LIFE AND LIVELIHOOD REALITIES OF RURAL BANGLADESH

Submitted to
Sheikh Morshed Jahan
Associate Professor
Course Instructor: Bangladesh Studies

Submitted by
Farhan Khaled
Roll: 109
BBA 19th Batch
Institute of Business Administration,
University of Dhaka

6 March 2013

More than 70% of the population of Bangladeshis lives in the rural areas. In Bangladesh,
the way of living differs drastically in these two areas. But some may argue that, rural
people got the burnt end of the stick. They are less fortunate when it comes to technology,
their standard of living is nothing to boast about, it takes a lot of honest hard work to put
bread on the table, the variety of job opportunities is less frequent, they are more
vulnerable to natural disasters than the urban people.
The name of the village is Bashbari in the Sitakunda police station. On visiting the village,
the inner stories and expectations of the local people were revealed. The field study gave
me an insight into the workings of the rural life that cannot be seen while sitting in the
middle of a metropolitan city. Interviewing various people of diverse occupation had been
a great way to gain insight into their lives. The study included the interview of 6 people
belonging to different occupations.
The interviewees comprised of 2 woman and 4 men chosen on a random basis. Among
them, two were farmers, one rickshaw puller, one school teacher, one fisherman and one
industrial worker.
The common questions asked to each of the interviewees were:

What are the challenges they face on a regular basis?

How is life different from 10 years back?
What sort of changes would make their lives better?

Bangladesh had always been an agriculture based country. And rural areas being the focus
of this agricultural source meant that, a great number of rural populations were farmers. It
is true even for today. But now, the farmers enjoy fruit of modern technology in the form
of greater yield than ever before. Their relentless hard work along with the advancement in
the modern agricultural technology is what keeps feeding us. But unfortunately these
farmers dont leave a very content life. They have to constantly battle the anxiety of going
hungry. They dont know whether they would be able to earn enough money to put bread
on the table. Volatility of the price of agricultural product is the main reason behind this
anxiety. Of the two farmers interviewed, both shared the same problems that plague them
throughout the year. Although life has gotten better than what it was 10 years back, but the
uncertainty of tomorrow still brings nightmare to them. The village being so close to sea
especially causes so much worry in them. Flooding has robbed them of many harvest and
caused them great sufferings in the past. Although they did agree on the fact that
Bangladesh has advanced leaps and bounds in the disaster management sector and less
people die in the floods compared to the past.

Borhan Ali, aged 52 told us about the great flooding of 1998 and how it had wiped out
some of his relatives. He had also lost a son in that flood. He has 2 others son along with 3
daughters. Although he did his level best to send his sons to school so that they could have
a better life, but he did no such thing for his daughters. His wish is to marry them into a
good house as soon as possible.
Rakibuddin, aged 36, the other farmer that was interviewed differs from Borhan Ali in this
regard. He has attended seminars on family planning in the Union Parishad and only has a
daughter. This meant that he is far better off than Borhan Ali in terms of financial stability.
He is uneducated and understands the value of education. That is why he is adamant on
sending his daughter to school. He wishes that one day his daughter would become a
doctor. It was very heartwarming to witness this and gave me hope about the future of the
rural population.
Although the farmers are witnessing greater yield every year, the same cannot be said
about the fishermen. Rokonuzzaman, aged 47 said that more and more people are leaving
this occupation and migrating to cities in search of jobs. Fishing is becoming less and less
profitable. It is not providing a sustainable source of income any more. The main reason
behind this is the diminishing number of fish that are caught compared to the older days.
Over fishing has led to this desperate situation. He also complained about the lack of
assistance from the Government on this case. He believes that if the Government had taken
the right steps and opted for stricter policies their situation would not have gotten so
desperate. He is illiterate and has a family of five that solely depends on his income. He
has to live through uncertainty every single day that puts a lot of stress on him. He is even
considering following his friends and migrating to the city in search of a job opportunity.
Farming and fishing had always been the norm when it came to choosing a profession
among the villagers. But as time passes, being an industrial worker is becoming more and
more common. Our next interviewee is one such industrial worker. Ayesha Begum, aged
31 works at a garment factory nearby. She tells us that she was the 4th among her 8 siblings.
She was married very early. But she tells us that she is one of the very few women who
were fortunate enough to have an understanding husband. It was her husband who had
suggested her to seek a job in the garments factory. According to her, the income is good.
Although, she does faces some gender discrimination when it comes to payment. She
wishes that she had the opportunity to study when she as little. That way she could have
had a greater opportunity to prosper in life. She also expressed concern regarding the
safety regulation in her factory are not followed properly. A colleague of her had recently
suffered and accident and lost a hand. This could have been easily avoided had he been
briefed about his work more. The worst part is this that the factory owners refused to take

any responsibility of this accident. They have refused to provide him medical benefits. This
scares Ayesha very much. This could have happened to her instead of her colleague.
When it came to the school teacher, the scenario was a bit different than the others. Rokeya
Khatun, aged 41 belonged to the upper most segment of living standard and social respect
due to her affiliation with academics and greater household income (along with her
husbands income). The social respect and honor gives her a prestigious life and she enjoys
it whole heartedly. But she also complains that as a conscious citizen she understands that
market prices should not be so high and that the hardworking poor people should be better
off. She expressed her sympathy to the poor and at the same time felt proud of the peoples
awareness about the importance of education. She claims that there is greater gender
equality in the education sector when it comes to her district. She takes immense pride in
the social context where more women are working compared to 10 years back and says
that Bashbaria is an example of gender equity when it comes to comparison between rural
districts.
Although it has its own fair share of challenges but this particular village is developing
along with the country. It is contributing to the economy from every possible sector. There
are thousand other villages like this and if they show the same progress as this one, than
one day Bangladesh wont have to be labeled as a poor country.

Some photographs of the field trip to Bashbari, Sitakunda: