Lfe Report

LIFE IN FIELD EXPERIENCE REPORT-SUMMER 2010

1.0 Introduction

Live-in-Field Experience (LFE) is a program of Independent University, Bangladesh designed to

give knowledge and experience about village culture, life styles and economic condition to

students thorough a fieldwork. Bangladesh is a developing country. 80%of the population of

Bangladesh lives in the rural areas and this population contributes one third of the country's gross

domestic product and more than 75% people depend on agriculture for sustenance. LFE gives the

idea about these villages which is very important for our country. LFE is not only about the study

of rural life, it is also about the study of the principal culture and mode of production of

Bangladesh. We observed our Gokul village and collected data on our village. Report writing

will start after completion of fieldwork. And including of village resource mapping and

transects social change process, economy and rural production cycle, health and environment,

and rural market.

1.1 Objective of LFEThe main objectives of the LFE are given below:

To know about the resources of the Village

To understand the rural life

To know the rural production cycle

To know the health and environment of village people

To know the social change process over the period

To find out different NGO’s activity etc.

1.2 Limitation of the Report There is a page limit in this report. So I can con briefly discuss all the matters.

The report is based on 25 household. So the information is may not proper for lower

number of sample

Time was only 10 days. It’s hard for to get real information from this short time period

Lack of privacy during interviewing the respondents

Sometimes, respondents were found to be unwilling to answer some specific questions.

Misinterpretation

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2.0 MethodologyBoth of the qualitative and quantitative method is being used to collect and analyze the

information for this report. We, a group of five IUB students conducted the study in a Para

named “sardarpara”. The Para is under Gokul village in Bogra district. The questionnaire survey

is being used as the quantitative method to collect information about the demographic variables,

health condition, environmental condition and the economic condition of the village community.

The Participatory Rural Appraisal and some open ended questions were being used as the

qualitative method to collect information about the physical condition, social condition,

economic condition and market of the village.

2.1 Quantitative methodSome structured, closed ended questions were being used to collect information about the

demographic variables, health condition, environmental condition and the economic condition of

the village community. This information was being analyzed in this report by using different

tools.

2.2 Qualitative methodThe Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is being mainly used as the qualitative method. Some

open ended questions were also being used to analyze the market.

2.3 Participatory Rural AppraisalParticipatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) is a particular form of qualitative research used to gain an

in depth understanding of a community or a situation.. It has helped to get introduced with the

villager and village itself, to collect information on the physical condition, social condition and

economic condition of the village.

2.4 ObservationWe have also used observation method when surveying PARA. For environmental effect,

Sanitation, water sources, we tried to use observation method. We also captured a lot of pictures

which is also a part of observation and used to describe the actual scenario of the PARA.

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3.0 Village Resource Mapping and Transect3.1 IntroductionBangladesh is a developing country. There are 86038 villages in this country. In the proportion

with cities the villages comprised eighty percent of our whole territory. However being a

developing country the improvements of the infrastructure are highly concerned with the cities.

But the development of the rural areas is far too slow. Eighty percent of our people live in

village. In our LFE program, we have visited Gokul (Sardarpara). Here I will try to discuss the

structure of that village and too many extents; I think it will represent the present scenario of the

situation of Gokul (Sardarpara).

3.2 Objectives

Map is a representation of any geographical location by which one can generate a mental picture

instantly. The main objective of Village resource mapping is to establish a picture view of the

village and para in the mind of the reader. The drawing of village map helped us to know-

About the villagers.

About area and location

About school, college, Mosque Etc.

About the high and low zone of the village

About the usage of land

3.3.1 Selection of villageThe village assigned to our group was Sardar Para - South (The North side went to

Group-02). Since it would have been tough for a single group to cover the whole village, So our

information is based on the Gokul (Sardarpara).

3.3.2 Rapport Building with VillagersRapport building is a major aspect of PRA technique. In the first day, our honorable supervisor

took us to the Gokul village. She introduced us to Shahjahan Sardar and Asad ali, who are the

most knowledgeable persons in the village, they know everything about village mapping. We

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also meet with other villagers. We approached them very politely and persuaded them to speak

about their village. We kept one thing in mind - we will have to come to the village for the next 7

to 8 days for gathering other relevant information. At one stage we took some pictures with

them. The environment was created in such a way that the villagers did not feel uncomfortable

and did not hesitate to share their feelings with us.

Rapport building with villagers

3.4 Village Map3.4.1 Definition of Village Map

A village map helps us to be familiar with the village. It represents the whole area of the village. This

map gives us a clear idea of the entire village and also helps us to know about the various establishments

of the village. This map gives us an approximate picture of the village and we can know about the village

properly. From the village map we can know about the area, total households, household structure, social

structure, social resources, natural resources, geographical feature, demography etc of the village.

