At North-Western region of Bangladesh seasonal scarcity of employment occurred during the locally lean period from mid September to mid November; and in this context, household’s per capita income falls and limited access to food grains diffuses over rural poor and landless as well as marginally land-owning families, concentrated in greater Rangpur (Kurigram, Gaibanda, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat) and some part of Jamalpur district due to the incidence of extreme poor, lack of income and consumption resources as well.
Even if Bangladesh has made impressive attainments in ensuring food availability during the last three decades, even so, over 60 million people are said to go hungry every day. Significant intra-household disparity and discrimination in food also exists, especially in environmentally, economically vulnerable northern domain of Bangladesh, situated in Tista and Jamuna basin that are known to be monga prone.
Climate-risk to food vulnerability
Apart from food scarcity, flood as climate-risk it causes, it also is a significant contributor of monga. It is said, with some degree of econometric estimation;
unanticipated flood and river bank erosion manifests itself in all of its magnitudes, reducing the ability to withstand that prolong the recovery from entire poverty circle. Increment of medical and health expenditure for seasonal climate variability and lack of health service become as a primal portion of non-food expenditure. High payback of borrowed money with high interest rate from local Mohazan reduces the ability of buying food. All these inexplicit risk factors regarding climate change pertained to integral risk factors.
Bangladesh Poverty Map, revealed in a research conducted by BBS and WB in collaboration with the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) unit of the UNWFP, is an attempt to estimating poverty at lower administrative level, which enable economic analyst, also of policy makers to recognize regional geo-economic inequality. This focused on the percentage of poor (upper poverty line) and extreme poor (lower poverty line), which explores Fulchhari (60.00% & 42.70%), Char Rajibpur (73.90% & 58.80%), Hatiabanda (56.50% & 36.90%), Dimla (75.70% & 61.50%) are the most poverty-stricken chars and flood affected mainland of Gaibanda, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts respectively. Thus nearly three million people of the greater Rangpur who are chronically (extreme poor) poor are caught in such a cruel trap of poor and poverty.
Fourfold concept of food vulnerability
Vulnerability resulting from food insecurity, in terms of basic fourfold FAO concepts-availability, access, utilization of food and stability of these three dimension over time- within the framework of poverty eradication, as the ex-ante (forward-looking) than ex-post risk or probability that a household will, if currently non-poor, fall below the poverty line, or if currently poor, will remain in poverty. Thus the dynamic nature of households food vulnerability to an outcome from a variety of risk factors that are seasonal unemployment, damages crop production at flood-prone, and an inability to manage those risk due to income as well as resource constraints. To combat with food insecurity objectives to be accomplished, all four dimensions must be consummated simultaneously.
Empirical evidence and field survey evaluate that about two-third of the households in these areas faces food shortage, whether transitory or chronic. Indeed, the crux of the transitory food insecurity is relatively unpredictable and can emerge suddenly, which makes intervention planning more challenging and requires different intervention capacities, inclusion of early warning capacity and social safety net programmes. River bank and flood-prone areas marked as high damaging response cluster are the worst-off among monga-hit regions in terms of food insecurity. More than one-third of the households in these vulnerable zones face food shortage throughout the year and another one-third face temporary or seasonal food shortage during the year.
Remedial measures of Government and NGO’s
Core elements of various protection, prevention and promotional measures from government, international donor and development partner agencies and P-NGO’s reduces different degree of food severity considering causes and effects of monga. Budget FY 2009-10 allocates a broad spectrum for monga mitigation for both year round social safety net program and lean season. Vulnerable Group Development (VGD), Vulnerable Group Fund (VGF), Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction (CFPR), Chars Livelihood Program (CLP), Programmed Initiative for Monga the Eradication of Monga (PRIME) are the some well functioning mitigation program’s that combine social protections and complementary policy interventions.
Yet indeed, the direct beneficiaries of these income (IGA) and employment generating activities is near about to 10 to 15 percent of total affected people –revealed at a field survey 2009- due to limited budget allocation while rest of the people are uncovered at social protection nets. Ultra poor households in monga-hit regions, which have no land or fixed asset or both deprived by eating limited variety of food or eat fewer meals in a day even daylong hunger; specially women and children. These produces serious social and economic consequences, including low schooling rate, losses in national productivity, income and income generating capacity for the future generation, which presumably continues in perpetuity.
