Women’s Experiences of Food Insecurity and Coping Strategies in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Despite advances in food production and distribution technologies, global food insecurity continues throughout parts of South Asia. Using ethnographic data collected from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh, this article reports on gendered and ethnocultural variations in experiences of food insecurity. Three key findings are that (1) regardless of ethnicity, the majority of the households in this study suffered moderate food insecurity; (2) food insecurity was higher among female-headed households; and (3) women’s means of coping strategies varied depending on household structure and ethnic identity. It is argued that indigenous women’s coping strategies were protective in comparison with Bengali women’s experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Bangladesh
• CHT
• coping strategies
• food insecurity
• women

Notes

^1. FAO. 2002. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2001. Rome. http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4671e/y4671e06.htm#fn31 (accessed October 2, 2017).

^2. In this article, the terms Paharis and indigenous peoples are used interchangeably. Paharis include various local indigenous ethnocultural groups, who see themselves as distinct from Bengalis.

^3. According to the World Health Organization, each person should have 2,310 kilogram calories (kcal) per day, and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) recommends 2,400 kcal for each person per day (see Wu et al. 2014).

^4. The Government of Bangladesh amended rule 34 (1) of the CHT Manual in 1979, allowing and legalizing the resettlement of Bengali landless people in the CHT from the plain districts that had previously been restricted by the British colonial administration in the 1900s (i.e., CHT Regulation 1900, UNDP 2009).

^5. Exchange rate of Bangladesh taka against the U.S. dollar was calculated according to the live currency exchange rate on November 1, 2016 (http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=8000&From=BDT&To=USD).

^6. Bangladesh launches open market sale of rice. http://www.fao.org/giews/food-prices/food-policies/detail/en/c/1037498/ (Accessed October 2, 2017).