The Hoar Infrastructure and Livelihood Improvement Project (HILIP) under Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2014. The project has five technical components: (i) Communications infrastructure, (ii) Community infrastructure, (iii) Community resource management, (iv) Livelihood Protection, and (v) Capacity and Knowledge for Building Resilience. Under the fifth component and specifically, the livelihood studies subcomponent, several innovations have been produced. One of the innovations that have received particular attention is the Flash Flood Early Warning System (FFEWS). The FFEWS activity is managed by 4 partner agencies: the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) and the Flood, Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC) of the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB). The project area includes five districts in the Haor region (Netrakona, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj and Sunamganj), a swampland/basin ecosystem, where 23 cross-boundary rivers drain. The Hoar region is renowned for the cultivation of the Boro rice, a high yielding rice variety that is well-suited first-half of the Pre-monsoon season (March-May). As such the Boro rice that makes up 16.5% of national rice production is an important source of people’s livelihoods in the region, both in terms of employment, but also for nutrition. However, in recent years, the region has experienced flash flood incidents. Sources for flash flooding include the increased rate of pre-monsoon rains and changes in land-use patterns by human interventions. In fact, in 2017 flash floods destroyed 90% of the Boro rice cultivations as it occurred at least 15 days earlier than many historic flash flood events. Providing farmers with an adequate warning from the beginning of April for the occurrence of a flash flood would enable them to harvest the rice prematurely and to utilize the straw to sustain livestock.

 

"During this time they feed on a variety of aquatic plants and grasses, invertebrates, fish - all naturally found in the haor," said Nomoj Kha, another duck farmer from Austagram. Nomoj has 2,500 ducks in his farm. His brother has another 1,400 ducks.

Innortheast Bangladesh, near the border with India, there’s a mosaic of habitats: rivers, streams, and irrigation canals; seasonally flooded cultivated plains; and wetlands with still water. Between May and October, monsoons transform these wetlands into massive bodies of deep water.

It is beautiful here — but it’s not an not easy place to nurture a family. Just ask Tahmina Begum, a wife and mother caring for her large family in the village of Birnagar. She could tell you how it feels when the rains come. Wind whips wildly and water gushes from nearby mountains, generating waves in the wetlands. When the haor — a bowl- or saucer-shaped depression and wetland — is full, the water overflows, surrounding and eroding the raised mounds of earth upon which people live, leaving little to no land to grow food.

Yet, the enterprising families in the haor region have hope. Tahmina embodies it. Tahmina didn’t just make the best of her lot in life — with USAID’s support, she became an inspiration in her village. When her husband fell ill, she struck out to earn more income through sewing, poultry, and cattle raising, and starting a roadside tea stall — overcoming poverty and a lack of support from her in-laws.

Reference:- USAID 

More than 1.5 million children are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to extensive flooding in northeastern Bangladesh. 

Over 4 million people in five districts — Sylhet, Sunamganj, Habiganj, Netrokona and Maulvibazar —have been affected by the flooding. Agricultural land and critical infrastructure, including schools and power stations, have been submerged.

"The damage to lives, homes and schools is heartbreaking," said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh. "In this disaster, as in most others, children are the most vulnerable. UNICEF is on the ground to protect children and to meet their urgent needs, supporting the Government and working closely with our local partners."

Ten-year-old Ashraful's home in Sylhet was badly damaged by the flooding. "We have no savings to repair the house so we are going to stay at our relative's house," he said. "I'm helping my family move by rowing things on my boat, but I'm frightened by the snakes."

Hundreds of schools have been closed, jeopardizing the education of the region's children. Above, girls wade through floodwaters on the way to school in Sunamganj on May 23.

Keeping children learning is a priority for UNICEF.  Above, Saleha Begum, an organizer at a UNICEF-supported school in Sunamganj, checks the state of the learning materials in a flooded classroom on May 17, 2022.

