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A village development model through participation of universities
Agriahrol
Administration 9 (1982) 267-272
A VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT MODEL THROUGH PARTICI PAT1ON OF UNIVERSITIES
PARIS ANDREWJ
& M. A. HASSAN
American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon (Received
: 17 December,
1980)
SUMMARY
The Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, has recently conducted a nutrition survey of rural Bangladesh. It has established a high prevalence, of malnutrition throughout the country. Low purchasing power, lack of knowledge of nutrition, improper food distribution, poor food yield, a high rate of population growth, infection and infestation werefound to be the major causes of this widespread prevalence of malnutrition. A rural development programme, coupled with non-formal nutrition health education, is recommended as the possible solution of the problem. To set up the above services, whose aim is rural development and improving the nutritional situation, apilotproject is required in a small areu such as a village. At Dacca, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, with its technical personnel specialising in nutrition, is initiating such a programme and co-ordinating activities among the relevant ministries and agencies.
PLANNING
FOR
THE
PLANNING
PROCESS
A committee composed of staff members of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science has been set up to conduct a feasibility survey and prepare a preliminary plan. The Director of the Institute has been acting as its chairman and a senior staff member as its co-ordinator. The co-ordinator, with the help of his colleagues, has collected references and other information that might be helpful in making decisions regarding the establishment of a rural development and nutrition service project for a village. This data included a census report, statistical information on birth and mortality rates, food imports, production, etc., a nutrition survey report, relevant documents from the principal ministries involved and all other publications which might be useful, including those of rural development programmes in 267
Agricultural Administration 0309-586X/82/0009-0267/$02,75 1982 Printed
in Great
Britain
0 Applied
Science Publishers
Ltd, England,
268
PARIS
ANDREOU,
M.
A.
HASSAN
neighbouring countries. The committee has also conducted a feasibility study in five villages near the capital city to establish which should finally be the one selected. Before the final selection of the village, visits were made to (1) approximately assess the present level of local co-operation and acceptance of new ideas involving change accepted in the past (for example, to find out whether there have been fertiliser or insecticide programmes), (2) list all local facilities which may have relevance in the programme, such as schools, clinics, farmers’ clubs, mothers’ clubs, etc., (3) list local personnel who may play some role in the programme (school teachers, agricultural extension staff, health personnel, rural development workers), (4) obtain data on the use of local services (e.g. school attendance, dispensary attendance, etc.), (5) gather relevant demographic data; (6) obtain the opinion of a variety of people as to whether they consider the area is good or bad for the proposed project and, finally, (7) assesscommunications in and to the area, including the situation at the height of the rainy season. The programme co-ordinator of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, with the data from these villages, then made his own report on the feasibility of the programme in each area, ranked the sites in his order of preference and presented his findings to the committee at the Institute. A village named Sallabaid was selected by the committee.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE
SELECTED
VILLAGE
The village, Sallabaid, under P.S. Monohordi, is 50 miles away from the capital city. One can also travel part of the distance by train, and then take a launch to reach the village. Its area is a half square mile; it has a population of 1091 and 173 households. Farming is the major occupation of 98 % of the villagers. The level of literacy is very poor and there are only five college undergraduates and ten high school graduates in the village. There is only one primary school and one religious school in the village. It represents a typical agricultural pattern in a region of higher rainfall and is subject to frequent flooding. Aus (short stemmed dry season rice) and aman (long stemmed rainy season rice) are the two major food crops. However, a third crop, boro (rice harvested in the spring) is also grown in parts of the fields.
PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
The project has both long- and medium-term goals. The long-term goals are to improve the nutritional status and health and the standard of living. There are three short-term goals. First, to raise income through the utilisation of any unused and under-used resources of the village, increasing cropping intensity and diversifying farm production, increasing the production of livestock and poultry, culturing fish in ponds, and by means of non-farm activities. Secondly, to increase the nutritional
VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH
UNIVERSITY
PARTICIPATION
269
status of the villagers through increased consumption of green leafy vegetables and fruits by producing vegetables in the fields and in kitchen-gardens and by planting fruit-bearing trees in homesteads. Thirdly, to disseminate non-formal nutrition and agricultural education through the mothers’ club, the farmers’ co-operative, the landless labourers association and the school teachers. To these ends a baseline survey on 54 statistically selected households was conducted during December, 1977 to estimate the present socio-economic and nutritional situation, to identify the problems and to prepare a priority list. Information was collected concerning food consumption, food habits and food preference; data about heights and weights of the children under five years of age; agricultural data on the food crops grown, use of fertilizers and pesticides, the production of livestock, the culture of fish, the production of fruits, etc. Socioeconomic data was collected on family incomes, expenditure, debt position and information on marketing, processing and storage of food, the decision-making process, leadership patterns, the role of women and the use of time, etc., on the type of unutilised and under-utilised resources and the major problems confronting the villagers. The survey revealed that the village is a flood-prone area and, due to the monsoon flood, the farmers could not grow the aman crop for three consecutive years from 1974 to 1976. This had proved a major problem and most of the villagers had run into debt. The village’s flood problem could be solved if a half-mile dam could be constructed along the edge of the sub-canal of the Shitalakshya river that passes along the eastern side of the village. The construction of this dam would enable the villagers to bring another 30 acres of land under cultivation. There was only one deep tube-well in the village and, due to wrong choice of sinking place, it could not serve all the village farmers. Installations of two power pumps along the edge of the sub-canal of the Shitalakshya would enable the farmers to increase their cropping intensity by bringing more land under boro rice cultivation. The villagers consider vegetables to be a less prestigious food. This is reflected by the fact that as income, landholdings and level of education rose, vegetable intake went down and that of fish and meat rose. This was due to a lack of nutritional knowledge and of the fact that vegetables are good health foods and are protection against some diseases. Malnutrition, therefore, can be seen as resulting as much from ignorance as from poverty. This emphasises the need for nutrition education for the villagers. Marketing of milk is another problem. As milk is perishable and a transportation system is not well developed, villagers get a low price for their products by marketing them in city areas. A milk chilling van may help reduce this problem. There are twelve derelict ponds in the village. These are held as private property in joint private ownership. The owners do not feel the need to re-excavate these ponds to culture fish. The village women raise local breeds of poultry which are susceptible to diseases. An immunisation programme may help reduce the high mortality rate. The village is characterised by the bottom heavy age (a large number of dependent
270
PARIS
ANDREOU,
M.
A. HASSAN
children per independent member) structure population. Each independent member, on average, has three or four children under five years of age. Moreover, the child mortality rate is very high. The surveys revealed that about 26% of the children die before their first birthday and another 20 % before reaching their fifth birthday. These child deaths cause not only sorrow and grief to their families but also put financial pressure on the dependent members. Lack of nutrition, hygiene and family planning knowledge are probably responsible for this situation. The survey thus identified the village’s basic problems that need solution through the proper utilisation of unutilised and under-utilised village resources, encouraging non-farm activities and imparting nutrition and family planning education.’ The data collected was used for planning the activities of the programme and later it will be used for evaluation. The programme co-ordinator has prepared a draft plan of operation in the light of the baseline data.
