his training, Abdul has fully immersed himself in the services available at the RTC and following training, has now established a seed bank. Within his village, he has become established as a quality seed producer, and neighbouring farmers no longer have to travel long distances to purchase reliable rice and vegetable seeds.

In addition, Abdul’s eldest son Mostafa has recently become a Rural Technology Extensionist, working closely with the RTC. He is already earning 4000 Bangladesh Taka (£40) per month, producing and selling baby fish.

Latif and Mostafa are now working with local government agriculture and fishery offices as well as private traders, who are keen to receive their services.

As a result of the project, the Shekh family are now able to feed themselves all year round, and can look forward to a future free from the fear of hunger.

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