Soliman Khatun (28), a resilient mother of 04, has been living in Camp-04 since her arrival in Bangladesh after the Rohingya influx in 2017. With a large family of 07 (Her sister also stayed with her), and having no regular source of income, she along with her entire family had to starve. Though she was willing to work, lack of opportunities and resource limitations compelled her to depend entirely on food rations provided by aid organizations, which often lacked fresh vegetables, resulting in poor food and nutrition variety. 

Although she had grown vegetables previously while she was in Myanmar, she could not do the same here in the Rohingya camp because of inadequate space. Soliman knew the basics of vegetable farming and a strong will too, but had no opportunities or patronization. She said, “I used to grow enough vegetables in my yard garden while I was in Myanmar, but here I cannot, as I don’t have enough space.”

In July 2024, Soliman’s way of life changed when she was selected as a project participant for climate-adaptive gardening support under the “Strengthening Livelihood capacity and increased Food Security of Rohingya and Host Communities through Climate Adaptive Technology (SLFS)” project, implemented by Mukti Cox’s Bazar in partnership with Oxfam in Bangladesh. 

Through the homestead garden initiative of SLFS project, she received theoretical and practical training, including training on climate-adaptive gardening techniques (Raised beds, sack, vertical, and multilayer gardening), training on organic farming, training on pest control and composting, training on establishing homestead garden in small space and such more. 

Apart from this, the project provided her every sort of material support required to set up and grow vegetables in her homestead garden, including homestead vegetable kit, climate-adaptive seeds & seedlings, and pheromone & sticky traps to develop year-round homestead gardens which enabled her to start her own vegetable garden using the Kalikapur Model, a year-round production system designed to build resilience and ensure food security. 

With these supports from SLFS, Soliman successfully grew vegetables in her homestead garden near her shelter. She now harvests enough vegetables like Tomato, Bottle gourd, Chilli and more to meet the nutritional needs of her large family. Moreover, the vegetables grown in her homestead are fresh and free of any harmful pesticides or chemicals. The most important of her learnings was about family nutrition through cooking demonstrations. Being aware of cooking while maintaining family nutrition played a vital role in the health development of her children. She thanked Mukti Cox's Bazar for identifying her as a project-participant and providing her with the necessary training and materials to help her set up and grow vegetables in her homestead area.

Mukti Cox’s Bazar has been promoting climate-resilient agriculture in Cox’s Bazar, aligning humanitarian efforts to support both Rohingya and host communities. The organization introduces sustainable farming techniques, promotes nutrition-focused practices, builds local skills, supports livelihoods, and strengthens market connectivity to improve food security and economic stability. Soliman Khatun says:

“This Homestead Garden is not just a garden, but a guardian for me;

it is feeding all of us now.”

This climate-resilient garden design by SLFS of Mukti Cox’s Bazar has lessened the inconveniences of space constraints, effectively implemented eco-friendly pest management, including pheromone and sticky traps, replaced chemical pesticides, and initiated more resilient crop production. Together, these practices enhanced resilience, ensured nutrition, and made food security sustainable for vulnerable people like Soliman Khatun of Camp-4.

Soliman Khatun has become an example in her community, encouraging others like her to take initiatives to come out of the trauma of forceful displacement and work for betterment. She shares the knowledge learnt from the training amongst her community, even helps others if they face any problem.