Consumption and livelihood coping strategies of vulnerable people
Reduced consumption as well as livelihood coping strategy index explains a quick qualitative look and rank on monga mitigating options, more applicable for geographical targeting and resource allocation. Reduced CCSI was developed as a local context-specific indicator of food insecurity that counts up and weight coping behavior at local household level. Household had to rely on less preferred food, borrow from neighbor, purchase food on credit (borrowing with high interest rate) , or gather food from natural/wild sources if there have been times when family did not enough money to buy food in monga or locally slack seasons. A very hardship comes when people induced to sell agricultural products, livestock and fixed/movable asset or temporary migration.
How solve this temporary food crisis?
Since food vulnerability to an outcome from a variety of risk, policy makers should broaden their efforts to analyze and clarify the risk factors of food insecurity addressing time fixed action plan to reduce the degree of severity and enhancing the ability to cope up with different preventive measurement. Minimum calorie intake should be ensured for the unprivileged vulnerable groups through linked channels of connectivity involving strategic or buffer stock of food grains in upazilla level, convenient supply chain management and, equal allocation of sufficient food aid. A comprehensive program should be taken to eradicate the curse of monga, and implementation of the program is being monitored by the government extensions continuously.
Notwithstanding the fact that reducing food intake throughout slack seasons is one of the distinguishing features (over 80 percent) for coping with the monga has been resonated, and response actions should have on the basis on pre-crisis early warning system. In view of upcoming momentum of monga, directly observed short term treatments as suggested will be declines the pre-assumed vulnerable group’s basic food demand and health services with full fledged cover, at early of September. These apart, it increasing resilience to preliminary shocks and stresses generated from socio-economic constraints, climate risks and subsequent employment volatility. Otherwise, in fact, it will be difficult for affected households to combat with monga. The number of size and outreach of mitigating strategies that have been, and are being, adopted across the monga-prone areas by GO’s, international development/donor agencies and P-NGO’s from northern to north-western region, testify to the prediction.
Even if Bangladesh has made impressive attainments in ensuring food availability during the last three decades, even so, over 60 million people are said to go hungry every day. Significant intra-household disparity and discrimination in food also exists, especially in environmentally, economically vulnerable northern domain of Bangladesh, situated in Tista and Jamuna basin that are known to be monga prone.
Climate-risk to food vulnerability
Apart from food scarcity, flood as climate-risk it causes, it also is a significant contributor of monga. It is said, with some degree of econometric estimation;
unanticipated flood and river bank erosion manifests itself in all of its magnitudes, reducing the ability to withstand that prolong the recovery from entire poverty circle. Increment of medical and health expenditure for seasonal climate variability and lack of health service become as a primal portion of non-food expenditure. High payback of borrowed money with high interest rate from local Mohazan reduces the ability of buying food. All these inexplicit risk factors regarding climate change pertained to integral risk factors.
Bangladesh Poverty Map, revealed in a research conducted by BBS and WB in collaboration with the Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (VAM) unit of the UNWFP, is an attempt to estimating poverty at lower administrative level, which enable economic analyst, also of policy makers to recognize regional geo-economic inequality. This focused on the percentage of poor (upper poverty line) and extreme poor (lower poverty line), which explores Fulchhari (60.00% & 42.70%), Char Rajibpur (73.90% & 58.80%), Hatiabanda (56.50% & 36.90%), Dimla (75.70% & 61.50%) are the most poverty-stricken chars and flood affected mainland of Gaibanda, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts respectively. Thus nearly three million people of the greater Rangpur who are chronically (extreme poor) poor are caught in such a cruel trap of poor and poverty.
