A story of strength in crisis in Bangladesh A few months ago, we reported that the Coronavirus Delta variant was spreading into communities that we have worked with for years. Villages that were once isolated and protected from the virus last year have now been severely affected.
labour meant that, even where it was available, smallholder farmers across Bangladesh simply couldn’t afford to pay those rates. The situation was bleak – a season’s worth of hard work facing potential ruin.
Official data could never capture the full picture of what these communities have been going through. Testing centres are often many miles away and stretched far beyond their capacity. Even when farmers can reach them, there is no guarantee of a successful test.
For the villagers of Pashchim Taldgighi – a community that has worked with Traidcraft Exchange for many years – things were different. They had a simple, but ingenious solution that took advantage of one thing the pandemic couldn’t dent: their togetherness.
In normal harvest seasons, farmers hire labourers who travel from neighbouring districts to harvest their paddy. But with the pandemic restricting travel, hiring labourers was not an option. The shortage in availability of
They took the decision that every group member would work on everyone’s land, harvesting the paddy in turns. They started harvesting on 5th May and were finished within 3 days.
16 traidcraftshop.co.uk
