become land-poor or landless. Landlessness has increased at almost the
same rate of growth as the population in Bangladesh in the recent times.
Land-ownership patterns in Bangladesh show significant social imbalance. In
rural areas, influential people grab the government owned khas land by
creating fake documents. According to laws and policies, all agricultural khas
lands should be distributed among landless families for cultivation. But they
do not get the khas land due to the power practice of land grabbers in
association with some government officials. For the right to land, grassroots
people raised their voices at different places of the country. In order to look
into the challenges and opportunities of the land rights movements, the
study focuses on three types of land rights movements: (1) NGO-led (2)
political party-led and (3) grassroots people-led. Participatory tools and
techniques have been used in this study such as interview, focus group
discussion, key informant interview, case study and literature review. The
findings of the study will be helpful for programme designing and policy
campaign on land rights issues.
Health, Hygiene and Nutrition
1.Nutritional status of mothers and neonatal children in rural
areas: An anthropological investigation in Barkatpur village under
Gazipur district
Nayona Ahmed, Plan Bangladesh
In the context of Bangladesh, malnutrition is a common phenomenon.
The lactating mother and neonates are mainly suffering from malnutrition.
The study aims to understand the situation of malnutrition of the lactating
mother and neonates in a rural area of Bangladesh. The study was conducted
among ten mothers and ten neonates in Bakterpur village of Kaliganj
Upazila. Data collection took place in June to August 2011. Data were
collected through free listing, in-depth interview and case studies. Various
secondary sources were also utilised for this purpose. Data revealed that the
mothers were aware about intake of nutritious food during pregnancy as it
would keep them healthy and help their babies to grow properly.
Nevertheless, due to socioeconomic condition and traditional beliefs, most
of the mothers did not take nutritious food during their pregnancy. They
perceived that if they took nutritious food the size of their babies would be
big and they would have difficulties during delivery. In addition, some taboos
were observed related to food intake. As a result, it was seen that traditional
beliefs and practices influenced food intake practices of the mothers that
affected the health of their babies. We should address these issues to
improve the health of the mothers to get healthy neonates.
Poverty and Development: Realities of Grassroots 21