<i>Income generating aid opens her fate</i>
Ayesha Khatun with her fortune-making cow.
Ayesha Khatun proved how providing asset and skills to the extreme poor for generating income can help them beat poverty, a chronic problem of around four crore people in the country. Ayesha, 45, is the bread earner of her six-member family at Kaunia upazila in Rangpur. In December 2009, she received a cow from Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), a UK-based charity organisation. The cow recently gave birth to a calf and now gives three litres of milk a day. Ayesha also receives monthly sustenance allowance of Tk 500 from the Food Security for Ultra Poor (FSUP) project funded by the European Union (EU). Before availing the aid, she earned Tk 400 a week working at a local rice mill, while her 13-year-old son Alim earned a minimal sum by catching fish. "We had very hard times, sometimes managing only one meal a day," she told The Daily Star on a visit to her house at Thakurdas village. Saving her monthly allowances, she bought a second cow and six pairs of pigeons. The family now consumes one litre of milk and sells around two litres daily. Every month, the pigeons give birth to six pairs of squabs, with each pair selling at Tk 100 or more. “Alongside my rice mill work, we get good income from these assets. We have much better meals now," said Ayesha, adding that she plans to lease out a pond to cultivate fish. Ayesha's family is among the 1.35 lakh ultra poor households who were provided with assets for income generation. The area coverage under the 43.50 million euro (around Tk 450 crore) FSUP project include Rangpur, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj, Pabna Netrakona, Sunamganj, and Kishoreganj. IRW, Care, UN World Food Programme (WFP), and Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation are implementing the three-year programme through their partner NGOs. The assets are provided to the ultra poor, mainly the woman-headed families, which are mostly landless. The assets provided include cattle and capital for vegetable cultivation, fish culture, nursery, small trades, grocery, processing dry food, making bamboo products, tailoring, and rickshaw vans. "While providing assets, the recipients' choices are preferred," said Sharif Ahmed, IRW regional coordinator in Rangpur. The programme's main concept is to enable the ultra poor to come out of poverty using their assets, he said, adding that the NGOs provide the poor with skills to take care of the animals they were given and to operate the businesses for which they were given capital. The monthly allowance is given for 18 months to make sure that the beneficiaries do not sell the assets for survival, said Sharif. The family members are also given medical services and training, he noted. On an average, a household is provided with Tk 21,000 in total. Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation Chairman Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said this approach meant for asset building of the extreme poor is quite effective, but imparting them with necessary skills and monitoring their activities is important.
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