Bangladesh IN Development LIMITED
The Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study
Steve Ashley, Kamal Kar, Abul Hossain, and Shibabrata Nandi
January 2000
In Development Ltd P.O.Box 20, Crewkerne Department for Somerset, TA18 7YW, UK International Tel: +44 (0)1460 74874 Development Fax: +44 (0)1460 75874 DFID E-mail: [email protected] Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
Contents
Acknowledgements ...... Page ii
Part One: Introduction and Background
1.1 Introduction ...... Page 1 Background ...... Page 1 Approach ...... Page 1 This report ...... Page 2
1.2 Poverty in Bangladesh ...... Page 2
1.3 The Chars ...... Page 2 The Kurigram Chars ...... Page 3
Part Two: Livelihoods Analysis
2.1 The Vulnerability Context ...... Page 5 Erosion and Flood ...... Page 5 Remoteness and Poor Communication ...... Page 7
2.2 Transforming Structures and Processes ...... Page 7 Structures ...... Page 7 Processes ...... Page 12
2.3 Livelihood Assets ...... Page 19 Human Capital ...... Page 19 Social Capital ...... Page 21 Natural Capital ...... Page 22 Physical Capital ...... Page 23 Financial Capital ...... Page 25
2.4 Livelihood Strategies ...... Page 26 Livelihood Strategy Groups and Wealth Status ...... Page 26 Rising out of Poverty / Falling into Poverty ...... Page 28 Cross-cutting Strategies ...... Page 29
Part Three: Conclusions and Implications for Intervention
3.1 Livelihood Outcomes: Main Issues ...... Page 33 Inability to Resist Physical Hazards ...... Page 33 Poor Access to Essential Services ...... Page 33 Inadequate Savings and Credit Options ...... Page 33 Poor Access to Income-enhancing Services ...... Page 34 Greater Vulnerability of Women and Children ...... Page 35 The Importance of Local Informal Organisations and Institutions ...... Page 35 Inadequate Cooperation, Quality and Coverage by NGOs ...... Page 35
3.2 Implications for DFID Intervention ...... Page 36 A way forward ...... Page 37
i Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
References ...... Page 39
Annex 1: Terms of Reference ...... Page 40
Annex 2: Maps of Charland Thanas ...... Page 44
Annex 3: Suggestions for a Possible Project ...... Page 51
Tables and Figures
Table 1: Important Transforming Structures in the Chars of Kurigram District ...... Page 8
Table 2: NGOs Working in Kurigram District ...... Page 11
Table 3: Informal institutional arrangements in Kurigram district ...... Page 17
Table 4: A Typology of Livelihood Strategies...... Page 27
Table 5: Other Sources of Income on the Chars ...... Page 32
Figure 1: Map of Kurigram district, Bangladesh ...... Page 4
Acknowledgements
A large number of people have contributed to this report, so in order to keep this brief I will thank them in groups.
First I would like to express sincere thanks to RDRS at headquarters, Kurigram and on the chars, for the support provided throughout our visit, without which this report would have been impossible.
I would particularly like to thank our nominated team members from RDRS, Md Asaful Hoque, Lutfa Yeasmin Keya, and Tabassum Ferdous for their efforts.
Second I would like to thank all at DFID who helped conceptualise, organise and support our visit, plus those who were involved in discussions which helped the development of our findings.
Finally, to my fellow team members, whose company I enjoyed, and whose contributions to the study and to this report have made it what it is. However ... I sleep better now you've gone.
ii Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft Bangladesh Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study
Steve Ashley, Kamal Kar, Abul Hossain and Shibabrata Nandi
January 2000
Part 1: Introduction and Background
1.1 Introduction
Background
1. In mid-1999, DFID-Bangladesh were approached by RDRS, the largest NGO working in north-west Bangladesh, with a proposal for a project aimed at assisting the poor in the flood-affected areas of 5 districts in NW Bangladesh through livestock-based support. In order to answer some of the questions raised by the proposal, DFID decided to field a team to visit the proposed area, and to assess the opportunities for DFID involvement.
2. This is the report of the resulting Chars Livelihoods Assistance Scoping Study, which was conducted between the 21st November and 16th December 1999, with TORs as presented in anne x 1. Three RDRS staff - Md Asaful Hoque, Lutfa Yeasmin Keya, and Tabassum Ferdous - were attached to the DFID team during the study and we gratefully acknowledge their contribution to our findings.
3. This report is supplemented by three others prepared by individual team members: Kar (2000), Hossain (2000) and Nandi (2000). Much of the detail on which this overview analysis is based is presented in these reports, and the reader seeking further detail is referred to them in the first instance.
Approach
4. The terms of reference for the scoping study required the adoption of a sustainable livelihoods approach, as outlined in Carney (1998) and DFID (1999). Therefore, although the study was a response to a proposal on livestock, the team adopted a broader view. The approach adopted was to investigate the nature of poverty and vulnerability in the chars (see below), and then to consider the kind of interventions which might be able to influence this poverty.
5. Study methods are described in some detail in Kar (2000) and Hossain (2000). The process was as follows: an initial team briefing by DFID advisers and selected key informants was followed by a two and a half week visit to Kurigram district in NW Bangladesh. This visit involved a mixture of village-based fieldwork, meetings with government officers and NGOs in the area, and briefings by RDRS, who hosted and 1 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
supported the visit. Mid-way through the fieldwork, the team were joined by a team of 4 DFID advisers for further discussions. Feedback on initial findings was gained from presentations to RDRS senior managers, DFID-B in Dhaka, and representatives of some of the main NGOs working in the chars.
This report
6. This report has 3 parts. Following this introduction, part one continues with a brief overview of poverty in Bangladesh, and then background information on chars in Bangladesh and specifically in the area visited by the team.
7. Part two of the report presents a livelihoods analysis, and is structured according to main elements of the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (DFID 1999).
8. Part three draws these strands together, highlighting the main issues relevant to poverty on the Kurigram chars, and concluding with the implications of this analysis for DFID- Bangladesh.
1.2 Poverty in Bangladesh
9. Bangladesh remains one of the poorest and most disaster-prone countries in the world, whichever index is used. The UN Human Development Index places Bangladesh 144th, whilst World Bank GNP per capita statistics suggest a rank of 175th out of 210 (World Bank 1999).
10. Around 50% of its 126 million population may be categorised as poor, and of these, 23% are 'extreme poor'. A further 20% are tomorrow's poor; people who given current trends will soon fall into poverty (Rahman, 1998). Women are disproportionately affected, with 95% of female-headed households in poverty (DFID-B, 1998).
11. Population density, at 965 per square kilometre is the world's highest for developing countries. Nevertheless, around 80% of the population live in rural areas - a figure which is reducing through a strong ongoing trend of urbanisation.
12. Despite significant gains in recent years, social indicators paint a grim picture, with under-5 mortality at 104 per 1,000, life expectancy of 58, and the adult literacy rate at 50% and 27% for men and women respectively (World Bank 1999). The depth and severity of poverty are worse in rural areas than urban areas, despite the dire conditions in many of Bangladesh's urban slums (World Bank 1998).
1.3 The Chars
13. Bangladesh forms part of the Bengal Delta, which is formed by some of the world's largest rivers - the Ganges-Padma, Meghna and Brahmaputra-Jamuna - which shape daily life in much of the country. The areas adjacent to these rivers are subject to an ever-present risk from river flooding and erosion.
14. Chars are new riverine lands and islands created by the continual shifting of these rivers, and emerge from the deposition of sand and silt from upstream. Chars are found along all the major river systems, both lining the banks of rivers and as mid-river islands.
15. According to studies collated by Baqee (1998) and Mamun and Amin (1999), the scale of the disruption caused by riverbank erosion is enormous, with 2,400km of riverbank 2 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
experiencing erosion annually, and around 1 million people in approaching 100 thanas directly affected by erosion. Of these, 35 thanas are seriously affected. A newspaper report in 1993 estimated that 3 million people have been displaced and await settlement following erosion of land.
16. Furthermore, the erosion is, if anything, increasing rather than decreasing and physical prevention of the effects through infrastructure are considered to be unfeasible and excessively expensive. This suggests that the 10 million Bangladeshis - or approximately 8% of the country's population - who live in close proximity to the 3 main river systems (Baqee 1998) will continue to be at risk.
17. The areas adjacent to the major river systems are not only most vulnerable to flood and erosion, they are also amongst the poorest areas in Bangladesh. Studies in the 1970s show clearly that the areas in the country most liable to famine closely follow the path of the major river systems, and more recent assessments of poverty by the WFP show a similar pattern (Hye 1996).
The Kurigram Chars
18. Kurigram district is the point at which the Brahmaputra river enters Bangladesh from India, and has a considerable area of chars towards its eastern side (see figure 1). In addition, three other rivers - the Tista, Dharala and Dudhkumar join the Brahmaputra in the district.
19. The district is one of the poorest in Bangladesh, with the situation worse in all respects in the 5 out of 9 thanas in the district which include chars within their boundaries. The Kurigram chars are thus amongst the poorest places in one of the poorest countries of the world.
20. The Kurigram chars (hereafter referred to as 'the chars') regularly change configuration through the processes described above, and hence it is difficult to map them accurately or even to track their changes effectively, but there exist at least 100 distinct chars.
21. Lack of disaggregation of available statistics means that the human population is similarly difficult to establish. Figures presented in RDRS (1995) show that the populations of Rowmari and Rajibpur thanas, both entirely in the chars, amount to 190,990. In the absence of any better information, an estimate of double this figure, or around 400,000 people may live on the chars. These figures exclude the further populations living on the mainland chars and riverbanks.
22. It is in this context that the proposal for assistance for the chars was received by DFID from RDRS, leading to the current livelihood analysis, to which we now turn.
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Figure 1: Map of Kurigram District, Bangladesh
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Part 2: Livelihoods Analysis
23. Section two of the report is concerned with a livelihoods analysis of the people in the chars. First it sets out some main features of the vulnerability context in which livelihoods are pursued. It then presents a description and analysis of the Transforming Structures and Processes which influence people's place in society and their access to resources. This is followed by a disaggregated view of what this means for access to livelihood assets by the poor categorised for convenience under the headings of human, social, natural, physical and financial capital. Finally in part two, the responses of the poor in the chars, as illustrated by the livelihood strategies they pursue to achieve their livelihood objectives, are synthesised.
2.1 The Vulnerability Context
24. This section considers the vulnerability context in which livelihoods in the chars are pursued. There are many aspects of life which are not easily influenced by the poor on the chars. This section limits itself to consideration of two main factors: erosion and flood and communication - which emerged as important during the study. Other elements of the vulnerability context will become apparent to the reader as the analysis is developed throughout this report.
Erosion and flood
25. Rivers and their actions are the major external influence on livelihoods - and on livelihood strategies - in the chars. They are associated with erosion of land, flood, and the associated danger of sand deposition on agricultural land, all of which are intimately linked with people's vulnerability and livelihood strategies.
Erosion
26. Land erosion occurs through the continuous process of rivers altering their course. Under certain conditions this destruction of land proceeds with alarming speed - consuming 500 metres or more of land a year, displacing people as it does so. As the river erodes land on one side of the river, it often deposits silt and sand on the other, creating new land. The effect is for the whole river to move over time, and for land which is consumed by the river to resurface from the water as the river movement continues.
