Daahuk: A for-profit approach to development | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Wednesday
May 28, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2025
Daahuk: A for-profit approach to development

Panorama

Ariful Hasan Shuvo
25 September, 2023, 12:25 pm
Last modified: 25 September, 2023, 01:14 pm

Related News

  • Four, including top criminal 'Excel Babu', arrested in Mohammadpur
  • Apparel leaders, global buyers, regulators discuss overlapping audit challenges, compliance requirements in high-level meeting
  • Govt may reduce newsprint import duty
  • Reform is more difficult in times of economic crisis: Anisuzzaman
  • Azharul’s acquittal: 5, including journo, injured in clashes between leftist students and 'anti-Shahbaghis' at RU

Daahuk: A for-profit approach to development

Daahuk has come up with a unique approach to sustainable tourism — an integrated for-profit development model — to clean up the area and help both itself and the community profit while doing so

Ariful Hasan Shuvo
25 September, 2023, 12:25 pm
Last modified: 25 September, 2023, 01:14 pm
Daahuk has trained over 1,000 people for different livelihood options and facilitated the employment of around 500 villagers. Photo: Courtesy
Daahuk has trained over 1,000 people for different livelihood options and facilitated the employment of around 500 villagers. Photo: Courtesy

Tanguar Haor is a serene place where people can escape from the never-ending buzz of their hectic urban lives. This unique wetland ecosystem of Bangladesh has received international attention and as part of the country's tourism master plan, the government is looking to turn the place into an ecotourism hub.

But environmental pollution has always been the biggest challenge for the greater Tahirpur region, where Tanguar Haor is located.

Plastic littering by tourists, uncontrolled fishing, mismanagement of the local markets, and lack of awareness among local residents are among the several factors that are threatening Tanguar Haor. At least a tonne of plastic waste is dumped in the haor water per day during the peak season, TBS reported last year.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The solution to this challenge is not rocket science, but traditional approaches have sadly failed to make a sustainable change.

So, Daahuk has come up with a unique approach — an integrated for-profit development model — to clean up the area and help both itself and the community profit while doing so.

Ever since its inception, Daahuk has always prioritised preservation of nature, as it is a core part of sustainable tourism. Now it is collaborating with the Bangladesh Tourism Board for waste management and awareness programmes in Tahirpur. It has recently installed bins on all local boats as well as at local market entry points. 

Photo: Courtesy
Photo: Courtesy

There is a traditional practice of waste reselling in rural areas, known as 'bhangari' business in Bangla. Daahuk connects local waste collectors with district-level waste resellers or recycling parties. It makes money from a facilitation charge and creates earning opportunities for the locals too.

"We believe that only a people-inclusive and profit-incentivised model can treat the tremendous amount of waste in Tanguar Haor most effectively. We have done our part as a development entity. Now industrial and governmental support can turn this project into a grand success," said Daahuk's founder Magfi Reza Siddique.

Sustainability through business

A few years back, when haor tourism started to evolve, massive investment drove local boatmen and enterprises out of business. Siddique, then a postgraduate student, realised that inter-community cooperation could be the key to sustainable development for Tanguar Haor.

Since then, the organisation has been revolutionising climate-vulnerable lives at Tahirpur, Dharmapasha, and Madhyanagar regions in Sunamganj. It has now expanded its operation among various communities in Sirajganj, Cox's Bazar, Kurigram, and Munshiganj districts as well.

Daahuk is a for-profit research and development organisation. While most development organisations usually work in a non-profit model, Daahuk introduced an approach of creating financial incentive for development among the community, which they call 'Development for Profit' model.

Photo: Courtesy
Photo: Courtesy

The model works by involving rural people directly in the business and making money together. The waste management project is a good example of it. Siddique believes that a for-profit model can be effective and sustainable for rural communities since it incentivises the community. 

Daahuk specifically targets people having local business potential. 

"We used to consider tourists as mere passengers before, but now we see them as our guests. Now we are aware how to welcome them and maintain hospitality. And we are not only boatmen to them anymore, we act as their tour guides. This practice was not built in a day. That is where Daahuk made an impact," said Mohammad Samaun Kabir, a local boatman at Tanguar Haor.

One of Daahuk's core revenue generators is the tour package reselling business. Daahuk improvises local services such as boat renting, food etc. and resells  it as a 'community product'. It offers them as a package to tourists at an affordable price. It is now the first and biggest boat-based tourism marketplace in Bangladesh. 

However, Daahuk does not have any product of its own, not even any boats. All it does is upgrade and resell. Such an approach makes its operational process smooth, cost-effective and more sustainable.

Strength in community

Daahuk has established three active community cooperatives with over 400 members from local villages. The cooperatives have proven to be crucial for sustainable community development and empowerment, allowing rural people to work collaboratively and make collective decisions. The region being highly climate-vulnerable, these cooperatives allow communities to respond collaboratively and strategically to recover from crises.

