baby shrimp are caught from rivers and waterways and hatcheries, and then brought to these shrimp farms where they re cultivated to full size. most of these shrimp farms are along the coastal beds and riverbeds of bangladesh, where there is a plentiful supply of water. but environmentalists and local communities are telling me that fish farms leave the area weak and vulnerable. the land can no longer withstand the effect of cyclones and typhoons, which bangladesh experiences regularly. as we travelled to the south west coast, the effects of saltwater toxicity on the farms was clear. we were surrounded by cracked and grey coastline, which as we saw using aerial cameras, stretched for miles. local wildlife had disappeared. the landscape is gutted and divided into rough
collaborative system. over in polder 29, i heard about the history of intensive shrimp farming, which included allegations of violent conduct by men with guns. since many shrimp farm bosses live in the cities, far away from the remote coastal areas, they would send local agents or local contacts to maintain the affairs of the shrimp farms. their methods, say local witnesses, got out of hand. during prolonged campaigns local farmers said these men would intimidate them into converting their rice land into intensive shrimp farms.
they were very violent before, because they had gotten away with it in the past, so they thought they could get away with it, but, because of all the noises we were making at all the levels, arms, etc has gone down considerably. now what they use is manipulation. iasked people, especially at the village level, you know you are risking your life, you know you are going to get killed? and yet you resist. and they said, we have nothing else to lose. they had to fight a lot, so did we, but the fact that we don t give up, and i always say that you only lose when you give up, i think that is what empowers the people in the area to feel that they can live their life the way they wish to. and they don t have to be intimidated by goons, thugs or people who are in power. slowly, a resistance began against the encroaching intensive shrimp farms.
reduced or scrapped free school meal vouchers over the school holidays. and artefacts forcibly removed from benin city during a british military incursion in 1897 will be returned to nigeria by a london museum. now on bbc news, shrimps, saris and guns. faarea masud investigates how the demand for shrimp is destroying land that women have farmed for centuries in bangladesh. along the coastlines and riverbeds of rural bangladesh, thousands of hectares where rice was once grown have been converted into intensive shrimp farms, catering to a multibillion dollar global industry.
of fisheries said in a statement that more than 250,000 rural families are dependent on shrimp farming for their livelihoods. it is said that most of the people employed in shrimp cultivation in bangladesh are marginalised people who live in coastal areas and are victims of climate change, sea level rise, saline water intrusion and loss of livelihood. it added that for a decade or more these people have been maintaining high global standards and that the government conducts awareness activities, training, formation of trade unions and that it supports arbitration processes based on labour rules and social compliances. but not all of bangladesh s shrimp farms are problematic, of course. successful efforts to conserve the nearby mangrove forest have led to akash s shrimp farms having healthier water for both