Chronic poverty in the Southwest coastal belt of Bangladesh

Where the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh&nbsp;was once a prosperous agricultural hub, today it is an <br />area ravaged by salinity, natural disasters, poverty&nbsp;and an inability to cope with recurrent shocks. This paper presents the main findings of a survey made in collaboration with the local NGO Uttaran in&nbsp; the southwest coastal belt of Bangladesh. The objective of the study was to capture the main&nbsp;challenges, impacts and effects of climate change on&nbsp;livelihoods in this region as well as identify levels of&nbsp;disaster resilience and existing coping strategies being utilised. What was found was a much more complex&nbsp;array of interlinking factors which together, present&nbsp;significant barriers to livelihood opportunities and&nbsp;sustainable development for communities, and the&nbsp;region as a whole.<br /><br />The paper argues that establishing and enhancing livelihoods resilience, maintaining food security and fostering development are now the main priorities for the region.&nbsp; One recommendation is to target small landowners and farmers in communities with an existing mix of shrimp and paddy farms to encourage a return to balanced agricultural activities such as rice farming and/or saline resistant varieties of vegetable and/or sweet water prawns/fishes. The introduction of crop diversification and short lifecycle crops would enhance resilience and the ability of farmers to recover quickly after disasters. <br /><br />Activities would require strong local government&nbsp; support and be closely linked with relevant&nbsp; government departments Training&nbsp; and education on the use of flood irrigation&nbsp; techniques to reduce salinity levels to allow rice and&nbsp; vegetable cultivation would be a priority focus.&nbsp; Market acceptance analysis of different crop and rice&nbsp; varieties should be undertaken as well as support for horizontal knowledge-sharing between farmers on saline-resistant crop varieties and appropriate variety&nbsp; selection.