The project allows coordinating partners to physically visit partner organizations located in India and Cambodia to assess their capacity and commitments to participate in the international exchange project on health and nutrition.  It creates opportunities for each participating organization for mutual learning to boost up organizational service delivery capacity considering the benefits of respective target communities. The organizations located in 3 different countries come together to adopt a health and nutrition improving project in the 3 different contexts. Also, all three partners jointly develop the project application incorporating each learning and experiences.

The organization has been implementing the “Vulnerable Group Development Project” since 2015 continuously with the funding support of GOB-DWA/WFP. The VGD program is a program of the Bangladesh Government that aims to assist exclusively in ultra-poor households. A total of 7500 ultra-poor women were direct beneficiaries of the project. Under the VGD program, participants are receiving a monthly food ration (30kg rice or wheat) and development support service including life skill and income-generating skills training, savings, and access to credit.

The project mobilizes voters, candidates, political parties, local administration, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders to ensure an electoral violence-free peaceful election. We build awareness among stakeholders on election law, the responsibility of voters and candidates to conduct a peaceful election etc. through the workshop, seminar, town hall meeting, rally, peace festival, etc. Through the activity, all party representatives, candidates sit together and make their commitments on violence free peaceful elections. After the polling day, it tried to restore community harmony and build awareness among stakeholders on curbing corruption in the government machineries. 

It was found from the feasibility study that SAHAJ community hospital Nepal is constituted by cooperative members which is bringing a good healthcare solution for the poor people especially in the remote area of Nepal. Through partners meeting and rigorous discussion, ASPADA customized the health cooperative approach to fit with our target community needs to replicate in the Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh district with the direct support of SAHAJ experienced staff. Likewise, SAHAJ community hospitals learned and replicated ASPADA’s door to door primary health care approach to strengthen the SAHAJ community hospital. Through the exchange project, ASPADA exchanged one MBBS doctor and a Nutritionist to boost up their skills and learnings on the exchangeable models in each round and SAHAJ exchanged health cooperative experts and a MBBS doctor.

The project allows coordinating partners to physically visit partner organizations located in Nepal to assess their capacity and commitments to participate in the international exchange project on health and nutrition.  It creates opportunities for each participating organization for mutual learning to boost up organizational service delivery capacity considering the benefits of respective target communities. Also, both partners jointly develop the project application incorporating each learning and experiences.

The project undertakes a baseline survey intensively to find the illiterate people living in the Trishal Upazila and established tutorial centers for providing non-formal education to adult people. The duration of the course is 6 months and follows the BNFE curriculum.  Throughout the Trisal Upazila it has established 320 learning centers mostly in the selected primary school for 2 shifts whereas the first shift is for male, and 2nd shift is for women. The organization has recruited 640 teachers (320 male and 320 female) to conduct class for 3 hours and 6 days a week.

The project was implemented to improve technology transfer on cereal-based cropping patterns in Bangladesh. The ASPADA were tasked with organizing local farmers in groups that served as a platform for community-based demonstration of maize, wheat, vegetables and others crops in a maize and/ or wheat-based cropping system; training on best agronomic practices and management; training on various types of agricultural machinery; and conducting farmers field day and exchange visits. Therefore, technical capacity of the targeted farmers has improved on cereal crop production which contributed to climate change adaptation.

The organization has provided Business Development Service to remittance earners and remittance earners family members aim to involve into income-generating activities using remittance and increase collaterals to financial inclusions of micro-enterprises. It provided IGAs related training to 6000 remittance earner target beneficiaries with 203 batches training in the area of Mymensingh (Bhaluka, Trisal), Gazipur (Sreepur) and Tangail (Shokhipur, Ghatail and Bhuapur) districts on different module like Cow rearing, Fish culture, small scale enterprise, Beef fattening, Tailoring, Poultry and duck rearing and Agriculture. Upon completion of training, the project provides support to trainees to link with the formal banking sector for their enterprise.

The organization conducted meetings and training with existing microfinance groups on the vegetable focused cropping pattern and improved agronomic practices of vegetable production. In association with BAU, the project develops vegetable-focused cropping patterns and printed learning materials aimed to distribute among farmers. Also, we conducted linkage building workshops with input and forward market actors for marketing of produced vegetables and market development for ensuring justified price of the produced vegetable crops.

