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 ë     !"     #
-Quote from a villager
from the book Needless
Hunger

The title, Needless Hunger: Voices from a Bangladesh Village, gives a good idea to a reader to
understand what is to be presented in the book, which is authored by Betsy Hartmann and James
Boyce. The book takes the reader through nine months of direct exposure of the authors, to the
lifestyles and real-time issues faced by the citizens of a rural village in Bangladesh. The authors,
aided by Yale University, took on the directive to conduct a research study of which they would
record personal experiences while living in Bangladesh for two years, from 1974-1976. Out of
the two years, nine months were spent particularly studying and living in the village Katni. The
authors lived amongst the villagers to have a more direct understanding of their lives¶ stories.
Overtime they grew familiar with the daily struggles and conflicts faced by the people of
Bangladesh. The authors of this book have presented a personal account of their experiences in
Bangladesh, the problems that the people of Bangladesh faced, the root causes of those problems
and also how the Bangladeshis may overcome those problems with different alternatives.
The first chapter begins with an introduction of the authors, provided by themselves, and
paints a picture, through words, to the audience as to what Bangladesh actually looks like. It
gives facts and figures as to the resource abundance it holds while showing the irony when
stating, ³The villagers taught us what it means to be   in a    land´. The chapter
discusses the agrarian structure of the Bangladesh economy; about their arable land, how
Bangladesh lies in the delta of three great rivers and how abundant rainfall and warm
temperatures give Bangladesh an ideal climate for agriculture. They say that the alluvial soil
deposited by the rivers makes Bangladesh land the most fertile in the world. The authors also
point out the fact that due to the ideal climate, crops can be grown 12 months a year. While
presenting bright positives, by describing the extract of the richness of land in Bangladesh, the
authors present a dark contrast by discussing how the majority of the Bangladeshis are still
suffering and helpless. The fact is that Bangladeshis are poor with an annual income of less than
$100 and a life expectancy rate of only 47 years. Families in Bangladesh consume less food than
the daily requirements, causing high rates of malnutrition, while suffering from various illnesses.
In the subsequent chapters the authors discuss how trade destroyed the local industries
and how the British played a major role in abolishing the Bengali industries. The British created
an abominable environment in Bangladesh. Firstly, they introduced an alien system of private
land ownership and after taking control of the land they charged high taxes. This led to the
transfer of land from Muslim $ 
  to rich Hindus who had the money to purchase the land
at prices affordable to them, since the Muslims could not afford to pay such high taxes. After the
Britishers exited in 1947, Bengal was divided; West Bengal and East Bengal, respectively among
India and Pakistan. However the exit of the British did not bring an end to the problems faced by
Bangladeshis. After the separation of West Bengal and East Bengal disparities increased between
the two creating to a huge clash between the two, since West Bengal had higher income growth
and more industrial development.
As the authors of the book visited Katni, a village in Bangladesh, they were able to see a
much clearer picture of the situation in Bangladesh. Drawing a more precise picture on
Bangladesh, the authors describe the system of land ownership in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh,
land is concentrated into the hands of the very few elite, as opposed to the fact that there are
people who are completely landless. In Bangladesh, and in many other developing countries,
land is the key to clout, whether political or economical. Other disparities arise due to the fact
that large landowners receive loans on lower interest rates, because of their land serving as
collateral, while the small land owners are charged more than 100 percent interest rates on loans;
which widens the disparity gap among the two classes.
The authors further go on to describe how sharecropping and the wage labor system in
Bangladesh leads to the siphoning of surplus from poor peasants and landless laborers into the
hands of the large landowners. In Katni these authors saw that share croppers receive less than
the landowner since they alone have to bear the cost of fertilizers, seeds and other agriculture
inputs. However, the injustice done to the wage laborers results in rewards even lower than those
of share croppers due to the high supply of wage laborers which results in lower wage rates. As
a villager in a Bangladesh told the authors ³I earn two pounds of rice. One taka and a meal for a
day¶s work. With that taka I used to buy 2 more pounds of rice and a little is left for oil, chilies
and salt´. This first hand narration by a villager discussing his current situation paints a better
picture of the evils and horror to the rural people of Bangladesh.
Furthermore the book discusses the details of why a fall in real wages in Bangladesh,
resulting in hired labor which becomes cheaper than sharecropping, increases the number of land
owners who resort to hired labor instead of sharecroppingÄ This has a negative impact by
decreasing the demand for sharecroppers and putting them out of business. The Green
Revolution also made the demand for hired labor increase. The demand for hired labor caused a
decrease in demand for sharecropping, which a majority of small farmers relied on.
The authors have stated that in Bangladesh at that time, jute was the main crash crop and
brought four -fifths of the country¶s export earnings. The farmers grew jute extensively and the
government announced a price flooring to help control the instable market rates. The authors
narrate a story which defines the differences amongst peasants and merchants. For peasants,
there were less opportunities of selling jute at government set market rates and as a villager in
Katni told the authors ³I sold my jute for less than half of what it cost me to grow it´. The reason
for this, as the authors visited a local procurement center in Bangladesh, was that large
warehouses had stocked most of the jute supply and those same warehouses bought this at the
government rate which was higher than what the peasants received for what they sold their jute
in the market for. The problem was corruption, as the warehouse manager only bought the jute
from the merchants at government set market rates; while those merchants bought the jute from
peasants at rates 33% lower than the government set rate. The corruption involved was that the
warehouse managers had a profitable deal with the merchants to turn away peasants and make
excuses of why the warehouse was not able to purchase their supply, turning them away and
pressuring them to sell to merchants at any cost. Hoarding also played a factor in impoverishing
the peasants from their privileges.