The organisation connected the community members with local governmental and non-governmental institutions as well as marketplaces. It has trained over 1,000 people for different livelihood options, facilitated employment of around 500 villagers and inclusion of more than 200 women in the tourism market through catering service and poultry. 

Photo: Courtesy
Photo: Courtesy

In addition, they provided consultation for improved management and operational strategies in compliance with government-approved structures.

Most of the local boatmen are farmers in the winter and fishermen in the mid-season. This created a seasonal unemployment problem during the monsoon, while the Covid-19 outbreak exacerbated the situation. In response, Daahuk launched a program to offer seed money to this community with the goal of minimising the impact of job loss and helping them in transferring to alternate work prospects. 

The scheme has been highly effective, with over 500 boat-based professionals already benefiting from it. Daahuk aims to empower the local community by developing economic resilience and encouraging sustainable livelihoods for all.

Daahuk also played a role during the catastrophic flood in 2022, using its boatmen network chain. Team Daahuk effectively leveraged their integrated network of boatmen for disaster rescue and response. They designed a logistics route across the flood-affected region in order to rapidly and efficiently deliver relief to the affected people. Thousands of relief workers and rescuers utilised this route during that crisis. 

In 2022, Daahuk was awarded 'Project of the Year' under the Social Impact category in the Bangladesh Project Management Symposium and Excellence Awards 2022. In 2023, it again received the same award and an academic recognition by the Project Management Institute (PMI) of South Asia for its contribution to the community.

"Daahuk aims to become the biggest name for creating rural employment in the country. Our aim is to become, undisputedly, the best rural development organisation, and we believe we are on track," says Siddique.

Features / Top News

Daahuk / sustainable tourism / Tourism / Bangladesh / Tourism corporation / development models

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Inflation, exchange rate shocks to intensify fiscal pressure in FY26
    Inflation, exchange rate shocks to intensify fiscal pressure in FY26
  • Screengrab from Google Maps shows traffic situation in Dhaka roads on the morning of Wednesday, 28 May 2025
    BNP, Jamaat rally day: Traffic likely to clog Dhaka roads, including Shahbagh, Nayapaltan, Kakrail
  • File photo of jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam
    Jamaat leader ATM Azharul walks out of jail after acquittal in war crimes case

MOST VIEWED

  • Selim RF Hussain. Sketch: TBS
    BRAC Bank MD Selim RF Hussain resigns
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Depositors need not worry as govt will take over banks before merger: BB governor
  • Graphics: TBS
    Suspicious banking activities surge by 56% since July: Cenbank
  • Photo: Collected
    DU student assaulted for protesting eve-teasing at Chadni Chowk
  • Illustration: TBS
    Bangladesh sees highest-ever per capita income of $2,820 in FY25, BBS provisional data shows
  • Officials protest inside the Secretariat on Tuesday, 27 May 2025, over a government ordinance amending the Public Service Act, 2018. Photo: Rajib Dhar
    Protest at Secretariat suspended as govt assures decision on ordinance tomorrow

Related News

  • Four, including top criminal 'Excel Babu', arrested in Mohammadpur
  • Apparel leaders, global buyers, regulators discuss overlapping audit challenges, compliance requirements in high-level meeting
  • Govt may reduce newsprint import duty
  • Reform is more difficult in times of economic crisis: Anisuzzaman
  • Azharul’s acquittal: 5, including journo, injured in clashes between leftist students and 'anti-Shahbaghis' at RU

Features

In recent years, the Gor-e-Shaheed Eidgah has emerged as a strong contender for the crown of the biggest Eid congregation in the country, having hosted 600,000 worshippers in 2017. Photo: TBS

Gor-e-Shaheed Boro Maath: The heart of Dinajpur

1d | Panorama
The Hili Land Port, officially opened in 1997 but with trade roots stretching back to before Partition, has grown into a cornerstone of bilateral commerce.

Dhaka-Delhi tensions ripple across Hili’s markets and livelihoods

2d | Panorama
Photo: Collected

Desk goals: Affordable ways to elevate your study setup

2d | Brands
Built on a diamond-type frame, the Hornet 2.0 is agile but grounded. PHOTO: Asif Chowdhury

Honda Hornet 2.0: Same spirit, upgraded sting

2d | Wheels

More Videos from TBS

How can we protect Dhaka’s rivers and canals from plastic waste?

How can we protect Dhaka’s rivers and canals from plastic waste?

1h | TBS Programs
Jamaat leader ATM Azhar released from prison after 13 years

Jamaat leader ATM Azhar released from prison after 13 years

1h | TBS Today
Trump delays 50% tariffs on EU goods

Trump delays 50% tariffs on EU goods

12h | Others
Eid may be celebrated in Bangladesh on June 7

Eid may be celebrated in Bangladesh on June 7

12h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net