DFM Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a South Asian country. It shares land borders with India and Myanmar. The country’s maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area. Bangladesh is the world’s eighth most populous country.  Dhaka is its capital and largest city, followed by Chittagong, which has the country’s largest port . The country’s geography is dominated by the Bengal delta with many rivers. Bangladesh is considered one of the most suitable regions for fisheries in the world, with the world’s largest flooded wetland and having the third largest aquatic biodiversity in Asia after China and India [1]. According to the world bank database 2017, 17 million people (1.4 million women) are depending on fisheries sector for their livelihoods through fishing, farming, fish handling, and processing [2].

Dried Fish in Bangladesh

Fish is considered as one of the main food items for Bangladeshis. As the land is a delta, Bangladesh is one of the leading fish producing countries in the world. According to the Yearbook of Fisheries Statistics of Bangladesh 2016-17 by Department of Fisheries of Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, the total production of fish in Bangladesh is 4.134 million MT, where aquaculture contributes 56.44 percent to total production. Fish is contributing significantly towards the food security as 60 percent animal protein comes from fish. A large proportion of marine and fresh water fish landings are processed by drying, and dried fish accounted for the fourth largest share of fish consumed in Bangladesh [3]. In some regions of the country, dried fish is consumed more frequently than any other type of fish.

The DFM Bangladesh Team

Jahangirnagar University (JU)

Prof. Md. Siddiqur Rahman

Professor Rahman of Dept. of Anthropology, JU is the co-lead of the JU research team and is responsible for communication with BAU lead researcher and other stakeholders (CNRS etc.) in Bangladesh. He is also be responsible for communication between the lead partners in Canada as well as regional governing bodies for a smooth running and completion of the project. Professor Rahman is also lead the research objective 02 (fine grained research) of the project and is responsible for ensuring that milestones for each objective are met according to a detailed project timeline.

Prof. Mirza Taslima Sultana

Professor Sultana the co-lead of the JU research team and is currently on sabbatical at the University of California, Berkeley. Before going to sabbatical, professor Sultana was responsible for communication with BAU lead researcher and other stakeholders in Bangladesh. Prof Sultana was also be responsible for communication between the lead partners in Canada as well as regional governing bodies for a smooth running and completion of the project. Besides communicating, as an expert on gender relationships of Bangladesh, she is contributing in understanding the gender relations within the dried fish stack value chain which will cover the objective 2 and 3.

Prof. Rasheda Akhtar

Prof. Akhtar, Dept. of Anthropology, JU, as a member of DFM Bangladesh team is responsible for conducting research in the areas of health, nutrition and gender.

Prof. Sayeed Ferdous

Prof. Ferdous, Dept. of Anthropology, JU, as an expert in researching oral history and memories, he is contributing in the research to understand the regional economic history which will cover the objective 1 and 2.

Dr. Mahmudul Hasan Sumon

Prof. Sumon works at the Department of Anthropology, JU. As an expert on ethnicity, identity formation and agency, in the Bangladesh team, he is contributing in researching the social exclusionary processes and marginalization faced by the fisher folk communities in Bangladesh.  

Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU)

Prof. Abu Hayat Md. Saiful Islam

Professor Islam of the Department of Agricultural Economics, BAU, is the lead of the BAU research team and is responsible for communication with the JU lead researcher and other stakeholders (CNRS, etc.) in Bangladesh. He is also responsible for communication between the lead partners in Canada as well as regional governing bodies for a smooth running and completion of the project.

Dr. Mostafa Hossain

Dr. Hossain was the lead of DFM Bangladesh Research Team until his unexpected passing in February 2023.

Obituary of Professor Hossain

Prof. Md. Shahjahan

Prof. Shahjahan is assisting BAU Lead in planning the activities and networking. He is also working on secondary literature review, data analyses and report preparation.

Prof. Md. Samsul Alam

Prof. Alam with his more than 25 years in Bangladesh fisheries is working on secondary literature review, field activities including data collection, analyses, report preparation and drafting the papers for peer reviewed journals.

University of Manitoba

Prof. C. Emdad Haque

Professor Haque is leading the activities under Objective 4; policy scoping: developing inventory of current local policies, assessment of effectiveness, identification of best practices, identification of priority development interventions for research area planning of pilot development interventions. Moreover, Prof. Haque is assisting the DFM Bangladesh Research Team in the activities under other three objectives.

Centre for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS)

Dr. M. Mukhlesur Rahman

Dr. Rahman from CNRS is involved in activities under objective 4, such as identification of best practices and identification of priority development interventions for research area planning of pilot development interventions.

Students

Mahfuzar Rahman

Mahfuzar Rahman is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba. His doctoral research, Values, Rights, Wellbeing and the Social Economy of Dried Fish in Bangladesh, aims to understand how values, including disvalues, are produced within the dried fish value chains and their impacts on the products, working conditions, actors’ relations and workers’ rights.

Sami Farook

Sami Farook is a PhD Candidate in the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Manitoba. His doctoral research, Social Economy of Dried Fish: Contribution towards Nutrition Security and Wellbeing of Actors in the Dried Fish Value Chain, examines the dried fish contribution towards nutrition security and wellbeing in Bangladesh.

Safina Naznin

Safina Naznin is a master’s student at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Manitoba.

Samia Farhana Sobhan

Samia Farhana Sobhan is a master’s student at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Manitoba.

