Originally from Babuganj upazila in Barisal, Rita Bramma started her journey as a farmer business facilitator with FAO’s Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) project in 2018. The project worked directly with producers’ organizations to reduce poverty and increase access to finance, markets, technology and information for approximately 10 000 smallholder farmer members. Sara Bangla Krishak Society (SBKS), a national network of producers’ organizations, was FAO’s partner in the design and implementation of the project.

Rita was a general member of SBKS’ Executive Committee at the time and also president of the Maddhya Rakudia farmer cooperative in her own village. These experiences equipped her well to step into the role of a farmer business facilitator—a role which opened up many more possibilities for serving her fellow farmers.

After receiving training on institutional, financial and business literacy, Rita provided management support to four producers’ organizations in the SBKS network. She advised farmers about running a business, including finances and improving organizational efficiency. She also supported the MMI project’s monitoring and evaluation team. Out of 16 farmer business facilitators, six were women and Rita was a champion among them.

“I myself and my community feel proud and honoured to work with FAO”, Rita said, adding, “what is special is that FAO considers us as partners instead of beneficiaries. My favourite job is to solve any problem of the organization, either financial account management or organizational matters. I feel an inner peace in my mind by solving such problems.”

At the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, Rita, along with 20 members of her organization, helped her community collectively sell poultry and perishable agricultural commodities and to purchase agricultural inputs. She pioneered connecting her community with traders, service providers, wholesale markets and banks over the course of the pandemic.

“As a woman, I want women to be given respect and dignity of labour. I want female and male farmers to sell their produce at fair prices and to reduce productions costs through good business and farming practices.”

Over four years of relentless service to her designated POs, Rita’s performance as a farmer business facilitator was outstanding. Owing to her popularity and acceptance among members, she became elected President of SBKS for a term of three years (2022-24). Thanks to her efforts, Sara Bangla Krishak Society (SBKS) received the prestigious 2023 FAO Achievement Award.

She is now part of the team supporting the follow-on project to MMI, called Accelerating Economic and Social Inclusion Through Strong Producers’ Organizations (ACCESS). ACCESS will scale up the MMI approach in 80 new communities in the Northern and Southern regions of the country, working to strengthen the livelihoods of approximately 8 000 more smallholder farmers. Rita is an enlightened woman working to empower other women—a truly inspiring example for many to follow.