An overview of Nobo Jatra’s impact on agriculture & livelihood
Observation of climate-smart agriculture producer's group at their demonstration fields.
Location: Joynagar, Tildanga, Dacope, Khulna
Climate change poses a serious threat to Bangladesh's highly populated coastal area. Salt intrusion is worsened by rising sea levels, which are exacerbated by repeated droughts. At the same time, the chance of flooding rises due to the monsoon season. Flooding has the potential to harm crops and sabotage harvests. To put it another way, there is a pressing need to adapt current agricultural practices to these shifting conditions. Coastal Bangladeshi communities' food security will be jeopardized if this does not happen. Salinity is one of the primary concerns in Bangladesh's coastal area, and it is expected to rise over time owing to a variety of factors, including climate change.
This has a direct impact on livelihoods, as agriculture is the primary source of income for 85 percent of people in the coastal zone (World Bank, 2016). Agriculture productivity is further hampered by waterlogging and salinity, which has ramifications for impoverished households' food security and livelihoods. Only 0.7 percent of households use sustainable Natural Resource Management (NRM) practices and/or technologies, while 19.7% of households produce vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables, 24.1 percent of farmers engaged in value chain activities, 12.9 percent have access to agricultural and livestock extension services from the Government of Bangladesh, and 19.7% of households produce vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables.
"Nobo Jatra-New Beginning" is a five-year USAID Food for Peace Title II Development Food Security Activity led by World Vision Bangladesh, in collaboration with the World Food Programme and Windrock International, and implemented in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh's Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) (GOB). Over 850,000 people are involved in this five-year project, which spans four sub-districts and 40 separate unions.
Its mission is to promote food security, nutrition, and resilience of vulnerable people in Bangladesh's Khulna and Satkhira districts. The goal of Nobo Jatra is to promote equitable household income and gender equity in people, households, communities, and systems' abilities to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from environmental shocks and stresses.
Nobo Jatra enhanced the capacities of local farmers and producers as lead and sub-lead farmers to increase the resilience of poor and extremely poor families. Nobo Jatra trains lead and sub-lead farmers on numerous saline tolerant, nutritious, and market-driven crop varieties in collaboration with agriculture input businesses (private sector) such as AR Malik, Lal Teer, Syngenta Ltd., and market actors (dealers, merchants, mobile seed sellers). Farmers’ extension services, led by lead and sub-lead farmers, have been established, resulting in the provision of embedded knowledge on Climate Smart Agriculture, such as crop diversification, crop rotation, and the promotion of high-quality seed that is high yielding, salient tolerant, and short maturing, among other things.
Nobo Jatra is promoting composting and mulching to maintain soil moisture in extreme saline and water-logged areas, vertical garden technologies (towards the garden, bag gardens, pocket garden) to overcome extreme salinity and water-logging, and pitcher irrigation as a drip irrigation technique for careful use of fresh water in extreme saline and water-logged areas.
Nobo Jatra Project has built collaborations and links between lead and sub-lead farmers with the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Department of Fisheries (DoF), and Department of Livestock (DoL) to ensure continued access to climate-wise agriculture techniques and extension services (DLS). Through activities such as pre-season planning meetings, demo-based learning sharing meetings, and community livestock vaccination campaigns, more collaborations and links among agri-input suppliers, Animal Health Service Providers (Vaccinators), Buyers, and Aggregators have been developed.
Laxmi Sarder is one of the 199 Nobo Jatra trained lead farmers in the Joynagar village of Tildanga union. She received 5 days of training on "Vegetable production, Fish culture, and Poultry rearing using improved production technologies & Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies and safer use of pesticides" and began integrated farming, supporting 7 sub-lead farmers and 175 producers. She set up an integrated CSA demonstration plot for vegetables, as well as cultivated carp fish, and GIFT tilapia in her pond, as well as raised chickens and ducks. Laxmi's farm currently produces watermelon and other seasonal vegetables, and she makes an average of $1238 per year. Nobo Jatra has touched roughly 50,000 farmers in southwest Bangladesh using various CSA technologies over the course of seven years.