27. The most visible effect of this erosion is to force people to move their homestead elsewhere, and groups of people carrying parts of houses are a common sight on the chars. Less visible but potentially devastating is the loss of agricultural land which can render agricultural households landless. People have developed a multitude of strategies for dealing with such an unstable physical environment (as discussed further in section 2.4) but loss of land in this way often precipitates a radical change in livelihood options, and the beginning of a downward cycle of poverty.
28. Erosion is thus a great leveller, and frequently reduces the previously wealthy to wage labourers over a few short months. It affects the poor by weakening them further each time they are affected.
29. Whilst it is the major physical threat to those it faces, the extent of erosion is not the same throughout the chars, with variation in the following respects:
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S Char stability. Depending on river flow, erosion occurs more on some chars than others, so that some are relatively stable and others relatively unstable - but a stable char can easily become an unstable char through a change in water flow so that stability refers more to the past than the future. Nevertheless some of the larger older and very stable chars (known as Kayem chars) have more in common with the mainland than with the smaller, younger chars where vulnerability is highest. S Location on the char. Erosion occurs around the edges of many 'stable' chars so that the middle of a stable char is considerably less vulnerable than an edge which faces an eroding river. Conversely, vulnerability is higher around the edges. S Chars vs mainland. Erosion occurs not only of riverine islands, but also of the banks of the mainland, and many of these latter areas share problems of a similar nature to eroding parts of chars. S River system. Kurigram district has chars and riverbanks within 4 distinct river systems, all of which vary in their characteristics and erosive power, with upstream shallow rivers carrying more sand and gravel causing most damage.
30. Further detail of the differences between living on Kayem and unstable chars from people's perspective may be found in Kar (2000).
Flood
31. Flood is an annual event as run off from the monsoon in the Himalayas and uplands is channelled through Bangladesh's rivers on its way to the Bay of Bengal. The severity of flood varies greatly from year to year, with 1998, 1993 and 1988 being exceptionally bad years. The severity of flood also depends largely on location such that households on low-lying areas (when unprotected by anti-flood infrastructure) will be more severely affected than those on higher land. Since a large proportion of people who have been forced to move following land loss through erosion tend to settle on newly emerging land, they also become more prone to the effect of flood.
32. The pattern of flood through most of the Kurigram chars is for water level to rise gradually until it reaches areas in which people live. In a bad year the level it reaches will be higher meaning that a greater number of people must abandon their houses, and its duration will be longer - up to three or four months. In a less bad year only those settled in low lying areas will be badly affected, and the water may rise and recede several times for a few days each rather than remain high throughout the season. In shallower and narrower rivers, flash floods are also a danger.
33. Flood has a major influence on life in the chars but as a regular event is feared less (by landholders) than the intermittent risk of land loss through erosion. Its direct effects include the submersion of houses, loss and damage to physical assets, damage to standing crops in the fields, and the physical dangers of rising water levels, especially for young children. Indirect effects are many, and include the loss of wage labouring opportunities caused by an inability to work when water levels are raised and men need to remain at home to protect the family; the cost of preparing for, surviving and recovering from flood; the loss of assets such as livestock sold or consumed during the flood; and the consequent sickness to people and animals during and post-flood. During flood, prices of products sold by rural households fall as goods are sold pre-emptively to avoid losses or to fund consumption in a time when wage labour is unavailable.
34. A further danger associated with flooding is the deposition of sand, which can carpet previously good agricultural land to a depth of several feet, rendering it useless. Whilst this can also bring good luck if the deposition is of soil-improving silt, this introduces an
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unpredictability into flooding which can result in functional landlessness almost overnight.
35. Overall, the physical vulnerability associated with erosion and flood conditions life on the chars.
Remoteness and Poor Communication
36. The riverine chars are disadvantaged by their poor communications with the mainland in a way which distinguishes them from even the highly vulnerable riverbanks on the mainland. The mainland has better services, government offices, and better markets, and people living there have greater access to those services.
37. On the chars, all communication with the mainland is by boat. Though private boats provide a service linking most charts with each other and the mainland, their timing and frequency is erratic, and the cost of a charter boat during emergency is beyond the reach of most poor households.
38. Due to the poor communication, government services are relatively poor on the chars, and this becomes worse as distance from the mainland increases. As such many services available on the mainland are not present on the chars which means a boat ride to access them. A particular concern to many on the chars is the distance to emergency health services, and many lives are lost or households bankrupted due to an inability to pay for emergency transport to the mainland.
39. This remoteness and lack of communication makes the chars an unattractive posting for government staff so that even when positions on the chars are filled, the staff often remain on the mainland, citing inadequate transport, housing and schooling.
40. These factors combine to ensure that poor communication remains a major cause of vulnerability to char people.
2.2 Transforming Structures and Processes
41. Transforming structures and processes are the institutions, organisations, policies and legislation that shape livelihoods. An understanding of TSPs helps to assess the extent to which poverty reduction is compatible with, and supported by, the wider social environment.
42. This section presents an overview of first structures, then functions which influence the livelihoods of the poor on the chars. In doing so it does not attempt to be exhaustive, instead focusing on issues which emerged as important during the study.
Structures
43. A large number of organisations - or transforming structures - at different levels influence the livelihoods of the poor in the chars, and these can be categorised as formal government, informal social, and NGOs. Some private commercial structures also exist but their importance as an influence on livelihoods remains limited and they are not elaborated here. Table 1 presents a selected list of the transforming structures of greatest importance to the livelihoods of the poor in the chars, with a brief description of each under the 3 categories.
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Table 1: Important Transforming Structures in the Chars of Kurigram District
Structure Description
1. Formal Government
Union Parishad The lowest tier of formal government with a central role in local matters, often through informal involvement in samaj and shalish of the formal UP officers. Administer government poverty alleviation programmes and flood relief.
TNO Head administrator at thana level responsible for overseeing development in the thana - underfunded
Police Thana based offices send officers to chars when called - generally a low presence and report very low levels of crime
Livestock department Provide staffed veterinary hospitals in thanas but unable to reach most chars and overall poor
Agriculture Department Very little presence on the chars, and when seen, not working with isolated communities or the poorest
Fisheries Department Very little presence on the chars
Education Department Responsible for government schools in which the quality of service rather than its existence is the issue
Health and Family Provide hospitals and visiting health workers with wide outreach of Planning family planning
Youth and Culture Provide 3-month paravet courses to small numbers of youth Department Settlement Responsible for land settlements, through the tahsildar's office at union level, who reports to AC Land at district level
Revenue Department Responsible for tax collection, though tax is not payable on land holdings less than 25 bigha and so does not affect most char dwellers
2. Informal Social
Samaj The basic village institution representing village members, and found in all villages.
Shalish Informal local court, related to the samaj
3. NGOs
Savings and credit Local groups, facilitated by NGOs as a receiving mechanism for NGO groups (women's and inputs - often concerned with savings and credit, or productive general) activities.
Federations Apex bodies of NGO groups formed to represent wider interests of their members - three different kinds exist on the chars, facilitated by RDRS, BRAC and Proshika respectively, each with a different approach. Formal Government Structures
44. There is no specific government department responsible for the chars, and the government system as found throughout Bangladesh applies. The hierarchy of the government administration therefore includes a range of offices at district level, with sub- 8 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
units at thana level. Some further offices are located at union level, but these are few and are as far down as government reaches.
45. At thana level, Kurigram has a full range of between 20 -32 government offices (see Nandi 2000). However, only 2 of the 5 thanas which encompass the chars have their headquarters in the chars themselves, the remainder being only partially comprised of char lands, and having their headquarters on the mainland.
46. As part of the government system, these offices are subject to prevailing bureaucratic norms, which follow a hierarchical approach in which instructions from Dhaka are passed down the system to district and to thana level. Thus important aspects of their function, notably their budget, are prescribed from the centre, rules and procedures applicable to the whole of Bangladesh are to be followed, and flexibility to make important decisions which depart from these procedures is limited.
47. In general the quality and coverage of government services to the chars is inadequate. Whilst some of the departments are well represented in the more stable chars, few of them reach unstable chars at all. Even where they do, as in the case of education department schools, the quality of service provided is poor.
48. A number of common problems are shared by these departments: S Funding. Allocations to district offices in Kurigram are inadequate to fulfil the role expected for most departments, and this is passed on to thana level. S Low priority. The chars are not prioritised by the district administration since they are unable to fulfil obligations even on the mainland, and resources are therefore not channelled to activities on the chars. S Staffing. Much of the chars are a harsh environment with few amenities or basics required by government professionals, and they are consequently an undesirable posting for most government officers, especially when low levels of government salaries do not motivate people in their work. As a result of this combined with budget constraints, a high proportion of government posts remain unfilled (see Nandi (2000) for some examples). S Transport. Few departments have access to the means to work effectively in the chars, in particular boat transport or budgets, and allowances to support the frequent travel that working on the chars requires. S Infrastructure. The available infrastructure on the chars is concentrated on those which are stable, with little on unstable chars and this makes both effective delivery of services difficult but also contributes to a reluctance of staff to commit to the chars.
49. Few of these observations (aside from budgetary constraints) apply to the Union Parishad, which is one of the most important organisations in the life of char people. The Union Parishad has a chairman, and 9 members of whom 3 must be women. All members are directly elected by ward-level voters.
50. As locally resident government officers, they are more in touch with local issues than most government line departments, and play an important facilitating role for both society in their areas, plus for broader development in general. Union Parishad plays an important brokering role in the informal dispute settlement process, and serves to link the local samaj and shalish to the formal institutions of the state. It also has an important role in dispensing government relief and development programmes.
51. Whilst there is some evidence that Union Parishad is not always transparent in its activities, and of some transgressions such as in dispersal of relief and food for work, it
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is certainly not a moribund organisation and generally appears to be effective and well- valued by char people.
Informal Social Structures
52. The samaj and shalish are very strong throughout the Kurigram chars. The samaj is the basic community institution of village life, and is found in all villages. It takes the form of an informal organisation but with a leadership comprised of influential and respected men - known as Dewani or Matbar. Women are not included in the leadership. The samaj may be formed at several levels, whether on a sub-village geographical basis (para), on a kinship basis (gushti), or at village level. Smaller samaj's (for example gushti-based) in an area may also be members of, and contribute leaders to, a wider community samaj.
53. The samaj has both religious and social roles, with the latter being far more evident from a livelihoods perspective. They are in effect a group of local leaders who make decisions about how things are done in their area. Whilst there is no legal obligation to follow their leadership, continued acceptance within the community is at stake for those who disagree, as is the considerable protection the community can offer.
54. The samaj are most influential in the following areas: S Law and order. In the absence of effective formal policing the samaj maintain law and order in local society. At a less serious level they impose sanctions on those making minor transgressions. With more serious affairs they are able to mobilise their members to physical action if necessary, but they are also commonly in close contact with both the Union Parishad and the police. The police in the chars will often refer less serious cases to the shalish rather than file a case themselves. S Dispute settlement. Where disputes arise the samaj will mediate to reach an acceptable resolution. Where this is not possible, a shalish is formed and a case heard before it. A large proportion of disputes is resolved in this way - an estimated 90% - with the remainder split equally between the Union Parishad and the formal civil and criminal courts S Community protection and mutual support. Members of the samaj help each other in a variety of ways. Some of these are mutual protection especially of women and children when men are away, provision of loans often at sub-commercial rates, and through maintenance of a unit and the protection this confers at times if stress such as erosion or flood, or during temporary migration for wage labour.
