Coastal Community, Poverty and Climate Change Adaptation: An Anthropological Study of Bayer Char Community

Abstract

Bangladesh, a topography of flat and low-lying densely populated country, is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world and will become even more so from the perspective of its disadvantageous geographic location, high levels of poverty, climate change impacts and adaptation to it, reliance of significant numbers of livelihoods on climate sensitive sectors specially agriculture and fishing. The people of coastal-char area of Bangladesh mostly encounter increased frequency of climate change induced various natural and man-made disasters as cyclones, floods, land and coastal erosion, soil and water salinity, tidal surge, droughts, the thunder storm, cold waves, insect attacks and hailstorm. In response to these climatic impacts on their livelihood assets the people adopt various adaptation strategies where poverty, gender, patriarchy, local knowledge and networks play role which was explored and examined by the present study using the integrative method of analysis i.e., integration of qualitative and quantitative methods. The thesis consists of seven chapters. Chapter one contains the introduction to the study as statement of the problem, rationale, importance, objectives, research questions, conceptual frameworks and pain and pleasure of the study. Chapter two involves review of the literature where more than 50 books, journals/articles, documents and reports related to present study were reviewed and found out the methodological and theoretical flaws, shortcomings and gaps which were intended to make up and bridge in the present study. Chapter three discusses some theories related to this study and this study was controlled and guided by the theory of cultural ecology developed by Julian Steward. Methodology of the study was discussed in chapter four where integrative method was followed i.e., qualitative methods (observation, case studies , FGDs, KIIs, In-depth interview and oral history) were supplemented by quantitative method (Sample survey). Chapter five contains the findings of qualitative study. The findings of the quantitative study were presented and analyzed with discussions in chapter six which was divided into seven sections. In first, second and third sections, the findings of demographic characteristics of interlocutors, climate change perceptions and coping mechanisms, and impacts of climate change on five livelihood assets of Bayer Char coastal community and their adaptation strategies to it were presented respectively. Sections four to six consist of impacts of poverty on adaptation strategies, the role of gender and patriarchy in adaptation and the role of local knowledge and networks in adaptation strategies of Bayer Char coastal community to ongoing climate change respectively. The special impacts of climate change on fishermen‟s life and livelihoods and their special adaptation strategies to it were presented in section seven. Chapter seven includes the concluding remarks showing the relations of data to the theories and suggesting the way out. It was explored in the present study that there is an adaptive relationship between ecology and culture i.e., between the environment and the subsistence system of Bayer Char community. Most of the time, the people of Bayer Char community use natural resources of their environment to adapt to the climatic impacts on their livelihood assets which creates the social system of Bayer Char community. Cyclone, tidal surge, water salinity and soil salinity are the most devastating climate change induced hazards that affect the livelihood assets of Bayer Char coastal community most in autumn (Bhadra-Ashwin), late autumn (KartikAugrahayan) and summer (Baishakh-Jaishthya) seasons.