3.4.2 Overview of the Village

Name of the Village: Gokul

Location: The village is situated under the:

Union: Gokul

Post office: Gokul

Thana: Bogra

District: Bogra

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3.5 Para Map3.5.1 Definition of Para Map

The Para map represents the whole area of that Para. From this map anyone can get a clear idea

about that place. A Para map explain the overall idea about different resources of the Para

including; structure, position of natural resources, social resources, local resources and the

physical demography of a particular area. This also helps us to know about its population, area,

use of land, size of the Para, education system, religion organization, agriculture sanitation

system, tube well, ponds, mosque, madrasa etc. The route through which we had the walk to

draw the transect map is also shown in the Para map.

3.5.2 Area and Population

The area of Sardar Para is not so large. The population growth is also low. There are around 50

households and approximately 300 people lives in the Para. There are nuclear families as well as

joint families. From our survey we found that all of them are Muslims.

3.5.3 Ponds and Tubewells

There is a shortage of ponds in Sardarpara. There are only three ponds in this para. But there

was no water in the ponds. Villagers are totally dependent on tubewell water. We found that

most of the house hold have a tubewell.

3.5.4 Schools & Colleges

There are no school and college situated in this para. But there are 3 schools near the para under

the Gokul Village. Its need five miniutes to go there by walk. There are two hogh schools. One is

for boys and another one for the girls. There is also a primary school in this village.

3.5.5 Trees

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Trees are the beauty of the village. In our Para we saw the two sides of the road and the most of

the houses surrounded by several trees. These trees are helped people by many ways. We divided

trees into four kinds according to their origin. One is local tree and another one is Foreign tree.

3.5.7 Lands

Inour village we found paddy fields. This village people Largely used their land mostly for

agricultural purpose likes potato, and paddy.

3.5.8 Shops

There are two small shop situated in the village. The shop placed in front of a house. The

available goods were soap, biscuits, chips, chocolates, tea, beverage, kerosene etc.

3.5.9 Animals

Most of the household have their own domestic animals. Without domestic animals we hear

there’s some wild animals like fox, mongoose, snake etc.

3.6 Transect Map3.6.1 Definition of Transect map

Transect is one type of PRA technique which presents the structure of the whole village in terms

of its components. To get the micro view of the whole area we do transect. It has overall impact

on the relationships between the different important components of the village. It includes soil

type, land used patterns, the types of trees and crops, etc.

3.6.2 Methodology

I have decided to walk 200 steps to prepare my transect map. I recorded information on the

mentioned topological features that I found along the path. I took every 25 steps to complete my

200 steps. I started from a cropa field and ended up to a house.

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Transect Map

3.6.3 Findings from Transect Map

From steps 0-25:

Here I found the crops field. The soil type is “Doash”. The land level is low. I did not found any

house here. I found the cultivation of sweet potato, grass, paddy, cucumber etc. I also did not

found any livestock here.

From steps 25-50:

Here the situation is as like as steps 0-25. I did not found any change here.

From steps 50-75:

Here the soil type is “Doash”. Here I found the different kinds of trees. The land level is plain. I

found a mud made house here. I also found livestock like as chicken, cow etc.

From steps 75-100:

Here the soil type is also “Doash”. Here I found the different kinds of trees likes guava, olive

bamboo etc.. The land level is plain. House type is Tin shade. I also found livestock like as

chicken, cow, goat etc.

From steps 75-100:


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From steps 100-125:

Here the land is used for tubewell, open toilet etc.Here the soil type is also “Doash”. Here I

found the different kinds of trees likes guava, olive bamboo etc.. The land level is plain. House

type is Tin shade. I also found livestock like as chicken, cow, goat etc.

From steps 125-150:

Here the soil type is “Doash”. Here I found the different kinds of trees. The land level is plain. I

found a mud made house here. I also found livestock like as chicken, cow etc.

From steps 150-175:

Here the land is used for tubewell, open toilet etc.Here the soil type is also “Doash”. Here I

found the different kinds of trees likes guava, olive bamboo etc.. The land level is plain. House

type is Tin shade. I also found livestock like as chicken, cow, goat etc.

From steps 150-175:


3.7 Problems1. Roads are narrow

2. Roads are constructing so the pollution is high

3. No mosque in this para

4. Shortage of pond

5. Level of load shedding is very high

3.8 Conclusion and Recommendation We have learned a lot of things throughout LFE program. Bangladesh is a village oriented

country and we should know about the village condition a bit. We have found lots of problems

from the village mapping which need to improve for the betterment of the village. The roads are

too narrow so the road should be wider than past. We also found there are only three ponds in the

para with no or less water. So more ponds should be dug with high depth.

