2004 Environment Award Laureate

Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha

Bangladesh

www.interconnection.org/sss
Laureate Video

Launching Mobile Information Centers to Teach Environmentally Sustainable Farming

Twenty million people live in the river basin of Bangladesh, where villages become isolated islands during four months of monsoons each year. The rivers are vital to local farming, but farming methods and agricultural runoff take their toll on the health of the rivers, and the rivers make it difficult to reach farmers with information about environmentally sustainable agricultural methods. Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, Executive Director at Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, realized that the rivers do not have to be barriers to information; they can be communication channels. In 2004 The Tech Museum recognized Shidhulai with its Environment Award for an ingenious program. Shidhulai launched a fleet of Mobile Internet-Educational Units on Boats equipped with laptops, multimedia equipment, educational presentations, and Internet access. The boats make their ways through the rivers, docking at villages to teach farmers techniques for preventing pollution and erosion. As an extension of their work to empower farmers, the boats also offer technology training and learning opportunities in primary education, health, and human rights. Since winning The Tech Award, Shidhulai has increased agricultural productivity and improved the health of farmers and rivers by teaching people to reduce the use of pesticides and control the numbers of fish and beneficial insects killed. Today Shidhulai reaches half a million people across the river basins of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh sits at the heart of three major river deltas, the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, and the Meghna. Together, these rivers drain over 1.55 million square kilometers, an area larger than the country of Bangladesh itself. This high density of river systems combined with seasonal monsoon rains results in a large portion of the country being submerged for 3 or 4 months each year. The 20 million people living in these river basins are largely isolated during the monsoon season as their villages become islands. In addition to physical isolation, these villages do not have electricity or telephone service, further isolating them from news, education, and information.

Besides isolation, flooding in Bangladesh brings agricultural hazards. Bangladesh is a country that is largely dependent on agriculture, and yearly flooding does revitalize the soil with nutrients. However, local farmers also utilize pesticides and fertilizers which become environmental hazards as they are washed into flooded rivers.

In the late 1990s, Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan was traveling by boat across this flooded region observing the daily life of villagers during the monsoon season. He realized that during the monsoon months, with the lack of electricity, television, telephone, and other communication media, the villagers did not have any access to news and information. Additionally, children were cut off from education, as their school was isolated by the floodwaters and partially submerged. Understanding that boats which are part of the villagers' everyday life during the monsoon season had the potential to be a vehicle for education and information, Rezwan founded boat based education to meet the needs of these riverside communities.

Shidhulai launched the Mobile Internet Educational Unit on Boats project (MIEUB). The MIEUB are able to reach the most remote parts of Bangladesh via river. The MIEUB help to educate farmers on the control of agricultural non-point source pollution as well as soil and stream bank erosion. Other lessons help promote the health of the river system and biodiversity. The MIEUB utilize locally-developed content, including web tutorials, animations and documentaries. In order to further promote sustainable agriculture, Shidhulai has also developed the first watershed project in Bangladesh to address water rights, sustainable agriculture, and water quality monitoring.

The MIEUB boats anchor at riverside courtyards and public places. Shidhulai provides nighttime educational programs on large screens so that many people can see from their own courtyards. In addition to the computers and multimedia equipment needed for these classes, the boats are also equipped with mobile data features that allow rural farmers to obtain information about commodity prices as well as access to the internet and email. There is also a mobile phone for contacting other farming groups.

In 2004, The Tech Museum Awards recognized Shidhulai as an Intel Environment Award Laureate for their MIEUB project and its impact on sustainable farming. This recognition helped Shidhulai present its stories to a wider audience and provided an important international endorsement of the organization's grass-roots, volunteer-led effort to bring information and education to isolated, poor communities.

Since then, Shidhulai has been recognized by the World Bank and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) for their efforts in distance learning and sustainable agriculture. In 2005, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation presented its $1 million Access to Learning Award to Shidhulai for its pioneering approach to bridging the digital divide and commitment to providing free public access to computers and the internet.

Shidhulai has improved the overall health of the river system and increased agricultural productivity by educating farmers about pesticides, beneficial insects, and pollution and erosion prevention. Afsar Ali Mandal, a 45-year old farmer, used the MIEUB resources to help him identify the new insects found in his farm. Using email he contacted scientists who helped him distinguish harmful insects from beneficial ones. He now uses a mechanical means of controlling insects, and he has stopped using pesticides. As a result, he has reduced his production costs while increasing his agricultural productivity.

Another Shidhulai project, the Mobile Boat School & Library project, focuses on distance learning education for everyone, especially girls and young women who are not allowed by religious and social norms to travel outside their villages. The Mobile Boat Schools and Libraries offer technology training and learning opportunities in education, agriculture, health, human rights, and other relevant information for the community. Abdul Mazid is a 22-year-old student who walks 50 minutes from his home to reach the Boat Library. He describes the Internet as "the world of information and opportunities" that brought him back to education. He hopes to become an agriculturist.

Today Shidhulai has reached half a million people across the river basins of Bangladesh with its boat-based programs. But there are many more people still to be reached. There are 17,000 villages in the river basins of Bangladesh, accessible only by boats for much of the year. The successes of the MIEUB and Boat School & Library projects have established Shidhulai as a leading distance education institution in South Asia. Over the next five years, Shidhulai hopes to double its capacity to support the self-reliance of thousands of villages and to significantly improve agricultural practices throughout the region.