A greener future in Bangladesh
A World Food Programme gardening project is improving access to nutritious food and living conditions in the world’s largest refugee camp.
The refugee camp in Unchiprang looks quite different to many parts of the Kutupalong megacamp that lies to its north. There are fewer families living here for starters, although it’s still very cramped and crowded. What really stands out though is the number of gardens that are growing in front of and on top of people’s shelters.
Instead of the usual dust and mud, fenced green gardens take up every spare inch of land and shelters are covered in vegetable producing vines.
This homestead gardening project was started as part of the World Food Programme’s self-reliance activities in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps which aims to reach 15,000 households by the end of 2019. With NGO partner BRAC, the homestead gardening project provides training in vegetable gardening as well as the distribution of items such as spades, buckets, seeds, and fertilizer.
In an overcrowded refugee camp like this, space is limited. So where there isn’t enough room for a small vegetable patch, vertical gardening methods are utilised. The greenery that adorns to roofs and walls of many of the shelters produces food such as bottle gourd, a vegetable that can grow to half a metre in length and weigh more than a kilo.
These gardens are an important source of food for mothers such as Rehena Begum. She has two young children and vegetables are their favourite food. The family receives monthly rations of rice, pulses, and oil but has little access to other sources of food.
The chilli, spinach, and pumpkin Rehana grows in her small garden is something the family looks forward to.
“I like all kinds of food but spinach is very special to me and my children also love it. We grow corn too and eat it, with the green chillies I make chilli chutney.”
The gardens can also be a source of income for families who harvest more than they need. Noor Bahar has been making around 100 BDT (USD 1.20) a week by selling surplus spinach and chillies in the market. It may not sound like a lot but in a context where people have almost no access to income it can be life changing.
“My husband is almost 60 years old and suffers from chronic illness so he can’t work, selling vegetables is our only source of money,” says Noor. “I use the money to buy fish, potatoes, and other things we need.”
Many of the refugees in Cox’s Bazar come from a rural background so gardening is a natural fit. With the provision of the right tools and a little guidance on differences in Bangladeshi soil and seeds, the families taking part in the homestead gardening project are able to increase their vegetable intake and, in some cases, income.
There are close to one million Rohingya refugees living in Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh and most have little or no access to income. The WFP self-reliance project is supporting refugees in building skills that can help them become self-sufficient. Learn more about the self-reliance project here.
