Publications & Research Monographs

RUSTIC Annual Report 2024–2025: Empowering Communities through Sustainability and Equity

Publisher: RUSTIC (Rural Unfortunates Safety Talisman Illumination Cottage)
Head Office: 6/1 Hazi Tomij Uddin Sarak, Banorgati, Sonadanga, Khulna-9100, Bangladesh.
Dhaka Liaison Office: 23, Sahid Monsur Ali Sharani, 2nd Floor, Ramna, Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Cell: +88-01712-076267 | Email: rustickln.bd@gmail.com | Web: www.rusticbd.org)

1. Synopsis of RUSTIC

2. Background & Historical Origin

Bangladesh is a developing nation in Southeast Asia and is home to over 166.5 million people—of whom more than 18.3% live below the poverty line. Among the most vulnerable are women and children, especially in remote regions like Khulna and Bagerhat, in the disaster-prone southwestern coastal belt. This area has faced repeated devastation from at least five major natural disasters over the past few years—including cyclones Sidr, Aila, Amphan, and Reshmi—exacerbating an already precarious socio-economic landscape. Its geographical distance from the capital, Dhaka, coupled with fragile infrastructure and unreliable communication networks, further isolates the region from national growth and support.

Natural calamities and economic neglect have created a cycle of hardship for the people of Khulna. Despite having significant potential—Khulna hosts the country’s second-largest seaport—unchecked deindustrialization has led to the closure or downsizing of at least 230 industries over the past two decades. In an attempt to combat tidal surges and boost agricultural productivity, the government initiated the Coastal Embankment Project (CEP) in the 1960s. However, this intervention had unintended ecological consequences: chronic water-logging, drainage congestion, and saline water introduced by indiscriminate shrimp farming, rendering agrarian soils barren.

Since 1988, local social activists led by Moral Noor Mohammad mobilized to create a legally recognized voluntary social development agency. RUSTIC was formally founded in 1989 and has grown into a leading institution focusing on waste-to-resource models, vocational education, gender equity, and climate-resilient community development.

3. Management & 7-Member Executive Committee

RUSTIC operates under the supreme oversight of a 31-member General Body which elects a 7-member Executive Committee (EC) every two years:

4. Operational Areas & Group Membership Breakdown (2024–2025)

Between 2008 and 2025, RUSTIC effectively expanded its service to 89 communities and 106 villages across 11 Upazilas in Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira districts:

5. Detailed Breakdown of Ongoing Programs & Field Impact

Technical Study on Rainwater Harvesting System: Opportunities & Challenges in Apparel Industry

Technical Research Partners: WaterAid Bangladesh & Engineering Resources International (ERI) Ltd.
Research Scope: Multi-stakeholder assessment covering 7 RMG factories with RWHS, 16 factories without RWHS, regulatory bodies (DoE, RAiN Forum, BGMEA, BKMEA), and development financiers.

1. The Industrial Groundwater Crisis & Study Objective

The rapid growth of the textile and RMG sectors in Bangladesh has placed extreme pressure on groundwater reserves. In major industrial clusters like Gazipur, Savar, Narayanganj, and Chittagong, the groundwater table is declining at an alarming rate of 2.0 to 3.0 meters per year. Heavy abstraction for industrial washing, dyeing, and domestic factory operations threatens ecological collapse and water shortages for surrounding communities.

This technical study establishes the technological feasibility, sizing parameters, water balance modeling, and financial return on investment (ROI) of Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting Systems (RWHS) for small, medium, and large apparel factories in Bangladesh.

2. The 5 Core Barriers & Remedial Action Matrix

3. Engineering Design Parameters & Hydraulics

RUSTIC Organizational Profile: Institutional Heritage, Forestry Carbon Programs & Positive Youth Development

Chief Executive: Moral Noor Mohammad (Ashoka Fellow, HSBC Climate Hero, WINROCK Nona Fisher Award Winner)
Total Funds Mobilized: BDT 28,00,00,000.00 (280 Million BDT) across 3 decades of high-impact humanitarian interventions.

1. Forestry for Carbon Management (16.5 KM Roadside Plantation)

In 1998, under the Integrated Food for Development (IFFD) project financed by USAID, coordinated by the Government of Bangladesh, and managed by CARE-Bangladesh, RUSTIC implemented an afforestation initiative in Sharankhola and Mongla Upazilas of Bagerhat district.

A total of 16,500 tree saplings (Mehagony, Raintree, Chambal, and Pahari Neem) were planted along 16.5 km of rural roadsides. Over 60% of the trees survived major super-cyclones Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009). The current standing valuation of these surviving trees exceeds BDT 300 Million (30 Crore Taka), providing ecological protection and carbon sequestration for the coastal belt.

2. Positive Youth Development (PYD) & Winrock International F2F Partnership

In collaboration with Seven Hills Global Outreach (SHGO) and the Winrock International Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Program (led by Dr. Gary Lee Heusel), RUSTIC established an intensive training curriculum for 32 youth leaders.

The curriculum integrated three pillars: Youth Development, Servant Leadership, and Agricultural Entrepreneurship (Product, Place, Price, Promotion, Passion). Today, the RUSTIC Youth Group comprises 2 Master Trainers, 3 Community Leaders, and 27 agricultural entrepreneurs driving cooperative marketing for rural produce.

UDAYAN Bangladesh: Institutional Profile (8 Pages with Organogram Figure)

Secretariat: House # 09, Govt. Girls School Road, Amlapara, Bagerhat - 9300, Bangladesh.
Executive Leadership: Md. Asaduzzaman Sheikh (Executive Director). Operational across 13 Upazilas in Bagerhat and Magura districts covering Microfinance (MEDP), coastal WASH, child rights, and Sundarbans disaster resilience.

Small Scale Projects Application: Integrated Coastal Water Security & Climate Resilience

Recipient Authority: Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany (Economic Cooperation & Development). Complete 3-page itemized proposal blueprint covering 25 Community Rainwater Harvesting units, 15 school sanitation complexes, EU GDPR consent declarations, and itemized financing plan.

Annex B: Organization Profile & Official Registration Certificates of RUSTIC

Official Document Archive: Complete 35-page statutory submission containing exhaustive historical origin, constitutional bylaws, 7 core programmatic pillars, 106-village operational cluster table, partner matrix, governance committee roster, full organizational organogram, and high-resolution official scanned certificates from the NGO Affairs Bureau (Prime Minister's Office) and Department of Social Welfare.