NGOs
55. A large number of NGOs are present in Kurigram district, with around 12-15 active in each thana. However, fewer of these have significant programmes on the chars, and even fewer have distinct char-specific programmes. A list of NGOs working in the district with the main thrust of their activities is presented in table 2, and further details are available in Nandi (2000).
56. NGOs make a significant and much-needed contribution to service provision on the chars, and have many linkages with government. They do not however entirely fill the gaps in government services, and like government services, have a bias in their overall coverage towards more stable chars such as Rowmari and Rajibpur. This especially applies to the major national Bangladeshi NGOs such as BRAC and Proshika, due to the difficulties of working in the unstable chars where the most vulnerable people are found.
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57. NGO staff tend to be committed to their role, but questions can be raised over the quality of some NGO programmes. Savings and credit programmes in particular often appear inappropriate to the needs of client groups, meaning that those who need it most may be excluded. They tend to follow rigid contribution schedules which cause the poor to default, and do not cope well with shifting populations or the absence of men during labour migration - all of which are a fact of life in the chars.
58. The implementation and management of microfinance programmes appear to also distract some NGOs from other field activities, and preoccupy field level staff, whilst a target orientation detracts from their claimed superiority over government as flexible development organisations.
Table 2: NGOs Working in Kurigram District
Name of NGO Thana coverage Major programmes Remarks Aeso Desh Gori Ulipur Health education, credit Alor Pathey Ulipur Education, credit, relief, rehabilitation, Local health, agriculture Aeso Jibon Gori Rajibpur, Education, credit Local Rowmari Alor Sandhani Samaj Sebi Rowmari Education, credit Local Sabgstha Apon Uddog Sangstha Chilmari, Ulipur Health, agriculture, credit Local Association for Social Ulipur Credit National Advancement - ASA ASOD Ulipur Education Local Bangladesh Development Ulipur Health, education, credit, social Working in Service Centre-BDSC forestry, livestock. 7 districts Basundhara Rowmari Credit Local Bangladesh Institute of Rajarhat Bee culture Working in Apiculture-BIA 8 districts BRAC All 9 Thanas Comprehensive rural development National Chinnamukul Chilmari, Sadar Health, education, credit Local Debi Ckowdhurani Rowmari Health Local Esho Kaj Kori Ulipur Model village dev., education, health, Local credit, disaster management, forestry ESDO Ulipur Education Local Family Planning Services Sadar Family planning, training & awareness National and training Centre- FPSTC Gram Unnayan Kendra Chilmari, Fulbari, Education, credit, forestry, enterprise Local Rajibpur, development, UPVGD. Rowmari Gram Unnayan Sangstha Rowmari Credit Local – GUS Gytapara Samj Kallayan Rowmari Credit Local Samity Grameen bank Chilmari Credit National Jubo Jibon Unnayan Rowmari Credit Local Jubok Samity Chilmari Education, credit Local Jibika Sadar Education, health, credit, livestock Local Kajer Dak Ulipur Education, credit Local Kurigram Development Rajibpur, Education, credit, micro-enterprise Local Service-KDS Rowmari, Sadar Korean Development Chilmari Health, agriculture Internation Association-Bangladesh- al KDAB Mahideb Jubo Samaj Ulipur Rehabilitation, health, credit Local Kallayan Somity - MJSKS
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Manob Sheba Rajibpur Education, credit Local Nijera Kori Rowmari, Social mobilisation, election monitoring, National Rajibpur environment, legal aid, livestock, health Nigera Shikhi Chilmari, Ulipur Education Local PROSHIKA MANOBIK Ulipur Comprehensive rural development National UNNAYAN KENDRA Polly Samaj Unnayan Rowmari Education, credit Local Sangstha Rabgpur Dinajpur Rural All Thanas Model village and comprehensive rural Regional Services-RDRS & char development Rural Society Rowmari Relief-rehabilitation, education, Char Local Development Association- development, credit RSDA Shawnirvor Rajibpur Group mobilisation, credit Local Solidarity Sadar, Ulipur, Health, education, advocacy, credit, Local Rajathat, Fulbari, agriculture, rehabilitation. Samaj Unnayan Sangstha Ulipur Credit Local Socio-Economic Chilmari Credit Local Development Organisation-SEDO Tabakpur Samaj Kallayan Ulipur Adarsha gram, education, credit, health Local samity Thengamara Mohila Ulipur Adarsha gram, education , credit, Regional Sabuj Sangha-TMSS fisheries, agriculture (12 districts) Uttaran Samaj Sangstha Rowmari Group formation, credit Local – USS
Processes
59. This section considers the extent to which transforming processes affect the poor in the chars, considering law, policies, culture and institutions in turn.
The Law
60. The detail of Bangladeshi law is in many ways of little importance to the daily life of people on the chars, particularly further away from stable centres. The general low level of interaction between the people and government representatives, and the low police presence means that there is limited enforcement of law other than by local informal institutions. This is particularly the case with civil law, though criminal law is more vigorously upheld.
61. Crime is very low on the chars, even relative to Kurigram district as a whole, which is itself low compared with the rest of the country. This is somewhat surprising given the limited police presence and the proximity to an international border, but is confirmed from all sources. When a crime is committed, the samaj or union parishad consider its seriousness and call the police if necessary, who come to investigate. As previously noted, if the crime is not considered by the police to be serious they will request that the informal social structures deal with it themselves, suggesting a pragmatic relationship between informal and formal legal systems. Small theft, then, may be referred back to the community, but serious violence is taken forward by police themselves.
62. The bulk of civil law disputes are resolved locally, through the samaj and shalish. The issues addressed in this way are surprising in their scope, including land disputes, minor quarrels and disagreements, and a range of gender conflict - for example related to unmarried pregnancy, divorce, intra-household violence, or dowry.
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63. All evidence encountered in the Kurigram chars suggests that judgements are relatively objective and fair. This is not to say that this is always the case, or that they are necessarily progressive, but the majority of people, including the poor and women have respect for the process and feel they provide fair and sensible resolutions.
64. The judgements of these local bodies have no status in law, and compliance is therefore not compulsory. In practice examples where they are ignored are unusual, due to the greater benefit of community membership and acceptance compared with the isolation which occurs when local rules are not followed. In general, the poor are more likely to follow rulings, since the social capital gained from community 'membership' is relatively more important to them. People who do not follow rulings tend to be the wealthier and more powerful who do not need community protection, and can afford the alienation that dismissal of rulings brings.
65. In such cases the usual practice is resort to the courts, by filing a case. This is however avoided where possible by most char people because of the high risks involved. The courts are very slow and cases can take 5 years before resolution. They are also very costly with legal expenses and bribes requires at many stages, and most dangerously their judgements are allegedly subject to influence such that justice is not guaranteed.
66. Overall then, the chars are remarkably law-abiding and peaceful, in contrast to the often- turbulent chars in the south of Bangladesh. However this does not mean that the law as such is followed, rather that order is maintained according to local norms.
67. A number of examples illustrate this point: S Land law. Until relatively recently the law stated that land which was submerged through erosion became government land, known as Khas land. However, for a long time the people in the chars have maintained an informal system in which ownership to land is retained whether it is above or below water. When it re-emerges, the rights of specific individuals to that land are supported by the community, and ownership is retained.
This was achieved through a system of persuading the local tahsildar and settlement officials not to declare to the government that the land had been submerged, resulting in systematic under-reporting and under-recording of Khas land by the tahsildar and settlement officials, respectively. The introduction in 1994 of the '30- year law' - which states that land is indeed retained by the previous owner until it has been submerged for 30 years, at which point it then becomes Khas land as before - brought national law into line with local practice, though this was not the motivation for the change
A further advantage of under-reporting of land submergence is that submerged land cannot be used as collateral for formal credit. Hence the incentive is for the practice of under-reporting to continue.
S Share-cropping. Government law on sharecropping allocates one third of the output to each of the tenant, the landlord, and the supplier of inputs. However a range of contracts are found in the chars, and more detail on these may be found in Hossain (2000). Rather than follow the law, local practice is tailored to the specificities of the environment, and is influenced by the relative bargaining power of the parties, the balance of demand and supply for land, and other issues such as land quality.
S Talak divorce. Under Bangladeshi law, Muslim talak divorce (in which divorce may be invoked through saying 'talak' three times) is illegal. However, it appears that common practice in the chars is for the samaj to allow such divorce, and further to
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enforce it if the parties involved feel they were over-hasty and would like reconciliation. In this case, the samaj will insist that a rigid set of procedures are followed before allowing the reconciliation.
S Early marriage. The practice of early marriage where girls can be married from the age of 9 or 10 is still widely practised in the Kurigram chars, despite a legal age of marriage of 18. The samaj in most villages appear to tolerate this practice.
Policies
68. The Bangladesh government, through its district and thana administration and sometimes through sub-contracted NGOs, runs a number of anti-poverty programmes. These national programmes are also applied in the char areas, though government has no specific policies nor programmes aimed at char development.
69. The national policy relating to the functioning of government hierarchically and the uniformity of rules and procedures this brings means that it is unable to fully account for the specific demands of working on the chars. Local district and thana level government has little autonomy in areas which would be required to address the government service shortfalls in the chars. For example, government budgets do not provide for the extra transport costs of working on the chars so that mainland based staff are unable to fulfil their duties. Government rules over terms and conditions make it impossible for departments - for example education - to make specific incentives for teachers to work on the chars, and are instead constrained by national level rules. Thus special salary top-ups are not allowed, there is no provision for inducements through housing, transport allowances may not be varied.
70. Nevertheless, government at district level are under no obvious pressure from their bosses to improve their services, and the prevailing culture in most government departments does not encourage a pro-poor client-focused approach. When combined with the limited demand for services from the chars and lack of lobbying from pressure groups that might be experienced elsewhere under similar circumstances, it may be seen that there is no real climate of change even if government rules allowed the chars to be treated in appropriate ways.
71. Other than the lack of district financial and decision-making autonomy, a number of national policies do little for the poor on the chars. Whilst the team has not investigated these issues thoroughly, some examples emerged where this was the case: S Animal health policy. In recognition that the government livestock department is unable to provide an adequate level of services on the chars, they have supported the training of village livestock workers to provide services under the (hypothetical) supervision of thana veterinary surgeons. These VLWs are intended to provide services and to make an income from doing so. However during times of emergency such as flood, it is common for the government to distribute free medicines liberally around the chars, apparently with the support of FAO. S Environmental policy. A different case of reasonable policy which is not implemented relates to wildlife and fisheries. A full range of environmental policies are intended to protect the migratory birds which use the chars seasonally, however these are not implemented and such birds are trapped for consumption and for sale through local markets. Similarly with common fisheries, legislation exists to prevent the use of small size gillnets but this is not enforced, and this has contributed to the apparent decline in fish stocks in the Brahmaputra through overfishing and the disruption to breeding caused by catching immature fish.
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Culture
72. Local norms regarding gender intertwined with religion underlie much of the social relations on the chars, and contribute in particular to women's greater vulnerability relative to men.
73. In general women do not engage in society on a par with men, and they have considerably less freedom, both socially and economically. The prevailing Muslim religion is a strong influence on gender relations, but whilst char society is essentially Islamic, it is not as restricting on women as is seen elsewhere.
