THE TRANSFORMATION OF A LOCAL FOODSCAPE DUE TO THE TRANSITION TO SHRIMP FARMING IN RURAL BANGLADESH

Abstract

A blue revolution has taken place in most of the developing countries in Asia. This can also be seen back in Bangladesh with the rise of shrimp farming. The rise of shrimp farming had effects on the farming practices in Bangladesh, there was a transition from rice farming to rice-shrimp farming or monocultural shrimp farming. This research focuses on how the transition to shrimp farm transformed the foodscape of a local rural community in Bangladesh. There is a lot of literature on shrimp farming and the consequences of it, but there is none that focuses on food. The data for this research is gathered by doing fieldwork in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh qualitative research methods such as interviews, observations and pictures were used to discover how the foodscape was changed. The interviews gave a clear image on the transformation in the foodscape. Salt water is a requirement for shrimp farming, this salt water was let in the area via a switch gate. As a result the area became salinized. Because of this, other crops could not grow anymore or grow in less amounts and with less quality than before. A landscape that was green before shrimp farming, became a ‘desert in the delta’. The local population got most food via self-consumption, but are now more dependent on the local markets. However this transformation in foodscape only happened for people who did not profit of shrimp farming. The profiters of shrimp farming had bigger lands for shrimp farming and also land outside the shrimp area. The area therefore has a two-sided foodscape. On the one hand, the people who lost their crops and became more dependent on the market and on the other hand, the people who made more profits than before and still could grow the crops that they grew before shrimp farming. The main driver of change for this transformation in foodscape is the salinization. The most important indirect driver of this change are political and economic factors.