Based on their individual Family Development Plans, each target group family receives a package of productive assets with an equivalent value of about 150 EUR. In order to guarantee a diversification of income sources this package typically includes assets which return a profit or provide additional food in the short-run after 2-3 months (e.g. poultry, vegetable seeds for home gardening etc.) as well as productive assets which leave a profit in the long-term after 4-6 months (e.g. cattle, sheep, land lease etc.).
Together with a support committee consisting of other group members, community leaders or members and staff of the project, the women take an active role in acquiring the assets from the local market and, where required, negotiate terms of lease with local land owners. This familiarizes them with mechanisms and dynamics of the local input markets and builds their confidence in taking an active role in the upcoming sale of their products.
The women receive trainings on specific income generating activities (IGAs) and on various marketing-related issues. Depending on their Family Development Plans, training content includes effective methods of vegetable gardening, livestock rearing, crop production and the implementation of small-scale cost-profit and marketing chain analyses. A selection of training materials (incl. pictorial charts in Bangla) can be downloaded here. With the help of the project staff and external experts, all agricultural technologies employed for income generation are thoroughly analysed in terms of sustainability, productivity and profitability. Please find a small selection of agricultural technologies employed by the project participants here.
The sale and consumption of the self-produced crops and animal products ensures the food security of the project participants all year round. When a family has earned enough income, they deposit the initial value of their assets in a revolving capital fund to which they have constant access for future investments. The families remain the owner of their capital. Profits made are on the one hand used to buy consumer goods or services (e.g. food, housing or education) and on the other hand they are invested together with their working capital in new productive assets. Thus, the capital base of the project participants gradually expands leading to higher profits and further livelihood improvements. The graphic below illustrates this process:
