CARE & FOOD SECURITY 2013

FROM THE ISLANDS OF HOPEFSUP-H PROJECT FROM THE ISLANDS OF HOPEFSUP-H PROJECT

EUROPEAN UNION

FROM THE ISLANDS OF HOPE

SUCCESS STORIES FROM FOOD SECURITY FOR THE ULTRA POOR IN HAOR (FSUP-H) PROJECT

Published by Food Security for the Ultra Poor in Haor (FSUP-H) ProjectCARE BangladeshPragati Insurance Building (9th-13th Floor)20-21 Kawran BazarDhaka 1215, Bangladesh www.carebd.org

2013 CARE Bangladesh

Writing and Editing

Masreka Khan Richard Sloman

Overall Supervision

Sekhar Bhattacharjee

Designing and PrintingHeadofficewww.h-office.com

Food Security for the Ultra Poor in Haor (FSUP-H) is a five year project funded by the European Union and implemented by CARE Bangladesh and three national partners, Sabalamby Unnayan Samity (SUS), Assistance for Slum Dwellers (ASD) and Peoples Oriented Program Implementation (POPI). The overall project goal is to reduce extreme poverty, food insecurity and vulnerability in the Haor region of Northeast Bangladesh. FSUP-H targets 55,000 ultra poor households, with a focus on ultra poor women, in the three districts of Sunamganj, Netrakona and Kishoreganj.

Since its inception in 2009 with the ambitious goal of reducing extreme poverty the project has been a considerable success. Present FSUP-H success story book celebrates some of the extraordinary achievements by project participants and communities who made an amazing journey from ultra poverty to self reliance throughout the project intervention period. On behalf of FSUP-H I would like to convey our gratitude to the project participants and community members of the Haor region for their dedication and determination to make changes in their own lives, the Government of Bangladesh for their continuous support and CAREs three partners and all the project staffs involved in the FUP-H since 2009

Sekhar BhattacharjeeTeam LeaderFSUP-H Project

Project Background

The Food Security for the Ultra Poor in Haor (FSUP-H) project works in the Haor region of northeast Bangladesh. A Haor is a saucer-shaped shallow depression of land which seasonally traps flood water for up to six months of the year. The people of the Haor region live on small raised areas of land which become surrounded by flood water each year forming mounds. With the success of the FSUP-H project and the huge potential of the population to bring themselves out of poverty, these islands have been termed Islands of Hope.

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Nazma and SalimuddinsStory of Change and Hope

Nazma and her husband Salimuddin together set an example in their community on fighting poverty. Four years ago, Nazmas family found it hard to have adequate food, particularly during the lean season but now things have changed. Participating in the FSUP-H project has changed lives through lifting up socio-economic status of many like Nazma and her family in the Northeast of Bangladesh.

Nazmas husband a tuly puller (someone who extracts soil/clay from the dried up flood plain) for six months of the year was the only income earner in her family. The rest of the year he remained unemployed except for fishing occasionally. With five children of whom two are school going poverty seemed to be deeply rooted in their daily lives.

With a cash grant of BDT 4,7OO from the FSUP-H project and her successful planning she has changed her familys living standard in the last four years. She added BDT 3,300 to the cash grant and bought a calf for BDT 8,000. She sold the cow after one year at a price of BDT 24,000, in which she reported a profit of at-least BDT 13,000. Her husband added some money from a small loan and his own savings to this profit. Together they invested their money in ducks as the most convenient seasonal business in the Monsoon season.

They bought 200 mature ducks and started selling eggs at a rate of BDT 3,000 a week. When asked about paying back the small loan, Nazma thoughtfully replied;

We took loans to buy ducks from my close relatives and family members; they will not impose any interest rate on this. I have already started paying the loans by selling the eggs

Managing 200 ducks is never easy, particularly when Nazma does not have her own space to accommodate them. While asked why she took this risk of such a big initiative, she replied with confidence that, the Income Generating Activity training from the FSUP-H has taught her every aspect of raising poultry. The interview took place near a Haor where she takes her ducks to cool them in the heat.

Case 2

Dailyconsumptionof BDT 100

Joint business with husband

Children regularlyattendschool

Paying loansoff quickly

Sells Eggsweekly forBDT 3,000

Kitchen garden- improvedfamily diet

Nazmas storyof changed and improved life

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She also has a contingency plan during times of flooding and will pay a minimum rent to her brother-in-law to use their watershed for her ducks when the Haor is flooded over.