74. Women in the chars are involved on agriculture and other productive activities, but have limited freedom of movement and are not ordinarily expected to move unattended in public places. Whilst this allows them to engage in collection of products from common property, it means that their access to markets is limited. Exceptions were found on the mainland where poor women were able to travel some distance from the home to engage in wage labour.
75. Within the household, relations depend largely on the outlook of the husband but as a general rule women do not tend to own assets other than those specifically gifted to them. Land, livestock and other productive assets therefore tend to fall under the ownership and control of men whilst women tend to consult husbands over use of their own assets. In general a husband takes household decisions with a greater or lesser degree of consultation, and women require permission for most decisions on the household economy. This creates difficulties for women when men are away for labour and a situation occurs requiring sale of an asset such as a goat. It was reported that returning home to find assets had been sold was one of the main causes of men beating women, irrespective of the necessity.
76. A further difficulty when men are away is that since women cannot visit the market themselves they must rely on someone else to do if for them, and some are concerned that they have no guarantee that they are being the right price and not being cheated. Similar difficulties occur in obtaining credit in the absence of men. Since this is normally men's role it becomes difficult for women to respond when needs arise, which contributes to enhanced vulnerability to shocks.
77. For these reasons a number of NGOs focus at least part of their activities specifically on women, with women's savings and credit programmes being widespread, and RDRS for example having a large programme on legal education. Nevertheless gender inequalities remain pervasive within society, though the overall trend is probably positive.
78. A number of char society's attitudes to gender relations, and women in particular, negatively affect women's status:
Schooling. District education statistics suggest that the differential between boys' and girls' school attendance has disappeared. This does not appear to be the case in the chars, especially when girls enter their 'teens and become eligible for marriage, as discussed above. When girls are married they cease attendance at school so these two behaviours are closely linked.
Early marriage. The custom of early marriage from the age of 9 or 10 persists in the chars though it is probably in decline and the average age of marriage is probably rising. Other than being illegal, early marriage is linked to several other vulnerability factors in women's lives: S As above, it precludes a full education;
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S It has health implications due to complications during childbirth due to physical immaturity, but also lengthens potential reproductive life with associated problems; S It has psychological implications in that children are marrying mature men - who tend to be 18 or more - this imbalance probably being a cause of some marriage failure and divorce. S It influences the health of future generations in that it is apparently linked to low birthweight children
79. Dowry (see below). The incidence of dowry varies greatly throughout the chars such that in some areas it is frowned upon whilst in others it is the norm. There are also indications that in some parts its incidence is increasing. Payment of dowry is one of the main causes of indebtedness in the chars, as people try to buy their daughters into a better life, or compensate the groom's family for their own poverty.
80. Women-headed households. Married women who lose their husbands are one of the most vulnerable groups in Bangladesh society, and this is also the case in the chars. This can occur through three mechanisms: S Abandonment. Abandonment of women by husbands appears to be exceedingly common in some parts of the chars - perhaps more so amongst poorer communities, and can itself occur for a variety of common reasons. One is the failure of the bride's family to pay dowry. Another occurs when husbands who have migrated for labour fail to return. S Divorce. Muslim law allows instant divorce (as described in section xxx) though this is illegal in Bangladesh, and can leave women without a husband after a relatively minor disagreement. S Widowhood. Death of the husband is the final mechanism by which women become female-headed households.
81. When married women lose their husbands it is unusual for them to remarry, and many seek to rejoin their parents' household. When this is allowed, the women may be made to feel like second class citizens who are a burden on already poor households and treated like servants. When it is not possible women find it very difficult to get by due to society's constraints on their behaviour and activities, and they often seek to attach themselves to relatively wealthy households as housemaids or similar. The situation is slightly easier when they have an older son, who is able to fulfil the roles of male household head.
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Table 3: Informal Institutional Arrangements in Kurigram District
Institution Description
1. Agriculture and Land
Share- The leasing of land by the owner to a tenant on the understanding that crop cropping output is shared between the two. A number of variations in contract are found on the chars, as described further in Hossain (2000)
Night sowing A local practice in which poor landless people keep watch on land emerging from the river for the first time and establish a right to sharecrop the land for one season by sowing their seed on the land. This right is accepted by landowners and maintained by samaj in case of dispute.
Panchi An arrangement in which owners of a patch of land which has partly re-emerged from the water cultivate the land collectively and divide the harvest equally, until the whole patch of land has emerged at which point the amin is called to survey the land and private tenure is re-established as normal
Land leasing This common practice involves the taking on lease with cash payment of a portion of land. A multitude of contractual arrangements exist, but the general principle is that land which is at more risk of submergence carries a lower rent. Some forms of contract involve a fixed fee for which tenure is granted until the land is submerged.
Land When two people own comparable plots of land nearer to each other's exchange homestead they agree to exchange tenure of the land informally, without affecting the legal ownership
Land Acceptance by the community that land which is submerged remains under the ownership same ownership when it emerges, as long as the owner is present, avoids it recognition being categorised as khas land, and has it surveyed by a local amin to establish boundaries.
2. Livestock
Share-rearing A similar practice to sharecropping in which an owner of livestock (poultry, sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes) places animals in the care of another person, who rears them and bears costs, and then splits any offspring or added value between them. Different contracts exist for different livestock species, but are generally standard for that species, unlike the variation seen in share-cropping
Gifting to A custom in which the father of a bride gifts livestock to the bride on her brides wedding, on the understanding that they are her personal property, and she has control over their use, disposal and any income they may produce
3. Social
Hat chanada A collection by samaj members for poorer members who are unable to pay dowry and marry daughters
Interest-free A loan by better off members of the samaj to people having problems paying for loan normal credit, to support them through their difficulty.
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4. Religious /cultural
Dowry A payment made by the father of a bride to the family of the groom upon or after their marriage.
Inheritance The Muslim law of inheritance broadly followed in the chars awards any land to sons at a ratio of 2:1 compared with daughters. However in practice many families do not give land to daughters but instead pay a token sum of cash and leave land to the sons only.
Polygamy The practice of men taking more than one wife which is guided by the Koran but the rules are often not followed and men sometimes announce to their first wife that they are to take another. Cases are not numerous but exist everywhere.
Talak Divorce Illegal divorce through pronouncement with no status in law but often upheld by samaj
5. Financial
Shop advance An arrangement made when men migrate for labour in which shops advance goods to their families, on promise of being repaid when the man returns with his wages
Advance A form of credit contract in which money is advanced on the promise of a certain labour selling number of days labour in return.
Credit Various arrangements with normal rate of interest of 15-20% per month, but many variations. 6. Others
Labour groups The forming of groups with a foreman by community members so as to support each other during labour migration and to negotiate collectively.
Labour The taking of labour on fixed price contract, often involving returning to the contracts same location each year by pre-arrangement.
Institutions
82. Institutions in the sense of the 'rules of the game' influence the livelihoods of the poor in many complex and important ways. This section describes a selection of the most prominent of these, without claiming to be exhaustive.
83. Local informal institutions. An array of local informal institutional arrangements are widely practised on the chars, and serve to mediate access to resources, condition expectations and behaviour, and structure negotiations. Some of these are presented in table 3, each with a brief description.
84. In general there is a high degree of cooperative behaviour within char communities, and very little serious conflict over these institutions or anything else. The table includes a number of social support institutions which appear to be commonplace, giving the impression of communities who protect their members from hardship where possible.
85. Furthermore the nature of contract for even the economic institutions in the table appear to be markedly less inequitable than for similar arrangements elsewhere in Bangladesh, with explicit exploitative relations rare. For example within these institutions we were unable to find examples of interlocking (eg land access tied to costly credit) which might
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work against the poor. Once more we do not claim such relations do not exist, but they are certainly not the norm, and indeed are very difficult to find.
2.3 Livelihood Assets
86. The vulnerability context and transforming structures and processes are major influences on people's access to livelihood assets. This section looks at people's access to human, social, physical, natural and financial capital, in turn.
Human Capital
Education
87. District education department school attendance and literacy figures present an optimistic view of education status in Kurigram but, like all government statistics in the district, they do not differentiate between chars and mainland and the situation is almost certainly worse on the chars. The trend for schooling is undoubtedly upwards, but significant sections of char society remain isolated from this trend, with girls and the poor less likely to be educated.
88. A number of estimates of education indicators in the district are available. Sorensen (1994) suggested that literacy on the chars was around 10%, whereas data provided by Currey (1999) are more pessimistic, suggesting that less than 4% and 1% of males and females respectively could read and write in 1990. RDRS (1995) however, provide significantly higher figures by thana in Kurigram district, showing male literacy rate in Rowmari and Rajibpur thanas at 17% and 23% respectively, with figures for females of 6% and 10%, respectively.
89. As these figures suggests, though attitudes have softened in parts, education for girls is not universally valued. This is linked to the widespread practice of early marriage, and the related expectation that girls will leave the home to be married so that education confers little gain. Such patterns are more likely when the household in question is poor, since education carries both direct and opportunity costs and represents both an investment and a sacrifice which many poor households are simply unable to make.
90. Major problems however remain with educational provision in the chars. Whilst there are many primary schools albeit with some major gaps on new chars, there are few high schools, and no colleges at all.
91. Whilst schools do exist on the older and more stable chars and efforts have been made by NGOs to reach other areas, a major problem remains with the quality of education they provide. The relative difficulty of life on the chars means that it is very difficult to get teachers to work there, and the phenomenon of teachers drawing wages but substituting a local person to provide the teaching appears to be common.
92. Education is however intimately linked to livelihood options for char people, because of the advantage it brings when interacting outside char society. Permanent outmigrants from the chars are invariably better educated or have saleable skills and are more exposed to the outside world - illiterate and uneducated people find it difficult to leave the protection of the society and environment they know to settle elsewhere.
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Health
93. Health services are amongst the best provisioned on the chars but they remain less good than on the mainland and inaccessible for many, whether physically or financially. Table 2 above illustrates that this is also an area which many NGOs have included in their programmes.
94. In general, the reach of health services declines with distance from the mainland or thana centre, with newly emerged or small chars largely unserved by routine healthcare. Health care for many is therefore dependent on travel to the nearest centre, which incurs costs. The exception appears to be family planning, which is well known and used. NGO health services also tend to include mobile clinics of some kind, and government and NGOs cooperate on mobile vaccination campaigns from time to time.
95. Though in theory health care is free of charge, additional costs of medicine mean that for many of the poor they are unaffordable. It is not only the cost itself, but also access to cash at the right time which can prevent the poor from accessing health services. Women and children are particularly vulnerable when men are away labouring since they may find it difficult to access cash without male help, and therefore be unable to pay for treatment.
96. The inability to pay for medical treatment is aggravated when the patient is normally an earning household member. In this event it is not simply the cost of medicine but also the foregone income which can tip a household over the edge into dire poverty.
97. Health status is also linked to poverty through nutrition. Poor households have an irregular diet often of poor quality, with food availability lowest during and after flood, when disease challenge is highest.
98. Provision for serious illness is non-existent on most chars, and if this occurs when boats are unavailable, such as at night, it leaves char people extremely vulnerable and results in avoidable fatalities. The only real option is to hire a boat to take the patient to the nearest hospital. At a cost of several hundred Taka, this is unaffordable for most poor households unless assets can be sold or loans taken. Even then, for some serious problems such as those requiring obstetric or cardiac care, the nearest hospital is on the mainland. The lack of obstetric care is particularly serious for young women, since early marriage and consequent young maternal age at birth mean that obstetric problems are relatively common.
