Food Insecurity in Panchagarh
By: Nishat Ahmed
Imagine a vast plain of greenery, a plain filled with various crops: corn, rice, turmeric, tea. That’s Panchagarh, a hidden beauty in the northwest corner of Bangladesh. Panchagarh’s people rely on the region’s agricultural prosperity for work and a living, but, unfortunately, the fields are not always green and the region’s agriculture is often not able to sustain its people.
Bangladeshis in Panchagarh face many issues which translate into food insecurity. Panchagarh is in the Rangpur division, a northwestern state of Bangladesh. Northwest Bangladesh is a historically poor region, often neglected by the government. On average, 42% of the population are impoverished. The environment of the area only compounds this poverty. The soil tends to be sandy and water tables deeper than in other regions. This poses a problem as agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and main source of employment. Rangpur division is also prone to frequent natural disasters, and each season brings new troubles: cyclones in the summer, river-bank erosion and floods during the rainy season, cold waves in the winter, and droughts in the spring. Climate Change has only exacerbated these catastrophes and made it even harder for those living through them. According to a 2018 research study, “DSSAT crop modelling shows that areas including Panchagarh will have high [rice] yield losses due to climate change impacts.” Climate change decreases the agricultural productivity of the region, thus drastically impacting the source of income for many in Panchagarh.
Moreover, the issue of income is intensified by the mistreatment of agricultural workers in the status quo. One example lies in the working conditions of tea gardeners. Working as a tea gardener is prevalent in Panchagarh, and those who do suffer low wages and a diminished state of livelihood. Ronald Rozario from UCA news reports, “a registered tea worker gets 102 taka (US$1.2) daily wage, the lowest in the world, and a minimal 3 kilograms of food rations,” which only consists of rice and wheat — tea gardener families stay in overcrowded shanty villages, called labour lines, whose houses have mud walls and a thatched roof. Unsurprisingly, these horrible working conditions did not stop in the pandemic; they worsened. The lockdown did not stop the work in the tea estates, but workers struggled to get by when prices for essential items, such as food, “soared.” According to the Dhaka Tribune, COVID-19’s disruptions to transport and market access limited food access, and according to a study done by FAO and WTP, northern regions such as Panchagarh have been since the start of the pandemic more likely to experience high levels of food insecurity.
As we can see, poverty and hunger are directly correlated. The Rangpur division — Panchagarh in particular — faces extreme poverty. Now, in the middle of a drought, Panchagarh needs our help more than ever. Bangladesh Hunger Front believes that sending food aid to Panchagarh is a necessary step to provide immediate relief to a region long vulnerable. In our Panchagarh Project, we will distribute nutritious food supplies to a small village in Panchagarh, using the funds our supporters have generously given. In these dark times, we hope to provide as much help as we can — with equity, awareness, love, and justice in mind. Help Us Help Them — donate at our GoFundMe link.
Works Cited:
Md. Rukunujjaman. “Poverty Level of Bangladesh: Special Case, Rangpur and Rajshahi Division.” The International Journal of Science and Research Methodology, 25 Nov. 2016, ijsrm.humanjournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/18.Md_.-Rukunujjaman.pdf.
Alamgir, Md & Furuya, Jun & Kobayashi, Shintaro & Mostafiz, Rubaiya Binta & Abdus, Salam. (2018). Farmers’ Net Income Distribution and Regional Vulnerability to Climate Change: An Empirical Study of Bangladesh. Climate. 6. 65. 10.3390/cli6030065.
Rozario, Ronald. “Covid-19 Intensifies Misery of Bangladesh’s Tea Workers — UCA News.” Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA), 16 July 2020, www.ucanews.com/news/covid-19-intensifies-misery-of-bangladeshs-tea-workers/88792#.
Chowdhury, Shyamal, et al. “OP-ED: A Lifeline against Hunger.” Dhaka Tribune, 25 Dec. 2020, www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/12/26/op-ed-a-lifeline-against-hunger.