In the subsequent chapters, the authors clearly describes why the situation keeps
worsening in Bangladesh; there was no reinvestment of profits due to high demand for luxury
consumption there was no national productivity since the large landowners were taxed because
of the fear of the government to lose their support.
 Betsy and James reveal that not only is the system of landownership causing problems in
Bangladesh but also the squandering wealth of elites, under utilization of resources,
inefficiencies produced from absent landlords, and the level of corruption at all levels play a
dominant role in making the situation of Bangladesh as it was during their visit. The high rate of
unemployment in Bangladesh, economic stagnation due to lack of inefficient demand and the
poor peasants represent a terrible waste of the country¶s greatest resource. Further describing, the
authors claim that the inefficiency of inequality in Bangladesh is also due to the fact that the
government supports the very narrow elites and does not cater to the needs of the poor. The
figures determine the extent to how true this conclusion is; expenditures on defense have risen
from 20% to 30% and the share of the government¶s development budget towards agriculture
decreased from 30% to 25% even though agriculture contributes 60% towards the GNP of the
country and employs 80% of the labor force. The authors also gives other reasons to why the
situation keep worsening in Bangladesh; there has been no reinvestment of profits due to high
demand for luxury consumption and there has been no increase in national productivity since the
large landowners were not being taxed because the government feared to lose their support. The
bottom line is that the only development that has taken place in Bangladesh is the development
of the elites. Agriculture suffers from a lack of funds, proper attention, and efficient institutions.

After discussing the problems and difficulties faced by the locals in Bangladesh, the
authors shift their focus on the alternatives and the solutions. The authors believe that social
reconstruction is the key to breaking the barriers which will increase production and ensure that
the poor get to reap the benefits of the development process. Also, a cooperative method in
agricultural production would enable the peasants of Bangladesh to undertake self-help
development projects and as for the peasants, knowing that they will reap the benefits of their
work, will be provided with greater energy and relief.
In the seventh chapter, the authors describe the role of foreign aid in Bangladesh and how
it does not get to those who it is actually intended for. The various kinds of food and project aid
somehow fall into the hands of the elite due to the corruptive and scavenging mindsets of the
already miserly elites. Bangladesh has received a lot of aid over the years. With its independence
it received $2.5 billion worth of aid and throughout the years the aid kept increasing. Pouring aid
into a country and expecting a positive outcome isn¶t always as simple as it seems. The authors
write, ³F

        #. Unfortunately, most of the food aid
falls into the hands of those who could pay the market price, referring to the the urban elites. The
distribution of aid by the government also seems controversial as the author states that 27 % of
the food grains were allotted to members of military and civil services. Moving ahead, the urban
ration system in Bangladesh is riffed with corruption. The authors tell us, what is documented by
the government on paper and what actually happens with the aid is a completely different story.
The authors present a stunning fact that, ³Although 90 percent of Bangladesh¶s people live in the
countryside, only one-third of the government¶s rationed food grains are allotted to rural areas´.
This shows a huge disparity in distribution of the food aid coming into the country and how
corruption undermines the prerogative of the underprivileged villagers. As the authors proceed to
portray that not only does food aid not fall into the hands it is intended for but also it undermines
domestic food production by creating a lack of institutional support from the government and
creating a more lax attitude towards domestic food production. The authors tell us that for the
government on the receiving end, food aid creates a dependency approach and undermines any
desire towards self-reliance, amongst the other harms it does. Summing it into a few simple and
great lines the authors write, ³The logic is simple and compelling: if people are hungry, give
them food. But instead of feeding needy people, food aid often strengthens the very forces which
create hunger´. The authors refer to the elite as those forces, thus by placing a very strong finger
on the fact that food aid oppresses more than it aids the majority of the population. The authors
bring up a very important point by giving both sides of the story as the donors blame the
Bangladeshi government for their lack of support and interest to help the poor and the
government points back at the donors who donate aid for their own mutual interests; for their
own stability, security and prevention of internal disorders.

