RAJSHAHI, Jan 17, 2023 (BSS)- Slum-dwelling households are seen contributing a lot towards ensuring food security through vegetable farming in small lands and rooftops of thatched houses in Rajshahi city.
 
After meeting up their respective family needs, they are earning money through selling the outputs regularly elevating their level of confidence.

Mainly, they launched the venture in response to the call of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina about the best uses of every inch of land to eradicate food crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

In the initial stage, the families were given technical support along with the necessary farming inputs of indigenous vegetable seeds, organic fertilizer and caret on behalf of the Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), a development and research organization.

Champa Rani, a resident of Namo Bhadra slum, said they are being benefited enormously after cultivating both winter and summer vegetables by adopting modern methods almost round the year.
 
"I cultivated bottle gourd, cucumber, and coriander according to my own choice this year, and I got expected production," she said, adding they are getting green, fresh and safe vegetables regularly protecting them from various diseases caused by malnutrition.
 
Rani said, "We have been producing chemical-free vegetables, using organic fertilizer. We are also selling some vegetables in the local market after meeting the family's demand."
 
Inspired, many other fellow people have expressed their interest in producing chemical-free vegetables by using organic methods.
 
In a choked voice, she stated that her previous life wasn't pleasant and she struggled to enhance her family income.
 
To get rid of poverty, she started growing vegetables on her homestead side by side rearing poultry and goats.
 
Currently, she can fulfill the nutrition demand of her family members with chemical-free vegetables from her own garden and milk, and meat from domestic animals.
Shah Alam, a resident of Boharampur slum, has been cultivating safe vegetables, including bottle gourd, bean, ladies finger and green chili for the last two years and become successful in this field.
 
He distributes his vegetables among his fellow people after meeting his own family needs. "I also earn money through selling the harvested vegetables frequently," said Alam, a driver by profession.
 
"Organic farming is not only safe but also very profitable. If the weather is favorable and no natural disaster takes place, I can reap double profit from what I invest in growing vegetables," he explained.
 
He is one of a handful of cultivators in the slum areas using organic methods and has become one of the most successful vegetable farmers.
 
He is earning money through selling varieties of vegetables, including red amaranth, spinach, bottle gourd and Indian spinach at present.
 
With full support from his wife and children, he is growing chemical-free organic vegetables.
 
"I've learnt about the importance of biofertilizer, seed conservation and seed exchange," he said.
 
He has also learnt about proper and sustainable use of homestead lands and roof top of his thatched house to protect its productivity.

Quoting the slum census in 2014, Shahidul Islam, Regional Coordinator of BARCIK, said there are around 104 big and small slums with 12,202 households consisting of 39,077 people in the city.