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4.0 Social Change Process4.1 IntroductionThe word social indicates “People living together”. In an elaborate sense, it means the life style,

the feelings about the surroundings of a group of people and as well as their acceptance to the

conditions of life (social behavior). So, social change is called the changes in the social

conditions and social behavior. Social changes indicate changes in thinking, attitude, culture, and

life style etc and in other words, social developing is the feedback of social changes. Any kind of

change in the society is usual that is initiated both by natural processes and actions oriented by

the members of the society. This report contains the data of social changes through different

periods

4.2 ObjectivesThere were various objectives of our LFE (Live-in-Field Experience) program. Among them,

one of the objectives was to observe “the social change process” in the area “Sardarpara” located

in the village “Gokul” of Bogra district. The main objectives of this section is:

To get idea about the social change process

To find out the socio-economic changes

To analyze the types of social changes taken place, the reason behind the changes and

interlinks between the changes

4.3 MethodologyWe consider ‘social changes’ in household types, house structure, occupation, trees, education,

food habit, health, agriculture, communication, crime etc. To get information about social change

process we used different tools like questionnaire surveys on specific topics provided by the

IUB, observation, discussions and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) technique to get

information from rural people. To find out the social changes we have made a time line analysis

according to the different ruling periods. For that reason we talked to different ages from 21

years to 70 years. From this I got a clear scenario of social changes from before liberation war to

present honerable Sheikh Hasina period.

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4.4 Timeline of Social ChangeFor my convenience, I divided the whole time frame into nine different timelines. The nine

different timelines are:

Post liberation Period (before 1971)

Shekh Mujib Period (1972-1975)

Ziaur Rahman Period (1976-1979)

Ershad Period (1981-1990)

Khaleda Zia’s 1st Period (1991-1995)

Shekh Hasina’s 1st period (1996-2001)

Khaleda Zia’s 2nd Period (2001-2006)

Caretaker Government period (2007-2008)

Shekh Hasina’s 2nd period ( 2009-Present)

4.5 Changes that I observed4.5.1 House Structure

Before independence the houses of the Para were made of mud and straw. They built there house

with mud and starw because at that time there economical condition was very low. In Ziaur

Rahman period some dweller used tin in there roof instead of hey. Concrete house had been

introduced in Khaleda Zia’s first period. They used concrete for wall, tin for roof and earth for

floor. We have found that most of the house is made of mud and tin because most of them are

poor. Few houses have found which made of concrete. The owners of these concrete houses have

some foreign income.

4.5.2 Educational change

Before liberation war the percentage of literacy was very low. People were not concern about

education. At the Sheik Mujib’s periods only boys were allowed to go to others Para school

while the number was a few. In the Ziaur Rahman’s rperiod the scenario remained same. But in

the Ershad’s period a primary school were built in a nearby Para. For this reason, the number of

school going boys increased. During the Khaleda Zia’s period the scenario changed slightly.

Girls were being allowed to go to school along with boys. But now there are separate schools for

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both boys and girls. So now the literacy rate is high. Guardians are now also serious about theirs

children’s education.

4.5.3 Change in communication

For development of the village or rural area Communication is an important thing.

Communication is related to lots of thing such as if the communications improve people life

style is also improved. In Mujib’s government period “Sardarpara” had a narrow road. Now the

scenario improved. The roads becomes brick built. Now the people have the access of bus, cng

auto rackshaw, rickshaw, votvoti etc. but in the past period they don’t have access of these types

of transportation facility.

4.5.4 Food Habit

The economic condition of our Sardarpara people was not good. They could not eat various types

of food. Their menus were limited. In the past, they used to catch fish. They ate varieties of

fishes like tiny fish Pooti, Rui, Katla, Boal, etc. People liked to have Pithas (Cakes) in the winter

seasons. They made Vapa Pitha, Patishapta Pitha, and Teler Pitha etc. They also used to have

Muri, Khoi, and Chira. Now a day the economic condition has been increased so they can eat

various types of food item. Now they can eat mangoes, jackfruits, bananas, guavas, watermelons

etc. They can also have milk. The people are now conscious about the nutrition so they eat

nutrition food

4.5.5 Trees

Trees became the great friends of human being as they served us in many ways. In Sardarpara we

saw numerous types of trees. According to the Eldest persons information we got idea that in the

beginning of the Mujib period many big trees covered lots of land. Such as Tamarind (Tetul),

Banyan (bot), Ficus (pakur), Rose apple (jam). Shimul, Mango was abundance in that time.

Some other bushy trees like Litchi (lichu), Jackfruit, Karambola (kamranga) etc were available.

Bamboo bushes were covered a lot of area. But later on the number of trees become decresing.

But the people are now conscious about the environment. So now a days the varaity and number

of trees increasing.

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4.5.6 Child Marriage

Now a day’s child marriage is an important issue. In the past decade the rate of child marriage

was very high. Still now there are some child marriages in the village. But if the guardians are

educated they don’t want to marriage their child. But day by day it is decreasing. It’s a positive

sign. Now most of the guardians are well known about the problem of child marriage.

4.5.7 Sanitation

At the earlier periods the villagers had lot of bushes and woods for that reason they used open

fields and bushes for the toilet purpose. Sanitation is a very noteworthy issue of the social change

process. In the Sheikh Mujib’s period people tended to go near by bushes for their toilet. All

most all of the Para dwellers did not have any idea about the hygienic sanitary system because

most of the Para dwellers were illiterate. During the Sheikh Hasina’s period people started pit

latrine and ring slab latrine. Now, people become more conscious about the health. At present,

Most of the house have ring slab latrine.

