Aloka Biswash from Jalalpur, Tala, was sitting on a sheetal pati (a kind of mat) in front of her hut. With a slight smile, the mother of two said, “We don't have our own land, even this house is built on the land of my relatives. My husband is a fisherman, and during the harvest time for paddy, the water-logged people around us have to survive amid a lack of work that creates scarcity of food.”
Ratna from Monirampur, Jessore, wife of a landless farmer said, “Often my children eat only once, if lucky twice a day. During this hard time, my husband can get work maximum twice per week, which earns him not more than Tk300.”
Many families like Aloka and Ratna's suffer from this kind of food scarcity because of the agricultural calendar. The south of the country has two rice harvests throughout the year - with Boro harvested in May, and Amon in December. As a result, the period between August and October holds real hardships in rural areas, and poor households tend to run low on food stock. Water-logging for four to six months due to climate change every year has made the problem even more severe.
People for peopleNow, 420 families in this area are able to feed their families with the help of Uttaran’s food bank. The food bank distributes 140kg of rice amongst these marginalised communities during lean period, when the price of rice rises and there is limited scope for employment. This year, the food bank is being funded by ECHO and a project of Save the Children. Benefited families will return 147kg of rice after three months when there is a harvest to reap. While distributing, priority is given to the extreme poor, households that are waterlogged, and those with the highest level of vulnerability.
Hajrat Ali Joardar, member of the executive committee of the programme, has played a big role in purchasing, distributing and counselling his community fellows. He said, “In order to keep this system going, I always tell people to return the rice on time, so we can get the support when we need it most.”
Once husked, the 140kg of paddy that is distributed provides 100kg of actual rice and 30kg of animal feed. Recipients then pay back the cost of the rice in cash when prices are lower during the harvest, with a 5 – 7% additional charge to cover losses from wastage and damage. In spirit, the intervention replicates the notion of mushti chal in traditional Bengali society - a household going short was able to borrow a fistful of rice from a neighbour, returning it later at no cost.
While distributing, priority is given to the extreme poor, households that are waterlogged, and those with the highest level of vulnerability
Economic perspectivesReferring to initiatives like the Food Bank as humanitarian, Atiur Rahman, economist and former governor of the Central Bank said, “Countries around the world have been using many community approaches to combat against any upheaval - it is a human response to disaster. This practice can be a great lesson for the entire country. We can use this experience in emergencies caused by climate change.”
On the topic of prioritising women in food banks, Atiur Rahman said, “Women are the one who have to deal with any crisis first within the family. A mother does her best to ensure her family doesn't starve, and the power of union is higher in women than men.” However, Rahman thinks that despite being a good initiative, it is not enough and more involvement of the government is necessary.
Sayema Haque Bidisha, associate professor of Economics at University of Dhaka, thinks that the challenge is to be sufficiently inclusive, since programs like the Food Bank are mostly effective during emergency periods and have short-term outcomes. She said, “On one hand, the yearly cycle of crops is a regular phenomenon. On the other hand, the water-logging is the result of climate change. However, the system is temporarily safeguarding people by providing food, but what will happen if the food banking stops due to fund shortages or any other reason?”
Bidisha thinks that an unintended by-product of such support is often creating dependency, and emphasised on developing long-term solutions that will empower communities. “The amount of money being used in food banks can be implemented in ways that will eventually open doors to alternative work during crises. This will not only prepare them to survive any emergency but will also make them self-sufficient,” she said.