Apart from financial benefits, Nazma has improved other factors in her life too. FSUP-H provided homestead gardening training to Nazma and she now has a small garden of seasonal vegetables and spices around her home. With improved and diversified food consumption her children are healthier now. She also reported selling excess vegetables in the local market with help from her husband. She saves money from their earnings of eggs and vegetables and continues to pay back their loan. As there is no more hunger and no pressure to get involved in economic activities, her children now go to school regularly.

The biggest change for Nazma is the improved relationship with her husband. Before receiving the cash grant from the European Union funded FSUP-H, her husband spent half of the year idle or with an irregular income. Nazma could hardly imagine working jointly in a business. Once Nazma had made a profit from the cow, her husband offered to support her to expand the business and invest in ducks.

Salimuddin does not pull tuly anymore. As earnings increased, quarrelling has decreased for Nazma and Salimuddin. Now Salimuddin often seeks Nazmas opinion when taking decisions. Nazma summed up her life after getting involved with the FSUP-H as:

I never imagined working with my husband and running my family so peacefully. A small grant of 4,700 brought the biggest change in my life. Both of us dream of expanding our business and buying a piece of land in future

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Interactive and participatory sessions

with fun activities are important part

of VDO room sessions in FSUP-H

project

With Confidence Flora Can Provide forHer Family and Lead Her Community

Seven years ago Flora Begums life was turned upside down when her husband died in a road accident leaving her to bring up her two sons without a father. After the death of her husband, Flora was forced to move back to her parents

house and relied on her fathers income to feed her children. This, she recalls, was an extremely difficult time for her family and she was often unable to provide three meals a day to her sons.

In 2009, Flora was selected as a participant on the FSUP-H project and in 2010 she received small seed money to start a business. Flora used the funds to lease agricultural land and bought seeds, fertiliser and other inputs from her own savings to begin rice cultivation. Within the first year

Flora harvested 800 KGs of rice on the land. She sold some of the rice and used the profits to access land for the following year, the rest of the rice was used to feed her and her two sons.

As Flora began earning her own income her confidence increased in the wider commu-nity. In 2011, community members came to Flora and asked her to run for the local government elections. First I said no Flora explained, but the community members promised to support her and raised money to fund her election. Floras campaign was successful and now she represents her community in the local government. As an extremely poor widow, Flora feels she can speak out as a voice for the most marginal-ised in her community. I want to serve the community people she explained.

Case 2

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As Flora could provide for her two sons on her own, her father donated a small piece of land so she could establish her own home-stead. Flora received training on homestead gardening and seed packets to start vegetable cultivation around her home. Flora is extremely proud of what she has achieved and now provides her sons with three nutritious meals a day including rice and vegetables cultivated on her land. She

also supplements her income by selling excess vegetables. Referring to her future and as a sign of her increased indepen-dence, Flora exclaimed, I will not remarry. I want to support my children in the future. They will be well educated, get a job and lead a good life.

Nutrition Garden serves the purpose of food diversity and additional income to the ultra poor families in Haor areas

Now we are united - Community-Led Empowerment in Chouhatta Village

The people of Chouhatta village are proud of themselves, and rightly so. Over the past two years, the villagers have united to support the poorest members of their community. They have purchased land for eighteen homeless families in the village, assisted them to raise the land to protect it from seasonal flooding and helped them to establish latrines, vegetable gardens and a fishing pond.

Communities in the Haor region become geographically isolated from neighbouring villages and vulnerable to the increasing unpredictability of changing flood levels and wave erosion in Monsoon seasons. This situation, coupled with limited livelihood opportunities, leads to high levels of extreme poverty.

CARE began working in Chouhatta village in 2009, engaging communities to act collectively to implement their own visions and develop plans to solve their own problems as a part of FSUP-H project. In this way, CARE is successfully encouraging long term changes in the lives of some of Bangladeshs poorest people. As a first step in the community-led approach, CARE organized a meeting and invited the whole community. The objectives of the project were outlined and the whole community

Case 3 participated in mapping the village, identifying key resources and identifying the poorest families in Chouhatta. Accessibility was highlighted as a key problem for the village and the decision was made as a community to build a raised road to link Chouhatta with neighbouring villages and provide year round access to markets.

Regardless of background or class, the whole community came together to construct the road, working as a team to achieve something for everyone. By working together the people of Chouhatta had achieved more than just a road, they had become united as a community for a common cause.