4.5.8 Electricity

Electricity plays a vital role in our of modern life. There was no electricity before Sheikh

Hasina’s 1st period. At that time, they depended on oil-burners (“kupi, haricane”) for their

lighting purpose at night. Now the electricity facility available but the level of load shedding is

too much high.

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4.5.9 Crime & Addiction

In the past there was no crime or addiction in this village. But now a days the crime and

addiction is increasing. Some people says that they did not heard the name of heroin, gazza, yaba

etc before the khaleda zia’s period.

4.5.10 Animals

In the past the population of this area was very low. The area was covered by different types of

trees. So there was huge number of animal in this area. But now the population is increased.

Deforestation is increased. That’s why the number of animals in this area is almost nil. Only

different types of birds, snakes and fox are available.

4.5.11 Using of Microcredit and present condition

Microcredit plays an important role to remove poverty. Based on 25 household 56% people use

microcredit and 44% people do not use microcredit. From this 56 % people 85% people

improved their condition by using microcredit. And 15% did not improve their condition for

different reasons. I found that 30% people are the member of Brac, 35% Grameen, 20% Asa and

15% are TMSS. Brac is more active in this area because they started their operation in this area

in first time.

4.6 ConclusionAfter surveying the Sardarpara of “Gokul” village and by of the villagers we found that though

there are some more improvement in these areas such as Progress of Female Education, decrease

child marriage, increase awareness about family planning, improvement of transportation

facilities, Irrigation System, Sanitation system but besides that there are some negative changes

such as dowry system, deterioration of law and order situation, Increasing price of necessary

goods, decreasing cultivable land associated with the time being. If these faulty sectors of the

society could be handled, “Gokul” will soon get the route towards the sophistication and

rationalism that will lead it towards the positive country for development.

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5.0 Economy and Rural production cycle5.1 IntroductionBangladesh is a agriculture based country. The economy has changed in last few decades due to

increase in modern sectors like manufacturing, construction and service sectors besides

agriculture. To know the economy of our assigned Sardar Para,Gokul village and the rural

production cycle different attempts have been made in our Live-in-Field Experience course.

People of various occupation live in this village among them agriculture and its related

occupation are the main ones. A PRA was performed among the villagers and questionnaire

survey was done among twenty five randomly selected families to find out the different aspects

of the economy of the village, the variation of resources and wealth of different income groups,

and the seasonal cropping pattern of this village that includes the land preparation, fertilizer,

pesticides, irrigation pattern etc.

5.2 ObjectivesThe main objectives of this part is given below:

To know the different income level people

Categorized them into different level

To discover their different lifestyles

To know the gender division of labor

To know the seasonal cropping pattern of the village

Categories of crops produced in different season

To have a clear idea about economic activity of the villagers

5.3 MethodologyFor this chapter, we have surveyed 25 households by the questionnaire provided by the IUB.

Firstly we applied PRA technique to collect information of the issues .Through PRA we come to

know identified different issues of economy and rural production cycle after that we did our

question rise survey to collect data about different issues like crops calendar, crops processing

system etc.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh


5.4 Economy5.4.1 Wealth rankingBased on land owned and income generation, we have divided the population of the survey in

three classes. The classes are

1) Upper Class

2) Middle Class

3) Lower Class

5.4.1.1 Upper level

The average yearly income is around Tk 200000-more than 200000 only. Yearly expense is

170000 and yearly savings is Tk. 30000. 20% people based on 25 household are in this type of

category. Service and agriculture are main source of their income. The people of this class can

afford TV, fridge,tube well, sanitary latrine, television, radio, cycle, cow, goat, etc. One or more

members of these families are working outside of the country especially in America some are

working in Dhaka and Bogra in private and government organizations. All these families are

referred as rich not only on the basis of land holding size but also on the basis of other income

sources. Apart from the crop production, the other sources of income of these villagers are the

remittances, tea stall etc.

5.4.1.2 Middle level

There are 12 households found in Middle Class during the fieldwork in Gokul-Sardarpara. They

are considered as a middle class because their yearly income is in between Tk.50000 to

Tk.200000. their yearly expense is around 45,000 and yearly savings is Tk, 5,000 if their income

is 50,000. Agriculture is their main source of income. They produce crop and vegetable in their

own land. They use vegetables and crop for their own, not for sale. The people of this class can

afford tube well, sanitary latrine, television, radio, cycle, cow, goat, etc.. Middle class people’s

literacy rate is good. The parent in this class tries to continue their daughters’ education till

H.S.C and son up to B. A or M.A.

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5.4.1.3 Lower level

We found 8 lower level families in our study area. They are poor because their income range is below Tk.

