BANGLADESH

Famines and starvation are prevalent in Bangladesh. They persist due to underdevelopment, maldistribution of goods, and frequent natural disasters as the country is flood, cyclone and drought-prone (Katona-Apte p.43). Widespread poverty and inability to make use of educational information are also contributing factors to malnutrition in Bangladesh. (Quanine p.64). The Grameen Bank has been successful in improving the nutritional staus of poor rural women and their families.

This essay focuses on women because they are responsible for family survival and child nutrition, however, because of their subordinate status in Bangladeshi society, they cannot perform this role effectively. The Grameen Bank was founded to boost the economic development of rural societies in Bangladesh, specifically income generating activities, by providing credit and other fiancial services to women (Quanine p.64).

1. The 4 principles of Grameen Bank- discipline, unity, courage, and hard work- we shall follow and advance in all walks of our lives.

1. We shall bring prosperity to our families.

1. We shall not live in dilapidated houses. We Shall repair our houses and work towards constructing new houses as soon as possible.

1. We shall grow vegetables all year round. We shall eat plenty of them and sell the surplus.

1. During the planting seasons, we shall plant as many seedlings as possible.

1. We shall plan to keep our families small. We shall minimize our expenditures. We shall look after our health.

1. We shall educate our children and ensure that they can earn enought to pay for their education.

1. We shall always keep our children and the environment clean.

1. We shall build and use pit latrines.

1. We shall drink tube well water. If it is not available, we shall boil water or use alum.

1. We shall not take any dowry in our sons' weddings, neither shall we give any dowry in our daughters' weddings. We shall keep the center free from the curse of dowry. We shall not practice child marriage.

1. We shall not inflict any injustice on anyone, neither shall we allow anyone to do so.

1. For higher income we shall collectively undertake bigger investments.

1. We shall always be ready to help each other. If anyone is in difficulty we shall all help.

1. If we come to know of any breach of discipline in any center, we shall all go there and help restore discipline.

1. We shall introduce physical exercise in all our centers. We shall take part in all social activities collectively.

• The Grameen Bank targets landless people. Landlessness is defined as owning less than 50 decimals (0.2 ha) of land.

• The Grameen bank lends primarily to women because lending to women was found to be more beneficial to the household than lending to men.

• To obtain credit, women have to form groups of 5; members of one family cannot be members of the same group. Each loan is disbursed to the group as a whole.

• Each group elects a chairperson and secretary who conduct weekly meetings of the group.

• 5 or 6 groups form a Center; the Center holds weekly meetings conducted by an elected Center Chief. The Center Chief is responsible for helping the members learn and observe the discipline of the Grameen Bank.

• Each loan is repaid in weekly installments. If one member of a group defaults, all other members will not be eligible to obtain another loan from the Grameen Bank.

Five nationwide nutritional surveys have been conducted in Bangladesh:

• The Nutrition Survey of East Pakistan (1962-64)

• The National Nutrition Survey of 1975-76

• The National Nutrition Survey of 1981-81

• The Hellen Keller International Survey of 1982-83

• The Nutrition Module of the Household Expenditure Survey of 1985-86

Unfortunately, these five surveys do not provide a clear picture of malnutrition in Bangladesh. Further, there is no evidence that the programs initiated prior to the Grameen Bank, such as the Vulnerable Group Development , Food for Work, and Rural Rationing programs, were successful (Alwang p.23-24). However, there id evidence which displays the effectiveness of the Grameen Bank on improving the nutritional status of the rural Bangladeshi population.
3. RELATED CASES

Keyword Clusters

1: Trade Product= Financial Services

2. Biogeography= Tropical

3. Environmental Problem= Malnutrition

4.Draft Author= Karen Ekpenyong

The Grameen Bank loans funds towards entrpreneurial activites, however, money is fungible, thus with an increased income clients can not only conduct their income generating activities but also improve the qualilty of their lives via better nutrition etc, hece and indirect impact. In addition, the Grameen Bank encourages their clients to drink tube well water and to plant vegetables, thus there is also a direct impact.
10. Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact:

a. Directly Related: Yes

b. Indirectly Related: Tes

c. Not Related: No

d. Process Related: ?

12. Trade Product Identification: Financial Services

13. Economic Data:

14. Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness:?

15. Industry Sector:Informal Finance

The Informal Credit homepage

E. ENVIRONMENT CLUSTERS

16. Environmental Problem Type:Malnutrition and underdevelopment

Impact and Effect:

18. Urgency and Lifetime:
Immediate
F. OTHER FACTORS

19. Culture:Yes

20. Rights:Yes

21. Relevant Literature
Trade and Environment Database (TED)
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies