Danez Ali, 55, lives with his wife and two daughters in Saturia Upazila under Manikgonj. Once upon a time, he was barely eking out a hand-to-mouth existence at a garment factory in Dhaka. The very idea of saving money was a pipe dream at best. He quit the factory in 2015 and relocated to his hometown to start his own agri-farm, but his financial situation did not improve.

Danez Ali took out two loans from a local agent in 2019 and 2020, totaling Tk 200,000. He used the money to start a vegetable farm and buy five sheep. However, his uphill struggles continued: profits from his harvest were modest at best, and he had very little savings left after paying off the installment on his loan. All of his hard work went to nought when he faced substantial losses trying to maintain his vegetable farmland.

Going forward, given his past experience with loans, he had decided not to take any more. However, opportunity beckoned one more time when he learnt that SAJIDA Foundation was providing a simple agri-loan in conjunction with essential technical support and business consulting. He took out a loan of BDT 150,000 taka and planted various types of vegetable on 120 decimal acres of land. With key assistance from SAJIDA, he applied modern agri-technology to his farm, which eventually resulted in him earning Tk 70,000 in the first three months, from gourd alone. He wants to harvest other vegetables as well, and he anticipates additional profits of at least Tk 60,000.

Danez Ali’s dream is to set up a goat farm and expand his vegetable venture with the help of SAJIDA’s technical support and consultancy.