50,000. Most of the poor people only have a piece of land to live. Many of them are day laborers. The

amount of land of the poor class is from 0 to 15 “Decimal”. We see that the rich has a huge amount of

land; it is not easy to cultivate 25/45 Pakhi at a time. So they give “borga” to the poor farmers. And

survive with cultivating that land. Main professions in this class are: Agri-labor, Rickshaw puller, barber,

brick field worker and carpenter. They take loan from others. Their houses are made with straw or earth

or bamboo. Mostly walls made of earth and roof made of straw or bamboo. Most of them have no

electricity. Because of poverty they can’t send their children to school. But they try to complete their

children education at least high school level.

5.5 Division of Labor by GenderIn our survey we found different types of discrimination in male and female worker. The

following chart shows the drscrimination between male and female workers.

We found that the daily wage of a male worker is around 200 to 220 tk. But the rate of female

worker is only 80 to 120 tk. Its half of a male worker. The male worker gets foods two times per

day but the women worker do not gets any food during their working period. For the male

workers there is a specific place in the village but there is no specific palace for the women

workers. So there is a huge discriminacy between male and female worker but their working

capability is same.

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5.6 Rural production cycleOur Bengali year consists of twelve month divided into six seasons- Grishma (summer) -

Baishakh and Joshtha; Borsha (monsoon)- Asar and Sravan; Sharat& Hemonto (the early and

late autumn)- Bhadra-Ashin, Kartik-Agrahayana; Sheet (winter)- Pous and Magh and Bashonto

(spring)- Falgun and Chaitra. Based on that the rural production cycle is given below.

5.6.1 PaddyThe proper timing for sowing is very crucial for achieving the expected level of production. The

perfect timing for sowing of Amon is Srabon(Jul 16-Aug 15). The seed bed needs to be prepared

properly before sowing. The seedbed preparation begins in the beginning of the Jaistha (May 15-

Jun14).The paddy is harvested in Agrahayan(Nov 15- Dec 14). The expenditure behind Amon is

less than IRRI .The cost of labor , fertilizer and pesticides is less. Besides for rainy season

irrigation is not that much necessary.

5.6.2 Vegetables ProductionPeasants produce different types of vegetable. Vegetables have been produced mainly for their

own consumption.. The production process is described below.

5.6.2.1 Summer Vegetables

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The summer vegetables are perbol, gourd, balsam apple, snake-gourd, lady’s finger etc.

5.6.2.2 Winter Vegetables

The winter vegetables are mainly brinjals, pumpkin, cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, beans,

tomato, potato and turnip. Leafy vegetables such as ‘lal shak’, ‘mula shak’ etc. are two most

common winter vegetables.

5.7 PesticidesThe different types of pesticides used in this para are FURADIN, BASHUDIN, NAGAG etc.

5.8Fertilizer and soils fertilityTypes of Fertilizers Applied in during cultivation are TSP, Potash, Urea. Cow dung etc. The

amount of fertilizers applied has correlation with seasonality. The amount of various fertilizers

applied during different phases of cultivation is much higher in case of IRRI. Because land is not

fertile during this time. One important thing that we have got that people is not aware of the bad

affect of using fertilizer.

5.9 Storage facilityVillagers store their crops on their home if the crops is not perishable but if the crops are

perishable then they store their products at Agonomy cold storage. But they told that charge is

very high.

5.10 ConclusionDifferent types of crops are grown in this village from paddy to vegetables all throughout the

year and the main crops are Boro and Irri. These are highly profitable to the farmers. Fertilizers

and maintenance are the problem that farmers face during cultivation. The most significant

lesson learned from Sardarpara is that as a country is blessed with a soil and climate type much

contributing to agriculture.

6.0 Health and Environment18


6.1 IntroductionHealth is one of the basic needs and rights of the people. Both health and environment are two

inseparable parts of human society. But, health and environment are two different terminologies.

The change of one can affect the other. Bangladesh is a country of more than 85,000 villages

with vast population. 80% of the people in our country live in rural areas. If we want to analyze

the living condition we should look at the health of a particular village first. Most of the rural

people are poor and live with little basic necessities of life, like food, clothing, shelter, pure

drinking water and sanitation facilities. Because of the poor economic background and lack of

education they don’t know how to maintain the life in a healthy manner.

6.2 MethodologyFor this chapter, we have surveyed 25 households by the questionnaire provided by the IUB.

Firstly we applied PRA technique to collect information of the issues .Through PRA we come to

know identified different issues of health and environment after that we did our question rise

survey to collect data about different issues like sanitation system, water supply, vaccination.

6.3 Objectives To know the health condition of the villagers.

To know the environmental condition of the village.

To recognize the problems of the health centre

To find out the types of health care center available in the village.

To identify the sources of water

To know in how the villagers dispose their waste material.

