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EIGHT The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh

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Abstract

COVID- 19 pandemic has exposed fault lines in existing food systems in both developed (Lawrence, 2020) and developing countries (Rahman et al, 2020). Bangladesh, a densely populated and rapidly urbanizing nation of roughly 180 million people went into a ‘general holiday with restrictions on movement’ (referred to internationally as lockdown) on March 26, 2020. The majority of economic and social activities within the country ceased as a consequence. The lockdown was eventually relaxed on June 1, 2020, with specific instructions to maintain social distancing. As of September 7, 2020, Bangladesh had 325,157 cases of COVID- 19 and 4,479 people had died from the virus (Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 2020). A rapid- response research conducted by the Power and Participation Research Centre and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development of Bangladesh (Rahman et al, 2020) in April 2020 in Bangladesh observed a steep drop in income leading to a contraction in food consumption as evidenced by reduction in food expenditure by 28 percent for urban informal settlement respondents and 22 percent for rural respondents. Similar to experiences in other countries (Despard et al, 2020), the lockdown resulted in an income shock, particularly for the urban poor.

While there are reports of how communities in major cities have been impacted (Taylor, 2020), little is known about the lived experiences of residents in smaller cities and how food systems and food security in these towns were impacted. Indeed, small and mid- sized cities remain academically and professionally ignored and unexplored despite the fact that the world’s urban majority reside in those cities (Satterthwaite, 2017; Ruszczyk et al, 2021).

Abstract

COVID- 19 pandemic has exposed fault lines in existing food systems in both developed (Lawrence, 2020) and developing countries (Rahman et al, 2020). Bangladesh, a densely populated and rapidly urbanizing nation of roughly 180 million people went into a ‘general holiday with restrictions on movement’ (referred to internationally as lockdown) on March 26, 2020. The majority of economic and social activities within the country ceased as a consequence. The lockdown was eventually relaxed on June 1, 2020, with specific instructions to maintain social distancing. As of September 7, 2020, Bangladesh had 325,157 cases of COVID- 19 and 4,479 people had died from the virus (Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 2020). A rapid- response research conducted by the Power and Participation Research Centre and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development of Bangladesh (Rahman et al, 2020) in April 2020 in Bangladesh observed a steep drop in income leading to a contraction in food consumption as evidenced by reduction in food expenditure by 28 percent for urban informal settlement respondents and 22 percent for rural respondents. Similar to experiences in other countries (Despard et al, 2020), the lockdown resulted in an income shock, particularly for the urban poor.

While there are reports of how communities in major cities have been impacted (Taylor, 2020), little is known about the lived experiences of residents in smaller cities and how food systems and food security in these towns were impacted. Indeed, small and mid- sized cities remain academically and professionally ignored and unexplored despite the fact that the world’s urban majority reside in those cities (Satterthwaite, 2017; Ruszczyk et al, 2021).

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of Figures and Tables ix
  4. Notes on Contributors xi
  5. Acknowledgments xvii
  6. Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. Working Practices
  9. Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
  10. The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
  11. The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
  12. Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
  13. Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
  14. Life During Lockdown
  15. Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
  16. The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
  17. How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
  18. Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
  19. Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
  20. The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
  21. Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
  22. Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
  23. Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
  24. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
  25. Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
  26. Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
  27. Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
  28. What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
  29. Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
  30. The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
  31. COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
  32. Conclusion 245
  33. Index 251
Volume 1: Community and Society
This chapter is in the book Volume 1: Community and Society
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529218893-012

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of Figures and Tables ix
  4. Notes on Contributors xi
  5. Acknowledgments xvii
  6. Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. Working Practices
  9. Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
  10. The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
  11. The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
  12. Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
  13. Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
  14. Life During Lockdown
  15. Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
  16. The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
  17. How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
  18. Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
  19. Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
  20. The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
  21. Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
  22. Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
  23. Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
  24. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
  25. Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
  26. Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
  27. Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
  28. What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
  29. Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
  30. The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
  31. COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
  32. Conclusion 245
  33. Index 251
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