Bangladesh: Easing the Plight of the Hungry (Bengali version)

Script: This is Bangladesh, home to about 150 million people. Here, in one of the poorest and most densely populated nations in the world, 30 million people suffer from severe hunger each year. And, most of them depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Rice is their most significant agricultural product and staple food. More than 17 million Bangladeshis are rice farmers, growing rice on 11 million hectares of land. Average Bangladeshis receive around three-quarters of their calories from rice. Rice and agriculture are crucial for this nation. Life for the rural poor is hard enough at any time. But it gets harder in northern Bangladesh from September to November, when the hunger months, or monga, occur. Monga affects many poor people in five districts of northern Bangladesh. Even though theres food in the market, they do not have enough money to buy the food they need. Most of the people who rely on farm work are jobless during these months. They wait for the harvest of the transplanted monsoon rice crop in December. By the time monga comes, they have consumed all of their stored food and have few opportunities for work. What can make matters worse is that northern Bangladesh is transected by 21 rivers that regularly overflow, leaving thousands of families homeless. Floods usually arrive in August and September, bringing with them hardship and water-borne illnesses that are only intensified by the monga, which follows closely behind. People try their best to cope. The …