Challenges

A high number of people live in poverty in both Bangladesh and India. The economy in Bangladesh is fundamentally based on agriculture, with two-thirds of the population engaged in or indirectly dependent on agricultural activities, while half of India’s workers rely on agriculture. The effects of climate change are intensifying food insecurity and the instability of people’s livelihoods in countries around the world, including these two.

Small-scale farmers, in particular, face political and socio-economic challenges that include changing agricultural and market dynamics and maintaining a sustainable livelihood strategy. Growing crops using conventional methods is no longer possible in many places across Bangladesh and India. Farming is also not seen as a profitable and exciting career path for young people. In addition, as a consequence of the covid-19 pandemic, the need to integrate digital tools and agriculture technologies in the agriculture sector increased. This may actually make the work more attractive to young people and help farmers solve some of the challenges they face in the fields.

Toward a Solution

The WAVE-DHAN partnership from Bangladesh and India, supported by the Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (Norec), promotes transformation of small-scale farming into viable cooperative businesses by organizing smallholder farmers, taking advantage of their social capital and collective action in the agricultural supply chain. This youth-led project encourages young farmers to engage in agro-entrepreneurship through exploring and making use of digital tools, creating opportunities for employment. 

The partner organizations exchange personnel and share a common project through which they focus on, among other things, goat rearing and management and household farm establishment. Goat-rearing is a proven and resilient means of poverty alleviation for small farmers which requires a relatively small investment. In the context of South Asia, goat rearing is dominated by women and their control over livestock is socially recognized. The project has also promoted climate smart agriculture practices, by designing training materials and training farming communities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became evident that upgraded digital working methods and tools for the agriculture sector were needed. In the first stage of the project, the partnership developed an app that connects farmers and experts across Bangladesh with the goal of improving agricultural efficiencies and helping with climate change adaptation, among other assistance. The WAVE Foundation in Bangladesh then shared this digital tool with their partner Dhan Foundation in India.

This knowledge exchange between the two partners, including the sharing of best practices in agriculture and livestock development, has stimulated learning and promotion of improved livelihoods and innovation. The project is building linkage with stakeholders, including young professionals, organization staff, young community leaders, farmers, agro business personnel, resource persons, government officials, and private sector representatives in both Bangladesh and India.

The main project methodology is exchange of personnel to transfer and share knowledge and skills between the two organizations. The partnership adopted the below strategies to accelerate a successful outcome and achieve the SDGs:  

• mutual decision-making;  
• adaptation and usage of suitable media and tools for communication;    
• knowledge exchange in physical, virtual and hybrid mode; 
• engagement and capacity development of management, staff and relevant stakeholders; and 
• building community ownership.

From the beginning, the partnership has shared responsibilities. The interaction on finalizing the nature and scope of knowledge exchange has been ongoing through online and offline correspondence encouraging both formal and informal communication. There were significant concerted actions of partnership such as establishment and strengthening of 16 local Farmers Producers Organizations (Krishi Moarcha), a Black Bengali Goat Training Manual, an FPO Monitoring Tool, and an Online Goat Rearing Advisory Tool. The project cooperation, partnership and personnel exchange has been a cross-cultural experience that has stimulated a broader global understanding as well.

A main outcome achieved in the project is the expansion to 16 districts with 550 farmers associated with FPOs. This has given a great outreach for online goat advisory services. In the value chain process, from production to marketing, community farmers have been sensitized about digital tools. So far, the exchange programme has included 16 professionals alongside a significant number of staff that have participated and executed the project from both organizations.  

This good practice has created sustainability, effectiveness and cooperation over the years. It has helped develop responsible young leaders and sensitized community farmers, bringing positive changes and promoting sustainable development. In terms of replication and adaptation, using digital tools to sensitize and organize farmers is highly relevant for other similar organizations.

In terms of the outreach of the organizations in India and Bangladesh, the young professionals engaging in exchanges share their knowledge with larger teams, educating field teams and stakeholders about a wide range of strategies and technologies. The process helps draw feedback and set strategies to replicate the learning in new contexts and to derive ideas to implement similar types of projects in other working areas. A key lesson learned is the importance of reciprocity for strengthening coordination and communication during physical and digital exchanges within a partnership.