Uddipan’s animal resources bank helping poor Bangladeshis break cycle of poverty

Set up in 1984, Uddipan, Bangladesh’s leading development organisation and Micro Finance Institute, has been actively engaged for the past 38 years in providing healthcare services at all levels of society, supplying clean water, facilitating sanitation facilities, introducing micro-credit, fostering skilled human resources, and promoting social justice. It covers 29,37,605 beneficiaries of the targeted families in 12,322 villages spread across the country. Even after hit by the pandemic shock, Uddipan’s cumulative loan outstanding from customers reached BDT 15,610 million ($186 million). The savings deposited with Uddipan by its group members reached BDT 7575 million ($90 million). Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Mihir Kanti Majumdar, a former bureaucrat in the Bangladesh government and Outgoing Chairman, Uddipan, outlines some of their innovative social programmes, which offer a lesson or two for its counterparts in India and can be a game changer for the friendly neighbour, which is also an agro-dominated economy.

What are Uddipan’s mission and vision?

Our vision is to create an environmentally sound society without poverty, free from exploitation, oppression, injustice and discrimination where children, women and men live with dignity and are capable to exercise and enjoy their rights and will have access to opportunities irrespective of cast, creed and colour and they participate in the mainstream socio-economic, political and cultural process. And our mission is to alleviate poverty and improve quality of life of the disadvantaged and the poor through providing them employment and income generating activities (IGA), facilitating development of their potentials and skills through capacity building, empowering them to claim their rights and entitlements through raising awareness level, motivation, institutional development, advocacy, lobbying and collecting social actions.

So what do you do fired by this mission and vision?

Thanks to our vision, mission, core values and objectives, we have been implementing programmes, projects, and activities to bring positive changes in the lives and livelihood of the clients- the poor and under-privileged children, youths, women and men. The programmes are multifarious having holistic approach to serve the basic needs of the marginalised.

To achieve progress in our focus areas, we have been contributing in early childhood development and providing education to school drop-out children using non-formal education tools and techniques. We have been promoting better health through supplying safe water, sanitation, preventive and curative care.

We are also engaged in: Developing skilled manpower through technical, vocational education and training, keeping in view the scenarios in the emerging economies both at home and abroad; Developing capacity to deal with climate-induced vulnerabilities and shocks through raising of awareness, adaptation and mitigation measures; Undertaking special programmes for the senior citizens to let them live with dignity; Promoting solar energy for home lighting, irrigation and power generation through mini-grid, particularly focussed on people living in far-flung areas; Giving access to financial resources to undertake income generating activities.

While doing all these, you must have to keep at the back of your mind that Bangladesh is an agro-based country?

Yes, of course. Agriculture has been considered to be the backbone of the Bangladesh economy since its independence. Half of its Gross Domestic Product comes from agriculture and related sectors. Close to 50 per cent of Bangladesh’ population is primarily employed in agriculture and 70 per cent of its land is dedicated to growing crops. Major crops cultivated include rice, jute, wheat, tea, pulses, oil-seeds, vegetables and fruits. In value, the contribution of agriculture sector in GDP is 12.6 per cent. Going by Bangladesh Bureau Statistics figures, GDP from agriculture in our country has increased to more than BDT 11023.20 million from BDT 10799.10 million in 2019. Naturally we cannot plan any socio-economic activity without keeping in mind these facts and figures.

Uddipan runs a very robust and well governed micro finance programme across Bangladesh covering 100 per cent population. That’s your primary activity. Besides micro finance, could you throw some lights on some of your other socially impactful activities, which are innovative, interesting and which stand out?

Uddipan has taken some innovative projects to improve agriculture sector such as seed ball plantation, putting up Pakhi Pally (Birds’ nest) for biological control of insects, extension of local poultry variety through family farming, Balucharay Krishi (cultivating pumpkin, watermelon in char land), creating awareness among farmers, demonstrating video shows by moving pick-up van named Krishi Pathshala.

What is this seed ball plantation project?

More than five per cent of the total land area of Bangladesh is located in 3 districts of hill tracts. Most of these lands has not been transferred to the forest department as landfill. Natural forest is almost non-existent in the land at Unclassified State Forest (USF), thanks to various complications. It is not possible for the forest department to afforest the area in USF. Uddipan has started implementing ‘seedball plantation’ in the remote hilly areas under Ukhia and Bandarban branches of Chittagong zone. Stimulated natural forestation activities are being implemented through marginalised people in these areas.

Seeds of different species such as Amlaki, Shisu, Minjium, Akashmani, Shikarai, Jaam are collected, stored and distributed among these people. Then they make seedball by mixing dung with soil and seeds are sown inside. Ethnic women are involved in making seedballs after some trainings. The seedlings are dried in the sun and made suitable for storage and scattering. Seedballs are thrown by these women in remote hilly areas through sling shot. It is seen that more than 75 per cent of the seedlings germinate in the scattered seed force.

What about Pakhi Pally?

The main objective of ‘Uddipan Pakhi Pally Srijon Karmasuchi’ is to improve quality of life of the people by creating bird sanctuary in nature. Uddipan, in the process, is not only enabling the conservation of natural resources, but is also enabling the people to maintain a normal life and conduct regular financial exchange activities from village to town.

Our project helps in: Pollination and seed propagation; Control the number of insects and aquatic animals; Protecting the balance and beauty of nature; Play a big role in forestry; Disaster prevention. Mind you that it has got enormous tourism potentials as well.

Then cattle exchange or now animal resources bank is something that is closer to your heart. Could you explain the concept?

In many developing economies like Bangladesh, millions of people are stuck up in vicious cycle of poverty. These are the people who are branded as ‘hardcore poor’. They can hardly come out of this cycle because their productivity is also very low for more reasons than one. Micro credit or skilling are just not enough to take them out of this abject poverty. Micro finance agencies do not give them loans either and that’s understandable. One viable way-out for them is to handover some resources to them along with skilling. Many research documents have proved that. Keeping this mind, we have started this animal resources bank. We hand over goats (one goat each) aged six months to these families. The only condition is that they will have to return only one six month-old female goat out of all the off-springs of the original goat given to them.

They will then become the owner of the original goat and all other of its issues. Uddipan then makes sure that the same chain continues. Uddipan has open branches of animal resources bank at its 1006 branches. This will be expanded further.