Saikat Mojumder/Oxfam
With rice saved up we don't need to ask for help from other people.”
Mosammat is President of a food bank in Bangladesh
How one community helped each other put food on the table
The food bank is the greatest initiative ever in this area. I’m looking forward to seeing it grow.
Each and every family in this village is poor. There are no wealthy people around who can help us. And no one assists us anyway without charging interest. But the food bank is a very reliable source of help.
Before cooking a meal, I save one handful of rice. At the end of the month, I have 1-2 kg to deposit in the food bank.
There are 60 women who participate in the food bank, so at the end of the month we have 60 kg of rice. With rice saved up, we don’t need to ask for help from other people.
Saikat Mojumder/Oxfam
A food store for tough times
Mosammat's community set up a food bank and bought equipment with partner SKS - and seed money from Oxfam.
- The food bank was set up for when flooding hit. Now it's is a lifeline for families hit hardest by the pandemic.
- Oxfam is working with over 275 food banks like this, in neighbouring coastal communities.
Each year we work for six months and the rest of the year we cannot get any work due to floods and other disasters. In those times, we face acute food and nutritional crises.
The cycle of rain has changed, and it is destroying our crops. This year a hailstorm destroyed all our crops.
Saikat Mojumder / Oxfam
I have no children, so every child here is mine. I am working to secure their future. I don’t want to see the next generation suffering from floods, hunger, or lack of education.
The food bank is the greatest initiative ever in this area. I’m looking forward to seeing it grow. Even when we are no longer alive, I hope that our children will get help from the food bank.
We have dreams.
Saikat Mojumder/Oxfam
A monthly donation of £20 could provide seeds to farming families
Help more women like Mosammat
I don’t have any children of my own so every child here is mine. I’m working to secure their future.
Mosammat Rabeya Begum in Bangladesh