Sohel Md Salman, Shi Guoqing, Zaman Noshin Tasnim, Hossain Babul, Halimuzzaman Md, Akintunde Tosin Yinka, Liu Huicong
School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 210000, China.
Asian Research Center, Hohai University, Nanjing 210000, China.
Foods. 2022 Oct 5;11(19):3103. doi: 10.3390/foods11193103.
This study examined the food insecurity and coping mechanisms among the indigenous Bangladeshi population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region to extract empirical evidence on the ongoing discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic-exacerbated food-insecurity situation. The study adopted a qualitative approach by interviewing 60 indigenous households. Data were collected in two phases between 15 June 2020, and 30 July 2021 in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. Thematic data analyses were performed using the Granheim approach and NVivo-12 software. The authors used Huston's social-ecological theory to explain the indigenous coping mechanisms. The research evidence revealed that most households experienced challenges over daily foods, manifesting in the decreasing consumption of them, the increased price of food items, a food crisis due to an income shock, malnutrition, the shifting to unhealthy food consumption, starvation and hunger, and food insufficiency, thereby leading to mental stress. This study further revealed that the indigenous population took crucial coping strategies to survive the pandemic. In response to COVID-19, they took loans and borrowed foods, reduced expenses, changed their food habits, avoided nutritional foods, relied on vegetables, sold domestic animals and properties, collected forest and hill foods, and depended on governmental and societal relief. This study also provides the in-depth policy actions for the urgent intervention of government, stakeholders, policymakers, NGOs, and development practitioners to take necessary initiatives to enhance the quality of life of the people that were affected by the post-pandemic recovery period.
本研究调查了吉大港山区（CHT）地区的孟加拉国原住民的粮食不安全状况及应对机制，以获取关于新冠疫情加剧粮食不安全状况这一正在进行的讨论的实证证据。该研究采用定性研究方法，对60户原住民家庭进行了访谈。2020年6月15日至2021年7月30日期间，在孟加拉国吉大港山区（CHT）地区分两个阶段收集了数据。使用格兰海姆方法和NVivo - 12软件进行了主题数据分析。作者运用休斯顿的社会生态理论来解释原住民的应对机制。研究证据显示，大多数家庭在日常食物方面面临挑战，表现为食物消费量减少、食品价格上涨、因收入冲击导致粮食危机、营养不良、转向不健康食品消费、饥饿和粮食不足，进而导致精神压力。本研究还表明，原住民采取了关键的应对策略以在疫情中生存。针对新冠疫情，他们借贷、借粮、削减开支、改变饮食习惯、避开营养食品、依赖蔬菜、出售家畜和财产、采集森林和山地食物，并依靠政府和社会救济。本研究还为政府、利益相关者、政策制定者、非政府组织和发展从业者采取紧急干预措施提供了深入的政策行动建议，以便他们采取必要举措来提高受疫情后恢复期影响的人们的生活质量。
