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What workedA couple making water hyacinth handicrafts in Santhia, Pabna, in a Prothom Alo report · Started in 2020

50-60 maunds of water hyacinth a day, 30,000-40,000 taka a month after costs

They started in 2020 after seeing water hyacinth goods at a Dhaka buyer's place. They now buy 50-60 maunds of fresh hyacinth a day at 100-120 taka a maund, clear 30,000-40,000 taka a month after costs, and give work to 60-70 people.

This couple from Rasulpur village in Khetupara union, Santhia upazila, Pabna, went to a Dhaka buyer to purchase cane goods and saw products being made from water hyacinth; from 2020 they began collecting and drying hyacinth themselves and turning it into flower pots, fruit baskets, mats, vases, trays and mirror frames. They now buy 50-60 maunds of fresh hyacinth a day at 100-120 taka a maund, plus 5-7 maunds of dried hyacinth at 1,000-1,800 taka a maund. Village women are paid by the piece: 40-100 taka for a flower pot, 100-250 for a fruit basket, 400-420 for a mirror frame and 30-70 taka for other items, with 60-70 people working regularly and at least 300 families across 15 villages involved. After costs the household clears 30,000-40,000 taka a month. The finished goods go to a single exporter in Dhaka and from there to at least eight countries in Europe and America, in a local trade worth 1.5-2 crore taka a year. They say a shortage of capital is the only thing stopping them going further.

Lessons

  1. 1.Everything they make goes to one Dhaka exporter: in this trade you secure the buyer first and raise output second
  2. 2.Paying village women by the piece adds capacity without a factory or a fixed payroll

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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