Interview with Research Fellow: Abu Shonchoy
“Passionately Searching for Solutions to Poverty in Bangladesh”
[ 日本語版はこちら ]
Major: Development Economics, Poverty Studies in Bangladesh
You are a research fellow in development economics and poverty in Bangladesh. Let us hear your initial motivation for entering this field.
Originally,
in
my
high
school
days,
I
was
a
natural
science
student
and
my
favorite
subject
was
physics.
Although
my
father
was
a
banker,
my
family
wanted
me
to
be
a
physicist
or
an
engineer.
However,
after
entering
Dhaka
University,
I
choose
to
shift
from
natural
science
to
economics.
Economics
was
not
a
popular
choice
for
natural
science
students,
nor
was
it
a
welcome
decision
for
my
family.
However,
I
continued
my
journey
in
economics
and
really
liked
the
courses
and
the
way
of
thinking
in
the
field.
Before
moving
to
economics,
during
my
time
in
high
school,
I
had
no
opportunity
to
take
any
social
study
subjects.
So
everything
was
very
new
to
me.
My
major
is
in
development
economics.
The
area
where
I
am
currently
working
is
in
Northern
Bangladesh.
It
is
far
away
from
Dhaka,
and
isolated
because
there
is
no
means
for
direct
communication.
In
2005,
after
finishing
my
master’s
course,
one
of
my
friends,
Dr.
Abu
Shahriar,
started
to
talk
about
the
issues
and
problems
of
poverty
in
Northern
Bangladesh.
Interestingly,
the
first
time
I
visited
there
was
not
for
research.
It
was
just
to
involve
students
in
a
social
activity.
As
a
part
of
being
young
colleagues
in
the
university,
we
did
a
lot
of
activities
to
promote
social
awareness
among
the
students,
and
one
part
of
the
awareness
is
giving
winter
clothes
to
impoverished
people
who
cannot
afford
them.
We
collected
around
1,500
or
2,000
pieces
of
winter
clothes
at
that
time
to
distribute
among
those
in
need.
At
that
time,
I
had
a
chance
to
look
around
and
visit
different
places
and
talk
with
people.
And
that
started
my
thinking
process
towards
doing
something
for
these
people
and
some
research
ideas;
how
to
improve
the
system,
why
these
people
are
poor,
why
this
area
is
so
different
from
other
parts
of
Bangladesh,
what
are
the
problems,
what
we
can
do.
Your study emphasizes the social problems. What do you assume are the ‘social problems’?
Bangladesh official statistics will reveal that the adult literacy rate of Bangladesh is around 50-55%, but personally I think that is not entirely correct. The word ‘literate’ is very vague in the context of Bangladesh, since the official record will recognize any individual as “literate” if the person can sign his or her name.
Without education, people cannot read newspapers or notices containing important information, even if they contain information important for anti-poverty measures by the government, for example. As you can understand, this lack of education hinders the development process and also creates more problems like massive population. Bangladesh is an enormously populated country, so we have limited resources. Keeping in mind such constraints, it is very difficult to find an effective solution to reduce poverty and it’s a challenge for the policy makers and for researchers.
As I mentioned, education is essential, however disseminating education for all is also very difficult because there are various constraints in investing in education. To relax the constraints of education for the poor, we are currently working with two programs which may tackle these problems, namely projects involving e-education and solar lanterns.
The idea of e-education is very simple; record the lectures of famous teachers, who typically stay in urban areas, onto DVD, deliver the DVD to rural areas and teach students with laptops. Currently we are targeting this intervention at students in the university entrance exam level. In Bangladesh, rural areas have much fewer prep schools for university admission exams compared with urban areas, so there exists an inequality of opportunity for students in rural areas who want to pursue higher education. This remote education alleviates this inequality. This research is still in progress with another Research Fellow of IDE, Hisaki Kono, and Professor Yasuyuki Sawada of the University of Tokyo.
The other example, the solar lantern project is very interesting and unique. One of the areas where I work is called Char, a Bengali name, which means ‘river islands’. In Char areas, there is no electricity because of high logistical costs. I was thinking long and hard to find a solution for electricity for these areas, especially for children. We went to the Char schools and asked the students about how they study at night, and the most common answer is by a kerosene lamp. Unfortunately, it is very dangerous to study with a kerosene lamp. It’s an open fire and can cause burns or even larger fire hazards when used by young children. Kerosene also creates enormous amounts of pollution which is known to be harmful for respiratory health. We found in our initial visit that those children who study with kerosene lamps have completely black snivel. This is a proof of the air-pollution caused by kerosene.
