Bangladesh: Coronavirus and our food systems in the inner city of Dhaka
A Small-scale roof-top integrated goat farm (RIGF) approach
By Dr.Mohammed Habibur Rahman, Professor of Pathology and Owner/Director, The Blue Crescent Veterinary Hospital, Mirpur, Dhaka -1216, Bangladesh
Excerpt:
COVID-19 pandemic has put entire agri-food value chain of our nation along with the local food systems including inner city at risk of disruptions. Bangladesh is no exception and our government has been playing a major role and working hard in limiting the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. However food security in the inner city could not have been addressed with the speed as it was required. Thus, an innovative idea has been advanced to mitigate disruptions to ensure healthy food supply to the city dwellers. In order to improve the food supply, a very specific way of roof-top farming was introduced using goats and poultry in the production chain without creating any public nuisance and or impact on the environment.
The paper focuses on the potential for smaller livestock like goats to improve food security in the inner city of Dhaka. It offers information on the status of goat populations and their productivity related issues. The social and economic roles played by goats in food security and income generation are considerable. The potential of goats in food production is discussed in terms of productivity, economic importance and potential for increasing food production in the inner city. The rising demand for animal products from increasingly wealthy urban elites also offers a tremendous opportunity for goat farmers to share in the growing wealth of urban centres. The present idea re-kindled the interest of growing healthy food using the vacant roof-top and it is highly likely that it may create a novel way to fill the information for those who want to produce what they eat.
Bangladesh imposed total lockdown over COVID-19. Water, rail and air travel suspended while public transport on roads were banned from March 26, 2020. Low income people in the capital Dhaka, after being packed on the roofs of public buses and trucks started their journey back home since due to loss of their livelihood in Dhaka. Nonetheless, great majority of the city dwellers started a new life under COVID-19 threat in Dhaka ever since. Although, trucks, covered vans and vehicles carrying medicine, fuel and perishable items (milk, vegetables etc.,) were exempted from the purview of the lockdown,” suddenly, milk and vegetables became very short in supply.
From the above, an innovative approach to produce good quantities of nutritious and quality
fresh food (meat, milk, eggs and vegetables) all year round in small area, without relying on skilled labour and favourable weather. To better understand the situation to establish small livestock farm and vegetable garden by using litter compost has been closely monitored. Desired growth, maintenance of fecundity in goats and achieving desired production level in brown layer were considered to be the key challenges and in particular, oestrus synchronization in milking goats those who are naturally very silent during heat.
Read the complete article below.