Skills and knowledge
99. Survival in such an uncertain environment as the Kurigram chars requires considerable skill, and this is apparent in people's understanding of erosion and flood and the strategies they adopt to deal with it. Agriculture in such circumstances is itself highly challenging and local people have developed numerous strategies to take advantage of the opportunities which exist (see Kar 2000 for more detail).
100. Nevertheless, poor literacy and the related lack of exposure to wider society has a negative impact on access to markets, government services and other elements of mainland life, and contribute to a wider disempowerment of much of the population of the chars.
Social Capital
101. Access to social capital is gained through a range of mainly informal but also formal local organisations and institutions, as described in section 2.2. Of the 5 types of 20 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
capital, social capital is the one to which the majority of people on the chars have greatest access, with society in the chars seeming to be particularly cohesive and supportive. In many ways the strength of social capital is responsible for maintaining the social fabric in the absence of a strong presence by the state, and confers significant advantages to individual households above those which they would otherwise gain.
102. Most of the benefits of access to social capital in the char situation come from membership of a community, which may occur at various levels such as kinship groups, or physical units such as sub-villages or villages
103. The benefits of social capital may be seen in terms of qualification by individuals and households for community protection. This community protection extends into many spheres of char life, as follows:
S Maintenance of the land tenure system. Local community, or 'samaj' norms uphold the land tenure system throughout the Kurigram chars. As rivers erode their way across people's land, one of the main sources of livelihood is removed. However, the system prevalent in the chars recognises continued ownership of the area of land irrespective of whether it is above or below water. Hence if the river continues its movement and the land re-emerges at the other side, the local community recognises that the land is owned, and protects that person's claim to the land. Where this claim is challenged by outsiders, the community will often support the previous landholder, with physical force if necessary. This avoids resorting to a 'survival of the fittest' type scenario, and also avoids resort to the slow and unreliable formal legal system to pronounce on perceived injustices.
S Ensuring the rule of law and imposing sanctions on those who transgress. In the same way as the samaj has a role in determining norms and behaviours, the shalish (see section 2.2) acts as an informal local court to address specific instances where local norms have not been followed. Cases brought to the shalish are outside the formal legal system but are binding on those who wish to maintain the protection of the community.
S Supporting individuals against outsiders. In times of stress the samaj exercises strength through unity. When a community has been forced to shift homes following erosion of their homesteads, they will tend to remain as a group as far as possible when they relocate. This is one of the most vulnerable times for char households, and they often find themselves searching for a location to settle, but turned away wherever they go. Remaining as a group, people are able to settle together even when unwanted, and resist eviction through mutual protection.
S Providing mutual security and livelihood support. Community members support each other in a variety of ways. For example when men have migrated for labour, women support each other for example by ensuring mutual security, or by helping with a loan in event of emergency. Men will also make arrangements with a grocer to supply women on credit which is paid off when the man returns from migration with his wages. The benefits to be gained through labouring are commonly enhanced through selling labour through labour groups, or by undertaking labour on a contract basis. This latter arrangement is frequently undertaken on an annual basis, in which the same group are employed to undertake a task each year, and in which the employer will turn away other labourers in favour of the ones who are well known.
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S Providing social safety nets in times of hardship. A variety of devices provide social safety nets within particular communities. The institution of panchi requires those whose land has re-emerged from the river to temporarily allocate share of their land to others whose land remains underwater, so that all can have a means of living. It is common for poor households who are unable to afford a dowry payment to be supported by contributions from other community members. The community upholds the rights of the poor to engage in a share-cropping arrangement for the first season in which newly emerged land is cultivable, if they are able to plant the land - by waiting for it to emerge and planting immediately including often at night.
104. Overall the majority of the poor in the chars are able to benefit from strong social capital, and indeed this becomes most important in times of trouble. Though there are probably examples of exclusion from the benefits that social capital confers, perhaps along ethnic lines, the vast majority of the poor - both men and women - benefit from membership of the community; but only as long as they follow the community's expected norms.
Natural capital
105. The two main forms of natural capital relevant to livelihoods of the poor in the chars are land and water resources.
Land
106. The uncertain physical environment means that land in the chars is no longer a safe repository of wealth, and this physical uncertainty if anything, is worsening. As a result of repeat cycles of erosion and the fact that land title remains with the owner whether the land is above or below water, the notion of landlessness is confusing and the real picture of land holdings hard to unravel. What can be said is that despite ownership of land titles, functional landlessness is widespread, and large numbers of 'land owners' have little or no access to their own land.
107. Other than ownership, people gain access to land through a multitude of local institutional arrangements, as described in section 2.2. These include share-cropping, leasing in of land from the owner under a number of different arrangements, exchanging land with someone else who has land in a location considered to be more desirable. Again the outcome of this is to lead to a fairly opaque land holding situation.
108. Land ownership is commonly conferred through inheritance, with the result that most land is owned by men. However, there is a local land market and despite the uncertainty, land plays a key role in the asset acquisition strategies pursued by many of the poor. A typical route is investment of wages saved through labour migration in livestock, which accumulate and are sold when prices are high, and the money used to buy a plot of land. At the other end of the scale there are signs of wealthy landowners disinvesting in land in the chars and purchasing more secure land on the mainland.
109. Another route to land ownership is distribution of government land, which features in government anti-poverty policies. However, there are indications that problems may exist with this distribution process, as discussed in Hossain (2000).
110. There is little common land in the chars, though many have large areas of uncultivated land to which rights of access are not highly regulated and which therefore serve as common grazing land, at least seasonally.
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111. In addition to access to land, land quality is a key determinant of livelihood options and status. Land quality varies across a spectrum of very sandy to very loamy, with a sandy loam being most preferred locally. However, the combined vagaries of seasonal flooding and creation of new land mean that land quality is subject to considerable change in which good land may become bad and vice versa in a relatively short time frame.
112. As such it is difficult to make the usual generalisation that the poor own poorer quality land, since this may change from one year to the next or between land submerging and re-emerging. However, there is evidence that land owners entering share- cropping arrangements tend to lease out their sandy land in the hope that the share- cropper will expend energy and resources improving the land so as to allow themselves a reasonable share. If land is able to be improved, the owner may then reclaim the land for own-cultivation.
Water
113. The water resource in the chars is a major contributor to livelihoods through fish and as the main route of transport. Fishing has traditionally provided a livelihood for large numbers of char dwellers, but there is an indication that the trend is now downwards. This means that fewer numbers of households are able to gain a decreasing contribution to their livelihood through fish, though it remains important to many.
114. Reasons for the decline appear to be related to siltation and overfishing - especially around breeding grounds with use of narrow gauge gillnets.
Physical capital
115. One of the most obvious indicators of underdevelopment in the chars is the weakness of physical infrastructure. The physical challenges of shifting land mass through erosion and annual flooding combine with remoteness and inaccessibility, and low prioritisation by government, to result in significantly less infrastructure than the mainland. This pattern is graphically illustrated by the maps in annex 2, which plot infrastructure for each of the char thanas in Kurigram district and show a distinct dichotomy between mainland and char.
116. Various attempts have been made over the years to influence the flow and action of the rivers through building dams and other major infrastructure. However these have all been overcome by the extreme force of seasonal flood, and some have been blamed for aggravating the erosion problem.
117. A major exception to this negative assessment is the flood protection infrastructure which remains the only refuge in times of serious flood. Government and NGOs have constructed embankments and flood shelters. The former aim to protect the mainland from flooding when possible but are also used to provide refuge when water is high. When communities are displaced during flood, for example through a bank bursting and permanently flooding their land, they settle on embankments, which are often the only land above water at such times. Post-flood such communities stay on the embankment until they are able to identify alternative places to live, and these people are some of the poorest and most vulnerable in the chars.
118. Flood protection infrastructure is the responsibility of the Bangladesh Water Development Board but this organisation has currently frozen many of its planned projects due to lack of funds from central government. It is however continuing with maintenance of existing mainland embankments using donor funds, implemented by NGOs. 23 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
119. Apart from protection-related infrastructure, the chars are poorly served by the basic infrastructure essential for development, including roads, communication, transport, and power. Other than the main thana headquarters, there are no roads on the chars and therefore no vehicles. Transport is by foot, bullock cart or boat, and is both time consuming and unreliable. However, the recent construction of a highway from Rowmari/Rajibpur to Dhaka via Sherpur, linking Kurigram district with Dhaka for the first time, promises to increase economic options in the region.
120. Until the recent installation by RDRS of a radio system for their 6 offices on the chars there was no means of communication between chars other than in person. This leads to a lack of contact with the mainland, with implications during disease epidemics and disaster but also less acutely on the attractiveness of the chars as a place to live, and their profile in the minds of government.
121. It goes without saying that there is no power on the chars, though the thana headquarters at Rowmari and Rajibpur are due to be electrified in coming months. Water supply is however the exception to the general absence of services, with nearly all households having access to tubewells at not too great a distance. However during flood these sources are submerged, and water quality becomes a major health hazard. Recent discovery of arsenic contamination of groundwater in much of the region adds additional fears. Recently displaced communities appear to be helped very rapidly with emergency tubewells by local NGOs.
122. In terms of development infrastructure such as government offices, schools, markets, banks and shops the story is variable. Whilst the larger and more stable chars have government offices, including the thana headquarters in Rowmari and Rajibpur with the attendant departmental offices, hospitals, police and related infrastructure, many others have no sign of government presence at all. Primary schools are fairly readily available to the majority on the chars but as discussed above their functioning rather than their existence is the problem. There are no government high schools on the chars at all, though a few have been established on the more stable chars at union level through local initiatives. The poor infrastructure for power and communication is aggravated by poor housing for professionals and is often quoted by teachers as the reason why they cannot base themselves on the chars.
123. These factors and others combine to mean that the local economy is small and much of the economic activity is exported to the mainland. As a result, there are few markets on the chars, especially on the smaller and less stable ones, limited shops and no banks at all. The absence of banks is related to the fact that (land instability aside) anyone providing a banking service would need to transport cash by boat to the destination on the chars, with attendant security risks. This has major implications for savings and credit opportunities and is one of the reasons for the absence of the major Bangladeshi credit-giving NGOs from the less stable chars.
124. At a lower level of infrastructure a number of NGOs, and the people themselves, have programmes aimed at constructing pedestals to raise households above water levels during flood. However whilst a raised house is undoubtedly an advantage, such structures are lost with everything else on unstable and eroding parts of chars and the tendency is therefore to invest in such interventions on chars which are not eroding, which excludes the poorest char people from their benefits.
Financial capital
125. The predominance of functional landlessness as a result of land erosion, and the disruptive annual effect of flood, combined with low human and physical capital 24 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
contribute to a situation of limited income-generating options on the chars. These include agriculture, livestock, fishing, use of common property resources, local wage labour, labour migration and small business and trading.
126. Many poor households struggle to gain incomes to cover daily expenses, and most is therefore immediately consumed. Agriculture commonly provides food for only a limited number of months, and the vast majority of poor char households must engage in wage labour as an essential element of their livelihood strategies.
