Food security for the ultra poor: inclusion works. Lessons learned on the inclusion of people with disabilities in a food security project for ultra poor women in Bangladesh.

The Food Security Project in Gaibandha (2009-2013), supported by The Leprosy Mission, aimed to improve the food security situation of 40,000 ultra poor female headed households in a densely-populated and disaster prone area in the north of Bangladesh. Women received training and resources to enable them to have a livelihood, education on leprosy treatment and disability prevention, health and hygiene education. They also received training on accessing government benefits and disaster preparedness.
This report shares case studies from the project and highlights lessons learned.

When we started the project five years ago, there were hardly any practical guidelines available on how to include people with disabilities in mainstream development projects, meaning we had to start from zero. After five years, we can honestly say that we have learned many lessons about disability mainstreaming. With the knowledge we have now, we can avoid replicating the mistakes we made this time.

The aim of this publication is thus not only to share our successes, but also our shortcomings. We want to encourage other development practitioners to start including people with disabilities in their (food security) programmes. So take advantage from our learnings and find out yourself that Inclusion Works!