Brief Description about Activities:

MTCP2 provided training on financial management, advocacy, lobby and formulation of case study. It gave also fresh training on the same to make the organization aware on this seriously. It featured the method of transparency and accountability building process within organization. It stressed on the holding of the National Assembly of the organization which is the process that keep up democratic values and culture of the organization. It underscored the matter of growth of the organization with increased number of memberships in order to build up the basis of the mass organization. It has articulated huge numbers of teach-ins program which has vocational approach to the members of the organization, as for example, training on Maria model that allowed the members to keep better seeds for better crops leading to happy and solvent life, training on vermi-culture/vermi-compost which brings income/solvency in the peasant families, training on use of eco-friendly technologies that capacitated the farmers to produce safe and healthy food for the consumers, training on value chain of the productivity which inflicted add-value to the thought of farmers, which finally enhanced up to the fishermen to produce organic and standard poison free dry fish production by which they earned additional income in their families. Various action programs to push the government to introduce policy and provide significant budgetary allocation in favor of the peasants, as for example, demanding adequate budget for the peasantry during the announcement of national budget. In addition to those, the most important thing taking place was the linkage meeting between farmers and government-non-government service providers. Farmers to farmers exchange visit was also very influential to understand each other and different type of production model. Training on cooperative building was very essential one, among others. Finally it pushed organization to bring discipline in financial aspect of the organization by helping introduction of financial manual, book keeping method, etc.

Practical Action:

In order to visualize activities, MTCP2 encouraged and helped the organization build Community Seed Bank which provided the farmers very nice scope to preserve their local crops seeds and exchange them among the community. Bangladesh Krishok Federation established one seed bank in Pathorghata sub-district under Borguna district which has become model of seed preserving method within the community. Training on hatchery of poultry is a very much practical one which is visualized. The member of the organization got training on hatchery in which farmers can have the poultry child in natural method, no need mechanized one. By selling young poultry they benefited substantially.

Objectives Achieved:

1. Strengthened foundation of organization
2. Expended area of the organization
3. Increased number of membership, from 1.2 to 1.5 million
4. Increased organizational capacity of farmers
5. Increased income for the farmers’ families
6. Increased bargaining capacity of the farmers with private and public service providers
7. Awareness about the citizen’s charter
8. Increased knowledge about the value chain activities, i.e. dry fish production, poultry hatchery
9. Increased knowledge on the movement building in systematic way and for the cause of farmers
10. Increased knowledge about local farming practices as well as organic farming
11. Increased knowledge on the community seed bank
12. Increased knowledge on financial management, transparency and accountability
13. Increased proactive capacity of the farmers in relation to the production
14. Increased knowledge of bio-diversity, crops variety, etc.
15. Increase interaction process among the farmers if they face any problematic issues like the possibility crops failure, etc.
16. Increased level of confidence of the farmer about their livelihood
17. Increased confidence of young farmer to choose the agriculture as profession
18. Increased demand on formation of cooperative

Specific Gain:

• Farmers achieve knowledge how to make themselves solvent on their own efforts.
• Interaction between farmers and government official through linkage meeting
• Use the technique of value chain activity
• Economic solvency in the lives of quite a number of members of the organization
• Discipline within organization
• Knowledge on the democratic values, norms, accountability and transparency

Future Plan:

• Encourage consumers to buy the products of the farmers engaged in MTCP2
• Locate or promote market for the farmers, women friendly market
• Emphasize gender perspective in the project
• Strengthen promotional activity for the farmers’ product

Recommendation:

Program like MTCP2 can be undertaken frequently in Bangladesh as Bangladesh is a country of agriculture. Most of the people rely on agriculture for their livelihood. Planning for legal protection of farmers’ right and food sovereignty.

Conclusion:

Small holding farmers and family farmer all over the world are under threat of Trans National Agro-Business Companies. From their aggression peasants needs legal tools. Last year in November-December Untied Nation Organization in its General Assembly approved a Declaration on Right of Peasants and Other People Working in the rural areas. Bangladesh is one of the signatory countries. Thus, it is necessary to take program to make the government formulate mechanism to implement this declaration that will protect the dignity and right of farmers.

Bangladesh Krishok Federation keeps up the activities which it achieved from MTCP2. The impact of MTCP2 will be a long lasting one in its organizational and social activism.

Badrul Alam is the President of Bangladesh Krishok Federation

Badrul Alam

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