From Home Gardening to Commercial Aspirations: Asma’s Story
PATUAKHALI DISTRICT, BANGLADESH – With new knowledge and skills, women in rural Bangladesh are making the journey from home gardening to commercial farming. For 30-year-old Mst. Asma Akter, the story starts with a small plot and a big dream.
Asma, who lives in Chandrapara, Bauphal, began learning home gardening methods from EWS-KT in February 2024. Growing bitter gourd, bottle gourd, okra, yard long bean, hot pepper, and pumpkin, she invested BDT 5,459 (US$45) in her home garden demo plot. Her efforts quickly bore fruit. She sold two-thirds of her vegetables, earning about BDT 12,000 (US$99), with her family of five consuming the rest.
Through EWS-KT’s training program, Asma learned advanced techniques like nursery production of seedlings, single-seedling planting, mulching, and using pheromone traps to manage pests. Initially farming on 200 square meters of land, she has since expanded to over 2,800 square meters. This major increase in vegetable production has enabled her to achieve better nutrition for her family while bringing in additional income.
Inspired by her success, the women who attended trainings at her home garden have also started growing vegetables to feed their families—and, in at least one case, to sell as well.
Going forward, Asma plans to grow bitter gourd, pumpkin, and bottle gourd for the market. “The KT techniques are excellent, and I will continue to follow them in my farming journey,” she said. Her ambition is to further expand her land and establish herself as a commercial vegetable farmer.
Asma’s transformation from a novice gardener to an aspiring commercial farmer highlights the potential of knowledge transfer to empower individuals to create sustainable livelihoods while ensuring food security for their families.
Asma learned new skills under the Smart Farming, Healthy Food project. Supported by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), this project was implemented by EWS-KT, Solidaridad, and the Bangladesh Department of Agricultural Extension.
