[BANGLADESH] A seed bank to unite and support farmers

When MTCP2 was launched in Bangladesh, one of the focus group discussions took place in the district of Bhola, which looks out onto the Bay of Bengal. This is an area where farmers are regularly hit by foods and often sustain very expensive losses of seeds. Local farmers took the opportunity to tell their troubles to staff from the COAST Trust – MTCP2’s national implementing agency in Bangladesh – and as a result, it was decided that a community seed bank would be established in the district.

During the initial phase, MTCP2 supported the production of the seed bank’s operations manual, which helps the community run the bank democratically. A committee has been established to manage the seed bank, and has in turn assigned one of its members to look after the bank. The system works like a real money bank: members can both deposit and borrow seeds. Sometimes members pay by returning even larger amounts of seed than they borrowed (in a departure from the official policy, which states that they are required to return only the same amount). Transactions are recorded and registered systematically, and stock is held permanently to help local farmers in case of emergency. Now that the seed bank is up and running, MTCP2 regularly conducts visits to monitor progress and provide support, if needed.

In addition, the seed bank serves as an information centre. It is equipped with a computer, a multi-media projector and other ICT materials so that farmers can watch information videos on agriculture. The equipment was provided by the government, thanks to the facilitation provided by COAST. Akhter Hossain, president of the seed bank management committee, sums up what the bank means for the community: “Bhola is a disaster-prone area. Many times we lost all of our seeds due to disaster, but today we are confident since we farmers are now working together. We are confident due to this bank. We deposit seeds when we have them and we know that during any disaster we will be able help ourselves, and we will be able to help each other.”