Compost and Cucumbers Bring Increase

At the beginning of each day, Mahi (name has been changed) feared that he wouldn’t be able to make enough money to cover his family’s needs. He worked hard, picking up any job he could.

Often he worked as seasonal help on farms near his village in Bangladesh—anything to try to make ends meet for his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Mahir’s wife joined a local women’s group lead by World Renew and its partner. Through the group, Mahir’s wife learned about health, ways to generate income, and saving. She saw value in what she was learning and encouraged her husband to join the men’s group.

In the men’s group, Mahir received training to help him improve his agricultural skills. What he learned changed his outlook on farming and motivated him to start his own farm.

On his own plot of land, Mahir put to use what he learned about vegetables and compost. Now, in addition to cultivating rice, he is growing a variety of fruits and vegetables, including pumpkins, okra, radishes, papayas, and cucumbers.

Mahir has spent a lot of time and money producing cucumbers. Each year the crop has required a large amount of fertilizers, fungicides, and pesticides. This year Mahir decided to try using compost as he learned in his training. He purchased compost with worms from another local farmer.

Using the compost helped Mahir to decrease his production costs. When he sold the cucumbers at the market, he was thrilled to make a larger profit. Mahir was also excited to see that he was able to increase the quality of his cucumbers.

“Not only have I done well with cucumbers, but through the group I have learned many other skills. My wife has learned about seed saving, and she inspires me to save seeds. In fact we now sell seeds to our neighbors,” said Mahir.

Mahir’s success has been transformational for his family. For him there is peace in knowing that his family’s needs are being met.