By Rina Tudu from Tanore, Rajshahi
“Development of a village is possible through collective organization”. This belief has been proven true by the residents of Jagdishpur Notun Para in Mundumala Municipality of Tanore Upazila, Rajshahi. The small village is home to around 30 families from Muslim, Mahali, Karmakar, Hindu, and Santal communities who live in harmony, supporting each other in times of need.
The women farmers of the village play a key role in community life. Through vegetable cultivation, they meet their families’ nutritional needs and inspire others toward self-sufficiency. Since 2022, BARCIK has been working in the village, encouraging women’s initiatives and supporting their agroecological practices.
Observing the enthusiasm of the women farmers, the villagers together with BARCIK formed an organization named “Jagdishpur Notun Para Comprehensive Village Development Organization.” With BARCIK’s guidance, the women began using homestead spaces to grow diverse local vegetables and started conserving and exchanging indigenous seeds within the community.
Seeing the success of local seed exchange, model farmer Setara Begum establish a “Seed House” at her home with BARCIK’s support, storing various vegetable seeds in glass jars to strengthen local seed diversity.
With the objective to further advance such grassroots initiatives, the organization held a “Strengthening the Village Organization” meeting last month focusing on expanding the collection, preservation, and exchange of local vegetable seeds; reducing dependence on market-purchased seeds and promoting traditional and safe organic farming practices. They also discussed on encouraging adaptation practices and the use of environment-friendly oven, exchanging and conserving local and indigenous knowledge and ising income from fish farming in local ponds to fund small development works;
Following the meeting, immediate outcomes were seen. One woman expressed interest in installing an environment-friendly oven, and two others volunteered to join as new model homestead members.
The organization members said, “No one can achieve development alone. Only through collective effort can we bring true progress to our village.”
