Komela sits with her small stash of food - three tiny onions, some chillis, a little oil and a small amount of rice and lentils. This is all the food that she and her two children will have to eat until she can start working again.

"We only eat when I can manage to get some money, but I have not worked for the past three months," Komela said. "Now I have taken a loan from a mahajan (money lender) at ten per cent interest every month. We are in the poverty gap with no way to get rid of it."

Komela and her family are amongst some of the ten million people affected by the floods in Bangladesh this year. The floods, which began in July, have wreaked damage across north and central Bangladesh destroying houses, roads, farm-land and leaving people vulnerable to serious disease. As well as losing their family home, Komela also lost her source of income. She used to work as a labourer on people's farmland but the floods have devastated vast swathes of land and crops and she now has no way to make a living.

It is estimated that around 900,000 acres of crops in Bangladesh have been destroyed by the floods that swept the country between July and September. This has not only meant a loss of jobs for agricultural workers but has also caused the price of food to rise far beyond the reach of most people.

Hunger season Islamic Relief staff in Bangladesh say the situation is now deteriorating even further as the country is in the grip of the monga, or hunger months.

Every year around October food becomes scarce before the harvests begin and many labourers are left without work as it is the time between plantation seasons. This situation means people are forced to rely on their savings or stocks of food to survive. However, this year the severe floods mean that people's reserves have either been used up or destroyed.

The consequence is that many Bangladeshi's like Komela have been forced to borrow money from lenders. However, the high interest they charge means people are being pushed further into the cycle of poverty.

The affects of this year's hunger season and accompanying rising poverty levels, will be felt most acutely by young children. With many already suffering from waterborne diseases and diarrhoea, it is feared that the shortages in food and spiralling poverty felt by many families will cause a rise in malnutrition amongst children.

Islamic Relief's work Islamic Relief began its work in the flood affected areas of Bangladesh after the first flooding in July. We distributed emergency food parcels to 11,000 people and 39,000 high energy biscuits in northern and central Bangladesh. Health and hygiene sessions were also carried out to help curb the spread of waterborne diseases.

Islamic Relief have also begun a six-month project in partnership with ECHO that will provide 70,000 people with food, shelter materials and seeds so that they can start to earn a living once more.

Komela's family has already benefited from the distribution of emergency food by Islamic Relief. Although this means that she won't need to worry about how to feed her children in the short term, like many others she will need support so she can earn a living for her family in the long-term.

Islamic Relief also carries out disaster preparedness projects in 22 districts across Bangladesh. We work with local communities to help build capacity and raise awareness about how they can protect themselves against natural disasters. We also train community and youth volunteers who disseminate risk reduction messages throughout local communities.