UST has been implementing sustainable livelihoods program in the remote, difficult and hard-to-reach char & coastal areas to realizing the poor people's needs. It may be noted that it has been implementing the integrated food security & livelihoods program in Bangladesh for more than two decades.
The ultimate goal of this program is to promote economic empowerment and asset generation of the poor. UST hopes that everyone should have access to food with adequate supply. It aims at equipping the poor people with knowledge and skills so that they can generate and regenerate their livelihoods assets.
Through this program, UST facilitates the integrated approach to employment & reproductive income generating activities. In order to ensure and promote alternative livelihoods of char and coastal areas, UST has been working to promote ecological agriculture. To this end, it has been supporting small and women farmers since 1986 in many areas of Bangladesh.
Under this program, UST provides training to beneficiaries on ecological agriculture. Demonstration of eco-agricultural plots is also one of the vital activities of this program. Ecological agriculture contributes to promote & protect the ecosystem and crop diversification. Since inception, UST has been involved in providing skill training to beneficiaries on livestock, poultry and fisheries etc.
UST provided training to the target beneficiaries on development of tree plantation and nursery plots resulting in development of `Fruit Villages’ in Nilphamari and Gaibandha area. Not only the production of agricultural crops and fruit cultivation was enhanced but also the storing of those productions became inevitable. Considering this fact UST has been facilitating the research programme with Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU) Science for Society (S4S-India) and National Institute for Nutrition (NIN-India) on field operations of Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD) in Nilphamari district.
Rural women farmers are empowering economically as well as meeting nutritional requirements in their households by installing Solar Conduction Dryer for preservation of their excess agricultural products through dehydration of agro products.
Those dry products they are preserved for consumption in lean period as well as they can sell in the market hard-cash.