Unable to find a job, S A Zahid of Bogura borrowed Tk 10,000 from his mother during the Covid period in 2019 and made lachha semai, a vermicelli sweet. After a Facebook post he sold Tk 1.8 lakh worth online in a single day. Protidiner Bangladesh reports that he went on into farm produce, and his business now trades goods worth Tk 80 lakh to Tk 1 crore a month and employs more than a hundred men and women.
Born in Joypurhat and raised in Bogura, Zahid finished a master's degree at Government Azizul Haque College in 2014 but could not land a job. He used the demand for Bogura's red chilli and mustard oil to start selling online, first buying from others and later producing himself: mustard oil, chilli powder, ghee and spices.
On about 25 bighas at Nandakul in Shajahanpur upazila he has built a production and marketing centre. Local fish are raised in ponds, cattle, goats, ducks and chickens are reared, and local vegetables and fruit are grown. Cow dung from the farm is turned into organic fertiliser. To sell more widely he launched an e-commerce website and a mobile app called Intech Agro.
"I took a one-month training course from the district Department of Youth Development," Zahid said. "I used to collect products from others; now I produce them myself. I try to get safe, chemical-free food to consumers." He sells on thin margins and aims for volume; after all costs his monthly profit is Tk 4 to 5 lakh.
On National Youth Day, 1 November 2024, Zahid won the Department of Youth Development's national first prize for successful self-employment. He wants to expand modern production and marketing of farm goods and create jobs for a thousand people through his enterprise by 2030.
Photo: Christopher Macsurak / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Protidiner Bangladesh
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