Credit
127. Credit remains a problem for poor households on the chars, both in terms of access and the rates of interest and conditions of loans.
128. The most used sources of credit are informal arrangements with family, local people and money lenders. However, rates for these kinds of transaction are high, at 15 - 20% per month and are a costly way to borrow. Government credit services are rigid, and difficult to access and therefore not widely available. However they have lower rates of interest, and there is always a chance that debts may be cancelled during severe flood, so this source is well liked.
129. NGO credit programmes are less available on the chars than elsewhere in Bangladesh but many of those available have design weaknesses which mean they are often not responsive to the needs of the poorest (see section 2.2). Kar (2000) provides more information on local practice and perception regarding credit sources.
130. The poor sometimes find they cannot access any kind of credit, even from moneylenders. This may occur when men have migrated for labour and the women left behind have an emergency cash need. At certain times of year, poor households struggle to feed themselves each day and in such circumstances community members may be unable to lend money. Since external moneylenders are unlikely to lend to a woman without her husband's presence, this may mean that credit is simply not available. In one case, this situation led to an inability of the mother to pay for medical treatment and a child died unseen by a doctor.
131. When credit is taken through local sources the high rates of interest mean that it is common for char households to enter a cycle of poverty in which income is used to pay off accumulated debt, which makes any saving extremely difficult. In these situations, unexpected disruptions such as an emergency requiring a cash lump sum, severe flood, or sickness to earners can lead to disaster. For example, land may be mortgaged or sold, any assets such as livestock disposed of, share-cropping contracts unable to be fulfilled, or debts unable to be repaid, which may cause a shift from an agricultural household with some security to a more vulnerable labour-based livelihood strategy.
Savings
132. In tandem with a poorly functioning credit system, the poor on the chars have limited options for saving. Despite the difficulties of accumulating excess funds, this does occur - for example through periods of labour migration when men often return with sums of cash, or through selling animals for festivals when the price is high.
133. In the absence of banks, people may save through schemes such as run by NGOs, through investment in assets, or as cash. In an area where erosion is ongoing and where flood is a regular occurrence, it is very difficult to protect assets. Land and livestock are the two main assets purchased with excess cash. Land is a common
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investment where larger sums are available but as discussed this is risk prone. Livestock are part of the strategies of almost all households, but are vulnerable to multiple risks including flood, disease and poor feeding, as well as being difficult to retain due to their central role as a buffer against hardship which means they are sold whenever cash is needed. Women may save small amounts of cash by secreting them within the house but this is too risky a strategy to be the basis of savings, and also means missing out on any accumulation that may be gained through for example investing in livestock.
134. Poor people on the chars are therefore commonly caught in a situation where they consume their income without being able to save, but when they can save they accumulate assets which themselves are 'consumed' through being sold at times of flood to meet household needs. This is reminiscent of a monkey climbing a slippery pole, where people struggle all year to accumulate savings and assets, only to consume them during flood when labour is not available but cash is needed for food and other household expenses. It is a major barrier to people embarking on routes out of poverty.
2.4 Livelihood Strategies
135. The interactions between the Vulnerability Context, Transforming Structures and Processes and Livelihood Assets influence the livelihood options and strategies adopted by different types of people in the chars. This section presents a categorisation of some of the main strategy groups in relation to their wealth status, and then elaborates on some of the strategies adopted in relation to specific events and circumstances.
Livelihood Strategy Groups and Wealth Status
136. Table 4 presents a typology of livelihood strategies, with related wellbeing criteria. This information has been synthesised from a number of wellbeing ranking exercises and other discussions in different locations and to some extent is therefore stylised. Further detail on discussion which contributed to this analysis can be found in Kar (2000).
137. Consequently not all strategy groups will be found in all places, and not all criteria will apply to any household within the group. Undoubtedly there are also further groups and strategies which are not mentioned. Nevertheless the table presents a reasonable picture of the kinds of strategies adopted by different types of households found in the chars, and shows the gradation from poor to better off.
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Table 4: A typology of Livelihood Strategies
Strategy group and strategy Characteristics of the group adopted
1. Hand to mouth Either: S Very poor and unable to migrate perhaps through Daily labour in the locality sickness or age S Plus any other income sources such as No land or livestock collecting driftwood, children begging, Poor or broken housing relief etc Don't eat when not labouring Many mouths to feed with one worker
Or: People living on embankment having lost land to erosion or permanent flooding Very poor temporary housing Live close to others - no privacy, no land for livestock Don't ask others if they have eaten
2. Welfare and dependency Abandoned, divorced or widowed women, or old S and inform Attaching oneself to another household Have very few assets and low social status which provides for needs No other adult labour to provide support Difficult to survive as an independent household 3. Long term migration Can't afford to return home because of travel cost S and lost wages Husband lives almost permanently No agriculture elsewhere Live on others' land S Skilled or unskilled labour Maybe some share-reared chickens S Large family to feed - difficult Send remittances to family Few clothes - cold in winter S Women gain income where possible Difficult to get loans 4. Mainly migration but with Some share-rear livestock - goats or sheep additional income from home May live on others' land S Maybe some sharecropping Main income from labouring - by men Land may be covered with sand S But other sources at home through Agriculture and livestock are the draw to bring agriculture, livestock, labour (men and husband home women) Shocks can be disastrous S And any others as possible
5. Mixture of shorter seasonal Young and fit migration, local labour and Smaller family agriculture Some share-rear livestock - small ruminants plus maybe 1 or 2 cattle S Availability of agriculture and local labour Some share-cropping land reduces requirement to migrate for long Better house but thatched roof S Multiple other income generating May have boat Some assets to sell in emergency activities when possible - eg fishing 6. No migration but local labour, Grow rice for 2-4 months agriculture and livestock income Loans still important to getting through the year S Some larger livestock - maybe share-rearing Grow as much rice as possible Sell paddy only when in difficulty S Labour and other income sources to Have boat purchase food for rest of year More than one earner Can resist some shocks
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7. Agriculture and small business May still have sharecropped land S Able to give small loans Have own land or productive resources Own livestock including cattle, especially for to be an attractive sharecropper draught S Do own labour May provide share-rear animals Savings allow land purchase S Able to save and invest
8. Comfortable and established May provide patronage for others S Giving not taking loans Trying to accumulate wealth Remain part of community - seen as fair S Hire labourers S Pursue other non-agriculture business - credit, trading
9. Disinvesting Provide sharecropping land S Provide commercial loans Relatively rich Locally important S Disinvesting in chars and moving to the Seen as different by community mainland
138. A feature of the chars is their relative poverty compared with comparable locations on the mainland. Therefore, whilst table 4 presents a spectrum of wealth groups from the very poorest to the relatively wealthy, the actual prevalence of the different groups is heavily skewed towards the poorer groups - particularly groups 1- 5 - even relative to other poor areas.
139. Another feature of the chars, again even relative to other poor areas, is people's vulnerability in the face of the dual hazards of erosion and flood. Life in the chars means that within a short period of time it is very easy to descend the wealth scale, even for those at the top of the scale (with the possible exception of group 9). In few other places does one find significant numbers of relatively wealthy people who have been reduced to migrating labourers through erosion- or flood-induced land loss.
Rising out of poverty / falling into poverty
140. People pursue their strategies with the aim of accumulating assets, enhancing security and moving out of poverty. A typical route for this is the investment of either saved income or a loan (commonly from NGOs) in livestock which reproduce and accumulate until they can be sold. The money from their sale is then commonly invested in land and a self-sufficient agricultural livelihood becomes a possibility.
141. Variations on this include the accumulation of assets again through wages and livestock such that a share-cropping contract can be won on good land, which allows a surplus to be retained for further investment, again leading to land acquisition. This strategy requires draught animals, labour and resources to fund investment in the crop, so as to convince the landowner that a good harvest is likely and to win the contract against the competition.
142. Greater livelihood security allows children to be educated which has potential future pay-offs. Other positive events may also influence this process such as if a flood deposits high quality silt on the land, or if land of good quality emerges from the river.
143. As long as calamities can be avoided, people following such paths are able to rise out of poverty. However, the major characteristic of the chars is their susceptibility to physical hazard, and all the following are capable of pushing households into poverty:
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S Erosion. When land is lost, people's livelihoods revert to zero unless provisions have been made. S Flood. Prolonged flood can lead to crop failure, loss of income, consumption and sale of assets, and indebtedness, compromising any gains previously made. S Loss of health. Where health services are so poor distant and expensive, livelihoods so marginal, water-borne diseases so prevalent and diet irregular and poor quality, poor health is always a danger. When it affects wage earners or workers it can lead to a cycle of indebtedness. S Work and income availability. As soon as work or other sources of income becomes unavailable for many of the poor, they begin to consume assets and debts. If this persists they may again fall further into poverty. S Robbery. Migrating labourers accumulate significant sums of cash which they must transport safely back home. Criminals know this, and robbery of wage income is common. When this occurs, the loss of income may be impossible to bear when debts have been incurred based on the promise of payment, and this can drop the household into crisis. S Dowry. One of the greatest causes of debt is the requirement for families to fund dowry payments to ensure their daughters may be married and to avoid disgrace. This can reduce a previously viable livelihood below the viability threshold.
Cross-cutting Strategies
144. Within the overall livelihood strategies presented in table 4, there exist a number of strategies which are widely adopted across the strategy groups and wealth categories, relating to: dealing with erosion, coping with flood, migration, agriculture, livestock, and income diversification
Dealing with erosion
145. Erosion is an ever-present danger for char people other than those in the centre of stable chars, and people have developed strategies for preparing for it and also for responding to it.
146. There is nothing that an individual or community can do to significantly alter the likelihood of erosion. Barriers of sugarcane may be made to slow the process and perhaps to gain one more year but this has only a short-term effect. People do however attempt to prepare themselves for impending erosion, with the following strategies: S Multiple plots. People will try to ensure their land is held in multiple plots in different locations so that if one is lost, another may still remain or another may re-emerge from the river. S Purchase homestead land. When erosion looks to be inevitable, people may try to purchase a homestead plot in a safer area which they can shift to when their present land is washed away. The parlous state of many livelihoods on the chars means however that many people are unable to accumulate sufficient funds to pursue this strategy. S Preparation of plots. People generally have a good understanding of the river and erosion so can predict fairly accurately when their own land will be lost. When erosion seems to be impending they will select and prepare a site for relocation. This may involve planting banana trees up to 6 months in advance (for food and importantly for rafts during flood), moving their house and physical assets, and finally at the last minute cutting down their trees for sale as the water
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approaches. If they have no land of their own they may also make arrangements to live on others land, and establish share-cropping arrangements and so on.
147. However, land loss cannot always be predicted, and suitable plans cannot always be made, such that erosion often leaves whole communities rootless and stranded on highly vulnerable land - for example on low-lying land on newly settling chars, or as squatters on others' land.
148. Following land loss through erosion, further common strategies are adopted: S Remain in the location. There is a strong tendency for people to move as short a distance as possible when relocating following land loss. This is part of the explanation for why people may be found who have moved house several times in a year. There appear to be two main reasons for this reluctance to move far away. First is to stay within their samaj, due to the protection and other advantages this affords. Second is to maintain a watch on the erosion pattern in case any of their land re-emerges. This second point may be necessary if the samaj will only recognise ownership of re-emerged land when the owner is there to claim it. S Lease land in. As shown in table 3, a whole variety of means exist for getting access to land, including land exchange, rental, leasing in, and share-cropping. The aim is to build a viable livelihood until one's own land re-emerges. In some cases the fluidity and prevalence of such land leasing arrangements means that whilst many have land above water, few live on their own land.