Once the seeds of solidarity had been sown in Chouhatta, the community began to address the needs of the poorest. The Village Development Committee (VDC), a pro-poor group established by FSUP-H and made up of extremely poor women of the village as well pro-poor influential community members, recognized homelessness as being a key problem for some of the poorest families of the community. The whole community met to discuss the issue of the homeless families. The example of the road had shown the community that they no longer needed to

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Strong Voice of Lutfa

Case 4rely on external support to make changes in their village. One by one the villagers came forward offering to give as much as they could afford to buy land for the landless. A total of 64 community members came forward to donate money or soil to buy land and raise it above the flood water level.

When asked why this pro-poor movement has happened, the villagers replied because now we are united!

Years later and Chouhatta village is now a very different place. Eighteen of the poorest families now have homes, often for the first time in their lives. Each house has a thriving vegetable garden, where the proud new home owners can grow enough vegetables to feed their families and supplement their household incomes. The families also have a fishing pond that provides fish to the new residents during the year. The newly constructed households are spacious and made up of two rooms, with a latrine in the back. Walking through the community it is clear to see the improvements in the lives of the land recipients.

It is only upon speaking with the new home owners, however, that some of the most significant benefits of the project emerge.

Lutfa, a 17 year old girl in Joykolosh village of south S u n a m g a n j pointed out that girls are not a burden but key to prosperity if they are given the chance they

deserve. Since 2010, Lutfa has been a member of the womens empowerment group known as Empowerment Knowledge and Transformative Action (EKATA) facilitated by the FSUP-H project. Previously extremely poor, Lutfa's family are now working together to improve their lives and it is Lutfa who was the catalyst in this change through her determination to stand against social pressure. Lutfa completed her primary school education before she became a participant in the FSUP-H

project. Due to her familys poverty she was unable to continue her education and remained solely engaged in household chores. Gradually her family members started to see her as a burden as, according to them, she was not bringing anything to the family except costing them money to raise her. Her parents decided to marry her off in order to reduce their 'burden'. They even agreed to pay a dowry to the groom's family to facilitate the marriage.

Astonishing her parents, Lutfa bravely denied this imposed decision. She convinced them that marrying her off would instead create further burden and a continuous demand for money from her in-laws. She explained,

'I was broken inside, as my dream to educate myself remained unfulfilled and on top of that I started to doubt my abilities to change my life...

As the new land owners proudly explained, before they were treated with contempt by their land lords and other community members. They had no home and were therefore subject to mistreatment from those whose house they lived in. They spent their days cleaning the houses of their land lords and were often excluded from community events. Those days have now passed in Chouhatta, the families now have time to pursue their own livelihoods. The strong solidarity in the community now means everyone is invited to community events and the new land recipients have even hosted a community festival on their own land. As one new homeowner simply put it, for the first time in my life I can invite my relatives round for tea.

Through the Food Security for the Ultra-Poor Project, CARE and its partners are supporting communities to mobilize themselves and positively change the lives of the poorest.

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Anzu Mia Becomes a Role Model For His Community

the EKATA group restored my faith, my dream and abilities. Attending the training sessions taught me about the bad effects of child marriage. This helped me to convince my parents to stop my marriage and instead buy me a sewing machine...now my family members rely on me to take decisions about different matters; I also contribute financially on a regular basis'

Lutfas dream to change her and her family's poverty situation was fuelled by the training she received in literacy, numeracy and womens empowerment as well as the social support she received from her peers in the EKATA group. Her fellow EKATA members encouraged her to take up tailoring and promised to support her by buying clothes. Lutfa convinced her mother to invest the small cash grant of BDT 4,700 from the FSUP-H project to buy a sewing machine. Her EKATA peers also came to her home and requested her parents to invest in her instead of letting her be married off. Lutfa's parents were finally convinced and let Lutfa chase her dream to be a self reliant girl.

Lutfa now earns BDT 200-300 a week and she invests part of her profits on her sibling's

education so that their future will be protected. Her busy days are accompanied with a sense of satisfaction and self reliance. After having the courage to negotiate a decision which is often imposed on adolescent girls in Bangladesh and then using her own initiative to help her family escape from poverty, Lutfa has become a name of inspiration in her community. When asked if she will marry, she replied with beaming pride '...at least not before I am 25 years old'

EKATA is a platform for extremely poor women and girls to raise awareness on negative social norms such as early marriage, dowry payments and violence against women. The women are taught about their rights and encouraged to share their thoughts in the group as well as at home with their family members. EKATA's knowledge transfer to empower the most marginal communities is playing an innovative role as an alternative education for ultra poor women and girls in the Haor region. They apply soft skills they receive through training sessions, to raise their voice against social odds and to negotiate with dominant social actors at the family and community level. Lutfas story is just one of a growing voice of adolescent girls in this region of Bangladesh.

