Files
Abstract
The present study was an attempt to analyze the farmers’ perception about causes and remedies of Monga in some
selected areas of Lalmonirhat district of Bangladesh. In order to achieve the objectives, survey was conducted in
three villages and one Char area in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat district. In total 90 samples were purposively
taken of which 45 were from Char area, 25 from rural area, and 20 from urban area. The family size of the
respondents revealed that medium family domination in Char area (the poorest area) is an indication of the
consciousness of the poor people about population problem. Monga stricken people in terms of less consumption
were higher in Char and rural areas compared to urban area. Lack of cultivable land, natural calamities, nonavailability
of working facilities at non-agricultural sector, lack of working facilities at agricultural sector due to natural
calamities and lack of credit availability and high interest rate were opined by the researcher as their causes of
Monga. On the other hand, beef fattening, petty business, plant nursery and poultry farming were addressed as the
mitigating activities of Monga undertaken by NGOs. old-age allowance, Hundred-days job scheme and Vulnerable
Group Development (VGD) programme were observed as Monga mitigating activities undertaken by GOs in the study
area. The difference between the performance of GO and NGO in Monga mitigation was wider in Char area than that
of in rural and urban areas. The higher performance of NGOs was due to their better identification, selection and
supervision strategy with perfect information. Drawbacks like, corruption, lack of proper management, lack of
adequate financial support, etc., might be responsible for the poor performance of GO mitigating activities of Monga
in the study area.