For some of us, reminiscing about going back to our villages as a child during the long breaks, jumping into the river, climbing the trees and eating the fruits plucked by our own hands sitting on the branch up high, marking two tree trunks as the goal-post and playing football till we couldn’t take it anymore, then collapsing onto the lush soft green grass as the sun sets at the end of the day, is the closest we can get to nature amidst the hustle bustle of our busy everyday lives in the cities. The green sanctuary provided us with such a surreal level of comfort – a peaceful respite that only nature can offer. While our innate desire to be cradled by nature remains the same, the greeneries around us have been shrinking over time. We have substituted the shadows of long trees with that of tall buildings instead. But at what cost? Can nature truly have an alternative?
Dhaka, the 4th most densely populated city in the world, with 73,583 people per mile (28,410/km). People living in the urban areas, especially in big cities, are constantly searching for green spaces, and unfortunately, like Dhaka, every other big and small city has been booming with high-rise buildings, while depleting in greeneries. The cities are turning into concrete jungles and those living in it are desperately looking for lushes of green, but like the mirage of an oasis in the middle of a desert, it remains elusive for most city dwellers.
Many cities around the world have taken on roof-top gardening initiatives as the last resort for remedying the uprooting of nature in this brick-and-mortar urbanization. And some city dwellers in Bangladesh are no different. Unfortunately, in big cities like Dhaka, rooftop gardening is not an easy task, especially with most residents living in rented properties, convincing the landlord to accommodate gardening or farming on their own premises, a challenge. But on top of that, an even greater challenge is the fact that urban citizens are not as well-informed about agriculture as villagers usually are, and even the existing service delivery system from local nurseries is not entirely compatible with the hectic city life.
As a result, there is a growing demand for proper rooftop farming and gardening opportunities in urban areas. In addition, the widespread use of formalin in groceries by local vendors has become a major concern for city dwellers, leading to an increasing interest in rooftop gardening/farming, to independently grow their own fruits and vegetables.
When Rezwana Rahaman (Agriculture Extension Officer) moved from the Upazilla Agricultural Office to the Metropolitan Office in Dhaka, she realized that the mode of service delivery in the metropolitan area was very different. For obvious reasons, the rural citizens are more involved with the Agriculture Offices, given that most of their livelihood depends on it. But in the urban areas, the citizens’ demands are not the same. While many are interested in rooftop gardening, most find the overall process to be overly hectic and time-consuming. On top of that, from her personal experiences, Rezwana also realized that most citizens are not aware of the type of services that are available.
As part of the Access to Information’s (a2i) nationwide pursuit of implanting the seed of innovation among public service leaders, Rezwana was invited to the 5-day Empathy Training Program (ETP). After attending the training, she realized, her responsibility as an agriculture officer goes beyond providing the current services that are available, and introduce services based on the need of the citizens, no matter what. Through her training she had more concrete idea on the need and challenges of urban citizens.
So she took the initiative of ‘Nagar Krishi’, in order to provide quality agricultural services at a short time, low cost, and with no need to visit a nursery. During this training, she conceptualized the idea to create a website that will centralize all the necessary information for a someone who wants to take part in rooftop gardening/farming. Following her training, she moved forward with her idea and created a website NogorKrishi (http://www.nogorkrishi.com), which not only centralizes all the necessary information on roof-top gardening and farming, but also provides a centralized list of local nurseries with their respective contact information. Through the website, a concerned citizen can find all the required detailed information. The website contains the contact details of all the nurseries, both government and private ones. Through the website, a user can reach out to the nurseries for home delivery as well! It provides agriculture advices, where customers can ask specific questions, and can upload disease & insects’ photos and receive prompt advice. In addition, citizens can reach out to the Agriculture Officer for a home visit and for garden inspection. The website is leading to growing interest in farming as it is reducing the time, cost and visit to the nursery required. Since the early 2016, the project has been piloted in Dhaka and helped over 1,900 citizens (1,977). According to Rezwana, due to this innovation, the total time, cost, and visits required by a citizen seeking this type of services, have dropped by 93%, 95%, and 100% respectively.
Rezwana Rahman is one of thousands of “Govepreneurs”, who are working to reduce the citizens’ suffering, by providing more effective and efficient service. She represents the future of public-service leaders in Bangladesh- bold, ambitious, innovative, willing to take risks, and constantly putting citizens’ need first. Through empathy training, a2i has been working towards creating a culture of innovation in the public sector that will foster this type of innovation, all across the governing bodies.
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