The Chars Livelihood Assistance Scoping Study
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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