Bangladesh

HKI began working in Bangladesh in 1978. In 1982-1983, in partnership with the Government of Bangladesh (GOB), HKI conducted the Bangladesh Nutritional Blindness Study that provided the basis for vitamin A policy for more than 15 years. In the late 1980s, HKI's focus shifted to providing technical assistance to the GOB for the vitamin A capsule program.

Based on findings from the Nutritional Blindness Survey, HKI initiated a pilot program to promote increased consumption of vitamin A-rich foods through home gardening in 1990. In 2003, the approach was expanded to include animal husbandry, and today, HKI works with 52 local NGOs, to provide Homestead Food Production (HFP) programs to 900,000 households, which benefits over 4.5 million people.

The programs are implemented in 210 sub-districts in three of the most vulnerable geographical areas of Northern Chars, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the southern coastal belt. The aims of HPF programs are to improve household food security by increasing food availability, and access and consumption of micronutrient rich foods through home gardening and poultry rearing. HFP programs also include nutrition education, gender awareness and income-producing components.

In 1990, HKI initiated its Nutritional Surveillance Project to monitor the nutrition and health status of women and children under 5 years old. Although the project ended in 2006, HKI continues to conduct special studies and surveys on request.

In late 1997, HKI-Bangladesh and the GOB conducted a follow-up national vitamin A deficiency (VAD) survey that documented the successful control of clinical VAD among preschool children through an effective vitamin A capsule program and the homestead gardening projects. The survey also highlighted the serious problem of VAD among women, adolescent girls and school-age children in rural Bangladesh.

In mid 2007, HKI began to implement a 3-year community mobilization project to improve vitamin A capsule distribution coverage in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. 

Since October of 2007, HKI and two partner NGOs have been conducting a pilot study on Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) with 1,600 households involved in the HFP program in the Char region.

Program Partners

• Government of Bangladesh
• NOVIB
• Standard Chartered Bank
• USAID

Key Staff

• Diane Lindsey - Country Director
• Rejwanul Karim Anik - Program Manager, HFP
• Amin Uddin - Deputy Program Manager, HFP
• Nasima Akhter – Technical Advisor
• Syed Raushan Kamal, Finance Manager
• Md. Ruhul Amin, Admin Manager