The project activities comprises establishment of deep tube-well (100-150 meter cube/ hour), Overhead tank (capacity 30000 liter), subsurface irrigation channel, drinking water supply network (10000 ft), community biogas plant (capacity 83 CM), solar energy technology (510 watt)  etc as infrastructure development; and power tiller-1, weedier -8, sprayer -2, riper -1, open dram thresher -2, close dram thresher-2, power winner-1 and gas operated generator-1 as equip-mental support facilitating smooth crop cultivation. As climate change adverse impact, Project area was suffering with water level fall-down gradually results scarcity of irrigation water as well drinking water. Consequence, farm production hamper due to irrigation water scarcity, scarcity of pure drinking water, scarcity of household consumption water, scarcity of cooking fuel etc. By implementing this project 600 households getting pure drinking water supply, 200 acre of land brought under irrigation facilities round the year, 10 house hold getting cooking gas supply and solar power. In addition, the project create opportunity for the rural people engage themselves into income generation by participation in training on irrigation, drinking water, poultry and livestock rearing, compost production and packaging, biogas marketing, horticultural nursery development and food processing and preservation. In sum, the project is able to contribute improving energy efficiency, adaptation to climate change, reducing CO2 emission and improving life and livelihood of the poor and employment generation. In addition, it enhances the opportunity of income generation activities results reduce poverty and ensure sustainable community development.

The organization established 10 NFPE schools under the BRAC education support program in a suitable place of Bhalika Upazila, where school facility was limited. We facilitate schoolhouse, hire a teacher and all education materials aim to smooth operation of schools. School dropout children, unwilling students, and children engaged in work were the students at those schools. The schoolhouses were situated nearby his house and taught by a known person with appropriate teaching materials.

The ASPADA mobilize community aims to be aware of the target community on the importance of forest and biodiversity and mobilize the community to an established plant nursery. Also, the project provides day to day technical support to the nursery and linkage building with input sellers. Also, the project helps in the marketing of seedlings.

The Organization effectively took the initiatives for technology transfer on modern agricultural varieties and ASPADA established an “orchard” garden of 105 varieties in 07 villages of Bhaluka & Trisal Upazila. The species of fruits undertaken in this project are mango trees (Amropali, Gopal Bhog, Baromashi, Himsagar), Litchi trees (China-3), Baroi (Dhaka-90), Jalpai & other fruits (Banana). Under Financial Services for the Poorest (FSP) the organization has provided training and inputs to 400 people/families to promote banana garden, sugar cane production, and papaya cultivation.

ASPADA has established a number of nurseries in which various species of timber & fruit trees are produced. The seedlings of vegetables, forest trees, and fruit trees are distributed among the community people. With the generous financial support of UNDP, ASPADA has been successfully implementing roadside tree plantation, Wood lot garden in collaboration with the Forest Department of Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh with a contract of 07 years. Since 2001 the program has been implemented effectively by the supervision of ASPADA staff.

The organization provides technical support to design a homestead garden which includes vegetable production using Kalkapur model of BARI, bed preparation, variety selection to ensure vegetable production around the year in 5 beds, fruit tree plantation in the suitable place of homestead, variety selection and demonstrate good agronomic practices and fish culture in the small pond. Also, the project provides training to the farmers (male and female) on homestead gardening. Initial inputs like seed, fertilizer, fish fry, fruit tree sapling, etc. also supply by the project and provide day to day technical support through agriculture graduates.

In the value chain development project, ASPADA worked with a polyculture of pangas and indigenous fish species in Bhaluka and Trishal Upazila of Mymensingh with the financial support of IDA/PKSF. The main objective of this project is to increase income through the implementation of modern fish culture technology. The total numbers of beneficiaries were 240 who got training on modern technology of polyculture and received input support.

The Organization effectively took the initiatives for soybean seed production. ASPADA provided technical support to ensure the best agronomic practice, training on improved production technology and supervision of activities done by farmers. Harvesting technology and post-harvest management also demonstrated by the project. We facilitate the marketing and distribution of produced seeds.

The project supported by the World Bank in association with PKSF, under this project 5000 hardcore poor who have below 50 Dec. land as a net family asset including homestead has uplifted through knowledge and life skills-building activities (IGAs).