It was found out in the present study that the major climate change impacts on natural assets of livelihoods of coastal community are increased salinity in drinking water source and cultivable lands causing acute hunger, poverty and destitution for them; on material assets are declining production and facing hunger and malnutrition, decreasing the test of food and smaller the size of fruits, grains and trees; on human assets are food insecurity, lack of nutrition and loss of life or death due to increased drought, salinity in land and water and thunderstorm; on social assets are social and internal conflicts based on scarcity of land, food insecurity and unrest in family, poverty and failure to sustain relationship with relatives or neighbours and on physical assets are damage of house and homestead land, scarcity of house building materials, lack of shelter and damage of essential foods. It was examined in this study that the people of this coastal char adopt particular adaptation strategies to the climatic impacts on particular livelihood assets as using fitkari (Potassium Aluminum Sulphate) to clean water, using solar heat to separate sodium chloride (salinity) and clean water, reducing expenses by changing consumption as reducing the number of daily meals and adapting cropping densities are the adaptive strategies to climatic impacts on natural assets; using animals (eater bird) to feed the pests on the farm to control the insects biologically, reducing pest-inducing crop losses using different mechanisms, removal of insects by hands, cutlass or trap and strengthening the resilience of agricultural systems are the adaptive strategies to climatic impacts on material assets; taking religious education, saving life by taking shelter in relatives‟ paka (Brick-made) house and cyclone shelter, depending on traditional medicine, building educational institutions on very high places are the adaptive strategies to climatic impacts on human assets; giving more importance on mosques/temples security than their own houses, building the mentality of helping each other in climatic crises, sending women and girls to relatives‟ house and building religious and social institutions and clubs on very high places are the adaptive strategies to climatic impacts on social assets and planting trees around the house, making the foundation of dwelling house high and using iron or brick pillar in house are the adaptive strategies to climatic impacts on physical assets of livelihoods. Even they use particular adaptation strategies to the particular impacts of climatic hazards like cyclone, tidal surge, soil and water salinity, flood etc. A very surprising and peculiar strategy the people of Bayer Char coastal community frequently use as adaptation to climate change induced hazards particularly to cyclone is empowering houses or homes. They stay home during disaster to keep house strong i.e., they think if they leave home and stay outside the home (cyclone shelter or any safe places) their houses become too weak to face cyclone and the houses become destroyed. So, they stay home to strengthen their houses to fight against cyclone or any other climatic impacts on houses-their beloved physical assets. It was assessed in the present study that in their adaptation strategies poverty, gender and patriarchy play negative role. Poverty plays negative role in adaptation as poverty causes their failure to respond to water and soil salinity, difficulty or failure to livelihood diversification, failure to ensure structural societal change as deagrarianisation or industrialization and failure to buy modern technologies provide weather forecast as smart phone. It was argued in the study that generally females are more vulnerable to and affected by climate change than males but females play vital and more important role in adaptation to climate change especially in taking NGO membership for loan, preserving the fuel wood, using different water purification techniques, making and saving dry food for and during crisis time and maintaining house. In adaptation strategies boys are got preference to girls by both males and females. Patriarchy plays a vital role in adaptation strategies as wives‟ NGO membership depends on the decisions of husbands and wives‟ disaster training and capacity building activities are interrupted by husbands‟ decisions. Husbands are the decision makers in adaptation to climate change in their family. Though local knowledge and networks have some negative roles in adaptation most of the time they play important positive role as local knowledge helps to develop a detailed picture of on-farm events before, during and after the natural disasters, form a culturally appropriate and sustainable adaptation policy, identify the increasing threats and impacts of climate change, ensure understanding situation quickly, take the immediate adaptive responses, enhance farmers' adaptation potentiality to climate variability and reduce the adverse impacts of climate change. Local networks play role in arranging communal water harvesting/tanks, ensuring the access to material and non-material critical resources managed by networks, constructing traditional bridges and trail, preserving rangeland and grazing restrictions and making easy way to get loan. It was explored that climate change has special impacts on life and livelihoods of fishermen who are engaged in fishing, the second highest profession in Bayer Char coastal community. The major special impacts caused by cyclone, tidal surge, excessive fog and thunderstorm on fishermen‟s livelihoods are changing and endangering natural food cycle of fish, destroying the flock of fish, inundating inland aquaculture and fisheries, reducing primary productivity of fish, reducing mixing of water in lakes due to changing temperatures and reducing the stocks of fish. Besides different special coping mechanisms, the fishermen adopt different special adaptation strategies to climatic impacts. Some major adaptation strategies are accessing to and interpreting of warning signals, changing profession and reducing expenses by changing consumption (reducing the number of meals), frequently changing the timing and location of fishing trips, changing target species to fish with higher demand and better prices, selling and delivering seafood directly to customers instead of fishes and making the boat and launch strongly with thunder resilient roof. However, the livelihood system of coastal char community is tuned to the ecology they live in and their livelihood assets are developed as a result of interaction between culture and environment. As adaptation to climate change, they developed a unique livelihood pattern which has high vulnerability to ongoing climatic variability and this vulnerability will be much more in absence of effective institutional supports (the supports of GOs and NGOs). So, institutional supports in their basic needs and services are required to extend to reduce livelihood vulnerability and strengthen the coastal-char people‟s adaptation strategies to ongoing climate change. So, the findings of this study are expected to help government, national and international NGOs form appropriate climate change adaptation policies and programs incorporating the coastal-char community in the mainstream development so that these poor coastal-char people can successfully adapt to the upcoming more critical and vulnerable situation of climate change and save them from being „environmental refugees‟. The study is also expected to contribute to the field of knowledge generally and to the discipline of anthropology particularly.