Manowara Begum's household could not get by on her husband's income. With little money and three sons and a daughter to raise, she was in difficulty and began thinking of another source of income. She then started a farm with a single goat, not knowing at the time that the goat would bring financial security and change her fortunes. Manowara Begum, wife of Md Jahangir Alam of Shajahan Talukdar's house in Dhania union, Bhola Sadar upazila, has used her earnings from goats to set up cow, duck, chicken and pigeon farms.

When this correspondent met her, she was feeding grass to her goats, helped by Salma Begum, the wife of her eldest son Md Sumon. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law work cheerfully together. Seeing how hard Manowara Begum works, no one would guess she is over 50. She believes that success comes easily to those who can work hard.

Manowara Begum said her husband supported the family sometimes by farming and sometimes by selling fish, and they got by with difficulty. As the children grew up and she worried about her daughter's marriage, she spent several years thinking about earning something extra herself. Fifteen years ago she bought a goat from her brother Akter Hossain. Within a few months it gave birth to two kids, which she sold when they grew a little. The goat kidded again, and again she raised the kids a little and sold them. In this way she saved money from selling goats, and with it she arranged her daughter's marriage. That is how Manowara Begum's goat farm carried on.

She said her eldest son Sumon married about eight or nine years ago. On the advice of her daughter-in-law Salma Begum, she stopped selling kids for about two years, and her farm grew to 10 to 15 goats. After that she never looked back and built a larger goat farm, earning well by selling goats every six months. With the goat income she bought a cow, which has become four cows. She now also keeps ducks, chickens and pigeons.

Manowara Begum said her eldest son's wife Salma Begum helps her with the goats, cows, ducks, chickens and pigeons, and her younger son Md Nayeem cuts grass for the goats and cows. There are now nine goats on the farm. Every six months she earns about Tk 50,000-60,000, and sometimes Tk 80,000-90,000, from selling goats. With that money she set up the cow, duck, chicken and pigeon farms. In the past two years she has earned about Tk 1 lakh from selling cows, and in the past year about Tk 90,000 from the duck, chicken and pigeon farm.

Salma Begum said that when she came to her in-laws' home after marriage, she saw her mother-in-law raising goats. She told her that if she stopped selling goats until there were 10-12, the farm would grow and so would the income, and promised to help with everything on the farm. After that the farm began to grow. Her mother-in-law is now a successful woman of Tulatuli village. Between household chores, the two work on the farm together, and she says it never feels like a hardship.

Manowara Begum's younger son Md Nayeem said he is studying for a degree. Between his studies he goes to the beel to cut grass, which his mother and sister-in-law feed to the goats and cows. He said his mother's hard work has brought financial security to the family and changed their fortunes.

Bhola district livestock officer Md Rafiqul Islam Khan said: "Like Manowara Begum, many village women are running cow, goat, duck, chicken and pigeon farms alongside their household work, and most of them are fully successful. We visit women's farms to give them advice and veterinary care. Women in Bhola are now turning to raising goats, cows, ducks, chickens and pigeons more than before, and we are giving them all kinds of advice and training."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.