Md. Mahabubar Rahman, an environmentalist who works for World Vision as the Project Manager-BHA & Tech Manager for NJ DRR ICR & Nobo Jatra Project, expressed optimism for the future. People are getting more robust, he argues, and Climate Smart technology is developing as well. People may be pushed to develop more nature-based and environmentally friendly solutions to cope with various natural disaster circumstances and climate effect challenges as a result of innovations and alternative methods. He also stated that we must always be prepared because we cannot tell when a natural calamity may strike.
Nobo Jatra's agriculture and livelihoods strategy, which aims to raise equitable household income, diversify livelihoods, and provide safe, diversified, and nutritious food, has benefited not just the project's participants, but also the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals aims to eliminate hunger, increase food security and nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. Nobo Jatra is interested in entrepreneurship education, climate-smart agriculture, and local service provider capacity building. Approximately 52,000 participants, the most of whom were women, received entrepreneurial literacy training and business development in order to promote self-sufficiency. Basic literacy, numeracy, and essential concepts relating to credit, business development, and income were also covered.
200 lead farmers were educated to administer climate-smart demonstration plots and develop demand within local communities for innovative technologies and practices, including the cultivation of saline-tolerant crop varieties, to improve climate-resilient agriculture productivity in the area. A total of 300 Local Service Providers (LSPs) have been trained to assist producer groups as agricultural advisors. Smallholder farmers benefit from LSPs because they have access to government extension services, agro-vets, input providers, and purchasers.
Nobo Jatra also serves a cross-cutting goal of improving social responsibility and national policy engagement in service provision for vulnerable men and women. Gender equality underlies the overall effectiveness of the agriculture and livelihoods plan, which attempts to expand women's access to agricultural services and economic prospects, by maintaining a minimum of 60 percent female enrolment. In the long run, this allows women to afford healthful diets for their families, as well as play a larger part in their children's health and food intake. Through women-only producer groups, female lead farmers, and female LSPs, the programme also empowers women to take on leadership responsibilities.
The strengthening of union-level agriculture standing committees, direct interaction with the Department of Agriculture Extension, and partnership with other NGOs and service providers are all part of Nobo Jatra's governance and social accountability processes. The initiative encourages communities to raise their voices and enhance access to primary government extension services and inputs by using the Citizen Voice and Action (CVA) strategy.
Farmers are provided with high-quality seeds through a partnership with the private sector. They are being urged to practice climate-friendly agriculture. As a result, many farmers are growing crops outside of the growing season. To sell the produced crops, a marketing method has been devised through several farmer associations. Thus, there would be a lot to say about Nobo Jatra. Approximately 29,170 women have finished their training to date, with 17,545 women and 591 men engaged in income-generating activities. Over 2000 child care centers have been constructed. Furthermore, Climate Smart Agriculture and better production techniques are used by 20,289 farmers (mainly women). Various technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs are now available, with learners now working for themselves and earning an average of $19 per month. Some apprentices work in workshops as employees, earning an average of $43 a month.
Suresh Bartlett, national director of World Vision Bangladesh, said during the ceremony that Nobo Jatra was created to help accomplish sustainable development goals (SDGs). For the past 50 years, World Vision has collaborated with USAID and the Bangladesh government to ensure food security for Bangladesh's families and children.
"We intend to continue the operations even after the conclusion of this project," Md Mohsin, Secretary to the Disaster Management and Relief Ministry remarked as a special guest at the ceremony.
Dr. Md Enamur Rahman, Minister of Disaster Management and Relief, said as the chief guest, "The Nobo Jatra project's implementation experience and activities should be replicated on a bigger scale in coastal and inaccessible locations. Such projects will continue to be supported by the government."
Climate change, which poses a significant threat to Bangladesh's densely populated coastal area, has been mitigated by Nobo Jatra. Their numerous initiatives and actions have aided many people in adapting to the situation and overcoming potential crop damage and harvest sabotage. The Nobo Jatra project was able to assist a large number of people, but there is still a pressing need to adapt current agricultural practices to these changing conditions, and they expect to be able to offer even more in the future.
Reference:
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/nobo-jatra-improves-living-conditions-85-lakh-people-333187
https://www.wvb-nobojatra.org/