PLANNING
FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
Due to the great variety of problems in the village a ‘multidisciplinary’ approach is required. To construct the dam along the bank of the river Shitalakshya and to reexcavate the derelict ponds, the programme plans to undertake a ‘food for work scheme through the participation of local labourers. The (FAO) World Food Programme at Dacca has already agreed to give the required amount of wheat. Improved ‘fish fries’ will be cultured in the re-excavated ponds which will be ‘owned’ by the project for the first five years. However, the proceeds of fish sales will be used for further development of these ponds. Remaining problems will be solved through the formation of co-operatives and clubs. Thus: (a) Two farmers’ co-operatives will be formed in two areas of the village. Farmers will be given education, in the village, about improved cultural practices. The extension workers at the ‘grassroots’ level will have to play a vital role in this. The farmers will be encouraged to use high yielding varieties of seeds, as well as fertilisers and pesticides. The co-operatives will install the two power pumps required along the village river bank. (b) Two mothers’ clubs where the mothers will meet bi-weekly, will be organised in the village. Education about basic concepts of food, food hygiene, supplementary food for children and mothers, child care and family planning, etc., will be provided. Mothers will be motivated to utilise their spare time in doing some outside work (e.g. handicrafts from jute and bamboo, kitchen gardening and raising poultry) which will substantially increase their family income. The project will supply the raw materials, training and better poultry breeds and immunisation facilities. The clubs will market their finished products and should achieve some marginal profit for the village. (c) An association comprising the landless and near landless members of the village will be formed. In the absence of any other non-farm jobs, arrangements will be made to make loans to this
VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH
UNIVERSITY
PARTICIPATION
271
association to buy the required number of rickshaws (a rickshaw is a three-wheeled cycle) for its members. These rickshaws will be the property of the loan-giving financial institution whilst the loans are being repaid. After that, the association will be the owner of these rickshaws. Each member of the association will be given a rickshaw, for the whole day. At the end of the day, a specific amount of money (determined by the association) will be taken as rent and will be deposited in the local bank. The money will be used for loan repayment. In the absence of any other means of transportation in the area, this programme will be effective. As such it will help in raising the incomes of the rural poor.’ Nutrition education will be given to all the clubs. Their problems will be discussed from time to time and attempts will be made to solve them.
ADMINISTRATION
Administrative responsibilities of the different members of the staff and lines of authority will be drawn up so that each person knows clearly what he is expected to do. The programme co-ordinator will be the person in overall charge of the project. A PhD student will be allocated to the village full time and will do his thesis on the village. He may be called the field co-ordinator. He will co-ordinate the field activities and serve as a chairman of the local co-ordinating committee. The local co-ordinating committee will be made up of the village head and representatives of the farmers’ club, the mothers’ club, the landless labourers’ association, relevant ministeries at ‘grassroots’ level and programme staff. At the start of the programme, the co-ordinator will meet with the local committee and discuss the problems and objectives of the scheme. Motivation is very important at this stage in order to get full co-operation and maximum participation from the villagers. They will be made aware of their need for such a programme. The programme co-ordinator will also make periodic visits to the village and talk informally with the villagers about the project and assesstheir attitude towards it. It is to be remembered that the study will be a micro-level study taking the family as a unit. The PhD student, along with his academic supervisor and other research staff of the Institute, will assessthe output response to the input change and will study its impact on the individual family. This is a five-year programme. The Institute’s survey team will conduct a survey at the end of each year and the Institute (at Dacca) will publish a report annually showing the impact of the programme, its successesand drawbacks, and necessary modifications. At the end of five years, a final report will also be published covering the activities for the project period. Based on achieving various nutrition and socioeconomic goals, the programme, it is hoped, will prove to be successful. If successful, it will provide a model for rural development that could be duplicated in rural Bangladesh by mobilising unused and under-used resources through local participation and leadership.
