Bridging agriculture and health for better life
Agriculture is very closely related to several major health problems like undernutrition, malaria, AIDS, food-borne diseases, diet-related chronic diseases (heart disease), diabetes, obesity and a range of occupational health hazards. This creates a strong reason for the sectors to work together — to orient agricultural systems to the benefit of health systems, and vice versa. In spite of these obvious linkages, agriculture and health sectors are poorly coordinated in Bangladesh. Neither sector has seen each other as a key partner in achieving either their own sectoral goals or national development goals (including the Millennium Development Goals). But the most important barrier to integration is the longstanding isolation of agriculture and health, and their research and policy processes. Management of water resources can be a good example of how practices in agricultural system interact with each other. Irrigation, multipurpose dams, and ponds for livestock and fish can benefit health by increasing food production, and generating higher incomes for the producers. On the other hand, they can also create conditions suitable for the propagation of water-related insect vectors and augment transmission of related diseases such as malaria, schistosomiasis and Japanese encephalitis. This links between malaria and agriculture present opportunities for innovative approaches to address poor health and livelihoods. In a case reported from Sichuan province, China, a shift in irrigation techniques to an annual cycle of wet crop/dry crop rotation resulted in a reduction of vector-breeding to a level lower than that of required to sustain malaria transmission. Other potential approaches include keeping cattle as deliberate bait and combining health interventions (i.e. distribution of bednets) with irrigation programmes. At the same time, production of more energy dense and nutrient poor foods is contributing malnutrition, obesity, diabetes and diet-related chronic diseases. Taking combined strategies for improving basic nutrition like biofortification of food with Vit-A, zinc etc., supplementing diets for the poor, fortifying processed foods, encouraging greater agricultural and dietary diversity is crucial. It needs a strong coordination between health and agriculture. Eminent media personality and agriculture development activist Shykh Seraj, who also runs a programme designed to provide primary healthcare services and awareness for farmer in association with Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital said that the level of awareness on basic healthcare among farmers is extremely low. As there is no distinct health awareness programme for farmers, they do not know how to protect them from occupational health hazards and reluctant to access healthcare when needed. Integration of health and agriculture policy will improve both sectors. Experts urged that it is the high time to develop the framework and national policy in order to identify the common process mediating the relationship between agricultural supply chain and different health conditions. Farmers, the backbone of the economy are mostly poor and solely depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, including the income needed to buy health services. Threats to agriculture become threats for health as well. Government, institutions, individual — all should work together to bring agriculture and health under common platform for the betterment of livelihood and lifestyle.
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