Fourfold concept of food vulnerability
Vulnerability resulting from food insecurity, in terms of basic fourfold FAO concepts-availability, access, utilization of food and stability of these three dimension over time- within the framework of poverty eradication, as the ex-ante (forward-looking) than ex-post risk or probability that a household will, if currently non-poor, fall below the poverty line, or if currently poor, will remain in poverty. Thus the dynamic nature of households food vulnerability to an outcome from a variety of risk factors that are seasonal unemployment, damages crop production at flood-prone, and an inability to manage those risk due to income as well as resource constraints. To combat with food insecurity objectives to be accomplished, all four dimensions must be consummated simultaneously.
Empirical evidence and field survey evaluate that about two-third of the households in these areas faces food shortage, whether transitory or chronic. Indeed, the crux of the transitory food insecurity is relatively unpredictable and can emerge suddenly, which makes intervention planning more challenging and requires different intervention capacities, inclusion of early warning capacity and social safety net programmes. River bank and flood-prone areas marked as high damaging response cluster are the worst-off among monga-hit regions in terms of food insecurity. More than one-third of the households in these vulnerable zones face food shortage throughout the year and another one-third face temporary or seasonal food shortage during the year.
Remedial measures of Government and NGO’s
Core elements of various protection, prevention and promotional measures from government, international donor and development partner agencies and P-NGO’s reduces different degree of food severity considering causes and effects of monga. Budget FY 2009-10 allocates a broad spectrum for monga mitigation for both year round social safety net program and lean season. Vulnerable Group Development (VGD), Vulnerable Group Fund (VGF), Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction (CFPR), Chars Livelihood Program (CLP), Programmed Initiative for Monga the Eradication of Monga (PRIME) are the some well functioning mitigation program’s that combine social protections and complementary policy interventions.
Yet indeed, the direct beneficiaries of these income (IGA) and employment generating activities is near about to 10 to 15 percent of total affected people –revealed at a field survey 2009- due to limited budget allocation while rest of the people are uncovered at social protection nets. Ultra poor households in monga-hit regions, which have no land or fixed asset or both deprived by eating limited variety of food or eat fewer meals in a day even daylong hunger; specially women and children. These produces serious social and economic consequences, including low schooling rate, losses in national productivity, income and income generating capacity for the future generation, which presumably continues in perpetuity.
Consumption and livelihood coping strategies of vulnerable people
Reduced consumption as well as livelihood coping strategy index explains a quick qualitative look and rank on monga mitigating options, more applicable for geographical targeting and resource allocation. Reduced CCSI was developed as a local context-specific indicator of food insecurity that counts up and weight coping behavior at local household level. Household had to rely on less preferred food, borrow from neighbor, purchase food on credit (borrowing with high interest rate) , or gather food from natural/wild sources if there have been times when family did not enough money to buy food in monga or locally slack seasons. A very hardship comes when people induced to sell agricultural products, livestock and fixed/movable asset or temporary migration.
How solve this temporary food crisis?
Since food vulnerability to an outcome from a variety of risk, policy makers should broaden their efforts to analyze and clarify the risk factors of food insecurity addressing time fixed action plan to reduce the degree of severity and enhancing the ability to cope up with different preventive measurement. Minimum calorie intake should be ensured for the unprivileged vulnerable groups through linked channels of connectivity involving strategic or buffer stock of food grains in upazilla level, convenient supply chain management and, equal allocation of sufficient food aid. A comprehensive program should be taken to eradicate the curse of monga, and implementation of the program is being monitored by the government extensions continuously.
Notwithstanding the fact that reducing food intake throughout slack seasons is one of the distinguishing features (over 80 percent) for coping with the monga has been resonated, and response actions should have on the basis on pre-crisis early warning system. In view of upcoming momentum of monga, directly observed short term treatments as suggested will be declines the pre-assumed vulnerable group’s basic food demand and health services with full fledged cover, at early of September. These apart, it increasing resilience to preliminary shocks and stresses generated from socio-economic constraints, climate risks and subsequent employment volatility. Otherwise, in fact, it will be difficult for affected households to combat with monga. The number of size and outreach of mitigating strategies that have been, and are being, adopted across the monga-prone areas by GO’s, international development/donor agencies and P-NGO’s from northern to north-western region, testify to the prediction.
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