149. Despite these strategies, land loss remains the biggest threat to livelihoods in the chars, and is responsible for the reduction into extreme poverty of large numbers of people. When one of these events is followed by another - such as repeat erosion or a severe flood, it further weakens households and their asset status, and can push them down into the grip of poverty where their livelihood becomes labour-based.
Coping with flood
150. Unlike erosion which is a frequent but irregular danger with devastating effects, flood is predictable and not necessarily as traumatic. It is nevertheless a part of life for most on the chars, and responses to it are central to livelihood strategies for these people. Strategies relate to preparation for flood, life during flood, and recovery from flood, and are recounted in more detail in Kar (2000): S Preparation. A number of events occur in the months prior to flood, some of which are also preparations for moving the whole household if river erosion occurs at the same time as flooding. One set of activities refer to physical preparedness, in which rafts are constructed from banana trunks (vela), and raised platforms (tong) are constructed on which the family and animals will stay while water is high. Also highlands are identified in case the water level rises very high and the family is forced to abandon their house.
A number of other activities prepare the household for the rigours of the flood period. Women will start to ration food, stock up on fuelwood and store seed for planting post-flood. Men will often take advantage of the readily available labour and high wage rates in the immediate pre-flood period and remain out of the house until the last possible moment, maximising income for consumption during flood.
S During flood. During flood men usually remain with their family to protect them and their assets. As a result, the opportunity to earn wages is foregone and income stops. People will stay in their houses when possible but may be forced 30 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
to move - usually with any livestock - to higher ground such as anti-flood embankments where they live in the open with everyone else who has done the same, and all the animals. Feeding animals at this time is a major constraint on accumulating greater numbers.
During this period, people live from their stocks of food and savings, and sell animals when they need cash. If the flood is lengthy and food stocks are exceeded, other assets may be sold, and people resort to eating inner stems of banana plants in the absence of food.
When the period of high water is long, crops in the fields die and the harvest is lost, but if it recedes after less than 11 days each time, local varieties of waterlogging-resistant paddy may survive to be harvested post-flood.
S Recovery from flood. After the flood people repair any damage done, and attempt to begin restocking livestock since most will have been sold out or died before or during the flood. This is a most vulnerable time since there are no livestock, no food, wages have not yet become available again, and sickness of both people and any remaining animals is rife. At this time, people re-commence their attempt to achieve livelihood security and accumulate assets.
Migration
151. As has been seen, temporary 'migration' for labour elsewhere is a major element of the livelihoods of the poor in the chars, with the poorest households migrating for the longest periods.
152. People migrate from Kurigram all over Bangladesh in search of either agricultural or urban labour, including to Dhaka, Chittagong, Barishal, Mymensingh, and nearer to Rangpur. During the agricultural season, labour is available planting, transplanting, or harvesting. Elsewhere, people earn through rickshaw pulling, earthworks, and other unskilled labour, while some gain skilled jobs in woodmills or as blacksmiths. A recent trend is for young girls alone to migrate to Dhaka to work in government clothing factories, and to send money back to their parents.
153. Men tend to migrate for labour in samaj-based groups, which confers security through mutual protection and allows collective bargaining over terms and conditions. The main purpose of labour migration is to earn money and if possible to save some for investment or in preparation for the flood period. When men are absent for a lengthy period, they send money home through their samaj members.
154. Excess income from migration wages is commonly invested in livestock upon return home, as one of the few options to invest and accumulate money available in the chars.
Income Diversification
155. Though the focus of discussion above has been on wage labour, agriculture and livestock as the main sources of income in the chars, char people do in fact engage in a range of diverse livelihood activities. As a general rule, the poor who are more established in an area tend to have a more diverse livelihood than those who have only recently settled following displacement, since the latter have few options to pursue. Thus, the livelihoods of people living on embankments and those only recently settled on low lying land on new chars tend to be less diverse than those who have established networks and access to common resources. Diversity perhaps declines again as people emerge from poverty into a comfortable state, where they are likely to 31 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
concentrate only on a few remunerative activities. Table 5 describes some of the main livelihood diversification options practised in the chars.
Table 5: Other Sources of Income on the Chars
Activity Description Fishing On common waters, with boat and nets for better off or net or rod for poor Earthwork One of the most common forms of labour, building house platforms for individuals or embankments for government or NGOs, often under food for work schemes. Also practised by some poor mainland women Quilt sewing One of the most common local handicrafts prepared by women Paddy husking Done in other people's houses Housework Working for better off households as a maid Vegetable cultivation On homestead land Livestock trading Buying and selling, but requires cash to invest Petty trading/shop Covers many activities but again requires cash. Often done by NGO- established groups Sale of kash Local char grass, collected by women from common land Use of boat For transporting people or materials - but requires access to boat Selling cooking A common form of itinerant trading utensils Milk collection and Ferrying milk from the chars to markets on the mainland, requiring money, sale contracts and worldliness Sale of sand to Again requiring business skills contractors Remittances from Received from children who earn elsewhere, for example in government family members on service, army etc the mainland or in service Collection of cow Collection by women of dung and sticks from common property for sale in the dung and market by men. Ghoshi are sticks coated in dung which are used for fuel. preparation of Ghoshi
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Part 3: Conclusions and Implications for Intervention
156. Part two of this report has described the livelihood systems and context for poor people on the Kurigram chars. Part three takes this analysis further by bringing together the key issues facing the poor in the chars, and considering their implications for DFID intervention.
3.1 Livelihood Outcomes: Main Issues
157. The livelihoods analysis paints a bleak picture of the life of poor households in the chars, and suggests that the combination of physical and social characteristics make the chars one of the poorest parts of Bangladesh, with the people being amongst the most vulnerable. Drawing from the previous discussion, some of the major issues facing the poor in the chars are as follows:
Inability to Resist Physical Hazards
158. Land loss through erosion and flood emerge as major influences on the livelihoods of the poor, with both being the frequent cause of significant changes in people's livelihood strategies. Despite the strategies adopted to prepare for such events, and to recover from them, the emerging pattern suggests that the poor remain unable to mitigate their serious effects on their livelihoods. This is illustrated by the change to landlessness and a more vulnerable labour-based livelihood (based largely on migration) which often follows erosion, and the disposal of virtually all assets on an annual basis due to flood.
159. The metaphor used previously of a monkey climbing a slippery pole but always sliding down to the bottom remains pertinent, except that many of the poor on the chars appear to slide into the ground - below their starting point into utter destitution.
Poor Access to Essential Services
160. Government service provision on the chars is revealed as inadequate with little sign of the prioritisation which would be required to lead to their improvement. Though health and education services are probably the best of all government services, they both have only partial coverage and are often of poor quality, or are unaffordable for the poor.
161. The health consequences could hardly be more serious, with preventable deaths - especially of women and children - apparently commonplace. The links between education and poverty via early marriage, a whole range of gender issues, and reduced livelihood options revealed through this study suggest that the shortfalls in education services are similarly important.
Inadequate Savings and Credit Options
162. The analysis of livelihood strategies suggests that access to good quality credit plays an important role in routes out of poverty, by allowing the acquisition of productive assets which can be built upon. However, the credit options in the chars clearly do not meet the needs of poor households, whether through the high rates of interest
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charged in villages, the non-availability of formal credit through government, or the inflexibility and therefore inappropriateness of most NGO programmes.
163. Apart from this, many poor households find that they cannot even access these flawed credit sources in emergency either because of the even-ness of poverty in their community, the failure of NGOs to reach many of the most vulnerable char households, or the inability of women to draw credit when men are absent on labour migration.
164. The lack of appropriate savings options is a similar problem. In the absence of banks, local options are limited and generally boil down to livestock. Whilst these can be an attractive investment and are the best option locally, they are insufficient as the sole means of saving available since they remain difficult to protect from death through disease or flood, or forced sale. They also do not allow for low level opportunistic saving such as is possible through village banking, for example.
165. The inability to save lies at the core of poverty in the chars. This inability is a function of low income which is all consumed as it is earned, the consumption of what savings are possible during flood or emergency situations, and the lack of options for saving small or irregular amounts through banks or NGOs. These three factors combined result in the 'reverting to zero assets' following flood or erosion which is the key element of the 'monkey on a slippery pole' metaphor.
166. Such observations suggest that the conventional approaches to microfinance prevalent in Bangladesh are not appropriate to the chars, and that new more flexible approaches are needed.
Poor Access to Income-enhancing Services
167. It is not only the essential services of health and education which char people have difficulty accessing. The absence of banks or government credit systems, and the weak services offered by government agriculture, livestock, fishery and forestry departments mean that little assistance is available to enhance the people's income or to help protect their assets.
168. Whereas other parts of Bangladesh are served by access to productive capital, extension, research and animal health services, none of this is available on the chars, other than through the limited NGO services available. People are consequently left to rely on their own acquired knowledge and systems which, impressive as they often are, cannot meet all their needs.
169. This absence of services is not only a function of government and NGO weakness - or supply-side factors. Government are able to allow this situation because there is similar weakness in the way communities interact with government - on the demand side. Char people have low formal education levels, are only partially exposed to government, and are moreover at great distance from the mainland-based decision- makers in Kurigram town. They are consequently not effective at lobbying for their rights when it comes to accessing government services, exhibiting low access to political capital.
170. As a result, government are under only limited pressure to address the inadequacies of their performance on the chars. Even if the char people were able to lobby at district level, the setting of budgets at national level means that achievements would still be limited until the chars entered the national level agenda. Without strong representation this is unlikely to be achieved.
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Greater Vulnerability of Women and Children
171. Women are subject to all the vulnerabilities of life on the chars, but in addition suffer from gender specific vulnerabilities which are ingrained in society. The phenomena of early marriage, dowry, illegal divorce, abandonment and the consequences for women headed households in society, seriously affect women's life options.
172. To these specific practices may be added the general restrictions of women in society which limit their access to market, reduce income-generation options, preclude them from ownership and control over a fair share of assets, and discriminate against them through inheritance.
173. All of these practices mean that women are unable to access money when it is needed without fear of beating, may be unable to access appropriate healthcare which they are more likely to need, are more likely to be regarded as a social liability by their own family, and have few assets and little financial security if they lose their husbands. The issue of women's status is clearly revealed as a key element of poverty on the chars.
174. Through women, children are also particularly vulnerable. Early marriage and the consequent age of women when they first bear children compromises child health, as does the lack of income and poor diet associated with low educational levels and the life of the poor on the chars. Children share the inadequate access to health services, especially when men are away.
The Importance of Local Informal Organisations and Institutions
175. An unexpected finding of the study was the positive influence of informal local organisations and institutions, in apparent marked contrast to other char areas in Bangladesh. This suggests that even if they are not necessarily potential vehicles for future development on the chars, they must be understood and efforts must be made not to undermine their valuable aspects through ignorance.
176. In the absence of a strong presence by the formal legal establishment on the chars, the samaj and its court, the shalish, maintain the social fabric. They uphold ownership to land against opposing claims, they resolve social and economic disputes, all whilst apparently maintaining appropriate links to relevant formal institutions such as the Union Parishad and the police. In doing this, they appear to be predominantly fair, which again was an unexpected finding. Despite their leadership being comprised mainly of wealthier, older and more educated male members of society, they seem to offer a greater chance of justice than the formal legal system through the courts.
