Most families in north-west Bangladesh rely on farming small plots of land to make a living. But it’s hard to make enough to live on. Men often have to leave their families to work in cities, leaving women and children without support. Work traditionally done by women earns very low wages.

Jute is the second most important crop in Bangladesh after rice. The climate is ideally suited and it was once a major source of foreign exchange but lost out to artificial fabrics. As we become more aware of the environment dangers of plastics, Jute is popular once more.  In 2017 Bangladesh produced 9.2 million bales compared to only 5 million in 2016.

Practical Action, with European Union funding, is working to address issues for farmers, processors and entrepreneurs to unlock the potential for thousands of poor jute producers to boost their incomes from this crop. Our approach combines a set of solutions that together bring about lasting change. Here are some of those solutions that are reaping rewards in Bangladesh.

Improved varieties of jute

Nurul Haque grows rice, jute and maize on his 2.5 acres of land. Practical Action introduced him to a new, highly productive variety of jute called Kanaf. It grows tall, up to 16 feet and the fibre is white, making it more valuable.

Usually after harvesting, jute is soaked in water for a couple of weeks to make it possible to remove the fibre.  This processing is hard work and very time consuming.

We sourced a simple Machine which strips out the jute fibre quickly without needing soaking.

For Nurul Haque using this new machine took less time than usual and cost less.  He also has an extra 280 kg of jute to sell this year because the machine extracts the fibres more efficiently leaving less on the sticks.

Leasing the processing machine

The jute sector currently lacks entrepreneurs and growers are trapped at the bottom of the supply chain.  We have designed a leasing system to help people obtain the processing machines and set up a businesses processing jute and other crops. Unemployed young people are being trained in metalwork skills that enables them to make them locally.

Sheuli Begum, from Bozra in Kurigram lives with her husband and two children. Her husband is a farmer. Their income from farming and selling jute fibre is inadequate and she has to borrow to support her children’s education or pay for medicines. Sheuli often struggles to repay these debts.

It came as a pleasant surprise to her that women were getting equal access to this jute machine business opportunity. She expressed her keen interest to her husband to join the initiative.

After training, she leased a machine. Now she is earning 1500 taka (£14) per day with her jute extraction machine after meeting all the business expenses. She also hopes to get a better price for her jute fibre.  Full of ideas, Sheuli is also looking for ways use the waste from the jute sticks. She plans to compost those to make organic fertiliser to use on their field.

“I am a housewife and people did not encourage me to be an entrepreneur. They laughed at me. But I know, the machine has changed my way of living.” said Sheuli.

Skills training

Ruzina Begum is 34 with four daughters.  Her husband is disabled so she is the family breadwinner. She used to work as a housemaid but was poorly paid and struggled to feed her family and afford her children’s educational expenses. With little education herself, Ruzina could not find better employment.

When she found out about a local business employing women to prepare products made of jute she was delighted.  She took the basic training and began an apprenticeship with the company Karupannya.  She was keen to prove herself and to do something for herself and her family.  Now Ruzina is able to pay her daughters’ educational expenses as well as providing proper meals. She no longer needs financial support from her neighbours. And through practise her skills are improving daily.

More than 400 women have undertaken similar training and are now working for small and medium sized enterprises creating products from jute.

The project is also supporting the production and marketing of jute products with some small and medium sized cottage industries. This has resulted in the development of new products such as sandals and yoga mats for the export market and sales are increasing.

Limited mechanisation and a lack of skills and market knowledge inhibit development.  With the help of market development, skills training and loan systems these vulnerable communities can become more economically productive. Jute is environmentally friendly being both biodegradable and recyclable as well as strong and versatile. Plastic bags are banned in Bangladesh so there’s already a growing local market.