This is a MATI Bangladesh proposal for a 12-month, EUR 8,482 project in three villages around the MATI Daycare and Pre-school in Gohailkandi, Mymensingh. The school serves 120 children, mostly from farming families who face high and unstable fertilizer and pesticide costs. Heavy reliance on synthetic inputs has also raised concerns about soil health, food safety and chemical exposure. The project would train 50 farmer parents in making and using vermicompost and botanical pesticides. Each would receive a vermicomposting set (concrete ring, earthworms, shed materials) and a botanical-pesticide set (a drum and hand sprayer). It builds on MATI's existing ecological farming experience, with farm follow-up visits, peer learning and simple monitoring. The project aims to cut farmers' dependence on purchased inputs and lower their production costs, raise household income, and increase the supply of safe, nutritious food for the children. Targets include at least 40 of the 50 farmers actively producing vermicompost and testing botanical pesticides by the end, plus a parent-farmer learning network. It also commits to safeguards: children are kept out of pesticide preparation, farmers get safe-handling guidance, and consent is obtained for photos and stories. The equipment stays with the households, so the practices can continue after the project ends, and MATI will keep supporting the network. Most of the budget goes to the equipment sets (EUR 4,350 for vermicompost and EUR 1,100 for pesticide), with the rest covering training, staff, administration and contingency. MATI BANGLADESH Promoting Vermicompost and Botanical Pesticides among Parents of MATI Daycare and Pre-school Project budget (12 months) The project budget totals EUR 8,482.00 for 12 months, which works out to about EUR 169.64 per participating family. The largest share, EUR 5,450, goes to equipment for the 50 farmers: vermicompost sets (concrete ring, earthworms and shed materials) at EUR 87 each, totaling EUR 4,350, plus drum and hand sprayer sets for botanical pesticides at EUR 22 each, totaling EUR 1,100. Another EUR 750 covers vermicompost training at EUR 15 per farmer, and EUR 1,500 pays for project staff (EUR 1,320 in salary and EUR 180 in travel over 12 months). The remaining EUR 782 is split between office communication, printing and stationery (EUR 432) and a EUR 350 contingency to absorb price changes. ================================================== SUMMARY ================================================== A. Training ............................ EUR 750.00 B. Equipment and materials ............. EUR 5,450.00 C. Project staff ....................... EUR 1,500.00 D. Office and administration ........... EUR 432.00 E. Contingency ......................... EUR 350.00 TOTAL BUDGET REQUESTED ................. EUR 8,482.00 (Cost per participating family: about EUR 169.64) (Exchange rate used: approx. BDT 138 = EUR 1)