While BRAC believes that micro-financial services are necessary to help break the cycle of poverty, it places equal importance on micro-enterprise development services to maximise the return obtained by the poor. Unlike standard business development programmes, which offer some mix of generic training and marketing services, BRAC has developed an integrated sectorspecific approach to enterprise development for the poor. BRAC has identified six sectors in which large numbers of low-income women can be productively engaged at or near their homes: poultry, fishery, livestock, sericulture, agriculture, and agro forestry. For each of these sectors, BRAC has developed an integrated set of services, including training in improved techniques, provision of improved breeds and technologies, on-going supply of technical assistance and inputs, monitoring and problemsolving as needed, and marketing of finished goods. Poultry and Livestock In
Bangladesh approximately 70% of landless rural women are directly or indirectly
involved in poultry rearing activities. The Poultry and Livestock Programme
is composed of several components: poultry and livestock extension programme,
poultry farms and hatcheries, feed mills and feed analysis laboratories,
bull station, and the disease diagnosis laboratories. To date, BRAC started its livestock programme in 1983 to protect livestock from disease by developing skilled village level para-veterinarians, and improving local cattle breeds by providing credit and appropriate technical support. These measures are expected to increase the productivity of the livestock sector, and provide a steady source of income for the landless. The government has taken up BRAC’s livestock development model for widespread implementation. The objectives of the poultry-livestock programme are to create employment opportunities and to increase the beneficiaries’ income within a short period of time. Fisheries BRAC
Fisheries Programme started in 1976 as one of the employment and income
generation programme under BDP, and has developed into one of the most
promising income generating activities for rural women who constitute
more than 90% of the total participation in the fisheries programme. Pond Aquaculture This activity is considered as a family based activity, and women normally spend 10-15% of their total daily working time. Pond aquaculture is supported with field based training, credit, essential inputs supply and regular follow-ups. Inland Open Water Fisheries Development Programme
BRAC is currently involved
with two open water fisheries management projects of Department of Fisheries,
funded by international donors: The goals of these projects are to promote a more equitable distribution of fishery benefits through ecologically sustainable use of open water fisheries. BRAC Fish and Prawn Hatchery and Brood Fish Development Project BRAC has established eight fresh water and four saline water hatcheries in nine locations for producing environmentally safe, quality fish and prawn seeds. Two more hatcheries, one sea based and one Tilapia, are under construction. The quality of fish seed, now producing in 500 public and private hatcheries in Bangladesh, has deteriorated considerably mainly because of the non-availability of quality brood fish. To produce and supply quality brood fish, BRAC established ‘Brood Fish Development’ centre at Sreemangal over 75 acres of land. Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute is providing technical support to the project. Social Forestry BRAC’s social forestry programme, launched in 1988, increases awareness about the necessity of planting trees in rural areas, creates a sustainable supply of high quality seedlings, and reduces the adverse environmental effects of deforestation while creating income and employment opportunities for rural women. BRAC aims to bring all available land in the rural areas (homestead, roadside, embankments, marginal fallow) under tree cover with the active participation of the rural poor. The key components of Social Forestry programme are: i) Horticulture Nursery ii) Grafting Nursery iii) Agroforestry. BRAC started the nursery programme to supply good quality seedlings locally. Nursery workers are given training by BRAC. Each nursery is on 7-10 decimals of land and produces 10,000 seedlings annually. A grafting nursery has been set up to meet the increasing demand for HYV seedlings. The grafting project is based on the asexual propagation of fruit trees. BRAC launched an agroforestry project on degraded private and government khas land in 1991. The purpose of the project is to produce wood, fuel, fodder, food, fruit and vegetables from the same plot. The agroforestry programme encourages women to create plantations in which agricultural crops are mixed with trees so that income is maintained through the short, medium and long term. Agriculture Extension Programme BRAC’s agricultural extension programme promotes the nutritional and income status of households by increasing the agricultural production of VO members through technology transfer. The VO members who have less than 0.5 acres of land receive training, technical support, inputs, and access to BRAC’s microfinance to invest in farming. BRAC’s agricultural extension activities can be broadly categorised into two components: i) Vegetable Cultivation ii) Crop Diversification (rice, maize, wheat, cotton, and sunflower cultivation). The vegetable cultivation programme targets poor rural women. Interested VO members with suitable land are given three days training on vegetable cultivation. Crop diversification contributes to increased agricultural productivity. Maize is used for poultry feed, and as the number of commercial poultry farms in the country increases so does the demand for maize. Sunflower cultivation is also being undertaken, and is profitable. To increase the production, BRAC established a modern soil testing laboratory having a capacity of 4,000 soil sample per year. Sericulture Sericulture is a labour intensive agro-industry. It has the potential to link rural producers with urban markets, and provides an opportunity for the transfer of money from the urban rich to the rural poor. BRAC’s purpose in promoting sericulture is to provide income-generating activities for poor, landless women. The main components of BRAC’s programme are: a) sapling production, b) silkworm seed production, c) mulberry cultivation (roadside, homestead and bush), d) silkworm rearing, e) reeling, f) weaving and g) marketing. Other components of the sericulture programme include raw silk production, cocoon production, DFLs production unit, silk seed production centre, sericulture resource centre (SRC), and reeling centre. At present, BRAC is operating 18 silk seed production centres, 6 sericulture resource centres, and 3 reeling centres. The Sericulture Resource Centre provides practical training to rearers on mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing. In 2004, there were 7875 silkworm rearers, and 1.08 million Disease Free Laying (DFL) silkworm eggs were distributed. |