Pumpkin revolution
Jane Eason on how planting pumpkins is providing food and income for flood stricken families in Bangladesh.
Millions of Bangladeshis live on the riverbanks of the country’s 230 unstable rivers, relying on the land not only for shelter, but also to provide them with a livelihood. In 2007 Bangladesh suffered some of the worst flooding in its history, only to be hit weeks later as a devastating cyclone tore through the country. The poor became poorer as the precious land where people lived and earned a living were washed away, their crops destroyed.
As floodwater receded, it left its own legacy; sand and silt rendered land useless for even the most skilled farmer. So how were they to feed themselves and their families, or make any money to sustain their lives?
One imaginative solution has emerged in the remote area of Gaibandha, badly hit by river erosion. Here, with the help of NGO Practical Action, thousands of families are now able to eat and survive using a deceptively simple technique. They plant pumpkins. They simply dig holes in these sandy areas, and fill them with manure, compost and pumpkin seeds.
As well as producing a high yield and being packed full of health benefits, pumpkins can be stored for up to a year, meaning people have a crop both for their families and also to sell, when employment opportunities are low. Saiful Islam, a 30-year-old labourer has seen his life transformed by this project. His family, who live on river embankments, has been displaced five times over the past ten years, with no way of sustaining a livelihood. The only option Saiful had was to migrate for low paid labouring work.
But it all changed once Saiful received training and seeds, and began cultivating 50 pumpkin ‘pits’. He later increased this to 433 pits, growing almost 4,000 pumpkins – worth more than £1,300. He used the money to lease land, invest in fish production and in beef fattening. Spurred on by such a simple technology, he was subsequently trained to share his knowledge to support 200 landless farmers, who between them cultivated more than 32,000 pits.
Almost 1,300 families have now benefited from the project, producing between them more than 162,000 pumpkins. The cost of each pit – taking in labour seed and materials – is just 24 pence. Last year alone the pumpkins had a market value of £1.27 million.
Pumpkin growing – along with floating gardens, cluster villages, schools, animal husbandry, and alternative livelihoods – has increased the earning capacity of more than 20,000 households. This means around 100,000 people have seen direct benefits and over 500,000 benefited indirectly – almost 70% of them women. Saiful says: “The opportunities and the technology is a blessing for us, it has opened our eyes to see a better life and a new hope to live.”
Practical Action is also developing a sustainable model for replication in other parts of the country.
Farmers plant rice in ditches which is half filled with water, purified with lime. When the rice starts to shoot, the water level is increased and fish fry are added. The fish grow safe from birds because they are hidden in the dense rice plants. The fish become fat on – among other things – rice pests. The fish’s ‘droppings fertilise the rice helping it grow. As a result, keeping fish with rice fields increases rice yields by up to 10%. When the rice is harvested, the fish are caught. Families have a double supply of food for themselves and a surplus to sell.
Millions of Bangladeshis live on the riverbanks of the country’s 230 unstable rivers, relying on the land not only for shelter, but also to provide them with a livelihood. In 2007 Bangladesh suffered some of the worst flooding in its history, only to be hit weeks later as a devastating cyclone tore through the country. The poor became poorer as the precious land where people lived and earned a living were washed away, their crops destroyed.
As floodwater receded, it left its own legacy; sand and silt rendered land useless for even the most skilled farmer. So how were they to feed themselves and their families, or make any money to sustain their lives?
As well as producing a high yield and being packed full of health benefits, pumpkins can be stored for up to a year, meaning people have a crop both for their families and also to sell, when employment opportunities are low. Saiful Islam, a 30-year-old labourer has seen his life transformed by this project. His family, who live on river embankments, has been displaced five times over the past ten years, with no way of sustaining a livelihood. The only option Saiful had was to migrate for low paid labouring work.
But it all changed once Saiful received training and seeds, and began cultivating 50 pumpkin ‘pits’. He later increased this to 433 pits, growing almost 4,000 pumpkins – worth more than £1,300. He used the money to lease land, invest in fish production and in beef fattening. Spurred on by such a simple technology, he was subsequently trained to share his knowledge to support 200 landless farmers, who between them cultivated more than 32,000 pits.
Almost 1,300 families have now benefited from the project, producing between them more than 162,000 pumpkins. The cost of each pit – taking in labour seed and materials – is just 24 pence. Last year alone the pumpkins had a market value of £1.27 million.
Pumpkin growing – along with floating gardens, cluster villages, schools, animal husbandry, and alternative livelihoods – has increased the earning capacity of more than 20,000 households. This means around 100,000 people have seen direct benefits and over 500,000 benefited indirectly – almost 70% of them women. Saiful says: “The opportunities and the technology is a blessing for us, it has opened our eyes to see a better life and a new hope to live.”
Practical Action is also developing a sustainable model for replication in other parts of the country.
Double crop
Another simple procedure introduced by Practical Action is producing real food dividends for smallholders in Bangladesh. Cultivating fish and rice all at one go.Farmers plant rice in ditches which is half filled with water, purified with lime. When the rice starts to shoot, the water level is increased and fish fry are added. The fish grow safe from birds because they are hidden in the dense rice plants. The fish become fat on – among other things – rice pests. The fish’s ‘droppings fertilise the rice helping it grow. As a result, keeping fish with rice fields increases rice yields by up to 10%. When the rice is harvested, the fish are caught. Families have a double supply of food for themselves and a surplus to sell.
More information at:
www.practicalaction.org.uk