Reference:- Unicef USA.Org 

Hoar Infrastructure and Livelihood Improvement

 

PREPARATION FOR NATURAL DISASTERS IN BANGLADESH

The people of Bangladesh face great risks from natural disasters. Given the country’s geographical position, cyclones, earthquakes and floods are not uncommon. Natural disasters in Bangladesh are more prominent because of the country’s entirely low-lying, flat landscape. This topography puts more than 80 percent of the inhabitants at higher risk of “floods, earthquakes and droughts, and more than 70 percent to cyclones.” This is why it is so important to have a preemptive system in place for the preparation of natural disasters.

The haor becomes as vast and expansive as the oceans during the monsoon. The centre of the Haor region is Sunamganj district.

Besides the geography, the unique culture of the region is significant too. Various important streams of folk songs and dramas have flourished in the Haor areas. Dhamail, Ghetu, Baul, Keertan, Jari, Shari, Bhatiali and Murshidi songs are popular here. 

In addition, many other traditions and cultures, such as lathi khela, bullfighting, boat races, etc., are embedded in the lives of the area's rural, agrarian people.

However, the most important aspect of the Haors is the lives and livelihoods of its inhabitants. The people and the economy here are unique. The region is submerged under water for six months of the year, while the other six months are dry. Waves after waves of water can be seen everywhere during the monsoon, but in the dry months, one can see paddy fields stretching to the horizon.

It must be said, though, that the lives and livelihoods of the Haors are far from as simple as the words may depict. The seven districts that make up the Haor region have 29 upazilas, span an area of 8,000 square kilometres, and are home to as many as 10 million people whose main source of income is the Boro variety of rice. Some of them are dependent on fishing, dairy farming or poultry rearing. In other parts of the country, having arable land and the ability to fish all year would make for a well-off existence.

Unemployment during the monsoon is an age-old problem here. There was a time when the fertility of the region's land, the high ratio of available land compared to the population, and the abundance of fish and livestock sufficed for a well-off and simple lifestyle for the people of Haor. However, as the population increased over time, the available arable land per capita decreased, and on the other hand, rivers and other water bodies gradually filled up, dramatically reducing the number of fish. 

Moreover, the use of excessive chemical fertilisers and insecticides on the farmlands has further reduced the number of fish in the water bodies. Increasing artificial irrigation to harvest Boro over larger expanses of land has also reduced the scope of dairy farming.

It is true that during the Boro season, a fifth of all the paddy harvested in the country comes from the Haor region. However, that is not proving to be enough for a sustained livelihood because the prices of farming ingredients such as seeds, fertilisers, diesel or electricity, insecticides, irrigation pumps, power tillers and other farming equipment are rising. This has made paddy farming expensive. 

In this context, the prices that farmers receive for crops during the farming season are not fair. Prices increase three or four months after harvest, but by then, marginal and middle-class farmers have sold off their paddies because they cannot afford to store the harvest. The beneficiaries of these products are mainly the middlemen. As a result, fishermen and farmers in the region are becoming even more marginalised.

It must be mentioned, however, that mandatory free primary education and education for women up to Class 8, as well as scholarships, have resulted in a rise in the literacy rate in the region and have opened up new avenues for earning livelihoods. However, as the number of available jobs is not increasing in proportion to the number of literate people, the number of educated but unemployed human resources is increasing. 

A small percentage of these people are migrating to urban and industrial regions. Had there been industrialisation or business centres in the Haor region, they would have preferred to stay back home. In such a situation, it is essential to take urgent steps to improve the lives and livelihoods of the Haor region. 

For example, creating a skilled labour force in the region is impossible because there is no vocational training institute. In each upazila sadar of the Haor region, a technical school or polytechnic institute can be built. Each upazila sadar can also have a BSCIC industrial city. A special economic zone is being built in Kishoreganj, which is in the Haor region. This can be replicated in all the other districts of the Haor region.

