Soybeans: An MCC success story in Bangladesh

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 19 February 2000

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- After 27 years of operation, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) closed its soybean program in Bangladesh at the end of December 1999.

"The program's objectives have been met," said Shyam Chakraborty, a Bangladeshi who served as MCC's soybean program officer. "Without our help, farmers are now planting and preserving seeds and selling soybeans. We've done our job."

MCC began working with soybeans in the early 1970s. Many Bangladeshis were severely malnourished, and MCC workers believed soybeans would be an ideal source of protein for people who could not afford meat. Soybeans could also be grown in the dry season when the weather was unsuitable for rice crops. MCC imported seeds and innoculant, a bacteria needed for soil in which soybeans are grown, from the United States. The stage was set for one of MCC's greatest success stories in Bangladesh.

At first, soybeans did not flourish in Bangladesh and MCC extensionists had to placate and encourage frustrated farmers who wanted to give up. After years of trial and error the right soybean varieties were found. MCC helped develop techniques so farmers could store the seeds effectively in one of the world's wettest climates. Planting dates were determined to fine tune yields.

Gradually MCC developed expertise not only in planting and growing successful soybean crops, but also in promoting soybeans. Availability of seeds was a problem, to which MCC responded by establishing New Life Seeds program in which MCC stored soybean seeds for re-sale to farmers. That program closed in 1999.

Originally soybeans were an unfamiliar crop in Bangladesh. MCC bought back soybeans and sold them at reduced rates, or gave them away to encourage people to eat them. MCC extensionists traveled widely, giving cooking demonstrations and introducing soybeans as a protein-rich supplement to rice, which was all some poor people could afford to eat. Soybeans did not, however, immediately catch on. Women complained that they cooked the bean but it never softened, wasting a lot of precious fuel. After much experimenting, an acceptable cooking method was found that involved roasting and then crushing the soybean before cooking it.

In the early 1990s many poultry farms began looking for a source of protein for chicken feed, and discovered soybeans. In the last couple of years soybean acreage in Bangladesh has topped more than 10,000 acres. Currently 9 percent of the soybean yield is being eaten, 8 percent is saved for seed and the rest is sold in the market -- primarily to poultry farmers.

Although soybeans have not "taken off" in people's diets, MCC has helped create an industry that today pumps hundreds of thousands of dollars into local villages that didn't have this income a few years ago. Laborers who couldn't find jobs and had to leave their families in search of work in bigger cities can now earn wages planting, harvesting and threshing soybeans. Farmers who once allowed their land to sit fallow during the dry season can enjoy extra income from the soybeans. Dealers have sprung up across the country to help move beans from the producer to the users. And the poultry industry benefits by not having to import protein from other countries.

Soybeans now provide much needed income to farm families. Siddique Ullah has been growing soybeans for 14 years. He was the first person in the Jahaz Mara area to grow soybeans and through his positive experiences, many other people in his area now grow and eat soybeans as well. Mr. Ullah remembers how his family at first did not like the smell or the texture of soybeans. Their consumption has increased. This past year he and his extended family ate 5 mon, the equivalent of 200 kilograms/440 pounds, of soybeans.

"Before, when we had problems with our soybean plants or seeds we ran to MCC," recalls Siddique Ullah. "Now we have learned to take care of ourselves."

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org