Home ›› 15 Nov 2021 ›› Nation
Bangladesh has plenty of examples showing female entrepreneurs rising up to the challenges of entrepreneurship just as their male counterparts, and Natore’s Hosne Ara is another shining example of this phenomenon.
A resident of Chowkirpar area on the north side of Rani Bhabani Palace, she began her entrepreneurship journey with Tk 50,000 in loans from the Krishi Bank in 1998, with just ten chickens. Twenty three years later, she now owns the largest poultry hatchery in the district.
Jishan Poultry Hatchery has been her pride and joy, and the culmination of her hard work spanning more than two decades. Thousands of chicks are now born in Hosne Ara’s hatchery every day, and she has helped numerous women entrepreneurs to achieve success as well.
The staff place over one lakh eggs on trays in nine compartments of the incubator. The eggs are kept there for 18 days in 37.80 degrees Celsius temperature and then shifted to the hatcher trays.
After keeping the eggs in hatcher trays on 37.20 degrees Celsius for three days, thousands of chicks are born. Two Sonali Chicken farms supply eggs to this hatchery.
The chicks born in the hatchery are supplied to different markets across the country within 72 hours in baskets made of bamboo. Alongside Natore, poultry farm owners of Rajshahi, Bogura, Joypurhat, Naogaon, Pabna, Sirajganj, Kushtia and Mymensingh districts buy these chicks at Tk 35 each. Excluding the cost, the amount of profit is pretty good.
According to the Department of Livestock Services in Natore, Hosne Ara’s success did not come overnight, but earned through hard labour and merit. She began her journey by setting a small poultry farm,
Before becoming the proud owner of Natore’s biggest hatchery, she began by setting up a small poultry farm around 23 years ago. Sharing her experience, Hosne Ara said, “I expanded my poultry farm step by step. At the beginning, my husband’s outlook on my farm was not very positive. I even had to shut down the farm for a while.
“But I later reopened the business, and my family’s views about the farm also improved gradually. My husband and children are now working at the poultry hatchery with me.”
Though Hosne Ara and her family did not suffer from poverty back in 1998, they were not well off either. Despite challenges and rising expenses, she persevered and continued to expand her farm. She is now an inspiration for entrepreneurs across the country.
“Our monthly profit reaches around Tk 8 lakh,” said her eldest son Jishan who looks after the hatchery, adding that during the Covid-19 restrictions they incurred a loss of Tk 3 crore.
Hosne Ara currently provides permanent and part time employment to around 30 people, and helped create numerous female entertainments who launching their own farms and brought solvency to their families. She also provided bank loan guarantees to nearly 100 women entrepreneurs at the Natore Branch of the National Bank.
Sazeda Begum, an entrepreneur of Ghoragachha, said Hosne Ara taught her to become self-reliant by establishing a poultry farm, and she is forever grateful to her.
Golam Mostofa, officer of Department of Livestock Services in Natore, said Hosne Ara’s poultry hatchery highlights the prospect of success in the poultry sector.