Salma says she has seen a radical change in her husband Anzu Mia in the past year and he has become committed to supporting the most vulnerable families in his community. In 2009, Anzu Mia contracted tuberculosis (TB) and

was taken to hospital. Many people died in the hospital from TB he explained, and I thought I would die too. But Anzu Mia did not die and he thanks the community people both men and women for praying for him and supporting him during this difficult time in his life.

After his experience, Anzu Mia began to make small changes in his behaviour with his wife and in the wider community. He began to appreciate and support his wife more. In the past we quarrelled a lot Salma explained, but now our relationship has improved.

Anzu Mia not only changed his behaviour in his married life but also became more vocal in the community and started speaking out about the negative ways some men treat women.

Young men in the community would observe the positive way he would behave towards his wife and other women and began to openly discuss this with him. Slowly he became seen as a positive role model for young men by both women and men in the community.

Last year the project formally identified him as a positive example for others in his community. As a positive male role model, Anzu Mia speaks regularly with adolescent men in his community to discuss issues relating to the way men treat women. He has also helped to establish an Ending Violence through Engaging Men (EVEM) forum in his community which discusses issues relating to violence against women with young men. Anzu Mia also attends the projects couple

counselling sessions with his wife where they discuss issues of fair share in household chores, womens rights, and sexual and reproductive health.

Since attending these sessions Salma says Anzu Mia takes more of a share in household activities such as cooking. Anzu Mia explained I feel no shame in taking on these roles which are traditionally associated with women and when neighbours see him carrying out this work he explains he is supporting his wife. In the future they plan to start a family and raise their children in a healthy and happy marriage.

Case 5

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Salma says she has seen a radical change in her husband Anzu Mia in the past year and he has become committed to supporting the most vulnerable families in his community. In 2009, Anzu Mia contracted tuberculosis (TB) and

was taken to hospital. Many people died in the hospital from TB he explained, and I thought I would die too. But Anzu Mia did not die and he thanks the community people both men and women for praying for him and supporting him during this difficult time in his life.

After his experience, Anzu Mia began to make small changes in his behaviour with his wife and in the wider community. He began to appreciate and support his wife more. In the past we quarrelled a lot Salma explained, but now our relationship has improved.

Anzu Mia not only changed his behaviour in his married life but also became more vocal in the community and started speaking out about the negative ways some men treat women.

Young men in the community would observe the positive way he would behave towards his wife and other women and began to openly discuss this with him. Slowly he became seen as a positive role model for young men by both women and men in the community.

Last year the project formally identified him as a positive example for others in his community. As a positive male role model, Anzu Mia speaks regularly with adolescent men in his community to discuss issues relating to the way men treat women. He has also helped to establish an Ending Violence through Engaging Men (EVEM) forum in his community which discusses issues relating to violence against women with young men. Anzu Mia also attends the projects couple

counselling sessions with his wife where they discuss issues of fair share in household chores, womens rights, and sexual and reproductive health.

Since attending these sessions Salma says Anzu Mia takes more of a share in household activities such as cooking. Anzu Mia explained I feel no shame in taking on these roles which are traditionally associated with women and when neighbours see him carrying out this work he explains he is supporting his wife. In the future they plan to start a family and raise their children in a healthy and happy marriage.

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Group Income Generating Activities are important platforms of economic security and improved social cohesion for VDO members

Couple Workshop works to raise awareness on gender disparity in intimate relationships

Small cash grant has promoted home based small scale business among number of project participants

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Small Scale Entrepreneurship:Catalysing Womens Empowerment

Case 6

Haresa (55) a widow with three sons is a pioneering small scale business women in her village of Chatol, in Karimganj under Kishoreganj district. Haresa sells seasonal fruits to her neighbours, fruit businessmen and to the local weekly market. She started her business with an investment of BDT 300 ten years ago. She was struggling to enhance her business due to inadequate money and on top of that the pressure to repay the high interest loan she received

from the local money lender.