177. Beyond these informal structures, a variety of informal institutional arrangements are also important to economic and social life for the poor in the chars, and include a range of social safety nets and cooperative behaviours which help the poor to survive in this most difficult of environments. It will also be essential to avoid damaging these institutions in future work in the chars.
Inadequate Cooperation, Quality and Coverage by NGOs
178. NGOs currently play an indispensable role in providing services to the chars, and individually they run many fine programmes. However despite this individual effort there remain serious problems in the overall service delivery picture, with major gaps in both coverage and quality.
179. Most NGOs relate to each other and government well, share roles in committees and generally have cordial relations. However what is lacking on the chars is a shared 35 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
development goal, or the kind of coordination which assesses problems and makes collective plans to address them. In other words, NGOs seem to be happy to pay lip service to cooperation but rarely take it the step further required to really make progress.
180. One reflection of this is that many NGOs are basically service delivery organisations - implementers of government and donor funded programmes, whether for relief or development. There is a general lack of focus on wider empowerment, in which local people are supported to question why they do not receive services from government, which might help to exert pressure to improve government services.
181. Added to this, some NGOs have wavering commitment to the more vulnerable chars due to the difficulty and riskiness of working there. Nevertheless a large range of generally committed organisations work on the chars and in Kurigram in general, fulfilling many important roles. The challenge is to improve on this situation and to introduce a new coordination and dynamism into their actions.
3.2 Implications for DFID Intervention
182. The overall objective of undertaking this livelihoods scoping study was to assess opportunities for DFID to invest in support of sustainable livelihoods on the chars of NW Bangladesh.
183. The analysis clearly shows that on poverty criteria the case is strong, with vulnerability and poverty in the chars amongst the worst seen in Bangladesh.
184. The drawing out of important livelihood issues in the previous section also suggests that there are apparently a number of possible entry points, including supporting women's and children's rights, access to appropriate government and NGO services, savings and credit, income enhancement, and reducing vulnerability to physical shocks.
185. The analysis also illustrates that, as one might expect, the nature and causes of poverty in the chars are complex and interlinked. Thus for example access to health care is related o the supply side to service delivery and coverage which is itself influenced by local and national level policies, norms and decisions - including staff incentives and the inability of government to respond flexibly. On the demand side, access to health services is also related to low income, poor access to savings and credit, poor communication and distance, livelihood strategies which mean men are often away from home, and the inability of women to move and act freely within their society.
186. Such complexity would suggest that solutions to such problems will not succeed if they are confined to only parts of the problem, since they run the risk of neglecting essential components of people's decision-making and behaviour. Responses from DFID will therefore need to be able to address this complexity, which suggests a broad-based livelihoods approach.
A Way Forward
187. In order for DFID to proceed from analysis to action, a number of practical issues will need to be addressed: S Where should intervention be targeted? S Who should DFID work with? 36 Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study - draft
S What should DFID do? S How should DFID do it?
Where should intervention be targeted?
188. The experience of this study, which visited a variety of different locations within Kurigram district suggests that blanket coverage of the whole district through intervention would lead to a dilution of the issues and areas most important to the poor.
189. A focus on the chars alone would encounter a similar problem, since the chars themselves are not homogeneous. As been discussed earlier, people in the centre of stable chars are considerably less vulnerable to physical shock than other char dwellers. A focus only on the Brahmaputra chars would also exclude some of the district's poorest people - those living along the banks of the mainland river systems in the district.
190. This suggests a need for a vulnerability-based intervention rather than one which is area-based. If it was to target the poorest people, it would aim for: S Those living on unstable chars and around the eroding edges of stable chars; S Those living on newly formed chars, especially on low-lying lands; S People on eroding riverbanks on the mainland; and S People living temporarily on flood protection embankments.
Who should DFID work with?
191. Since Kurigram district is not an area in which DFID already have a strong physical presence, it is unlikely to want to implement any project itself, and will therefore need to seek partners with which to work.
192. The visit to the district reported here was in response to an approach and a proposal from RDRS, the largest NGO in the area. The visit revealed that there are many actors involved in development in the chars, of which RDRS is only one and DFID should seek to identify suitable partners from amongst this broader group and work with all who are appropriate.
193. Whilst NGO presence on much of the chars is perhaps more obvious, government remains the largest potential influence on development in the chars. The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach draws attention to the limitations of approaches to development that seek to make direct interventions without addressing problems in the wider context. There is a clear opportunity here for DFID to work with government with the objective of improving the quality of their programmes and their presence on the chars.
What should DFID do?
194. As mentioned above, a number of major entry points may be envisaged based on the livelihoods analysis presented here, all of which address important issues in the lives of the poor on the chars. A broad approach is indicated in recognition of the complexity of poverty and the interdependence of its causes.
195. The analysis presented here suggests that of the multitude of options that such a conclusion allows, a project which addressed the following issues would be a pragmatic and yet sufficiently comprehensive and appropriate response:
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S Identification of suitable project partners and facilitation of links between them aimed at addressing current gaps in service provision on the chars. S Working directly with government to improve their service delivery, with links to broader national level government through existing DFID and other donor projects in recognition that options for introducing changes within government are limited when working only at a local level. S Identifying ways and means of improving access to appropriate savings and credit for the poor. S Supporting the diverse range of livelihood components in order to improve their effectiveness and increase income - for example livestock, migration, agriculture, fishing. S Developing effective means to enhance the rights and status of women and children in char society. S Identification of new and effective ways in which the most vulnerable people on the chars may be protected from the physical hazards of erosion and flood.
196. An early attempt to consider how this might look in practice was developed in a session between the team and DFID-B Natural Resources and Social Development advisers. This is presented in annex 3.
197. Such a programme is fully in line with the DFID-B country strategy, and would contribute directly to all six key objectives. It is also in line with DFID's broader commitment to the international development targets.
How should DFID do it?
198. Given the lack of experience of working effectively with people on the chars, the detail of approaches which might be appropriate cannot be proposed at this time with confidence. This suggests a need for an initial project phase - perhaps of 3 years - in which partners are identified, capacities developed, problems understood and approaches tested. In such a phase, DFID would play a facilitating role, and the general approach would be one of learning by doing, and making links where necessary both within the district itself but also nationally.
199. This would be followed by a longer phase of five years aimed at implementing approaches and looking for larger scale impact. A higher objective would be to develop approaches which were not only appropriate for the Kurigram chars, but also which were more widely suited to working on the chars elsewhere in Bangladesh - areas which have been neglected by development support.
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References
Baqee, A. (1998). Peopling in the land of Allah Jaane. Power, peopling and environment: the case of the charlands of Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Ltd.
Currey, B (1999). Unpublished Mimeo.
DFID-B (1998). Bangladesh Country Strategy Paper. Dhaka: DFID-B.
Hossain, A. (2000). Livelihood in Charlands of North-west Bangladesh: An Analysis of Governance Issues and Institutional Arrangements. Report for the DFID Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study. Dhaka: DFID-B.
Hye, H. A. (1996). Below the line: rural poverty in Bangladesh. Dhaka: University Press Ltd
Kar, K. (2000). Livelihoods of the People of Chars and Riverbanks of Kurigram District in Bangladesh. Participatory Rural Appraisal of Chars Livelihood Project - a Livelihood Scoping Study. Report for the DFID Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study Dhaka: DFID-B.
Mamun, M.Z. and Amin, A.T.M.N. (1999). Densification: A Strategic Plan to Mitigate Riverbank Disaster in Bangladesh. Dhaka: The University Press Ltd.
Nandi, S. (2000). Livelihood Scoping Study: RDRS. Report for the DFID Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study. Dhaka: DFID-B.
Rahman, H.Z. (1998). Poverty Issues in Bangladesh: A Strategic Review. Dhaka: DFID-B.
RDRS (1995). Socio-economic data and information on NGOs working in RDRS working area. RDRS Survey and Research Report No 3.
Sorensen, D. (1994). Char Development Part 1: An Analysis of the Char People's Vulnerabilities and Capabilities. RDRS Survey and Research Report No 1.
World Bank (1998). Bangladesh: From Counting the Poor to Making the Poor Count. Dhaka: The World Bank.
World Bank (1999). Entering the 21st Century. World Development Report 1999/2000. Washington DC: The World Bank.
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Annex 1: Terms of Reference
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Annex 2: Maps of Charland Thanas
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Annex 3: Suggestions for a Possible Project
DFID Bangladesh Char Livelihoods Assistance Scoping Study
Notes from the meeting held at DFID-B 15-12-99
S Present: Richard Montgomery, Donal Brown, Kamal Kar, Julia Chambers, Steve Ashley
S Some pre-concept note ideas to further develop the output of the Char Scoping Study - for discussion within DFID-B
S Suggested implementation: through a broad envelope with a 3-year initial phase to identify partners, specify main issues and develop strategies for intervention. Assuming milestones are met, this to be followed by a 5-year implementation stage, to reflect the difficult and risky project environment.
Narrative Summary Comments
Goal
Extreme poverty in riverine and deltaic areas of Bangladesh (8% of population) halved by 2015.
Purpose
(?Replicable strategies developed for?) Improved livelihoods for extremely poor women, men and children in vulnerable riverine areas of Bangladesh: 2000 – 2008
Outputs
[Outputs 1-3 are direct focused livelihood improvement strategies] [Outputs 4-6 are enabling objectives]
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OP 1. Increased and more secure Specific activities and approaches to be access to natural, physical and financial developed during startup phase but likely assets by poor households. to include: needs based savings/credit, livestock, farming systems development, migrant support.
Sample sub-output, indicator or activity: appropriate microfinance services including non-monetary systems developed for men and women for different livelihood needs.
OP 2. Increased and more secure In response to women’s and children’s human and social capital for extreme particular vulnerability within the chars, to poor households, with particular focus on include prioritising health and education, women’s and children’s rights. working with membership organisations (eg Federations), gender in local informal institutions (samaj, shalish) and Union Parishad, and building on local redistributive institutions and social safety nets such as hat chanada, share- rearing and others
OP 3. Reduced vulnerability to seasonal To increase the resistance of stresses and environmental shocks, communities to shocks, including particularly for women and children working with government social security programmes such as VGD and FFW, appropriate local infrastructure for flood protection, water and sanitation
OP 4. Institutional networks and Local level coordination and networking partnerships developed providing to create an environment for responsive services and better access to development of the chars, including resources for the extreme poor working with local service providers throughout the project area, with special (health, education, livestock etc) – GO, focus on the most marginal people NGO and donor. Include links to national level DFID (and other donor) projects in health, education, agriculture and others, with possibility of linking as case studies for enhancing client-orientation
OP 5. Selected new livelihood support Addressing the need in Bangladesh for strategies adopted by other strategies to address the needs of the organisations (NGO and GO) in other most vulnerable living in riverine areas, riverine areas of Bangladesh through developing strategies which may be applied outside the chars of the NW
OP 6. Process initiated to increase In recognition that many issues that will pressure on, and recognition within, be faced are strongly linked to national government and development level policy and norms, whilst also organisations to reform policies and acknowledging that actual policy change practices needed for poverty reduction in may not occur during the lifetime of this riverine areas. project
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