272
PARIS
ANDREOU,
M. A. HASSAN
REFERENCES KAMAL, Methodology for the Development of a Nutrition Intervention Program in Rural Bangladesh. Dacca Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, 1976. 2. Annual Report of Chittagong University Rural Development Project. Chittagong, Department of Economics, University of Chittagong, 1976. 3. HUQ, NURUL, A Village Development Model. Comilla, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development, 1968. 4. INSTITUTE OF NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCE OF DACCA UNIVERSITY, Nutrition Survey of Rural Bangladesh. Dacca, Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, 1977. 1. AHMAD,
Administration 9 (1982) 267-272
A VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT MODEL THROUGH PARTICI PAT1ON OF UNIVERSITIES
PARIS ANDREWJ
& M. A. HASSAN
American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon (Received
: 17 December,
1980)
SUMMARY
The Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, has recently conducted a nutrition survey of rural Bangladesh. It has established a high prevalence, of malnutrition throughout the country. Low purchasing power, lack of knowledge of nutrition, improper food distribution, poor food yield, a high rate of population growth, infection and infestation werefound to be the major causes of this widespread prevalence of malnutrition. A rural development programme, coupled with non-formal nutrition health education, is recommended as the possible solution of the problem. To set up the above services, whose aim is rural development and improving the nutritional situation, apilotproject is required in a small areu such as a village. At Dacca, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, with its technical personnel specialising in nutrition, is initiating such a programme and co-ordinating activities among the relevant ministries and agencies.
PLANNING
FOR
THE
PLANNING
PROCESS
A committee composed of staff members of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science has been set up to conduct a feasibility survey and prepare a preliminary plan. The Director of the Institute has been acting as its chairman and a senior staff member as its co-ordinator. The co-ordinator, with the help of his colleagues, has collected references and other information that might be helpful in making decisions regarding the establishment of a rural development and nutrition service project for a village. This data included a census report, statistical information on birth and mortality rates, food imports, production, etc., a nutrition survey report, relevant documents from the principal ministries involved and all other publications which might be useful, including those of rural development programmes in 267
Agricultural Administration 0309-586X/82/0009-0267/$02,75 1982 Printed
in Great
Britain
0 Applied
Science Publishers
Ltd, England,
268
PARIS
ANDREOU,
M.
A.
HASSAN
neighbouring countries. The committee has also conducted a feasibility study in five villages near the capital city to establish which should finally be the one selected. Before the final selection of the village, visits were made to (1) approximately assess the present level of local co-operation and acceptance of new ideas involving change accepted in the past (for example, to find out whether there have been fertiliser or insecticide programmes), (2) list all local facilities which may have relevance in the programme, such as schools, clinics, farmers’ clubs, mothers’ clubs, etc., (3) list local personnel who may play some role in the programme (school teachers, agricultural extension staff, health personnel, rural development workers), (4) obtain data on the use of local services (e.g. school attendance, dispensary attendance, etc.), (5) gather relevant demographic data; (6) obtain the opinion of a variety of people as to whether they consider the area is good or bad for the proposed project and, finally, (7) assesscommunications in and to the area, including the situation at the height of the rainy season. The programme co-ordinator of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, with the data from these villages, then made his own report on the feasibility of the programme in each area, ranked the sites in his order of preference and presented his findings to the committee at the Institute. A village named Sallabaid was selected by the committee.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE
SELECTED
VILLAGE
The village, Sallabaid, under P.S. Monohordi, is 50 miles away from the capital city. One can also travel part of the distance by train, and then take a launch to reach the village. Its area is a half square mile; it has a population of 1091 and 173 households. Farming is the major occupation of 98 % of the villagers. The level of literacy is very poor and there are only five college undergraduates and ten high school graduates in the village. There is only one primary school and one religious school in the village. It represents a typical agricultural pattern in a region of higher rainfall and is subject to frequent flooding. Aus (short stemmed dry season rice) and aman (long stemmed rainy season rice) are the two major food crops. However, a third crop, boro (rice harvested in the spring) is also grown in parts of the fields.
