1. Rural Enterprise Development
Market Infrastructure Development in Charland Region, LGED
IDE-Bangladesh
Region: Barisal
Type: Case Study
Sector: Vegetable Production
Beneficiary: Lima Begum
Lima Begum, motherof four,wasleadinga difficultlife. Inthe village of Charkalekhon Union, Lima and
her husband Aynal Bepari were waging a daily war against poverty, and worked day and night to feed
and clothe their four small children. Their only source of income was Aynal’s meager earnings from
working as hired hand in the land of other farmers, and Lima stretched it as far as possible to run her
family. In desperation, Lima suggested that he
take lease of his neighbors’ farms with whatever
money they had (the land that they possessed
was too small to provide a sustainable means of
income through agriculture) and start cultivating.
But even that was not enough. Neither Lima nor
her husband had any in-depth knowledge about
farming.Irrigationwasvery difficult and they had
to water the plants manually, by means of
watering pots. This was time consuming and
cumbersome, but they had very few options.
Irrigation pumps were expensive, and often
unavailable. Theyhad no access to quality seeds,
and had very little knowledge of combating pests
and diseases.Consequentlyproductivitywas poor
and with very little access to loan facilities, Lima
and her husband were at wit’s end.
IDE-B, under the RED project, extended its support to Lima, seeing her keen interest in farming as a
means of sustainable income source. Lima received a loan through Podokkhep, a partner NGO of
MIDPCR. After this, she was given advice on cultivating high-value vegetables and cash crops in
neighbors' farms. Under IDE-B’s guidance, she used the loaned amount to take lease of neighbor’s
farms(forcultivation) andbuyqualityinputmaterialssuchasseeds,pesticidesetc.She andherhusband
started farming, both in their own land (around 20 decimal) and in others’ (around 160 decimal). The
crops and vegetables included rice, chili, brinjal, papaya, tomato, pulses, banana, broad beans and
gourd. She also started rearing poultry. She was invited to workshops and meetings of RED, and was
provided linkage with Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), representatives of reputed seed
company such as Lal Teer Seed Ltd., vegetable dealers and input sellers. She received a number of

2. trainingas well- social andspecialIGA trainingfromPodokkhep,andvegetablecultivation training from
DAE. The trainings were essential to Lima as a farmer: now she knows which crops have high
productivity, which vegetables are in high demand in different seasons, the profit that can be quickly
made by cultivatinghybridvegetables,andthe necessityof usingqualityseedsandthe righttechnology.
In a veryshort time,LimaBegumfeltherlife hasturnedaround.Followingher training period, Lima has
seen radical changes: her cultivation costs have gone down, productivity has greatly increased and so
has her earnings. Before, her monthly income was Tk 2500, with which she could barely make ends
meet; now she earns around 5,500 taka per month. Her skills as a farmer has been greatly enhanced:
she feels that she in charge of her own life. “I used to go the other farmers for advice on growing my
crops, and in most cases did not get much help, since very few of us have the proper knowledge on
farming.Now, people come to me, ”she says with a shy smile. Lima is able to judge market conditions
for herself anddecide what to cultivate during what time of the year for maximum profit. Today, Lima
Begumisnot justa successful farmer:she isanempowereddecision-makerwhonow feels like a valued
member of her community.