Sharmin Afrose

Sharmin Afrose is a master’s student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba. Her research project, Perception of food choices and motives, dietary restrictions, shifts and diversity, cultural practices of the eating habits among pregnant and lactating mothers in the Rohingya population, examines the implications of culturally informed food choices and dietary restrictions for displaced women in South Asia, particularly the Rohingya people in Bangladesh.

Tanzina Nazia

Tanzina Nazia is a master’s student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba.

Partner Organisations

Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh (JU)

Established in 1972, Jahangirnagar University (JU) is one of the leading universities in Bangladesh. Jahangirnagar University is well known for its infrastructural and intellectual resources and has long experiences in collaborative research and hosting international workshops, seminars and conferences. The department of Anthropology is the oldest department in the university. The department has undergraduate, Masters and PhD programmes with an average of 300 students per year, with considerable experience in conducting qualitative research, and especially anthropology’s hallmark method of ethnography.

The department has nineteen faculties working in areas of relevance to the DFM project; the fields of archival, historical and applied research with foci on ethnicity, environment, gender, development and livelihoods. It will collaborate in the design, implementation and analysis of the stacked value chain component of the DFM project and holds the primary responsibility for the qualitative scoping portion. The department will also be involved in planning and implementing the follow-up qualitative studies after the survey, which will typically be undertaken by students.

Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU)

Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) has been established as the only university of its kind in Bangladesh in 1961. The university has six faculties and 43 departments covering all aspects of agricultural education and research. BAU has ranked as the number one university of Bangladesh according to the Webomrtrix University ranking 2017 [4]. BAU’s research in agriculture has made it well recognized across Asia.

The Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics (FBG) of BAU will lead the survey research component of the DFM project in Bangladesh, in collaboration with other partners and will contribute to survey design and methodological discussions at the project level. FDG-BAU’s contribution to the research in Bangladesh will help to produce a first thorough understanding of the dried fish economy in the South and Southeast Asian region through in depth analyses of historical trends, socio-cultural aspects, and economic and policy relevance.

FBG-BAU, in collaboration with the partners, would also be involved in evaluating the contribution of dried fish in food and nutritional security of millions of poor and marginal people living in rural and urban areas.

Centre for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS)

The Centre for Natural Resource Studies (CNRS) is a prominent pro-environmental national non-governmental organization in Bangladesh. Established in 1994, CNRS evolved from the Environmental Study of Bangladesh Flood Action Plan (FAP16) of 1993. Since its inception, CNRS has garnered widespread recognition for its innovative approaches and tangible achievements in the realm of environmental conservation. CNRS is dedicated to influencing Bangladesh’s national development strategy in ways that promote sustainable environmental practices. The organization envisions a world where people and nature coexist harmoniously, free from exploitation and exclusion, and strives to empower marginalized communities with skills and capabilities necessary for pro-poor, inclusive, and sustainable development.

CNRS is assisting DFM in conducting a dried fish value chain survey in four districts of Bangladesh: Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Sylhet and Kishorganj. It will also assist in conducting workers and consumer surveys and policy interviews to explore the policy process involved in food safety and nutrition-related policies regarding dried fish in Bangladesh.

Significant Publications on Dried fish-Bangladesh

Belton, B., Hossain, M. A., & Thilsted, S. H. (2018). Labour, identity and wellbeing in Bangladesh’s dried fish value chains. In Social Wellbeing and the Values of Small-scale Fisheries (pp. 217-241). Springer, Cham.

Bhuiyan, N. H., Bhuiyan, H. R., Nath, K. K., Ahmed, K., HASSAN, T., & Bhuiyan, N. I. (2009). Organochlorine insecticides (DDT and heptachlor) in dry fish available in Bangladesh: seasonal trends and species variability. Journal of the Chilean Chemical Society, 54(3), 278-281.

Bhuiyan, M. N. H., Bhuiyan, H. R., Rahim, M., Ahmed, K., Haque, K. F., Hassan, M. T., & Bhuiyan, M. N. I. (2008). Screening of organochlorine insecticides (DDT and heptachlor) in dry fish available in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology, 3(2), 114-120.

Biswas, H., Sarwer, R. H., & Rahman, M. (2006). Marine fish marketing system and women participation in selected fish catching areas of Bangladesh. Journal of the Bangladesh Agricultural University, 4(452-2018-3897).

Hossain, M.A.R., Belton, B., Thilsted, S. 2013. Preliminary rapid appraisal of dried fish value chains in Bangladesh. WorldFish Bangladesh, Dhaka.

Belton, B., Hossain, M. A. R. and Thilsted, S. H. 2014.  Dried fish industry: Livelihood and food security in Bangladesh. FAN-Bangladesh 3:26-28.

Hossain, M. A. R., Hasan, M. K., Islam, M. S., Belton, B. and Thilsted, S. H. 2014. From fresh fish to dried fish – how much weight is lost? FAN-Bangladesh 3:33-37.

Mansur, M. A., Islam, M. N., Bhuiyan, A. K. M. A., & Hoq, M. E. (2000). Nutritional composition, yield and consumer response to a semi-fermented fish product prepared from underutilized fish species of the Bngladesh coastline.

Shamsuddoha, M. (2007). Supply and value chain analysis in the marketing of marine dried fish in Bangladesh and non tariff measures (NTMs) in international trading (No. 691-2016-47361).

Shamsuzzaman, M. M., Islam, M. M., Tania, N. J., Al-Mamun, M. A., Barman, P. P., & Xu, X. (2017). Fisheries resources of Bangladesh: Present status and future direction. Aquaculture and Fisheries, 2(4), 145-156.