To find out if NGO’s or government’s involved in development of the health and

environment

6.4.1 Sources of Water

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The villagers are totally depended on tube well water. There are three ponds in the village. But

during the summer season the water level is too low. So they can not access the pond water for

their daily uses. I found that every house hold have a tube well. Out of 25 house hold everyone

have a tube well.

6.4.2 Uses of WaterI found that all of the villagers uses tubewell water for Drinking, Bathing, Washing and cooking

purpose. But some of them use pond water only for washing. But this percentage is only 20 %

based on 25 household.

6.4.3 VaccinationThe overall situation of the health and nutrition is not good in Bangladesh. Although the

government is taking adequate measures of vaccination, it is improving slowly. But the condition

of our assigned Para is a bit different. Since there is a government health complex near the

village, villagers can take their children for the vaccination. Government health complex

provides vaccination free of charge. This initiative is motivating the people. 95% people use

proper vaccination for their child.

6.4.4 Family planningOut of 25 respondent households there were 15 women in the reproductive age group.

Among them, 40% of the respondent takes Pill. The rest of the respondent’s 13 % husbands use

condom as contraceptive. 33% of women use Kathi which is a new method to prevent from

pregnancy.14% women use menstrual regulation which is injection. It seems almost 100%

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respondent families of the village Bhanderpiker are more or less concerned about family

planning.

6.4.5 Common Diseases Suffered by Villagers

Some of the common diseases suffered by villagers are fever, common cold, diarrhea, diabetes

and allergy. Many of the villagers did not seem concerned about these diseases because they

think that it comes normally. Sometimes they ignore diseases due to lack of knowledge and

poverty. But some of the villagers seemed very aware and they visit the local health services

whenever it is needed.

6.4.6 Treatment PlacePeople who live in village don’t have better facility for treatment. Therefore, they have to suffer

by various diseases. Basically, they were very poor and they have not enough money for their

treatment of major diseases. So they went to the local pharmacy and public health care center

which service was not up to mark. In our sardarpara I found that villagers went to the “Gokul

Upojila Health Complex” for their first aid and normal diseases that was free of cost. For

primary health care for mother’s and children, they went to the “Health and Family Welfare

center”. It was also free of cost. For their major diseases, they went to “Ziaur-Rahman” hospital.

They also visit Rafatullah community hospital.

6.4.7 Problems of Government Health Care CentreAlthough the villagers mostly depend on the government health care facilities but it also has

some drawbacks. They are compelled to go there because of some certain limitations. The

drawbacks of the public health care facilities are as follows:

It is not close to home

Services are not so good

Sometimes it takes too long

Sometimes medicines are not available

Facility are not so clean

Sometimes medicine costs are high

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6.4.8 Toilet Facility

I found that people uses both Ring slab, Hanging Latrine, Septic Tank, Pit Latrine for their toilet.

They people of the village are health conscious. Based on 25 household 42% people use Ring

slab. 27% use pit latrine, 23% use septic tank and only 8% people use hanging latrine. It’s a

positive side of the villagers. We found in a house that they have both septic tank and hanging

latrine. The hanging latrine is for the old person because he will make dirty in the toilet.

6.4.9 Waste DisposalWaste disposal is a massive issue for the environment. In our para most the villagers dispose

their waste properly. 68% people dispose their waste in a hole beside a house. 23% people

dispose their waste in a specific place and 9% people dispose their waste in any place. Because

most of the villagers are conscious about their health and environment. It’s based on 25

household.

6.4.10 Cooking placeMajority of the villagers have a specific place for cooking. Either they have a kitchen or at least a

specific place outside the home. Based on 25 house hold none of them cook their food in an open

place. At least they have a shed.

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6.4.11 Fuel Usage

Most people living in village use straw, leaves, twigs, cow dung as the main source of fuel.

Some middle class people can afford firewood. The firewood they use as fuel is not that

enormous in amount. They used to trim the branches of the trees on a regular basis and that

branches or twigs they use as firewood. So it does not harm the environment like deforestation.

6.5 Activities of different NGO’s for health careThe NGO and Government organizations are basically established with a view to help the rural

areas like Bangladesh. So like other villages of Bangladesh our Para also have seen some NGO

and GO, though they were here to do the well fare of the villagers. In our sardarpara villagers

depend on Government organization because it was free of cost but we found that post of

medical officer of local health complex was still vacant. NGO were more concern with the health

part like the sanitation and the family planning. We found that males care very less about family

planning and they didn’t want to take the hassle for family planning. We found only 20%

couples understood about contraceptives matters. Actually, they can’t afford to buy it. One

reason may be their financial problem and another reason Government supplies was not

sufficient. We found different NGOs were working about this matter. There were some women

NGO worker who comes to the village to visit the Para and she gives advice about the family

planning.

6.6 ConclusionSardarpara is situated just beside the Bogra Rangpur highway. Vehicles of all types were passing

through this road. So the environment was little bit dusty because the trees were covered with

dust. People who were living at the back side of the Para were basically lower income class.

Their environment of living was not well. Their houses were very small and congested. The

cooking place was very close to the living room causing many health problems.

