Dilara Begum is a VGD women who received a VGD card for the cycle 2009-10 with the help of the Member of her local Union Parishad. She had been selected through the prescribed process meeting the criteria of selection. Her husband is chronically ill – an identified disease which renders him too weak to work. As a result she was having to maintain her family with great hardship. Dilara‘s family consisted of nine members, including seven children. The younger three sons and three daughters are going to school. The oldest son discontinued studies during his primary education and has recently engaged himself in learning welding works at a local shop.
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Dilara Begum taking care of her nursery
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Dilara had set up a nursery, with approximately 400 saplings, which also consisted of a small vegetable garden about three years back, even before she had became a VGD member. She set up the nursery and vegetable garden on their own land and they are currently staying with at her brother-in-law’s house. She engaged her husband as caretaker, which did not take too rigorous work and suited his physical condition. However, she was not getting sufficient return from the nursery to maintain her family, because the business was too small. Yet she could not expand the business as she could not accumulate sufficient capital.
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| Dilara Begum taking care of her nursery |
After becoming a VGD programme participant she began to receive monthly food grain assistance through the Union Parishad, which helped save some money from her business income after meeting her day to day needs.
Taking it as an opportunity both husband and wife decided to expand their existing nursery. They have invested the savings they accumulated in the last few months to expand the nursery, in April-May 2009, and the nursery now has approximately 4,500 saplings. She has also expanded her vegetable garden. In spite of persistent late monsoon rain which adversely affects the growth and sustenance of saplings and vegetable, she has started to experience a higher cash flow in the short time. She earned 2,500 Taka from sale of summer vegetable after meeting her family needs. She has also earned 7,000 Taka from sale of saplings during the last three months. Among the saplings sold in the last few months there was a substantial share consisting of a local variety (Naga) aromatic chilli, while the rest was from saplings planted before expansion of her business.
Dilara expects her earnings to increase further as her nursery saplings become ready for sale. She has also cultivated winter vegetables which she will start selling in about three weeks time.
Dilara attributes her changed entrepreneurial attitude to the assistance she received from the programme through both food supplement and motivational discussions, which usually occurs during mobilisation meetings and training.
Dilara Begum has learnt about the possibility of IGA training later in the cycle and already has a plan to diversify her business through initiating poultry rearing.