PROJECT
OBJECTIVES
The project has both long- and medium-term goals. The long-term goals are to improve the nutritional status and health and the standard of living. There are three short-term goals. First, to raise income through the utilisation of any unused and under-used resources of the village, increasing cropping intensity and diversifying farm production, increasing the production of livestock and poultry, culturing fish in ponds, and by means of non-farm activities. Secondly, to increase the nutritional
VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH
UNIVERSITY
PARTICIPATION
269
status of the villagers through increased consumption of green leafy vegetables and fruits by producing vegetables in the fields and in kitchen-gardens and by planting fruit-bearing trees in homesteads. Thirdly, to disseminate non-formal nutrition and agricultural education through the mothers’ club, the farmers’ co-operative, the landless labourers association and the school teachers. To these ends a baseline survey on 54 statistically selected households was conducted during December, 1977 to estimate the present socio-economic and nutritional situation, to identify the problems and to prepare a priority list. Information was collected concerning food consumption, food habits and food preference; data about heights and weights of the children under five years of age; agricultural data on the food crops grown, use of fertilizers and pesticides, the production of livestock, the culture of fish, the production of fruits, etc. Socioeconomic data was collected on family incomes, expenditure, debt position and information on marketing, processing and storage of food, the decision-making process, leadership patterns, the role of women and the use of time, etc., on the type of unutilised and under-utilised resources and the major problems confronting the villagers. The survey revealed that the village is a flood-prone area and, due to the monsoon flood, the farmers could not grow the aman crop for three consecutive years from 1974 to 1976. This had proved a major problem and most of the villagers had run into debt. The village’s flood problem could be solved if a half-mile dam could be constructed along the edge of the sub-canal of the Shitalakshya river that passes along the eastern side of the village. The construction of this dam would enable the villagers to bring another 30 acres of land under cultivation. There was only one deep tube-well in the village and, due to wrong choice of sinking place, it could not serve all the village farmers. Installations of two power pumps along the edge of the sub-canal of the Shitalakshya would enable the farmers to increase their cropping intensity by bringing more land under boro rice cultivation. The villagers consider vegetables to be a less prestigious food. This is reflected by the fact that as income, landholdings and level of education rose, vegetable intake went down and that of fish and meat rose. This was due to a lack of nutritional knowledge and of the fact that vegetables are good health foods and are protection against some diseases. Malnutrition, therefore, can be seen as resulting as much from ignorance as from poverty. This emphasises the need for nutrition education for the villagers. Marketing of milk is another problem. As milk is perishable and a transportation system is not well developed, villagers get a low price for their products by marketing them in city areas. A milk chilling van may help reduce this problem. There are twelve derelict ponds in the village. These are held as private property in joint private ownership. The owners do not feel the need to re-excavate these ponds to culture fish. The village women raise local breeds of poultry which are susceptible to diseases. An immunisation programme may help reduce the high mortality rate. The village is characterised by the bottom heavy age (a large number of dependent
270
PARIS
ANDREOU,
M.
A. HASSAN
children per independent member) structure population. Each independent member, on average, has three or four children under five years of age. Moreover, the child mortality rate is very high. The surveys revealed that about 26% of the children die before their first birthday and another 20 % before reaching their fifth birthday. These child deaths cause not only sorrow and grief to their families but also put financial pressure on the dependent members. Lack of nutrition, hygiene and family planning knowledge are probably responsible for this situation. The survey thus identified the village’s basic problems that need solution through the proper utilisation of unutilised and under-utilised village resources, encouraging non-farm activities and imparting nutrition and family planning education.’ The data collected was used for planning the activities of the programme and later it will be used for evaluation. The programme co-ordinator has prepared a draft plan of operation in the light of the baseline data.
