Food Security in Rural Bangladesh: A Comparative Study of Scientific and Grassroots Perceptions

Food Security

The idea of food security has undergone a significant evolution and transformation throughout history. Initially, the concept referred to the availability and supply of food. However, this changed over time due to factors such as global food crises that resulted in the death of thousands, the recognition of food as a basic human need, and the growth of international organisations. Today, various official definitions of food security exist in the literature, including one from the State of Food Insecurity in 2001, which encompasses the social aspect of access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active life. This concept reached maturity with the insights of economist Amartya Sen, who emphasised the importance of individuals’ and households’ entitlements to food (Clay, 2002; Sen, 1982).

The evolution of the concept of food security has undergone significant changes over the years. It initially referred to food supply and availability. Still, following global food crises and the recognition of food as a basic human need, the definition has expanded to include access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels (Shaw, 2007). This formal definition was established in 1996 and emphasised the importance of physical and economic access to food. Over time, the meaning of food security has evolved to reflect changes in official policy thinking and current conceptualisations. Implementing food security policies requires considering the complex social structures and relevant concerns for successful outcomes. The concept has been developed and refined over the last three decades to reflect shifting policy perspectives (Clay, 2002; Heidhues et al., 2004).

The definition of food security includes all individuals and households. The idea of ‘all people at all times’ having access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food has replaced the previous concept of steady expansion of food consumption. The definition now focuses on public health, nutrition, physical health and food choice. The definition has become a more holistic and applied understanding of food security. It is now widely agreed that food security means access to a minimum daily diet, which is calculated based on age and sex and includes 2,242 calories and 70 grams of protein, along with vitamins and minerals along with vitamins and minerals, used per person per day.

Theefinitionn of food security was further expanded in 2001 to include the aspect of social accessibility. This considers a society’s cultural and political context, which can sometimes create barriers to accessing sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Social and cultural stigmas, such as the status of women, children, indigenous peoples and caste systems, can prevent individuals from accessing the food they need. Even if someone has economic and physical access to food, they may not have social or cultural accessibility in their society, hindering their overall food security.

State of Food Security in Bangladesh

Despite Bangladesh reaching lower-middle income status in 2015 and significant advancements in reducing poverty and food insecurity, a large number of people in rural areas still live below the poverty line. Despite the implementation of various anti-poverty programmes, it has been acknowledged that they often fail to reach the ultra-poor, according to studies by Matin and Hume (2003) and Hashemi (1997), as well as research by Hume and Mosley (1996). Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in rice production, increasing from 11 million tonnes in 1971 to 33 million tonnes in 2012 due to the development of high-yielding crop varieties, irrigation infrastructure and private investment in tube wells. There has also been significant progress in the production of vegetables and potatoes in recent decades. However, the country is facing challenges with the volatility in prices leading to fluctuations in production from year to year.

In contrast, prices of crops, such as pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, etc., have either remained the same or decreased, leading to an increase in the availability of pulses, edible oil, sugar, milk and wheat. Fish is a crucial dietary item for the Bangladeshi population due to its nutritional value, and the growth of pond aquaculture has rapidly boosted fish production by 7% per year (Hossain, 2013). The 12^th round of the Food Security Nutrition Surveillance Project (October-November 2013) revealed a decrease in the number of people concerned about food, from 53% in 2012 to 32% in 2013. The tendency to consume less preferred foods, rely solely on rice, and eat smaller meals declined from 19%, 14% and 21% from 2012 to 2013, respectively. Only 7% of the people skipped a meal, 27% of households ran out of food, and only 14% experienced hunger. Approximately 60% of rural households in Bangladesh are involved in farming, and while they have access to food (rice, wheat and vegetables) from their production as well as local markets, many people, even farmers, are still unable to achieve food security due to their landlessness and low levels of land ownership. The government of Bangladesh implements several initiatives to guarantee food security for all households, including stabilising market prices, providing targeted food distribution to poor households and emergency relief after natural disasters. However, the goal of ensuring food security for all remains distant. Many individuals continue to suffer from malnutrition, lack of safe food and the threat of hunger.

