The Politics of Food Security in Bangladesh

The Politics of Food Security in Bangladesh By Mohammad Mozahidul Islam A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Sciences University of New South Wales 2012 ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….................... ii COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.' Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date ……………………………………………........................... AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........................... Date …………………………………………….......................... iii Abstract This thesis examines the political and economic dimensions of food security in Bangladesh and assesses the role of the state in meeting the challenges of food security. The key concern, which is at the heart of this study, is to explore how the Bangladesh state responds when its people go hungry. I argue that, because Bangladesh is a food-insecure, under-resourced, and poorly-governed country, it is imperative to critically examine the root causes of food insecurity and, in particular, the state’s role in ensuring food security. However, there are no detailed empirical studies which examine the Bangladesh state’s role by providing an historical-political analysis: conventional approaches are primarily concerned with a partial diagnosis of the economic or nutritional problems of food security. This thesis provides a detailed picture of the missing dimensions of stateness that include the strength of institutions, the scope of state functions, and other important attributes. In doing so, it uses the concept of neopatrimonialism to explore the political system of Bangladesh. The analysis utilizes five concepts – rent-seeking, public corruption, “partial reform syndrome”, “weak state capacity”, and poor governance – as an analytical framework. A major concern of this thesis is to explicate the various impediments to food security in Bangladesh, ranging all the way from the process of policy formulation to their implementation mechanisms. The thesis is comprised of two sections. The first section demonstrates that the Bangladesh state exhibits neopatrimonial tendencies which systematically weaken state capacity, promote patronage politics and result in poor governance; and as a result, the state fails to plan and implement sound policies. The second section shows that the five key characteristics of a neopatrimonial state – employed as an analytical framework – are deeply entrenched in the state’s responses, its activities, and the ways in which it interacts with the food and agriculture market, agricultural development strategies and activities, farming and non-farming subsidies, and the public food distribution system of Bangladesh. This thesis unpacks the structural weaknesses of the state’s institutional capacity in promoting food security and, in the process, argues that the root cause of food insecurity is deeply embedded in the nature of the Bangladesh state itself, and the political institutions that link the state and society. iv Acknowledgements In preparation of this thesis, I received many helpful and constructive comments from many people. First of all, I am deeply grateful to Professor Marc Williams for his patient and thoughtful advice, support and valuable insights on my thesis writing process. I have been especially fortunate to work under his close supervision and I am grateful to him for his helpful assistance, critical evaluation and appreciation of my work throughout the course of the research process. I am also grateful to Dr Duncan McDuie-Ra, my co-supervisor, for his generosity in sharing his knowledge and providing me with outstanding advice and constructive suggestions. I have also benefited from the discussions with other faculty members and colleagues, too many to be named here, at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) whose discussions, comments, criticisms, suggestions, and intellectual exchange enriched both my personal and professional life. However, I would like to single out Associate Professor Dr Ursula Rao, Tamara Nair, Rabia Ali, and Ian Michael Zucker for special thanks. During my fieldwork in Bangladesh, a great many people helped me a lot. They are too numerous to thank individually. However, for special thanks, I would like to single out a number of people who gave me insightful comments and criticisms during my fieldwork: A M M Shawkat Ali, Lalita Bhattacharjee, Quazi Shahabuddin, Abdul Latif Mandal, Mohammad Ayub Mian, Md. Zahid Hossain, Badiul Alam Majumder, Syad Abul Maksud, Iftekharuzzaman, Anu Muhammad, Abdul Bayes, M Salimullah Khan, Manosh Chowdhury, Swadhin Sen, Abdul Wahed, Abdur Rahman, Md. Khairul Alam, Anwar Zahid Talukdar, M A Sobhan, Md. Gulam Nur, M Saidul Haque, and Shwagota Sayeed. I deeply remember and would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the three most wonderful people that I have ever met who had/have great influence on my critical understanding of society and politics in the sense of the welfare of human beings: my father, late Abdus Samad, my uncle, late Abdul Hamid, and Abdus Sabur. With deep respect and gratitude, I also remember my mother, Habiba Khatun: she has been incredibly understanding and supportive of what I aspire to do. My hearty thanks go to Shaila Solaiman. During the thesis writing process, she has always provided me with enormous support in various ways: nevertheless, her unconditional love, friendship, and support were unwavering. This study was conducted under the scholarship of the University International Postgraduate Award, UNSW. My deep acknowledgment also goes to the Graduate Research School, UNSW for providing me with the financial assistance to conduct this research in Australia. Finally, I would like to thank all those who have inspired me to somehow accomplish this thesis. v Table of Contents ORIGINALITY STATEMENT......................................................................................ii COPYRIGHT STATEMENT........................................................................................iii AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT .................................................................................iii ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...............................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES, AND BOXES.............................................................xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION................................................................................1 1.0 Background ...............................................................................................................1 1.1 Focus of the Study: Why is it Important to Examine the Bangladesh Case? ...........4 1.2 Central Hypothesis ....................................................................................................7 1.3 Contribution of the Thesis ........................................................................................9 1.4 Research Methods ...................................................................................................12 1.4.1 Field work: some methodological perspectives .......................................12 1.4.2 Data analysis ............................................................................................18

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