Bangladesh's rural economy comprises millions of very small informal businesses, mostly in the production and trading of agricultural commodities: producing, buying and selling, and finally, feeding both rural consumers as well as those in large urban centres. Small and marginal farmers also fall in this category who besides meeting domestic market demand sell their produce to the hundreds and thousands of small traders (locally called Beparis) to reach the final consumers. Two striking changes in such small businesses have been the production of exotic fruits and vegetables. This is due to the increasing demand and participation mainly by poor women.
MUSHROOM AS GOOD HEALTHY DIET: One such example is mushroom, which has not been a traditional culinary item for the mainstream population It has been a common item for many small ethnic groups in the Chittagong hill region where they collect and eat naturally growing mushrooms. But today's story is about mushrooms being produced and marketed by poor women from Savar (Dhaka), Tangail and other districts. Mushrooms, specifically button head mushrooms, were first introduced by Bangladeshi owned Chinese-food restaurants, which imported dried/canned mushroom, to use as an ingredient in various dishes. Due to increasing demand from some local producers, non-government organisations and a government training centre started promoting mushroom production and consumption. Although there are many different varieties of mushrooms, it turns out that only oyster mushrooms can be profitably produced throughout the year in Bangladesh. Currently, because of the internet and the TV food shows, mushroom is a familiar vegetable to the middle and upper income urban families in Bangladesh.
HOW THE BUSINESS IS ORGANISED:
Demand: Several small producers in Savar inform that the demand for mushrooms comes from three sources: a) middle and upper income households who buy fresh mushrooms from neighbourhood shops; b) restaurants that buy fresh as well as dried mushrooms; and c) a number of food supplement producers buy dried mushrooms to use as an ingredient in their products. Since mushrooms are produced in the rural and semi-urban areas, sometimes neighbours are also buyers. Since mushrooms are produced in the backyards and supplied to shops and companies after simple plastic packaging. Dried mushrooms are supplied in bulk to large companies. A quick market check shows that producers receive about 60 per cent of retail price, which is Tk 400 (about US$ 5) per kilogram. Women entrepreneurs report that the price is normally steady throughout the year.
Production: Production and marketing system (the whole value chain) of farmed mushrooms is rather simple. Farmers collect mushroom seeds from seed producers or local government owned farms. The seeds are spread in a mix of sawdust and straw and wrapped with poly bags with small holes all over the bags. These bags are then stored in racks in dark moist rooms. Oyster mushrooms grow out of holes on the polythene bags. Farmers collect them after they reach the right size. After one cycle, they stock the spawn for another cycle. It is important to maintain cool and moist environment for good yield.
Finance: When interviewed, women involved in mushroom farming reported that they started at a very small scale with their own money to first see yields in their homestead, and for family consumption. As they achieved good yields, they expanded by investing more family money as well as borrowing from local microfinance organisations. They reported that it was easy to borrow for such small businesses. Typically, each of these small businesses needs Tk 25,000 to 80,000 (US$ 300 to 1,000) depending on the scale of production. Typical expenses are: construction of a dark space using bamboo, construction of racks also with bamboo, purchase of spawn and preparing the poly bags.
Support services: As indicated, mushroom production did not start in Bangladesh as a business. It has been introduced by the Mushroom Centre through training in Savar and other parts of the country. Besides, a number of non-governmental organisations promoted it among the poor communities as a business to enhance family income. Many producers from Savar took about three weeks of hands-on training on mushroom production before going into the business. However, many other women later learned simple production methods from their neighbours. This is an important process of information transfer in rural Bangladesh where neighbours observe and learn from each other, and information of new business opportunities gets disseminated.
Women entrepreneurship: Most of the mushroom producers in Savar are women who manage these small backyard productions on their own and sometimes with the help of other family members. It has been reported that the same practice is seen in other parts of the country. All women producers or micro-entrepreneurs have been unanimous about the benefits of choosing this business: it is profitable and at the same it can be managed along with attending the usual household works. Since the production takes place in their backyards, it is easy to supervise. Besides, the traders visit the farms regularly which makes selling easy, without having to bear the burden of transportation.
Two interesting cases of mushroom producers, Anwara Begum from Niphamari and Morsheda Akhter from Tangail are presented here. Anwara Begum started her business in 2008 with the help of her husband and produced and sold mushroom, spawn (seed) to other producers. Morsheda Akhter took training from Savar Mushroom Centre and produces mushroom and mushroom-based food. Both the micro entrepreneurs started their small production inside their houses. As the business grew, they expanded operations by adding additional racks to stack more 'spawn bags'.
Both of them recognise the importance of market demand as well as the training they received to venture into mushroom production, something they never saw before. Experience of other women has been similar: profit and convenience have been two motivating factors.
Traditionally, poor women are not used to dealing with markets. However, rural Bangladesh has been transformed by microfinance programmes that have turned millions of poor women into producers and sellers of goods and services. They buy inputs for their tiny businesses and sell their produces, where they often successfully interact with traders and suppliers.
Not all producers keep track of prices and demand in writing. Usually, the practice is to estimate cost of production of one kilogram versus price. But it seemed to this writer that these small producers may not be considering their own labour since it is a very small part of their daily work.
Several factors inspired them to continue these businesses: regular income that helps the family, enhanced importance in the family due to financial contribution, and convenient nature of the business.
Profitability and income: The business is profitable. Anwara Begum made an annual profit of Tk 535,000 from sale of Tk 3,285,000 by deducting an expense of Taka 2,750,000. Similarly, Morsheda Akhter earned profit of Tk 527,930 over a period of three years. Anwara Begum has higher costs because she hires labour and markets in distant places as well.
Growth and challenges: As in any business, growth depends on demand, which is gradually increasing as reported by the micro-entrepreneurs. The production is directly linked with the amount of investment, more importantly space availability, since increased scale of production means increased physical space. Besides, diseases are a threat. On the whole, if properly taken care of, mushroom farming has the potential of attracting increasing number of female micro-entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.
