Improving Livelihoods & Empowering Rural Communities through Sustainable Chui Jhal (Piper Chaba) Cultivation – SESDO Bangladesh
Chui Jhal (Piper Chaba), commonly known as piper chilli. Piper Chaba is called chui jhal in the Khulna Division of Bangladesh. Chui trees look like betel leaves vines. The chui is a tree-line creeper which grows around other larger trees. It is a creeper plant that spreads on the ground. ‘Chui Jhal’ is mainly used as a taste enhancer. It makes the food hotter, spicier. Its roots and stems are cut into pieces and used in cooking. It is usually used in meat. However, many people cook fish or vegetables with chui. To cultivate chui jhal, you do not need much land at home. It is possible to make a lot of profit by cultivating chui jhal on a very small land. By cultivating chui jhal, rural women and unemployed youth can easily become self-sufficient in a very short time. By setting up a small nursery for chui seedlings in the backyard of their home, a woman or young man can easily produce 10,000 to 15,000 seedlings a year and sell each seedling for 25 to 30 taka. Chui is being sold at Tk 500 to Tk 1,600 per kilogramme. One can earn from the chui farming a year after planting and it is possible to generate up to Tk 4 lakh annually in three to four years if the item is grown on only two to three decimals of land.
Climate change is one of the most discussed and challenging issues today. Satkhira is the very coastal areas of Bangladesh and are directly affected by climate change. The salinity level is constantly increasing in these areas; hence, traditional methods and conventional crops are not being produced properly in these areas. Farmers are facing economic losses every day, and it is becoming difficult for farmers to live. In this context, Chui jhal cultivation can be the key to self-reliance of the people of this area. SESDO (Social and Environmental Sustainable Development Organization) is implementing the project “Improving Livelihoods & Empowering Rural Communities through Sustainable Chui Jhal (Piper Chaba) Cultivation” in Katakhali village of Khalishkhali union of Tala upazila of Satkhira district with its own funding. SESDO is planning to set up a Chui tree nursery with its own funding. The main goal of SESDO is to eradicate poverty by distributing Chui tree seedlings from its own nursery among the local poor and impoverished communities, providing training and proper guidance to rural women and providing employment to unemployed youth. SESDO believes that this “Improving Livelihoods & Empowering Rural Communities through Sustainable Chui Jhal (Piper Chaba) Cultivation” project will make a small contribution to the people of this area in combating climate change.
Importance of the project:
* Improves Food Security and Livelihood.
* Enhances Community Resilience and Economic Development.
* Climate Change Mitigation and Community Engagement.
* Gender Equality and Empower Youth by Enhancing Capacity of Women.
* Sustainable Chui Jhal (Piper Chaba) Cultivation and Climate-Friendly Farming.
* Ecological Balance and Environmental Sustainability.
* Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity Conservation.
* Contributing to the Economic, Social, and Cultural Aspects of the Vulnerable Communities.
- Village: Katakhali
- Union: Khalishkhali
- Upazila: Tala
- District: Satkhira
Implemented By: SESDO (Social and Environmental Sustainable Development Organization)