Diversifying Rice-based Systems and Empowering Farmers in Bangladesh 185Programme Overview
The rice programme in Bangladesh has had two aims: to increase rice field produc-
tivity and to empower farmers in terms of their decision making and management
capacities. The rice field is the main source of revenue for the category of small
farmers targeted by the projects. Appreciating this, the programme seeks to enhance
the capacity of households and communities to independently generate, access and
disseminate knowledge. This is achieved through the facilitation of a team of
skilled and motivated staff who are given the task of creating an effective learning
environment in which farmers test a variety of sustainable agricultural practices.
The dual objective of exposing farmers to agricultural innovation and of
empowering them is achieved through the creation of Farmer Field Schools (FFS)
adapted from experience in other Asian countries (Kenmore, 1997). Important
elements of the approach adopted by CARE-Bangladesh include the development
of a broad curriculum that focuses on the entire rice cropping system and provides
farmers with a ‘menu of topics’ to choose from, and an experimental approach in
which farmers are considered researchers (Kamp and Scarborough, 1996).
The agricultural techniques in the programme have been:
- sustainable agriculture practices in rice;
- vegetable production on rice field dykes;
- fish production inside the rice field;
- production of fish fingerlings;
- tree planting on rice field dykes.
These practices increase rice-field productivity through optimized use of the natu-
ral resources available. The way in which these practices are learned is intended to
result in a certain level of farmer empowerment.
An innovative, field-tested model for adult education has been developed
through experience with three related projects supported by the UK’s Department
for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission. The pro-
gramme during its initial phase (through 2000) involved around 150,000 farmers.
The second phase, now started, disseminates this model to other organizations,
non-governmental and governmental. It expects to reach more than 1 million
farmers within the next six years. The activities of the expanded rice programme
will include more emphasis on homestead gardening and vegetable growing.
Impact on Farmers
The core agricultural practices of the programme – sustainable rice production,
rice–fish farming, vegetable dyke crops and trees on dykes – aim at sustainable and
optimal land use, a fundamental issue in rural Bangladesh. Households with lim-
ited access to land need farming systems that generate more income and food in an
efficient, reliable and sustainable manner.