Coping with a roaring food crisis
19/06/2008
Some of the SOS Family Strengthening Programme beneficiaries in Bangladesh based in different locations tell us about the kind of food they can afford after the roaring food crisis and how they are coping with the situation. For the majority in Bangladesh only rice and vegetables are affordable.
Milk, meat, eggs, fruits and even fish are a luxury. They are managing the rising food prices by purchasing alternative cheaper food, buying less quantity of food and skipping some food items.
Rowshanara Begum is a family strengthening programme beneficiary from SOS Social Centre Khulna. She is a widow with five kids and the only earning member of the family.
"Before the price hike usually we would cook three times a day. But now we cook food once in the middle of the day. In the morning we eat dry food or water mixed rice or skip breakfast. We cook rice, potato and sometimes vegetables if possible. We eat those items in the night also" said Rowshanara Begum. "For our six-member family, per day cost for food is BDT 75 (1 euro = approx. 109 Bangladeshi Taka, BDT) and weekly BDT 525. Nowadays, we buy cheaper and less food to survive. It is beyond our capacity to purchase nutritious food; we only buy less quality food", she added.
Shefali Dash is a hawker and a mother of four kids. She receives support from SOS Social Centre Rajshahi.
"Now I cook less rice, I mainly cook potatoes and green vegetables (which are grown in the neighbourhood area and are freely available) to quench the hunger of my family members. At present my only and main source of nutrition are potatoes and green vegetables and nothing else and I have to spend BDT 120 per day for my family of five members. Now we are passing through a very hard time. Price hike has faded our income strength" she said. "We have not eaten meat, fish, milk and egg for the last nine months. I even don't think of buying those items considering their cost. To eat nutritious food we need BDT 80 more per day. Only potatoes and green vegetables are affordable."
Rahima Begum is a domestic worker and a mother of five kids. She is one of the family strengthening programme beneficiaries from SOS Social Centre Chittagong.
"We cook the same food as we did before the roaring price but the quantity has reduced. We don't think of nutrition but we only think of our survival. The meal of a child for a day now costs BDT 100 which used to be BDT 50 before the price hike," Rahima stated.
Monira Begum, a widow with four children is a FSP beneficiary from SOS Social Centre Bogra. "We cook rice and vegetables, sometimes pulse and occasionally fish. Our nutrition is based on rice, pulse, vegetables and fish. Minimum cost per day per family of five members is BDT 150 to 200. We have to buy cheaper food, reduce the amount of food and also have to skip meals sometimes."
Relevant Countries: Bangladesh.