In the last chapter titled, ³What Can We Do?´ three very important points are provided
by the authors to answer this question. The author start from the military and economic
assistance, which aids only the minority elite needs to be halted because it worsens the living
conditions of the country¶s poor majority. The second point is to directly assist the local
organizations and communities who are stakeholders in the betterment of the country and are
working to mobilize the poor. The aid should be provided to them as they are more trustworthy
than the elitist government. The third point is to educate ourselves and others about the millions
of people who are starving from hunger and the effects of our own governments who play a role
in perpetuating this hunger and making the poor of the third world worse off. The authors leave a
concluding thought by asking who is to blame for the massive upheavals in Bangladesh and what
can be done.

  


In our critical analysis we have noticed many of positive attributes of the book c
 %
which offers a great insight into the 3rd world as the authors describe their two year personal
experience in less than a 100 pages of a book. The authors¶ writing style and friendly use of
language make it easy for students of all fields of study to understand and sympathize with the
villagers of Katni. The authors provide a chapter by chapter account on different topics using real
life examples of villagers as well as placing true stories, within some chapters, to help readers
open up to the world of the poor villagers. The chapter-by-chapter approach makes it simple to
understand the objective of the book and the point the authors are trying to make. The book
includes factual data and presents arguments, using personal experiences, which argue basic
development economic theories.

The book begins on a straightforward and factual basis of Bangladesh¶s environment.

The descriptive rhetoric provided in the first chapter opens up the reader¶s mind as to what
Bangladesh actually looks like. Providing background information on the subject at hand has
become a standard format in writing non-fiction and has proven to be the best way to build up
the interest of the reader. The chapter proceeds to drag the reader deeper inside the heartlands of
Bangladesh, which globally is imagined to be a country full of pollution, poverty, scarce
resources, violence, and other negative characteristics of the third world. To counter this negative
global image the authors use very literary devices like personification, imagery, metaphors, and
irony. Like in the first chapter the authors write, ³Rice paddies carpeted the earth, and gigantic
squash vines climbed over the roofs of the bamboo village houses. The rich soil, plentiful water
and hot, humid climate made us feel as if we had entered a natural greenhouse.´ The use of
different literary devices makes it easier for readers to picture what the scenery may look like
without having gone there.

Chapter One goes on to provide the history of Bangladesh by discussing the colonial
legacy under the British Empire and then the blood-splattered separation from Pakistan. The
authors openly claim that the industrial nations or developed countries have the wrong rationale
on their view of development which they think is a ³straightforward historical progression: poor
countries are simply further behind on the path to development than rich ones.´ The authors here
present an argument for the reason for development of countries as is being challenged today.
They present an argument by saying ³But this view ignores the fact that the destinies of nations
have been linked in ways which have often benefited one nation at the expense of another.´ The
authors are referring to the dependency theory as they have stood against the colonial legacy for
which Bangladesh was actually made from an aspiring trade and agricultural nation to an
underdeveloped third world nation. The Rostow¶s Stages of Growth theory which the authors
are referring to as the ³straightforward historical progression´ was made popular in the 1960s
and 1970s but did not answer questions outside the realm of the US and Europe¶s development.
The dependency approach, however, was also made popular in the 1960s and was supported by
many third world nations as a reason to why they have lagged behind in the process of
development and how the developed world hurts more than it helps. In our analysis we see the
authors have presented these arguments very well and in good time, when the theories were
being heavily debated upon.

The authors tell us the actions of the British Empire not only created a dependency
approach for Bangladesh but also alienated the villagers from their own land. The British
introduced this alien system of private land ownership which were taxed highly by the Empire
and thus caused many villagers to give up their land to the State in arrears. The system, which
has been seen by various former colonial countries as not sustainable, because not only does it
take from the poor and give to the rich but it also concentrates land from the majority into the
hands of the rich minority in the form of monopoly land ownership creating a larger unequal
distribution of resources. Here the authors did an excellent job in explaining that the introduction
of a new system did not work.

