The Food Riots that Never Were: The Moral and Political Economy of Food Security in Bangladesh

In 2008, the international media listed Bangladesh among the low-income countries that saw food riots during the global food price crisis. The most notable of these events took place in the pre-monsoon Dhaka heat on 13 April, when workers in the vital export-oriented garments sector took to the streets in a graphic flash of anger at low pay in a time of high staple food prices. Around that time, the government of Bangladesh set in motion efforts to stabilise food prices, to protect those hit hardest by the spike. These efforts were not simple matters: the crisis was global, not easily managed by a single country government. Meanwhile India, the main source of Bangladesh’s rice imports, closed its borders to protect its own citizens. Yet the Bangladesh authorities ultimately succeeded, and their policy choices and the institutional architecture that made them possible affirmed Bangladesh’s reputation for an effective and responsive food (if not nutrition) security policy. This research set out to find out whether these events were causally related: did these ‘food riots’ trigger or activate these responsive and effective food security policies in any sense

Palliative care for slum population: a case from Bangladesh

As is the case in other developing countries, palliative care remains a major unmet need in Bangladesh. Shahaduz Zaman and colleagues present a project undertaken to provide community-based palliative care to people living in two slum towns in Bangladesh

Autoimmune pancreatitis presenting as obstructive jaundice

A 71 years cachexic male presented with sign symptoms of biliary tract obstruction. There was a large mass in the head of pancreases with raised CA 19.9. But elevated serum lipase raised the suspicion of paocreatitis. Elevated immunoglobu­lin IgG4 confmned this case as a auto immune aetiology. Initially there was much difficulty to differentiate auto immune pancreatitis from pancreatic carcinoma but after successful stenting and a course of corticosteroids, patient improved dramatically along with nonnalisation of all the radiological, bio-chemical and immunological parameters

Factors Related to Tuberculosis Preventive Behaviors among Tuberculosis Patient Attendants in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Objective: To examine the relationships between tuberculosis (TB)preventive behavior among TB patients’ attendants and their sociodemographicfactors (including age, sex, and education), knowledge,perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, andperceived barriers. Method: A sample of 197 TB patients’ attendants wasrecruited at the DOTS Centre from two government hospitals in Dhaka,Bangladesh during March, 2014 to April, 2014. Data were collected byface-to-face interviews with the patients’ attendants. Descriptive statisticswere used to describe variables and the Pearson correlation coefficient toexamine the relationships. Results: TB patients’ attendants were with anaverage age of 34.79 years (18 to 72 years). The majority was female(52.3%) , married (83.5%), and Muslim (97.0%). About one-third hadsecondary school (36.0%) and primary school (30.5%) education. Themajority had a monthly family income ≤ 20,000 taka (80.2%). The majority(41.6 %) had a moderate level of knowledge (M = 21.37, SD= 4.99) andalmost half (45.2%) had a moderate level of preventive behavior (M =16.72, SD = 3.14). Among 3 socio-demographic factors, only education hada moderate positive relationship with TB preventive behavior (r = 0.391, P <0.01). Knowledge was strongly positively associated with TB preventivebehavior (r = 0.526, P < 0.01). While perceived susceptibility, perceivedseverity and perceived benefit had positive relationships with preventivebehavior (r = 0.300, P < 0.01; r = .219, P < 0.01; r = 0.179, P < 0.05,respectively); perceived barrier had a moderate negative relationship (r = -0.424, P < 0.01). Conclusion: TB patient attendants’ knowledge, perceivedsusceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barrierswere related with their TB preventive behavior. A nursing interventionprogram aiming at promoting knowledge, perception and preventivebehavior among TB patient attendants is needed.Keywords: tuberculosis patient’s attendants, preventive behavior,knowledge, perceptio

The Role of Fatalism in Resilience to Food Price Volatility in Bangladesh

Millions of people in Bangladesh suffer from hunger, unpredictable and unstable livelihoods, precarious living conditions and social injustice. Yet they survive and become resilient. However, the resilience achieved by the poor is minimal and incremental in nature and does not result in their wellbeing. Based on three years of qualitative research, this article attempts to understand the nature of and pathways to ‘resilience of the poor people'. The article argues that poor people's approach to ‘resilience’ is twofold. First, they perceive their poverty and associated problems as ‘Allah's will', with not much to be done about it. At the same time, they engage in continuous innovative practices to survive. These two worldviews together ('fatalism’ and ‘self?help') make the poor ‘resilient'. This also ‘partially’ explains the absence of strong activism, collective action and protests within a context of state failure (in terms of ensuring rights and entitlements to its citizens)

