CRS Rice Bowl: A Story of Hope From Bangladesh

Photo by Amit Rudro for Catholic Relief Services

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Zayan, 8, picks tomatoes from the vegetable field in Bangladesh. His cousin Shahadat is a participant in the MUKTE II project, helping his family earn a decent income to pay for food and the children’s education. Catholic Relief Services supports Caritas Bangladesh to implement MUKTE II, which helps families reduce their risks from disaster through vegetable gardening, training animal vaccinators and making homes more resilient. The program also teaches participants to save for disasters and how to advocate for government and services providers to be more responsive to disasters.

 Shahadat Hossain lives on Manpura Island in Bangladesh. He is a successful vegetable farmer who grows beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, eggplants and green chilis. He spends his day caring for his cows and tending the garden plots on his family’s land. Their farm provides nutritious food for Shahadat’s family to eat and extra produce he can sell at the market.

But a few years ago, Shahadat’s family struggled to pay for basic household expenses like food and school fees. His father worked as a motorbike driver but only earned a small income. His mother grew vegetables, but without much success. Their village, and much of Bangladesh, is located on flat lowlands. The intense rainy season causes flooding that often destroys farms and crops.  

“The desperation in my life was so immense. Farming would cost a lot of money, and we were in a state of mental, physical and financial loss all the time,” Shahadat says.

Despite these challenges, Shahadat didn’t give up. He and his mother joined a Catholic Relief Services’ project – implemented in partnership with Caritas Bangladesh – that helps families reduce their risk from natural disasters like flooding, cyclones and river erosion. They learned how to protect their crops from floodwaters by planting on raised garden beds. They also learned how to make organic fertilizer to grow healthier crops. With their new skills, Shahadat and his mother boosted their vegetable harvest in just one year. Then they bought cows and chickens and sold the eggs for additional income. Soon, Shahadat could afford to pay for his college tuition and for the education of his brothers.

“With the CRS training, my family can grow vegetables with less money. The vegetables I sell at the market help me to provide financially for my family,” Shahadat says.

Shahadat’s dream is to help other families in his community learn to grow successful crops and become prosperous, too.