Creating new systems is like creating new institutions. In Institutional Economics we

learn that institutions are those formal and informal rules which along with their enforcement
mechanisms structure human behavior and act as those constraints which reduce uncertainty. The
authors have described that these new institutions were created in Bangladesh at either the wrong
time or for the wrong way. The newer institutions which were introduced, whether they were the
system of private land ownership, rationed food, price floorings, subsidizes, et cetera, created
weak institutions which lack efficiency and motivation to do good in society. These weak
institutions did the opposite of what strong institutions in developing countries provide which are
high degree of competition, high degree of efficiency, merit based selection, and innovation. In
contrast these weak institutions provided for Bangladesh restriction of competition, inefficiency,
non-merit based selection, and a weak knowledge base causing little to no innovation.
Bangladesh being structured with such weak institutions and having constraints of being a
colony could not grow as developed countries did but instead shrunk at the expense of the
developed world. The productivity was low, as explained in the chapter ³The Inefficiency of
Inequality´, because the motivation for large landowners tends to cultivate their lands less
intensively than small owners. The large landowners¶ incentive to do better and compete is not as
great as they are earning sufficient profits by exploiting the weak and cheap laborers. The
authors present their argument in the chapter by saying ³The small landowning peasant, who tills
the soil with his won hands, knows that his work determines how much he and his family will
have to eat. He invests more labor in his agriculture, and strives to use every bit of land and
every drop of water to its utmost.´ These lines provide the reason for the discrepancy of why
small landowning peasants are more efficient with their land as compared to large land lords thus
creating inefficiency of agriculture production in Bangladesh.

The authors present solutions in the last chapters and give an understanding of what
actually goes wrong. This completes the structure of their argument as they have presented facts
and data and now are remarking on their concluding thoughts. Chapter Seven begins with
discussing the aid projects which developed countries think will help these less developed
countries. The authors provide arguments to explain why the aid creates a beggar government as
well as a dependency on the development countries aid. Logically this argument is sufficient to
explain when governments on the receiving end have no motivation to do better when they are
receiving billions of dollars worth of aid a year. It is a part of human instinct to get used to
something and once that occurs it is hard to break the chain. When a government becomes used
to something then for the government they are less worried about being efficient because they
know they have the aid to fall back on. The authors are arguing this exact point as they say,
³food aid often strengthens the very forces which create hunger´. In this excerpt the authors are
referring to the elitist government which creates the hunger in the first place and is the bearer of
the fruitful aid. This is something found in many economic books and was a central argument in
the U.S. Senate in 1976, when a Senate study stated that to terminate food aid, ³was the only way
to force the government to take necessary actions for eventual self-sufficiency´. This argument,
by the authors is presented with satisfactory factual and theoretical rhetoric.

In the concluding pages of the book the authors ignore a major obstacle in tackling the
on-going problems in Bangladesh. The authors refer to the solution as social reconstruction and
speak of a cooperative system which could lead to motivating the peasants as they will reap the
benefits of their own hard work and discusses that land reforms are insufficient and difficult to
manage. They also speak of a revolution that the peasants together will have to resort to end their
own suffering. This argument is insufficient as we have to understand that the peasants are weak,
not only physically but mentally, due to all the damage done to them over the decades. Also, the
authors ignore the largest problem which is of the monopolistic control on land. This problem is
larger than any of the other issues and without the breaking of large land holdings, which give
political and economical clout to the landlords, a revolution or change is impossible to bring in.
The monopolistic control on land is the central issue to be addressed and the system only
continues in this direction because it gives the large land owners enormous amounts of influence
and decision making on the system. To reconstruct and develop a nation¶s minority it is essential
for the minority to own capital. As the Department of International Development says on their
website, ³Land policy, land rights and land reform have a critical bearing on the economic
development and poverty reduction in both rural and urban areas of the developing world´.
Secure access of land does not only rid a country of land corruption but also provides the basis of
investment for better living conditions and more equitable land distribution enables the poor to
benefit from broad based economic growth. Breaking the monopolies of land is crucial in setting
the path of development for pro-poor growth.

   
 
In our view point the book is very well written and is deeply elaborated. There are hundreds and
thousands of books written on the topic of development, poverty, inequalities and etc. but it is
very unlikely that the authors have been to the country they have written about. Having
knowledge about something is one thing but being able to experience something for yourself is
where the path of wisdom lies. The authors of ³Needless Hunger: Voices from a Village of
Bangladesh´ spent two years in Bangladesh, they learned the Bangladeshi language and what
they have narrated in the book is what speak out of experience about their stay in Bangladesh.
The personal encounters and interactions with the people make them more than worthy to write a
book; which should be noted to institutions across the world to take advice from their
experiences and knowledge. The authors have mentioned personal stories of the villagers in
Katni which gives the reader a very clear insight on the conditions that prevailed in Bangladesh
during that time period. The personal stories of the villagers provide a sense of relation with the
reader and the villager by explaining their personal dilemmas and struggle for survival. The
factual statistics provided with reports and figures by the World Bank, A.I.D. reports and
mentioned citations make a strong backbone for the authors¶ arguments as they clear the reality
of the situation in Bangladesh and help the reader to make easy comparisons and calculate the
differences. The actual stories which are narrated at the end of chapters have the potential of
drawing a good amount of attention and interest of the reader.