Grassroots Perception

This research aimed to understand the perception of food security among rural communities in Bangladesh, where despite an improvement in the country’s food production, some people still face food insecurity, malnutrition, lack of safe food and even hunger. The findings revealed a difference between the local people’s understanding of food security and the scientific definition, as poor local people used traditional and local coping strategies to overcome food insecurity, which were embedded in their community practices. This research observed that the local people’s perception of food (in)security was shaped by their past experiences in the current context, which differed from the commonly referred definitions of food (in)security (Keller et al., 2007). By examining the experiences of different stakeholders, the research concluded that local people’s understanding of food security is closely tied to self-sufficiency in rice and other staple foods (Hossain, 2013). In Bangladesh, rural smallholders typically associate food security with having a sufficient rice supply to meet their needs for an entire year without much consideration for nutritional value, food safety, or social demand for food.

The Bangladeshi poor people had a chronic historical experience of inadequate food and famine. The past horrible experiences of war and famine are knitted in the people’s minds. From those experiences, some reflections have been amassed among the poor/smallholders of Bangladesh. In continuation, people’s perceptions about food security have been constructed according to the reflections, which are far different from the scientific definition and understanding. Islam (2012) showed that the lack of awareness about nutrition is the root cause of this. He found it difficult to get the right answer to the question: ‘What do you (rural people) mean by food, and why do you take food?’ because it is such a habitual fact from the very beginning of life that they never think about it. He frequently heard: ‘We (rural people) take food to live because we cannot live without food’, ‘We take food when we feel hungry’ and ‘We take food to fill up our stomach’. These people have little concern about a balanced diet, which is essential for a healthy and active life. They take delicious food for them and are satisfied if they can fill their stomach with a bowl of rice by any means. Local perception is associated with the socio-economic context as well. Most smallholders noticed almost the same narrative in this regard. A woman smallholder from the southern part of Bangladesh expressed:

There is no inadequacy of food as it was in the past. The situation has changed. Nowadays, people do not suffer from chronic starvation or die from lack of food. In the past, people faced severe food shortages during the month of Kartick (October to November), but this is no longer the case. There is no famine, and people do not die of starvation. Today, people have money in their pockets and can get food. At least they can manage to have a daily meal every day.

Prevalence of Food Insecurity

The intensity of food insecurity has been defined as the number of months the households encountered food shortage (Muhammad, 2006). According to a survey, the households were asked how many months of the last Bengali year (1418–1419) they were bumped into food shortage problems and which months. The respondents replied that the month of Chaitra (March–April) was highly food-insecure (Aziz & Atkins, 2014). This month falls in the Boro (dry) season and small farmers have to invest a significant amount of money in their rice cultivation, which results in a high production cost of rice (Uddin, 2008). The month is also called ‘mora Kartik’, which means ‘months of death and disaster’, and occurs twice a year—September-November (after the aman crop is planted) and March-April (after the Boro crop is planted) (Muhammad, 2006). During these times, extreme poverty, particularly among farm labourers, leads to unemployment and increased food insecurity and hunger (Uddin, 2008). Natural disasters, such as floods, river erosions, and coastal winds/tornadoes/cyclones, often intensify hunger and food insecurity, particularly among char land and coastal island people (Islam, 2018; Islam et al., 2020; Mazid & Johnson, 2010). Forced displacement and migration to nearby cities also increase vulnerability due to the lack of education, low skills and low coping strategies of the affected individuals in urban areas. The situation often worsens for those who cannot migrate, leading to malnutrition, starvation and food shortage (Mohammad, 2006). Small farmers usually have to sell their stored food grain to meet cultivation expenses during this time, resulting in a shortage of food for the household members. According to the Bengali crop calendar, Agrahyan is the harvesting season of aman, and Kartik is the month just before the harvest season when farmers typically face food grain shortages due to the long gap in rice cultivation. Smallholders also work as farm day labourers and face food grain and wage shortages before harvest due to the lack of work in paddy fields (Muhammad, 2006).

Coping Strategy: An Assortment Based on Context

The concept of food storage and food security has been prevalent since ancient times, as evidenced in the case of ancient Egypt, where the Egyptians had already developed the idea of storing crops for uneven days. According to Smith (1928), the Egyptians were well aware of their realm’s natural cycles and environmental behaviour and could understand the Nile River’s nature and its potential for natural disasters. This knowledge allowed them to increase their agricultural production and build granaries to store their crops for future use. Thus, food security has been a concern for civilisations throughout history, and it is fascinating to see how the ancient Egyptians were able to address this challenge.

