Needless Hunger - Voices from a Bangladesh Village

Betsy Hartmann, James Boyce

Institute for Food and Development Policty

1982

78 páginas

2h 36m

ISBN-11: 0935025003X

Why is a country with some of the world's most fertile land also the home of so many hungry people? The authors of Needless Hunger spent two years in Bangladesh investigating the paradox of hunger in a "basketcase" country that actually produces enough grain for its people already. Betsy Hartmann and James Boyce, Bengali-speaking anthropologists, not only trace the history and structure of Bangladesh society, they also draw us into the daily lives of the people of Katni, the village where they lived. "There is no natural barrier to filling the basic human needs of Bangladesh's people," they conclude. "But there is the man-made barrier of a social order benefiting the few at the expense of the many." The foreign aid pouring into the country actually entrenches the very elite which keep the majority powerless and hungry, they found. Needless Hunger is also a book of hope, describing the strength and potential of the Bangladesh people, and their desire for a society where food-producing resources are controlled by the majority.