Abstract
>Amartya Sen, in his seminal work on food entitlements and deprivation (1981), has effectively demonstrated that food security is first and foremost a question of access to food rather than of general availability. Furthermore, research has shown that not only the rural populations are vulnerable to food insecurity, but that it is a significant challenge to urban dwellers as well (Sen 1981: 32; Pryer and Crook 1988; Watts and Bohle 1993). This is particularly true after the so-called “urban turn” – more than half of the world’s population now live in urban habitats (UN 2008). The global food price hike of 2007 and 2008 again has taught national governments and the international aid community that an undisturbed supply of and access to food are the basic prerequisites for urban food security where basically all urban populations depend on food markets to access food.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Nine slum settlements were selected for the survey, located in different parts of Dhaka, six within the Dhaka City Corporation (Begunbari-Tilatek, Pallabi; Bishil and Sarang Bari Bastee, Mirpur; Bhuiapara road, Khilgaon; Kunipara, Tejgaon; Adabar No-10 Bastee, Mohammadpur; Natun Jurain Bastee, Alambagh, Shyampur), and three within Dhaka Union (Kamranginchar; Abdullapur, Dakshin Khan; Harirampur, Turag). 18–31 household interviews were carried out in each of the slums. Their population ranged from 3,000 to 30,000. The households were randomly selected from a sample that was drawn at the same time at the very same study sites by the INNOVATE research consortium from the Universities of Bielefeld and Humboldt at Berlin. Their Public Health Survey was conducted under the supervision of Dr. MMH Khan and O. Grübner. We, hereby, would like to thank Dr. Khan and his colleagues for the co-operation in conducting the research and for letting us use parts of their data set
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Perceived severity of the respective coping strategy: 1 = ‘not severe’, 2 = ‘little severe’, 3 = ‘severe’, 4 = ‘very severe’
- 4.
Frequency of applying the respective coping strategy within the last week: 0 = ‘never (0 days)’, 1 = ‘hardly at all (1 day)’, 2.5 = ‘once in a while (2–3 days)’, 5 = ‘pretty often (4–6 days)’, 7 = ‘all the time (everyday)’
- 5.
According to www.indexmundi.com, accessed: 20.08.2009
- 6.
According to the FAO (2008) 1.4 mio MT of rice were imported in 2007. Note: FAOSTAT differentiates between paddy (unmilled rice), (milled) rice, broken rice and other varieties. As paddy loses weight in the milling process (in the order of one third), quantities cannot be easily added up
- 7.
Surveys were conducted in February and March 2008 and again in the same months in 2009 in the Mirpur 11, Malibag, Jatrabari North, Mirpur 1, Kochuket and Babubazaar/Badamtuli
- 8.
The net availability of rice in Bangladesh was 188.4 kg in 2004–2005; it was a little less in the year before (BBS 2008:411)
- 9.
The last population census was in 2001. 5.3 mio people were counted in the area under DCC (BBS 2008: 94). At an annual growth rate of 5% their number would have increased to 8.2 million in 2010
- 10.
Rice in Bangladesh on average has a nutrient content of 347 Kcal per 100 g (BBS 2008: 398)
- 11.
In urban areas average per capita calorie intake per day was around 2,200 Kcal since the late 1980 s; it was 2,193 Kcal in 2005 (BBS 2008: 397)
- 12.
Labour groups have been identified by the economic sector in which the head of the household earns his/her main income
- 13.
This might be explained by the fact that the CSI-Method brings out the perceived sensitivity of households and their coping behaviour. If a HH with a relatively higher income has to cut down its expenditure on meat and fish in order to ensure a provision with ‘good’ rice, the deteriorated food situation might result in a higher CSI-score as compared to a family just surviving on rice, oil and some vegetable and without having been used to eating meat and fish of good quality
- 14.
Interview with Mr. Hiran Maya Barai, Chief Controller Dhaka Rationing, on 21 January, 2008
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Zingel, WP., Keck, M., Etzold, B., Bohle, HG. (2011). Urban Food Security and Health Status of the Poor in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In: Krämer, A., Khan, M., Kraas, F. (eds) Health in Megacities and Urban Areas. Contributions to Statistics. Physica, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-2733-0_19
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