FSUP-Hs small cash grant brought big changes to Haresas family. Before receiving the cash, she only sold fruits to her neighbours or to local vendors. As investment increased, more fruits could be purchased, stocked and sold that consequently led her to start selling fruits in the local market on market day. Now she earns about BDT 13,000 per month and she continues to invest BDT 10,000 for the next month and uses the rest of the money towards her family expenditure and contributes to savings. Haresa is an active member of her Village Development Committee savings group, with current saving of BDT 1900.

Haresa's business is of seasonal fruits including: Mango, Jackfruit, Banana, Berries and Guavas. Usually she sells bananas round the year. Her business technique is to buy whole trees with fruits

before the season begins. It takes bargaining skills to do this, given the male dominance involved in the business process from the tree owners to fruit vendors. As a participant in the FSUP-H project, like many other women, Haresa received Business Management Training that enriched her skills to become a successful entrepreneurship. Her negotiation skills increased with boosted confidence. Her business requires regular movement across the village and to market. Womens mobility is traditionally restricted by men in this conservative region of Bangladesh and when asked if there is any issue concerning mobility: she replied with smile :

I was a member of the Cash-for-Work Work team of the project and undertook work that was previously considered as men's work like building village protection walls to name one in my village. This experience has enriched my capacity to move around whether in my village or in the market

Haresa is an inspiration to her fellow villagers not only for earning money but also for how she is managing her family and business in a dignified way. She has paid back the high interest loans since she

received the small asset grant. As a self-reliant woman she is a strong support to her sons and their families. She lends money to her sons without interest so that they are not caught in the vicious cycle of high interest loans. She buys her medicine and food using her own money. Women from her neighbourhood often come to learn how she improved her condition of extreme poverty to today's secured living. She also gets invited to neighbours houses and community events, which is an indicator of her increased social prestige.

Ultra poor women are more self reliant now by participating in community led saving groups

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Long-term Protection Against Floods

Case 7

Bangladesh is one of the countries highly prone to climate change related disasters in the world. Every year, around 1 million people in the countrys north-eastern Hoar

region alone are affected by monsoon rains and flash flooding. Many areas in this region remain completely submerged in water for six to eight months. The impact on isolated, poor communities is devastating: homes are often damaged, livestock and crops destroyed, and families pushed further into poverty and hunger. Many villages have watched their land gradually crumble away, and are in danger of being wiped out completely.

The village of Kathor in Sunamganj was severely affected by yearly flooding and it had no resources to recover and better protect itself. A local woman, Subhomita Rani, described the impact it had, It was devastating. The area is flooded every year

and everything would get destroyedour house, our food, our crops and livelihood assets. It was heart-rending to see my children go starving, and I had to undergo that experience quite frequently. We were all so poor, and with no work around, we just didnt see how we were going to survive the flooding year after year as we would have nothing left.

However, as part of the FSUP-H project CARE selected Kathor village to benefit from the construction of a flood protection wall. CARE provided the village with the necessary resources and technical input to raise parts of its land and build a 745 metre long wall to protect it from floodwaters. Using specially developed building techniques, with bricks and sand, the walls robust structure can last for up to 30 years and be easily modified. To also provide much needed employment through a cash-for-work scheme, vulnerable community members were hired, along with skilled local labourers, for the construction work.

Building this wall brought the community together Subhomita explained tending to her thriving food garden. The wall means our community life and homes are secure now. I grow vegetables in my garden and

Every year, the village of Kathor is surrounded by floodwaters for 6-8 months. This new flood protection wall (pictured) protects the communitys land, homes and assets, and long-term survival

we have regular food, even in the monsoon season. I sell some produce locally and this income means my children can go to school and my husband doesnt have to migrate for work anymorewe are so much happier and safer now.

Raising the land and building the wall means Kathor village is now better protected from soil erosion and flood damage. CARE is helping communities across Bangladeshs Hoar region in developing critical infrastructure like this as a way of reducing their vulnerability to flooding and protecting their livelihoods and assets.

Cash or Work Schemes has helped establishing essential infrastructures to food security in many villages

Disclaimer:

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication is the sole responsibility of CARE and no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union

Photo Credits:

Page 2,4,18 - Masreka Khan, Page 7, 8,15 - Ahmed Shahed, Page 10,20- Purnima Rani Page 13- Suhel Ahmed, Page 16,17- Care (1-3), Shahabuddin, Back Inner - Richard SlomanBack page- Ahmed Shahed (1), Richard Sloman (2-3), Masreka Khan

If you have any comments or thoughts you would like to share please do so by contacting Sekhar Bhattacharjee , Team Leader at 'sekhar@bd.care.org'