One
of
my
colleagues
in
IDE,
Noburu
Yoshida,
introduced
me
to
a
certain
Japanese
NGO,
and
they
said
that
there
is
an
interesting
device
called
a
solar
lantern,
which
is
very
cheap,
colleagues
in
produces
electricity
with
sunlight
and
can
give
enough
light
to
study.
I
wanted
to
test
these
solar
lanterns
and
to
understand
their
impact
on
the
children’s
education
and
health.
Solar
lanterns
contribute
to
two
things.
One
is
that
they
allow
students
to
study
more
and
for
longer
hours,
and
they
can
study
whenever
they
want
during
nighttime,
without
any
dizziness
or
eye
redness.
The
second
impact
that
we
anticipated
is
the
health
benefit
because
children
who
use
solar
lanternsare
not
inhaling
direct
air-pollution
caused
by
burning
kerosene.
Moreover,
they
are
quite
cheap,
so
we
can
probably
give
them
away
for
free
to
see
the
impact,
and
later
on
we
will
also
try
to
see
how
to
promote
this
product.
This
research
is
also
in
progress.
What image about IDE-JETRO did you have before your arrival in Japan?
In
2008
I
traveled
to
Japan
with
my
wife
for
the
first
time,
and
in
2010
I
moved
here.
I
knew
of
JETRO
because
it
has
an
office
in
Dhaka.
I
did
not
know
of
the
IDE
at
that
time.
As a Bangladeshi researcher, what advantages do you think the Japanese researchers have in development studies?
There
are
three
major
advantages
that
Japanese
researchers
have
and
can
use
to
contribute
to
development.
First
is
their
technical
skill
and
capacity,
whether
in
theory
or
econometrics.
They
have
superior
training
in
their
technical
skills.
Second
is
the
experience
that
they
have
had
as
Japanese.
They
are
now
living
in
a
very
developed
and
advanced
society,
so
they
know
what
is
needed
to
reach
the
stage
they
are
at.
I
am
from
a
developing
country,
so
it
is
very
difficult
for
someone
like
me
to
prioritize
what
is
important
to
initiate
development.
Also,
Japanese
have
a
very
rich
history.
This
has
great
lessons
for
developing
countries.
Especially
after
the
Second
World
War,
the
progress
they
have
made
to
reach
the
current
stage
has
a
great
amount
to
teach
researchers
like
me.
Learning the Japanese Economic History is important...?
In turn, I have some national advantage being from a developing country. When I team up with my Japanese colleagues, we make an excellent team, because I can contribute something and they can contribute something, and together, we can tackle a question in a very effective and efficient way.
Learning Japanese economic history is important.
Yes.
And
the
third
one
is
the
digital
divide
-
the
technology.
This
is
important
because
Japan
is
very
superior
in
terms
of
technological
innovation,
and
as
a
developing
country
like
Bangladesh,
we
do
not
have
research
and
development
in
technology.
In
turn,
I
have
some
natural
advantages
being
from
a
developing
country.
When
I
team
up
with
my
Japanese
colleagues,
we
make
an
excellent
team,
because
we
can
complement
each
other,
and
together,
we
can
tackle
a
question
in
a
very
effective
and
efficient
way.
Lastly, let us hear of any further dreams you have and any message to those readers who aspire to study development economics.
My
future
dream
is
to
start
a
social
innovation
lab
where,
with
a
group
of
researchers,
we
will
conductre
search
towards
finding
new
innovations
to
tackle
social
problems
and
disseminate
the
information
to
governments
of
developing
countries
to
help
form
policy
based
on
the
resulting
evidence.
Finally,
for
those
readers
who
want
to
step
into
development
studies,
doing
field
level
research
in
development
requires
lots
of
patience,
courage
and
perseverance.
It’s
not
everybody’s
cup
of
tea.
So,
if
you
are
someone
who
is
passionate
about
development,
really
care
about
the
poverty
problems
of
the
world
and
have
the
required
human
properties
I
mentioned,
you
may
want
to
join
our
world.
Date
of
Interview:
Wednesday,
March
6,
2013.
Interviewer:
Masayoshi
Okabe
(Research
Promotion
Department)