Smallholders in rural Bangladesh adopt both self-coping and assisted coping strategies to cope with food insecurity. The self-coping strategy includes reducing the number and size of daily meals, relying on wild food, selling labour at a low rate, selling fixed and movable assets, taking out new loans at high-interest rates and growing short-duration crops. On the other hand, the assisted coping strategies include relying on relief food, social networks and begging (Uddin, 2012). The research showed that most smallholders relied on cheap and low-priced food during food scarcity and reduced their meal size or number of meals. Some also borrowed food or received help from friends or relatives and purchased everyday necessities related to their daily meals on credit from the local shop. The coping strategies adopted by each household are based on their specific livelihood patterns and suit their individual needs and circumstances.

In the context of the present rural Bangladesh, smallholders use their social, economic and cultural competence in their coping strategies for food insecurity. This research found that the marginal farmers adopted six self-coping strategies and three assisted coping strategies to cope with vulnerability and food insecurity. The self-coping strategies were lessening the number and size of everyday meals, feasting on wild food, selling labour at a very low rate, selling fixed and movable household assets, contracting new loans at a high-interest rate, and cultivating short-duration crops. On the other hand, assisted coping strategies include relief food, social networks and begging (Uddin, 2012). The current research showed that most smallholders relied on cheap and low-priced food during food scarcity. Many smallholders also reduced their meal size or number of meals on uneven days. Some of them borrowed food or received help from friends or relatives. They brought food, grain, salt, oil, etc., from the local shop in a due payment. It is one kind of loan. Especially everyday necessities related to their daily meal had to be brought from the village shop for a due payment. Simultaneously, this research found such case stories of those who coped with food scarcity by adopting suitable coping strategies. All the practices or coping strategies were based on the local context. Every household has their dynamics according to their livelihood patterns. They adopt strategies that are suitable for their livelihoods.

Daily Food Behaviour

In the days of the food shortage, grassroots smallholders usually reduce their meal size, number of meals, or quality as part of the coping strategy. This research apprehended local stallholders’ struggle and compassion regarding food shortage. Rekha (pseudonym), a woman, explained her experience regarding the food insecurity they had passed miserable days. She informed that a few years ago when her husband left her along with her children due to extreme poverty, she took a loan from a well-wisher and started vending clothes in her neighbourhood villages. She spent miserable days with her family, even taking one or half meals without curry in a day. She managed the vulnerable situation then and gradually became stable in her survival. They could not meet their regular meal, but now the days have been changed. She said:

Days have changed, people do not strive now, and the miserable period has been reduced. People do not suffer from hunger as they did in previous days.

There are food grains in her granary. She also added that regarding the issue of food insecurity, the level of insufficiency of food has been changed. Rekha said that she felt insufficient when facing a shortage of money, especially during the period of land cultivation in the Boro season (March-April). She had to meet the cultivation expenses by selling the rice grain stored for the yearly needs. Because of meeting the cultivation expenses, her household faced food insufficiency every year. She also said that she and her family coped with the food insecurity through their coping strategies—they took their limited meals considering the situation and reduced their standard of meals, such as a low consumption of meat, fish and eggs. Here, it is notable that she and her family are not worried about the nutritional value of their meal. She alleged that now,

We eat regularly. We cultivate rice and potatoes. Food is not a problem for us.

She seemed pleased that she could fulfil all her food demands with what she had. She learned this perception from her miserable experience: having enough food means having no tension about her food.

Mominul Islam (pseudonym), another smallholder from northern Bangladesh, had almost the same perception regarding food security as Rekha. He also had the rental business of agro-technology and did not face food insecurity as he gets all food grains year-round from his land. Nevertheless, in the dull season, especially when crops are growing in the field, he cannot earn anything from his rental business agro-technology and faces financial inefficiency, which affects even his regular meals. During this time, he followed some coping strategies, such as reducing the cost of his daily meal. He said:

Look, I used to buy one kilogram of fish, but I cannot buy this as I do not have enough money to buy it. Now, I will buy a half kilogram of fish. I have another option; even if I cannot buy this amount of fish, I will buy 50-gram dry fish, which is much cheaper than half a kilogram of fresh fish. Ultimately, I must succeed delicately, which is not a big deal.

