Water and Food Security in Bangladesh: Local Contexts, Strategies and Actions

Water and Food Security in Bangladesh: Local Contexts, Strategies and Actions

Jul 21, 2010 | Environment

This publication introduces the coalition, Bangladesh Water and Food Security Partnership (BWFSP) and its activities. The coalition is comprised of six Bangladeshi non-government organizations that all partner with ICCO, a Dutch development agency. Each of the BWFSP members has its unique work area, but the issues they address are inter-related.

Six organizations and their issues as part of the partnership programs are:
BCAS – promoting the role of the poor women in coping with the drinking water crisis in drought prone villages in its work area in Rajshahi District.
RDRS – introducing pariza rice contributing to food security.
UST – contributing to food security through organic farming that reinforces the significance of saving nature by avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
UBINIG – focusing on biodiversity-based ecological agriculture for water and food sovereignty of the people.
SEHD – exposing the underlying factors for the destruction of the Modhupur sal forest, promoting the rights of the indigenous peoples to land and forests, and engaging the indigenous communities in ecological farming.
GBK – promoting and engaging in simple cost effective economic activity through rabbit culture that helps the poor by increasing their income

The write-ups are telling of a commitment that these organizations make towards securing access of the poor, marginal and indigenous communities to food and water. This is a difficult commitment to fulfil in Bangladesh, a country of around 164 million people with approximately 40% poor and 20 extremely poor. These realities make it obvious that development actors, government, donor communities and the common man must work hand in hand.

Publication Details

Published: 2010
Language: English
Paperback: 66 pages
Editor: Philip Gain
Price: Tk.100 / US$3

Introducing the Bangladesh Water and Food Security Partnership coalition, its members and activities. 2010, English, 66 pages, Paperback – Tk.100 / US$3

Investigative Reports: Environment and Human Rights

Investigative Reports: Environment and Human Rights

Dec 22, 2009 | Adivasis and Forests

A compilation of selected investigative and interpretative reports on various environment and human rights issues.
2009, English, 438 pages, Paperback
2008, Bangla (Anushandhani Report: Paribesh O Manobadhikar), 418 pages, Paperback | Tk.500 / US$20 

Investigative Reports: Environment and Human Rights (Anushandhani Report: Paribesh O Manobadhikar) is a compilation of selected investigative and interpretative reports on environment and human rights that SEHD has published in the press and its magazines Dharitri and Earth Touch.

The book contains reports on the Phulbari Coal Mine Project and different aspects of the controversial open-pit before and after the grassroots revolt in 2006.

Other reports are on the Modhupur Sal Forest, the third largest forest of Bangladesh and its inhabitants Garo and Koch indigenous communities. The reports present facts and analyses on monoculture plantations financed by external resources, the invasion of banana and pineapple gardens and the killing of some Garos.

The human rights abuses and environmental degradation in Adivasi inhabited areas in the CHT and the plains lands are also highlighted.

Reports on agriculture, industry, nature, forests, shrimp cultivation, fisheries, wetlands, destruction of the Sundarbans, natural disasters and foreign investment are included.

Another chapter contains reports on eviction of sex workers from red light locations and a report on rehabilitation issues of the affected and displaced people of the Jamuna multi-purpose bridge area.

Examination of the fifth, the seventh and the eighth parliament seasons is covered, which will help readers understand the democratization processes and the lawmakers of the country.

This book is intended for use by newspapers, universities, human rights activists, researchers, students and anyone interested in in-depth analyses of some of the key environmental, human rights, and ethnic issues in Bangladesh.

Publication Details

English: 2009
Paperback: 388 pages
Bangla: 2008
Paperback: 418 pages
Editor: Philip Gain
Price: Tk.500 / US$20

The Story of Tea Workers – Documentary 

The Story of Tea Workers – Documentary 

Dec 12, 2009 | Documentary Films, Tea Workers

The life, grim work conditions, and struggle of the indentured tea plantation workers of Bangladesh. 2009, English and Bangla, 44 mins. DVD Tk.200 / US$ 10 | CD Tk.100 / US$5

The Story of Tea Workers, a 44-minute documentary film, shows the life, grim work conditions, and struggle of the indentured tea plantation workers. One of the most marginalized and excluded community of Bangladesh, the tea plantation workers have remained captive in the tea estates since they were brought by the British companies more than 150 years ago. The film is factual and thought provoking.

Publication Details

Published: 2009
Language: English and Bangla
Length: 44 minutes
Director: Philip Gain and Ronald Halder
DVD: Tk.200 / US$10
CD: Tk.100 / US$5

The Story of Tea Workers – Exhibition 

The Story of Tea Workers – Exhibition 

Dec 4, 2009 | Tea Workers

The Story of Tea Workers photography exhibition, a look into the injustices in the labour lines.
2009, Catalogue English | Tk.50 / US$2

The Story of Tea Workers photography exhibition depicts the life of the tea plantation workers at a time when the government is showing the country a dream of digital Bangladesh and changes in the lives of poor, marginal and Adivasis.

The tea communities are one of the most vulnerable people of Bangladesh. They deserve special attention of the State, not just equal treatment. Unfortunately they continue to remain socially excluded, low paid, overwhelmingly illiterate, deprived and disconnected. They have also lost their original languages in most parts, culture, history, education, knowledge and unity.

Exhibition Details

Exhibition: 2009
Catalogue: English
Photographer: Philip Gain
Price: Tk.50 / US$2

Jibon

Jibon

Sep 26, 2009 | Magazines

The bulletin of the Bangladesh Water and Food Security Partnership (BWFSP), a coalition of six Bangladeshi NGOs.
From 2009, English and Bangla, Magazine

Jibon, or life in English, is a bulletin of the Bangladesh Water and Food Security Partnership (BWFSP), a coalition of six Bangladeshi NGOs which all partner with the Dutch donor agency ICCO. The bulletin, which is published both in English and Bangla, deals with food security and water issues in Bangladesh but the content mainly covers the activities of the partnership and individual members.

Magazine Details

Published From: 2009
Language: English and Bangla
Magazine: Various