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7.0 Rural Market7.1 IntroductionRural market plays an important role in our economy because our economy is agriculture based.

Rural market is important for the buying and selling of agricultural products. Urban market is

also dependent on rural market. Rice, vegetable, crops and different types of hand made products

come to the urban market which is needed for the urban people. In the rural market we found

seller and buyer, middleman, retailer etc. and how they work, behave or the way they survive.

7.2 Mohasthan HaatMohasthan haat is placed in the play ground of Mahi Sarwar Degree College. The area is

approxmiate 1bigha. The haat day is every Wednesday and Saturday. More than 1500 buyers and

1000 sellers (approximately) come in haat. Peoples from different village like Baghopara,

Polasbari, Gokul and out side the Bogra districts comes in the Mohasthan haat. Mohasthan haat

is situated beside the Rongpur-Bogra high way. That why communication and transportation is

very good between the haat and the other district. So Mahasthan haat plays a significant role in

the north Bengal.

7.3 Difference Between Haat and BazaarHaat and bazaar are entirely different concepts. There are some difference between haat and

bazaar. The differences are given below:

No Haat Bazaar

01 Haat occurs once or twice in a week Bazaar occurs everyday

02 Haat is temporary Bazaar is permanent

03 Price is relatively lower in haat Price is relatively higher in bazaar

04 Quantity of products is high in haat Quantity is lower than haat

05 Haat is relatively large than bazaar Bazaar is relatively lower than haat

06 Here competition is higher Here competition is lower

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7.4 Product classificationI classified the product in these four categories:

Brand Choice High Brand Choice Low

Buyers

effort

High

Specialty Product : Furniture,

Refrigerator, Television, Rice

Cooker, Motor Cycle

Convenience Product : Rice , potato,

Sweet potato, Onion , Ginger, Soap,

Detergent etc.

Buyers

effort

Low

Shopping Product: Shirt, Sharee,

Cosmetics, Sandal, Tube-well etc.

Unsought Product: Herbal Medicine

7.4.1 Convenient products:

Convenient products are products, which we usually use, in our day-to-day life. Rice, vegetables,

fish, oil, salt, flour etc are the convenient products in Mahastan Hut.

7.4.2 Shopping products:

Shopping products are products, which villagers buy on readymade basis. The shoppers from

outside import these products and they use a certain mark up & sell them. Shirt, Shrees,

Cosmetics, Shoes are some of example of shopping product.

7.4.3 Special products:

Special products are products which are not often bought by the villagers they are bought may be

once or twice a year or once in every 2-3 years. Special products are furniture, marriage costume,

medicine, etc.

7.4.4 Unsought products:

Products, which cannot be categorized in any category, are unsought products. They are used

sometimes very often or can never be used in life. Herbal medicine and insurance is the example

of unsought products.

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7.5 Inward products and Outward products7.5.1 Inward products

Inward products are products, which are imported to Mahastan Hut. In “MAHASTAN HUT”, we

found inward product. Inward product comes from Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Jessor etc.

Inwards products are rice, cement, beverage item, cosmetics etc.

7.5.2 Outward products

Products, which are exported outside of the districts, are called outwards products. The outwards

of this hut are Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Faridpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Chapai nabab ganj,

Tangail etc. Outwards products are rice, watermelon, cucumber, potato etc.

7.6 Distribution Channels7.6.1 Distribution channel of Potato & Chili

There are two kinds of distribution channel. One is direct channel and another one is indirect

channel. Here potato and chili can be distributed in both ways. The following diagram shows the

flow of distribution channel.

Distribution channel of potato and chili

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Farmers Trader

Consumer

Ware house keeper

Kawranbazar

, jatraba

ri

Retailer

Output

PADDY

Distribution ChannelFarmerBepariChatalConsumer

Processing HarvestingTrashing PaddyBoil Paddy

Work in ProcessFertilizerPesticideIrrigationClean weeds

Cost of LaborMale : 60 to 80 taka daily.Female : 40 to 60 taka daily

Earning ( selling – Costing ) :For 1Bigha(8750 – 3000)= 5750 taka

Raw MaterialsLand SeedTractorLabor

From Villagers

From Traders

From fellowfarmers

Spending pattern*Fooding* Clothing* Further Investment* Saving


7.6.2 Distribution methodThere are three types of distribution method. Those are Intensive, Selective and Exclusive.

Intensive distribution means products are given maximum exposure through positioning in as

many outlets as possible. Here the distribution method for potato and chili is Intensive

distribution method.

7.7 Value Chain Analysis of PaddyIn value chain analysis at the very beginning, the activity starts from the input selection to finally

distribute the product to the ultimate consumers. Starting from the input selection to the

distribution, a wide range of activities is involved. As for example in the input selection stage

decision on what type of seeds or fertilizer to be used in the cultivation process has a serious

impact on the cost structure and quality of crops. I have selected paddy for value chain analysis.

