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Indigenous Food Habit of the Hajong Tribe Community in Bangladesh: Implication for Sustainable Extraction and Biodiversity Conservation in North-east Bangladesh

Md. Parvez Rana*
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh

Md. Shawkat Islam Sohel

Sayma Akhter
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, School of Agriculture and Mineral Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh

Mohammad Rakibul Hassan
Department of Development Studies, Dhaka University, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The Hajong are the ancient tribal forest community among the ethnic minorities of the North-East region of Bangladesh. The study was carried out with respect to three income groups highlighting their indigenous knowledge. A total of forty-five households (fifteen from each income groups) were assessed using different participatory appraisals through semi-structured questionnaires. A special type of indigenous knowledge on food habit was explored in the Hajong community, which correspond to the severe dependence on forest resources. They collect their food resources from homestead forest (45%) followed by forest (40%), market and others. They have indigenous hunting procedure to trap the animal in the forest. Twenty three tree species were tremendously planted in their homestead forests which are the very important source of food. Male are highly responsible to collect the food materials from forest as well as other sources.

Keywords: Special and favorite food, Food habit, Fruit consumption, Hajong, Bangladesh

Location: Nayabil Union (a rural administrative unit consisting of a number of villages) of Nalitabari Upazila (Sub-district; administrative entity) of Sherpur district, Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-06-2008

End Date: 00-10-2008

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Dietary intake

Objectives:

The Hajong have special and particular relationship and dependency on forest for their food. However, no study was carried out previously on food habit regarding forest dependence. So this study was undertaken to ascertain those in North-East region, Bangladesh.

Methodology:

Study area The study was conducted at Nayabil Union (a rural administrative unit consist of a number of villages) of Nalitabari upazila (Sub-district; administrative entity) of Sherpur district, Bangladesh over a period of Six months from June 2008 to October 2008. It is located between 25°19' and 25°13' north latitudes and between 90°04' and 90°19' east longitudes. The upazila occupies an area of 327.61 sq km including 1.68 sq km river area and 78 sq km forest area. The upazila is bounded on the north by India, on the east by Haluaghat of Mymensingh district, on the south by Nakla and Sherpur upazila and the west by Jhenaigati upazila (BBS, 2005). The upazila consists of 12 unions, 108 mauzas and 138 villages. The average population of each union, mauza and village are 32,333, 2,096, and 1,640 respectively. The area lies in the semi drier part of the Bangladesh. The maximum temperature is usually 30° C during the month of May and maximum temperature is about 10°C during the month of January. It has been observed that 34.58% of the main houses of the dwelling household are made of straw/ bamboo, 0.25% are made of cement and the remaining 65.17% are made of a combination of different types of materials (BBS, 2005). The total population of Hajong tribe in Bangladesh is 11,477. But the total populations of Hajong tribe in the study area are 436 in 77 households (Anon, 2003).

Methods
The Hajong are one of the ancient among the tribes of the North-East region of Bangladesh. They mainly live in three district of Bangladesh. These are Maymensingh, Sherpur and Netrokona (Ahmed, 2003). Sherpur has been selected for study by random sampling. Out of five upazilas of Sherpur district, the Hajong are concentrated in the hilly areas of Sribardi, Jhenagati and Nalitabari upazillas. A list of three upazilas of Sherpur district was arranged alphabetically and Nalitabari was selected randomly from the list. Nayabil union of Nalitabari upazila is inhabited mostly by the Hajong. So this union was selected purposively. A list of the Hajong hamlet and households (based on annual income) were collected from the office of ‘World Vision’, an NGO working locally for the improvement of the Hajong tribe. Three hamlets were finally selected at random from the list. A preliminary socio-economic survey was carried out to ascertain important socio-economic parameters of the study area to select respondents for detailed study. The hamlets were surveyed completely at that stage. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for the survey, worked out in advance and pre-tested for intelligibility. Household heads were the respondents of the study and they took help from other members of the family when viewed necessary. Based on the total annual income, the study peoples were categorized into three groups as follows: high-income group (having total annual income >Tk. 30,000), medium income group (having total annual income range of Tk. 20,000 ~ Tk. 30,000) and low income group (having a total annual income.

Source of Information: Journal of Forest Science Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 101~109, August 2009

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Funding Source:

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Achievement/Findings:

The dependence of Hajong tribe on forests was so much that they constituted one of the integral components of forest ecosystem, where they had developed a balance with nature which might be viewed as a biome, a balance between man (here the Hajong themselves) on one hand and flora and fauna on the other. The study shows a particular pattern of food habit of the Hajong community in Bangladesh. The indigenous knowledge on food habit especially on wildlife and wild plants by the Hajong may provide some important and valuable information on the nutritional and medicinal effects on the human body. They possessed an intimate relation with each and every component of forest like herbs, shrubs, trees, creepers, wild animals both harmless and ferocious ones, insects, even soil and water also. For a full understanding on the medicinal values of the food materials up taken by the Hajong, more anthropological and chemical researches are needed.

Knowledge Management: Journal