Almost the same echoes have been heard from other smallholders during FGDs.

Savings Aiming the Days of Food Shortage

Aleya (pseudonym), a housewife from the southern side of the country, informed that every day, she saved some rice from the amount of which she was supposed to cook every meal, bearing in mind the days of food shortage. She sold the saved rice after a week or month and bought some meat/fish, which are recognised as good ingredients by her. Another saving practice to overcome the incidence of food shortage had been found in the case of Kader Molla (pseudonym) from the northern side of the country, where he intentionally withheld some payments of his agro-machinery rent in the hands of reliable farmers so that he could utilise his debt amount during the days of shortage. In this case, Kader said:

Sometimes, I do not collect my machine rental immediately from some farmers for harvest or cultivation. I collect this money during my scarcity.

The above findings showed that value is engendered through interrelationships where the smallholders are economically poorer with less social capital (low interrelationship) than those with larger access to social networks. Here, social capital enlarges the concept of human capital as an outcome of rising economic productivity and well-being (Farhad & Munsi, 2006). In rural Bangladesh, smallholders use their social capital to meet the food shortages of their households. Research found from FGDs and in-depth case interviews that the local smallholders took help from their friends and relatives regarding the food shortage. Generally, they used to take non-interest loans for a short time from their well-off friends and relatives in times of food deficiency. They also took food grain (rice) and other necessary foodstuffs from the neighbourhood shop in a due payment; they used to pay the due payment when they got money in hand. It is usually after the season of harvest. In this case, Nazmul (pseudonym), a mason from the southern part of the country, said:

I feel so discomfort if I see that I cannot buy sufficient food daily. I used to eat ample food all the time. I eat chicken often a month, and though I cannot pay instantly, they (shopkeepers) give me the due payment. I had a poultry smallholding and engaged with the poultry business; for this reason, I have a good relationship with the local poultry businessmen. Moreover, I get work orders in winter when people make new houses or refurbish their old ones. I get a shortage of money in the rainy season, but I can buy my daily food and stuff from the local shopkeepers in this off-season as they know I will return/pay my dues in time.

FGD findings showed that the smallholders faced food deficiency when they were bound to sell their stored food grain at certain times of the year to meet the cost of cultivation. In that circumstance, micro-credit loans helped the smallholders to overcome this crisis, where social capital was an important factor. Most of the smallholders are members of the VOs (village organisation called SAMITI), where the VO members select the borrowers through social interaction. By borrowing from VOs, the smallholders can also protect their food granaries for yearlong food needs. They invest in agricultural cultivation from borrowed money and pay the loan instalment from their weekly or monthly income. Thus, they can also get a secure path during times of food deficiency using their social capital.

Economic Behaviour-oriented Coping Strategy

In rural Bangladesh, smallholder farmers typically deal with food shortages in various ways, adapting their strategies based on their local context and household needs. Some coping strategies are primarily economically driven, such as taking out loans to cover costs associated with cultivation and household necessities. Smallholders may use borrowed funds to purchase food or sell their livestock when faced with food shortages. The research found that households with multiple sources of income through occupational diversification were better equipped to cope with food shortages, as they had a greater capacity to earn money in difficult times. Occupational diversification, therefore, serves as a safety net during food scarcity. A smallholder from the southern part of the country said:

Though I am engaged with farming to some extent, I do not grow paddy. I do not have paddy land, so I must buy rice year-round from the market. I am a mason. I can earn enough in winter when people make new houses or renovate them, but I have to face insufficient money in the dull season. If I do not get any work in the dull season, I can engage myself as a waiter in a restaurant. Thus, I can earn money to meet the food shortage in my household.

In the face of food scarcity, some rural residents in Bangladesh may migrate to survive. They often find work in urban areas as rickshaw pullers, day labourers, vendors, potters and other similar occupations. On the other hand, some smallholders try to prepare for food scarcity by saving money or food for such days. They also try to increase household productivity, with all able-bodied members contributing to the effort. Women, in particular, have been observed taking loans from VOs and investing in productive endeavours such as cow rearing, poultry farming and small businesses. This serves as a coping mechanism during food scarcity and helps provide financial stability.