“Exploring Alternative Farming Practices to End Hunger in Bangladesh”

The Special Initiative Project was initiated in Bangladesh on 1 August 2016 with the objective of exploring alternative farming practices to end hunger.  The initiative may be considered to be a small stride towards overcoming the challenges faced by farmers. Like many countries 90% of farmers who produce the bulk of food are small and marginalized. To meet the demand of food, scaling up crop production through intensive production practices and mono cropping has resulted in a loss of biodiversity, degradation and inherent nutritive capacity of the soil and pest invasive environment controlled by harmful chemicals. The existing scattered animal and crop productive system shows a nonexistence of recycling of nutrients essential for multiple species habitat.  The major issue has been a challenge to get the best benefits from their investments, as ratio of high chemicals cost to market return products is decreasing. Added with this is the growing concern of the risks of using a wide range of pesticides causing direct and residual effect to the health and environment.

Sadly, a complex cycle has evolved in the entire ecosystem (includes all living organisms in a given area and that which interacts with the non-living entities such as climate, sun, soil, air, etc.) by use of unbalanced and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides marketed by big corporates that has reached the smallest of the small farms. Enough evidence has progressed to show most of global food produced today through industrial agriculture are no more safe for the human health or our ecosystem. Bangladesh is no exception and worsened by food insecurity due to malnutrition. Hunger is an aftermath of shortfalls both intake of inadequate and contaminated imbalanced food intake. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS), Germany in association with Research Initiatives, Bangladesh (RIB) has come forward with the pilot project to improve the small and marginal farmers’ involvement in food production in balance with its natural environment.

Agro ecology- the future of farming

Future farming potentials through agro ecology for safe food production is believed by environmentalists as a way forward to face the challenges. Agro ecology is the science that integrates social, biological and agricultural sciences and combines with traditional and farmers’ knowledge. It is a bottom-up approach to practices built by participatory communities and the bridging of ecological and socio economic aspects of such practices. Agro ecology is often termed "a science, a movement, [or] a practice." not of one but a variety of agro ecosystem.  Therefore, in agriculture the heart of agro ecology is agro ecosystem that is emulated from the existing conditions to develop principles and specific technological forms suited to that system (Diagram, Reference: Agroecology: Key Concepts, Principles and Practices. SOCLA 2015). Scientists and environmentalists now believe that agro ecology that will integrate appropriate alternative method of farming is the basis of a ‘food sovereignty framework’ that will provide resources and economic opportunities. The objective is the combining of the dynamics of human and earthly elements to build a productive, resilient and sustainable agro ecosystem with the hope that agro ecology can bring about a second “green revolution”.

 

Project Sites

Through a scoping exercise, the project selected two Upazillas, namely Anwara and Banskhali, 18.7 and 47.2 Kilometers, respectively South of Chittagong City. Two unions from each Upazilla were chosen to select farmers from marginalized and small holding household. From each union or village 10-12 farmers formed a group with the help of one regional coordinator and 2 respective animators or facilitators of the unions appointed by the Project. These groups are ‘Participatory Action Researchers’ who carried out Participatory Action Research (PAR)2 or ‘gonogobeshona’ to identify problems, find solutions implement, follow up and re-visit the actions of the agricultural production process (form of technology-proven or improved) they have evolved specific to their ecosystem.

Method of Implementation of Agro Ecology

The method of implementing the goal of “alternative practices” identified as components of agro ecology (will be detailed in later sections) was through

1. Participatory Action Research (PAR) or Gonogobeshona
2. Training of farmers engaged in PAR (Gonogobeshoks) on the proven methods of moving into organic agriculture or alternative farming.

1. Participatory Action Research (PAR)

The project design consisted of spontaneous presence of the agreed participatory farmers who met 3 times a month at their convenient locations aided by the project staff to discuss and reflect on problems and challenges and to prioritize them in order to take action. There were a total of 40 farmers (4 females) in 4 PAR groups.

In the PAR meetings, farmers’ traditional knowledge, current state of farming aggravating hunger, natural resources, political perspectives and change mechanisms drawn from the distant past were focused to motivate and create enthusiasm for a turnaround.  This dual approach of speaking on their needs and aspirations as well as comprehending their capacities for knowing and acting (Rahman, Md. Anisur, 2000) trained them to promote growth, empowerment and claim their democratic rights, in other words to gain agency.

2. Training of PAR members

The trainings were also based on the realization of needs to go alternative farming methods. Based on the objectives of the project of ending hunger of food and nutrition, the trainings were designed. Availability of on-farm existing resources identified by the groups and probable short and long term impact was important in selection of subjects. All trainings were participatory and practical engaging a hands-on approach to learning.