Culture of micronutrient rich small indigenous fish species (Mola) in HILIP water body:

One of the very popular small fish Amblypharyngodon mola (Local Name: Mola fish) containing vitamin A, calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, protein and fat and are providing important role to meet the malnutrition and livelihood of poor community of Bangladesh. Regular consumption of these nutrients protect babies, pregnant and lactating mothers from diseases and malnutrition. Poor communities earn their livelihoods during monsoon from inland open water by catching and selling fish. HILIP-WorldFish promoting mola in Aislauni beel of haor within HILIP command area of Sunamganj. After 4 years its production increased into 8 times (baseline 2012-13 production was 903 kg and impact year 2016-17 production was 7081 kg).

Industries based on easily available raw materials like paddy, fish, dairy livestock and labour can be established in the Haor region. Bangladesh is leading in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. Considering the surplus labour in the Haor region, RMG factories can be established here. 

Moreover, modern rice mills can be established. Measures to modernise fishing, farming, and poultry rearing can be taken. Building feed mills for these industries can also create new jobs here.

Various scheduled banks and financial organisations, including Bangladesh Bank and others such as PKSF, IDCOL, SME Foundation, BSCIC, etc, can come forward with specialised projects focused on the Haor region. Training and consultation centres can be opened for potential entrepreneurs.

For small and medium entrepreneurs, support can be provided to build businesses through pertinent loans and supervision. Moreover, it is also possible to develop industries focused on tourism, engineering workshops, electrical and electronic machinery repairs and servicing, assembling, farm and fisheries processing, fishing nets, mosquito nets, window nets and curtains, hosiery, solar panels, energy-saving lamps, mechanical boat building and repairing, as well as building fast and convenient boats, road transportation, charcoal blocks, etc, in the region.

Suppose the full potential of business and tourism relations between the Haor region and the northeastern region of India can be realised. In that case, the Haor regions will become the business centres of South and Southeast Asia.

Haor farmers frustrated over low Boro price

Farmers are counting huge losses due to low price of Boro paddy in the country’s haor (wetland) areas after a bumper crop production this year. The paddy growers are failing to recover their production cost after selling their agricultural produce, but the rice price does not reduce at the customers’ level. The farmers will lose interests in producing paddy if they cannot recover the production costs by selling their produce, said farm economist professor ASM Golam Hafiz.

People in haor areas are dependent on Boro paddy as they can only cultivate it on their field throughout the year  Farmers in the haor region have harvested about 90.02 percent of their Boro paddy till Tuesday. Boro paddy was cultivated across 454,399 hectares of wetlands this year, with 400,906 hectares yielding harvested, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

However, the farmers are selling their paddy at Tk 600-700 per mound while the production cost reached Tk 700-850 per mound, according to local sources. Price of boro paddy was Tk 600-700 per mound in Jamalganj upazila of Sunamganj while Tk 600-700 per mound in Sunamganj upazila at the growers’ end.

Akbor Hossain, a farmer of Jamalganj upazila, said the price of boro paddy is roaming around Tk 600-650 per mound at the local market. Influence of middlemen, including local faria, wholesalers and husking millers, is forcing them to sell their Boro paddy at the lower price, farmers claimed. According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the Boro crop was cultivated on 445,399 hectares of land this year in the haor region under Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Sylhet and Brahmanbaria districts.

Twenty lakh metric tons of boro crops may come from the Haor basin, according to the DAE. The government will have to maximise its procurement target of rice from the region and should open purchase centre at each union to minimise influence of middlemen, said farm economist professor ASM Golam Hafiz.

Boro cultivation starts in November-December. Farmers are waiting to harvest the paddy across the country while harvesting of boro paddy has almost been completed in Haor area. Boro accounts for more than 50 percent of the country’s total rice production while Aush less than 10 percent, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data.

Therefore, improving the lives and livelihoods in the Haor region requires modern thinking and future-focused leaders—leaders who can encourage the Haor residents to dream and who can bring those dreams to life. There is no alternative to strong and people-focused leadership if one is to utilise the possibilities that the natural resources and geographic location of the Haor region present.