Here is how non-brand shoes transformed rural lifestyle

Even villagers in faraway districts and low-income people are now wearing shoes thanks to affordable and locally made cheap footwear coupled with an increasing health awareness among the masses.

But going around barefoot is not a distant memory in rural Bangladesh. Even until the late 80s, children used to go to school barefoot and wearing shoes was for special occasions for adults in most cases.

The situation has changed, someone without shoes can hardly be seen on remote rural roads today. People now can afford shoes, not fashionable leather shoes all the time, but at least a pair of sandals or slippers made of rubber or plastic.

Non-branded local shoemakers made this happen over the last few decades, making footwear accessible to all. Rural people are now enjoying the health benefits of shoes, better protection from hookworms and reduced foot injuries from thorns and broken glasses – which once were quite common in villages.

Wearing shoes helped to end the hookworm epidemic in rural American states including Mississippi in the early 1900s and in Bangladesh, it happened roughly a century later. Doctors say hookworm infection with anaemia is no longer a public health concern in rural Bangladesh, which reduced the levels of absenteeism in primary schoolchildren, as teachers point out.

"When we were children, we used to go to school barefoot. But for the last 10-15 years, all the children have been coming to school wearing shoes. They are safe from various diseases as they no longer have to go to the toilet barefoot," Nurunnahar, a primary school teacher in Jamalpur, told The Business Standard.  

Syed Abdul Hamid, professor at the Institute of Health Economics, Dhaka University, said footwear transformed the rural lifestyle to a healthy one.   

"In the past, students used to suffer from various health problems such as stomach related ailments, vomiting and fever mostly due to worm attack or parasitic infection. Footwear has changed the health situation."  

The health economics teacher said although there is no concrete research data, it is evident that a better and hygienic lifestyle helped the working-class people protect themselves against infectious diseases.

Dr Md Nazmul Islam, director (disease control) of the Directorate General of Health Services, said, "The spread of worm related diseases in the country has decreased by 90% due to wearing shoes and taking medicines, especially among the children. The overall health of the children in the country has improved."

KM Enamul Haque, deputy director of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), has been working with school students for over 30 years.

He said, "The rate of wearing shoes among school children has been increasing since 2003. Even hill tracts or char area children wear slippers. This has improved their mental and physical well-being. Their attendance rate at school has also increased considerably due to their good health."

The government last year announced providing Tk1,000 to each primary student for shoes, shirts and pants (school uniform) so that they can develop a healthier, cleaner and more equitable mind-set, he added.

A great achievement

With around 22,000 factories and 12 lakh people involved, the local non-brand footwear industry has achieved a spontaneous growth over the past several decades.

The booming industry has ensured a pair of shoes or at least slippers at a reasonable price for the people living in rural areas, especially for children contributing to the health benefits.

Harun-ur-Rashid, president of Bangladesh Rexine and Shoe Material Merchants Association, said the lifestyle transformation is a great achievement for the local footwear industry.

He said, "Nowadays, people in the rural areas can even buy a pair of non-brand canvas shoes for Tk500-Tk600 that was unthinkable even 10-15 years ago."

Sector insiders hope the footwear industry, which now accounts for around 30% of the Tk17,000 crore shoe market in the country, would be able to produce quality products in future and earn foreign currencies through export.

Self-made entrepreneurs

Mohammad Akash Ahmed was a labourer in a shoe factory in Dhaka's Mirpur in 1998. In 2004, he started a factory with Tk1 lakh that he saved from his salary. Akash initially had only three employees.

But now 25 people work in his factory as his annual turnover hovers around Tk3 crore.

"I produce about 2.50 lakh pairs of shoes a year that are sold in Dhaka and district towns," he said.

According to 2016 data of SME Foundation, around 5,000-6,000 shoe factories were located in old Dhaka, 200 in Dhaka's Mirpur and Pallabi area, more than 10,000 in Kishoreganj's Bhairab, 600-700 in Chattogram's Madarbari, 300 in Brahmanbaria and 100 in Rajshahi.

There were also footwear factories in Cumilla, Gazipur, Narsingdi and Narayanganj.

Manzur Rahman, from Rajshahi's Kaluhati village of Charghat union, set up a small footwear unit at his family workshop in 2014 with Tk20,000 savings and Tk50,000 loan. Before that, he used to work at a footwear factory.

Manzur now owns about Tk1.5 crore in a span of six years. He has already bought five bighas of land in Rajshahi.

Manzur, who is now the president of Kaluhati Paduka Samiti, told The Business Standard that his factory now employs 70 people while he started with only three workers.

 From Biharis to Bangalis

During the British period, there were no large-scale footwear factories in East Bengal. Various types of footwear were imported, mainly from Calcutta.

In 1952, immigrant Chinese nationals first started making shoes and sandals in the Mitford area in old Dhaka. Later, Biharis refugees from India, acquired shoe making skills from them.

Many Biharis had been working in shoe factories in different parts of India in the 1960s. They moved to Bangladesh and set up shoe factories in Old Dhaka.

After the independence of the country, when the Biharis left, the Bangali workers took over those factories and kept the production running.

Many of the workers also set up factories in Bangshal, Siddique Bazar, Alu Bazar, Malitola Lane, Suritola Lane, Lutfar Rahman Lane, Abdul Halim Lane, Osmangani Lane, Tikatuli, Aga Sadek Road and other areas of Old Dhaka.

Later, these factories spread across the country. However, the greatest expansion of this industry took place in the 1980s.

In 1962, Bata Shoes, a global footwear brand, set up its manufacturing plant in Tongi.

Jalal Uddin, a shoe factory owner in Cumilla's Lalmai upazila, said, "In the past, shoes could be bought from only the big markets at upazila town. But now the village markets have three to four footwear shops."

Harun-ur-Rashid, president of the Bangladesh Rexine and Shoe Material Merchants Association, said Eid sales are the lifeblood for non-brand shoes.

According to factory owners, the industry uses raw hides collected locally, while other raw materials such as artificial leather, rubber, glue and different chemicals are mostly imported from China.

 Footwear-makers in need of govt support

Mohammad Bappi Sarkar, general secretary of Dhaka Small Footwear Industry Owners' Association, said factory-made shoes brought from China and India under low tariff are hurting the local industry.

"We need policy support, easy and low-cost bank loans, training, and modern equipment to survive and compete. Besides, there should be more import tariffs on footwear imports to shield the local manufacturers," he said.

Bappi said the number of factories in the country would increase to 30,000-35,000 in the next 10-12 years if the government chips in with support. The thriving sector could also earn foreign currencies through export.

Mofizur Rahman, managing director of SME Foundation, said, "It is true that these shoe factories have developed organically. But now we are trying our best to provide technical training, financial and technical support."

Mofizur said the foundation has already provided Bhairab footwear factories with some technology support.

He said the foundation will extend its efforts all over the country.