The value chain analysis of paddy is given below:

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7.8 Promotional Activities:

By using microphone

By singing a song

By dancing

Announcement

Poster & leaflets

7.9 Bargaining power of the buyer and sellerBargaining power depends on various issues like price of the products, supply and demand of the

products, products quality, availability of the products etc. Bargaining power of buyer is high on

some products like vegetables, meat, fishes etc. These are perishable products that why seller

tries to sell as much as possible to the buyer before ruin. In this situation buyer bargaining power

is so high. Furniture is other products where buyers’ power is high. Transportation cost is high to

carry furniture in haat and they don’t want to take back home. So seller tries to sell in the haat.

That’s why bargaining power of the buyer is high. Again if the number of seller is high then the

bargaining power is in the buyer’s court.

7.10 How the prices are fixed and what factors affects the price levelFor sell and buy every products or services need price. Without price no one can sell or buy a

single product or service now a day. Price of the product depends on demand-supply of the

market, production cost, transportation cost, promotion, distribution system, whether the product

is perishable or non-perishable, middlemen involvement, purchasing power of consumer and

many others. In Mohasthan haat we found that there were some products bought and sell almost

fixed price. Mainly industrial product’s prices were fixed. People thought that as there was no

strong competitor, the shopkeepers fixed the price based on availability of products. Third party

involvement creates problem for the local producer of vegetables or paddy or farmers to get

proper profit. These middle-men get profit and on the other hand farmer looses their profit. In

this way price are fixed.

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7.11 Fake productsWe found different types of fake product in this haat. Though the name is chane but the

packaging is same. Most of the people of the haat are illiterate. They don’t know the bad effects

of the products. Even they cannot recognize the fake products. So they by fake products as

original products. Some examples are Ting, Mitu & Lovely, Rata etc.

Fake Product

7.12 Problems of the Mohasthan HaatThre are some problems in the haat that I found. The majors problems are given below:

Though the space is large but it is smaller than demand

The rent (Khajna) is high

Poor drainage system

Unhygienic toilet facility

Creates problems during college hour

No permanent shed for the seller and buyer

Good storage facility is not available

7.13 ConclusionAs I mention earlier that there are some problems in Mohastan haat. Local government should

necessary steps to make improve the drainage system, make good storage system, make

permanent shed etc. If these can be adopted the seller and buyer of the haat will get more benefit.

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8.0 ConclusionThe objectives of LFE were to get the experience of the rural area of Bangladesh and to

understand the rural development process. After completing our visit to the village “Gokul” we

came to know about various features of the village i.e. geographical location, village community,

social classes, culture and behaviors of the people. We have collected all these information

through PRA and questionnaire. The village Gokul is situated near the Bogra district town. The

condition of that village is not so bad, in the village the education system, health care, diseases,

literacy and standard of living are satisfactory in comparison to urban area. During the PRA we

tried to find out the untold stories of that village. We have divided that information in to five

different parts- village mapping, social change process, resource and wealth ranking, seasonality

and lastly market analysis. We tried to come up with some analysis in every part to show how

the society has been changing over the years, how the seasons affect the lifestyle of villagers and

how the rural market is functioning. If we go through our findings, first of all, we see that Gokul

is a developing village on perspective of Bangladesh. We saw schooling facilities in that village.

One is primary school and two high school in that village. Most of the children in fact all the

children of that village goes to school. And they are also interested to do so. Elder people also

pressure creates on their children to go to school. We have found a lot of working NGOs in this

village. Village people are borrowing money from the NGOs and invest that money in personal

business like buying cows, goats, sewing machine, powertillier to improve their family

condition. Through this system economical move is going on very swiftly. And village people

are also creating an alternative income sources. Through NGO women can go outside without

any type of barrier and they are also earning money. But through NGOs, lower class can’t

improve their family condition because after borrowing money, first of all they try to fulfill their

basic needs like food, cloths, repair their home etc. In agriculture, they are using different types

of fertilizers, pesticides and power tiller. They don’t grow same crops in same land

consecutively. Because they know it is bad for crop as well soil through their experience. We

have found that, they rely mostly on artificial fertilizer. Most of them are using artificial fertilizer

and least of them are using compost or organic fertilizer. And another thing is, they are not

satisfied with their income from the agriculture. Because they are not getting as much as they

should after their investment on cultivation. However, in doing the report, I have experienced the

realities of rural areas of Bangladesh.

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Bibliography

Books:

“Principles of Marketing” (7th edition)

Philip Kotler & Gary Armstrong

“Basic marketing” – A global-managerial Approach (11th edition)

E. Jerome Mc Carthy, William D. Perreault.

“Introduction to Sociology” (6th edition)

Henry L. Tischler

Websites:

www.tmssbd.org

www.bogra.info

www.banglapedia.org

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http://www.banglapedia.org/

http://www.bogra.info/

http://www.tmssbd.org/

Lfe Report

Documents

Transcript of Lfe Report