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Irrigation Intervention as a Tool of Socio-economic Advancement: a Case Study of the Kawraid River Rubber Dam Project, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Abu Jafar Md. Saleh*
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh,

M. Shahjahan Mondal
Associate Professor
Institute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Bangladesh is combating with poverty since its independence and the present reality is that about 40% of the population is below the poverty line. About 19.5% also lives below the extreme poverty line. The poverty alleviation rate (1.78% per annum) is not enough to half the level of poverty within the Millennium Development Goals targeted time frame in 2015. In order to attain such a goal, Bangladesh desires a rapid agricultural development as it is one of the main productive sectors having a massive contribution (21.1%) to the national Gross Domestic Products. The Kawraid River Rubber Dam Project (KRRDP) of Gazipur District was commissioned by the Local Government Engineering Department in 2001-02 with that view and has been in operation since 2002-03 for cultivation of Boro rice. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of irrigation through the KRRDP implementation on the socio-economic development of the project area. The impact is evaluated following a With Project (WP) and Without Project (WOP) approach, and considering 2000-01 Boro season as the base year (without intervention) and 2006-07 as the current year (with intervention). Results of the study show that 28.9% and 33.3% people in WP and WOP areas, respectively, were below the poverty line in 2001. The corresponding figures were 17.8% and 26.7% in 2007. The irrigation intervention with KRRDP has reduced poverty by 4.5%. The increase in irrigated land of 1% has reduced poverty by 0.2%. In both WP and WOP areas, a strong correlation exists between poverty and education with a higher level of education showing a lower level of poverty. It emerged that the irrigation intervention with the KRRDP has played a significant role in enhancing agricultural production and income, which have contributed to the alleviation of poverty and improvement in living standard of the rubber dam beneficiaries. However, the inequality in both income from Boro rice and poverty has increased.

Keywords: Poverty, Irrigation, Self-assessment method, Rubber dam

Location: Kawraid River Rubber Dam Project, Gazipur

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Water management

Objectives:

Objective of this study was to verify whether the Irrigation Intervention as a Tool of Socio-economic Advancement in Bangladesh

Methodology:

Poverty Assessment with Modified Self-Assessment Method: There are many poverty assessment methods, which are used according to their suitability and effectiveness. In this study, the self-assessment method with some necessary modifications was used. In the modified method, the number of meals taken by a household in a day was considered. The sufficiency of the meal taken and the quality of the food menu were also considered. Only the essential items of foods that are mandatory for survival of a man were considered. To implement this method, a four step framework was constructed for collection of the field level data. The steps are described below:

Step 1: The data on the number of meals taken by the household in a day was gathered. It is denoted by T.

Step 2: The quantity of foods consumed by a household in a day was then found out. In this study, two variables were considered and those were sufficient and insufficient with weights of 1.5 and 1.0, respectively. The weight is taken assuming that an adult takes three folds food than a child. If a child gets the weight of 0.5, then an adult who takes sufficient food, should get the weight of 1.5 and in the case of insufficient food, he gets the weight of 1.0. Then, multiplying the weight by the number of meals, the status of the meals was estimated.

Step 3: The household’s food menu was then identified. Three food categories were considered: (1) rice/flour, pulses and vegetables; (2) rice/flour, pulses, vegetables and fishes/eggs; and (3) rice/flour, pulses, vegetables, fishes/eggs and meat.

Step 4: Finally, the household’s scores were estimated. The maximum score that can be attained by a household was estimated by giving the maximum weights of food quantity and quality, which is 15.75. Then the households with scores of more than 6.75 were considered as non-poor. The score 6.75 was calculated as: since all of the respondents took 3 meals a day and most of them took meals sufficiently in most times, it was clear that the difference existed in their food quality only.

Source of Information: 2nd International Conference on Water & Flood Management (ICWFM-2009), BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Poverty reduction rates are found to be about 1.85% and 1.11% per annum in the WP and WOP areas, respectively. The WP area exhibits a higher poverty eradication rate than that in the WOP area. The irrigation intervention with the KRRDP is found to have reduced poverty by 4.45% in the WP area over its six-year operation period. Each percentage increase in irrigated land in the WP area has reduced poverty by 0.2%. The income from Boro rice has increased by 128% in the WP area, whereas, it has increased only by 40% in the WOP area. The average household income has also increased in both areas. In the WP area, the increase was 65%, whereas, it was 14% in the WOP area.Both WP and WOP areas exhibited a strong relationship of poverty with education: a higher level of education of household head shows a lower level of household poverty.

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