DOSTUPNOST MORSKIH RIBA NA COX’S BAZARU U BANGLADEŠU: STUDIJA SLUČAJA O ISKRCAJNOM CENTRU BFDC

Fish availability in the coastal landing center highlights the assumption of stocks in the marine fishing zone of the ocean. This study, therefore, aimed to analyze the availability of marine fishes in the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) landing center, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh between January 2021 and May 2021. A total of 54 species were recorded, of which 42 were marine fishes, 7 were shellfishes and 5 were large fishes. The dominant orders were Perciformes (56%), Scombriformes (17%) and Clupeiformes (10%). More than 56% of the total marine fishes were classified as Least Concern, nearly 10% were categorized as Near Threatened and 2% were marked Vulnerable. The dominant orders of shellfish were Portunidae (43%), followed by Penaidae (29%), Loligonidae (14%) and Octopopidae (14%). Shrimp Penaeous monodon had the highest consumer demand, whereas consumer demand for non-conventional shellfish was comparatively low. Most of the shellfish were categorized as Least Concern. Among large fishes, the wider availability of sharks (five species) and rays (two species) was observed in the winter and monsoon season, although the consumer demand for those large fishes was low. The Vulnerable sharks and rays were Sphyma zygaena and Mobula birostris. This study elucidates the present scenario of marine fishes in the BFDC fish landing center, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.Dostupnost ribe u obalnom iskrcajnom centru naglašava pretpostavku o stokovima u zoni morskog ribolova u oceanu. Cilj ovog istraživanja je analizirati dostupnost morskih riba u iskrcajnom centru BFDC na Cox’s Bazaru u Bangladešu u razdoblju od siječnja do svibnja 2021. godine. Zabilježene su ukupno 54 vrste, od kojih su 42 morske ribe, 7 školjkaša i 5 velikih riba. Dominantni redovi su Perciformes (56%), Scombriformes (17%) i Clupeiformes (10%). Više od 56% ukupne morske ribe klasificirano je kao najmanje zabrinjavajuće vrste, a za razliku od toga, gotovo 10% morskih riba je gotovo ugroženo, a 2% je ranjivo. Dominantni redovi školjkaša su Portunidae (43%), zatim Penaidae (29%), Loligonidae (14%) i Octopopidae (14%). Penaeous monodon je najviše tražena od potrošača, dok je potražnja potrošača za nekonvencionalnim školjkama relativno niska. Većina školjkaša je iz skupine najmanje zabrinjavajućih vrsta. Među velikim ribama, razmjerno veća dostupnost morskih pasa (5 vrsta) i raža (2 vrste) uočena je zimi i u razdoblju monsuna, iako je potražnja potrošača za tom megafaunom niska. Ranjivi morski psi i raže su Sphyma zygaena i Mobula birostris. Ova studija analizira trenutni sastav morskih riba u iskrcajnom centru BFDC na Cox\u27s Bazaru u Bangladešu

Gaseous Losses of Nitrogen from Rice Field: Balancing Climate Change and Sustainable Rice Production

The world is confronted with one of the most difficult tasks of the twenty-first century, satisfying society’s expanding food demands while causing agriculture’s environmental impacts. Rice security is the food security for South Asian countries. Rice production requires a large amount of water and fertilizer, especially nitrogenous fertilizer, where urea works as the primary source of nitrogen (N). Different biogeochemical conditions, such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD), intermittent drainage, agroclimatic condition, oxic-anoxic condition, complete flooded irrigation,. have severe impacts on GHGs emission and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) from rice fields. For sustainable production, it is a must to mitigate the emission of GHGs and increase NUE along with cost minimization. But analytically accurate data about these losses are still not quantifiably justified. In this chapter, we will show the proper use of the measured data with suitable results and discussions to recommend the future cultivation system of rice for sustainable production

Screening for cervical cancer (By VIA Test) among selected garments worker in Chattogram, Bangladesh

Background: Bangladesh is a densely populated country of South East Asia with low resource setting where cervical cancer is the 2nd leading cause of female cancer. In more than 80% cases are diagnosed at advanced and inoperable stage. Regarding socio demographic context of this country VIA has been introduced as a screening method for cervical cancer which is most simple, cost effective, and acceptable test for all women. In Bangladesh among 3 million garment workers more than 80% are women. The objective of this study was to identify prevalence of VIA positive cases among garment workers. So that it can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in Bangladesh. Methods: It was a cross–sectional observational study conducted in some selected garment factories in Chattogram city of Bangladesh from January 2021 to July 2021, where we enrolled 534 female workers for VIA test. Results: Among all the respondents 56% were 30 years or younger, 38% were aged between 31 to 40 years. Among 534 participants, 44.9% completed primary education, 37.3% were smoker and 34.5% had their children at early age. Majority (86.7%) had excessive whitish discharge. Post coital bleeding and irregular bleeding was 2.6% and 2.2% respectively. Considering awareness, 61.8% had idea about cervical cancer, only 1.1% had undergone VIA test in the past. In our study we found 2.4% of participants were VIA positive cases. Conclusions: It is important to include the garment workers, while making public health policies and implementation of cervical cancer control program