UNiFEED Story: BANGLADESH / RATS (1.57), Bangladesh, like much of the world, is feeling the impact of a global spike in food prices. And to make matter worse, almost 90 percent of villager's crops in the rainforested Chittagong Hills have been decimated by rats, a plague that ravaged the countryside 50 years ago. UNICEF

26 August 2008

BANGLADESH / RATS (1.57)

Bangladesh, like much of the world, is feeling the impact of a global spike in food prices. And to make matter worse, almost 90 percent of villager's crops in the rainforested Chittagong Hills have been decimated by rats, a plague that ravaged the countryside 50 years ago. UNICEF

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STORY: BANGLADESH / RATS
TRT: 1.57  
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / BANGLA/NATS

DATELINE: AUGUST 2008, CHITTAGONG HILL TRACT, BANGLADESH

SHOTLIST:

1.	Wide shot, river and hills landscape
2.	Pan left, mountain trail
3.	Wide shot, people carrying loads crossing makeshift bridge
4.	Med shot, people carrying loads walking uphill
5.	 Med shot, farmers at work
6.	SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Purno Chandra Chakma, farmer who has caught five rats in his trap over the last three days:
"I caught this rat in my paddy field."
7.	Med shot, farmers at work
8.	SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Purno Chandra Chakma, farmer who has caught five rats in his trap over the last three days:
"These small animals are really damaging my harvest of rice and corn."
9.	Various shots, workers unloading rations
10.	Med shot, boxes with rations
11.	Pan right, medicine and rations
12.	Close up, baby
13.	Med shot, family eating
14.	Tilt up shot, from food rations to baby eating
15.	SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Niron Kumar Chakma:
"This year the rats came and attacked my field. I had planted 50 kilograms of rice, but I only got five kilograms back. Because of the flood, the rats have eaten all my rice, vegetables, chili, oil seeds, cotton, and cucumber, everything that I planted. 
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Butragueño, UNICEF Programme Advisor:
"As the families and individuals affected by the rat/rodent crisis are being obliged to consume wild foods, which are not very nutritious, and we don't even know the effects."
17.	Med shot, women carrying baskets with rations
18.	SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Butragueño, UNICEF Programme Advisor:
"We are taking care of providing BP5 biscuits. These are highly nutritious biscuits that give a complement to normal food."
19.	Med shot, rations being loaded onto boat
20.	Med shot, women walking on trail
21.	Med shot, children behind fence

STORYLINE:

The spring and the summer are always the lean seasons in the rain forested Chittagong Hills of Bangladesh.

But this year, there will be no relief from the seasonal food scarcity. Bangladesh, like much of the world, is feeling the impact of a global spike in food prices. 
And to make matter worse, almost 90 percent of these villagers' crops have been decimated by rats – a plague that last ravaged the countryside 50 years ago.

SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Purno Chandra Chakma, farmer who has caught five rats in his trap over the last three days:
"I caught this rat in my paddy field."

With 130,000 people facing severe shortages, UNICEF and the World Food Programme are distributing emergency rations of rice, salt, cooking oil, and for the children under five most susceptible to malnutrition - fortified biscuits.

SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Purno Chandra Chakma, farmer who has caught five rats in his trap over the last three days:
"These small animals are really damaging my harvest of rice and corn."

Niron Kumar Chakma and his family were among the recipients.

SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Niron Kumar Chakma:
"This year the rats came and attacked my field. I had planted 50 kilograms of rice, but I only got five kilograms back. Because of the flood, the rats have eaten all my rice, vegetables, chili, oil seeds, cotton, and cucumber, everything that I planted.

SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Butragueño, UNICEF Programme Advisor:
"As the families and individuals affected by the rat/rodent crisis are being obliged to consume wild foods, which are not very nutritious, and we don't even know the effects."

UNICEF will continue to distribute biscuits until the next harvest.

SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Butragueño, UNICEF Programme Advisor:
"We are taking care of providing BP5 biscuits. These are highly nutritious biscuits that give a complement to normal food."

But the rats may persist even longer. The population explosion is caused by the cyclical flowering of the giant bamboo. And it is expected to remain in bloom for at least two more years.

Breadcrumb Trail

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BANGLADESH / RATS (1.57)

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