PLANNING
FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
Due to the great variety of problems in the village a ‘multidisciplinary’ approach is required. To construct the dam along the bank of the river Shitalakshya and to reexcavate the derelict ponds, the programme plans to undertake a ‘food for work scheme through the participation of local labourers. The (FAO) World Food Programme at Dacca has already agreed to give the required amount of wheat. Improved ‘fish fries’ will be cultured in the re-excavated ponds which will be ‘owned’ by the project for the first five years. However, the proceeds of fish sales will be used for further development of these ponds. Remaining problems will be solved through the formation of co-operatives and clubs. Thus: (a) Two farmers’ co-operatives will be formed in two areas of the village. Farmers will be given education, in the village, about improved cultural practices. The extension workers at the ‘grassroots’ level will have to play a vital role in this. The farmers will be encouraged to use high yielding varieties of seeds, as well as fertilisers and pesticides. The co-operatives will install the two power pumps required along the village river bank. (b) Two mothers’ clubs where the mothers will meet bi-weekly, will be organised in the village. Education about basic concepts of food, food hygiene, supplementary food for children and mothers, child care and family planning, etc., will be provided. Mothers will be motivated to utilise their spare time in doing some outside work (e.g. handicrafts from jute and bamboo, kitchen gardening and raising poultry) which will substantially increase their family income. The project will supply the raw materials, training and better poultry breeds and immunisation facilities. The clubs will market their finished products and should achieve some marginal profit for the village. (c) An association comprising the landless and near landless members of the village will be formed. In the absence of any other non-farm jobs, arrangements will be made to make loans to this
VILLAGE
DEVELOPMENT
THROUGH
UNIVERSITY
PARTICIPATION
271
association to buy the required number of rickshaws (a rickshaw is a three-wheeled cycle) for its members. These rickshaws will be the property of the loan-giving financial institution whilst the loans are being repaid. After that, the association will be the owner of these rickshaws. Each member of the association will be given a rickshaw, for the whole day. At the end of the day, a specific amount of money (determined by the association) will be taken as rent and will be deposited in the local bank. The money will be used for loan repayment. In the absence of any other means of transportation in the area, this programme will be effective. As such it will help in raising the incomes of the rural poor.’ Nutrition education will be given to all the clubs. Their problems will be discussed from time to time and attempts will be made to solve them.
ADMINISTRATION
Administrative responsibilities of the different members of the staff and lines of authority will be drawn up so that each person knows clearly what he is expected to do. The programme co-ordinator will be the person in overall charge of the project. A PhD student will be allocated to the village full time and will do his thesis on the village. He may be called the field co-ordinator. He will co-ordinate the field activities and serve as a chairman of the local co-ordinating committee. The local co-ordinating committee will be made up of the village head and representatives of the farmers’ club, the mothers’ club, the landless labourers’ association, relevant ministeries at ‘grassroots’ level and programme staff. At the start of the programme, the co-ordinator will meet with the local committee and discuss the problems and objectives of the scheme. Motivation is very important at this stage in order to get full co-operation and maximum participation from the villagers. They will be made aware of their need for such a programme. The programme co-ordinator will also make periodic visits to the village and talk informally with the villagers about the project and assesstheir attitude towards it. It is to be remembered that the study will be a micro-level study taking the family as a unit. The PhD student, along with his academic supervisor and other research staff of the Institute, will assessthe output response to the input change and will study its impact on the individual family. This is a five-year programme. The Institute’s survey team will conduct a survey at the end of each year and the Institute (at Dacca) will publish a report annually showing the impact of the programme, its successesand drawbacks, and necessary modifications. At the end of five years, a final report will also be published covering the activities for the project period. Based on achieving various nutrition and socioeconomic goals, the programme, it is hoped, will prove to be successful. If successful, it will provide a model for rural development that could be duplicated in rural Bangladesh by mobilising unused and under-used resources through local participation and leadership.
272
PARIS
ANDREOU,
M. A. HASSAN
REFERENCES KAMAL, Methodology for the Development of a Nutrition Intervention Program in Rural Bangladesh. Dacca Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, 1976. 2. Annual Report of Chittagong University Rural Development Project. Chittagong, Department of Economics, University of Chittagong, 1976. 3. HUQ, NURUL, A Village Development Model. Comilla, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development, 1968. 4. INSTITUTE OF NUTRITION AND FOOD SCIENCE OF DACCA UNIVERSITY, Nutrition Survey of Rural Bangladesh. Dacca, Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dacca, 1977. 1. AHMAD,