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Determinants of Livelihood Diversification Under Environmental Change in Coastal Community of Bangladesh

Apurba Roy
Corresponding author:
Department of Economics, University of Barishal, Barishal, Bangladesh & School of Economics and Finance, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.

Sudipa Basu
Department of Economics, University of Barishal, Barishal, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The life and livelihood of coastal farming communities in Bangladesh are highly vulnerable to climate and environmental change. Diversification of farmers’ income sources beyond agriculture can be an effective way to cope with the adverse impacts of environmental change. The purpose of this study is to analyze the options and determinants of livelihood diversification (LD) strategies adopted by farmers in the coastal region of Bangladesh. Multiple linear regression techniques along with the Simpson index, Herfindahl index and priority index have been used for the analysis. Simple random sampling and multistage sampling have been used to select the sample and the study area, respectively. The magnitude of farming household diversification is at a medium level. A significant share of annual income comes primarily from fish and rice production, domestic bird rearing and working as agricultural labour. The adoption of diversified activities is strongly influenced by age and education of household head, a number of earning family members, social network and government donation. The frequent occurrence of natural disasters, inadequate infrastructure and lack of financial capacity are the critical constraints to LD.

Keywords: Livelihood diversification, Adaptation, OLS, Coastal region, Bangladesh

Location: In Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Risk Management in Agriculture

Commodity: Environmental Impact, Climate change, Livelihood

Objectives:

The objective of this study is to identify the extent and determinants of LD strategies of the coastal farmers and provide useful insight into the sustainable disaster risk reduction strategies in the context of Bangladesh.

Methodology:

Study Area Selection A multistage sampling technique has been applied to select the study area. In the preliminary stage, Satkhira District, one of the southwest coastal districts of Bangladesh, has been chosen as the primary sampling unit (PSU). Later, Shyamnagar Upazila (sub-district) under Satkhira district has been selected as a secondary sampling unit (SSU). This Upazila is situated between 21°36′ and 22°24′ north latitudes and between 89°00′ and 89°19′ east longitudes, covering an area of 1,968.24 km². The reason for selecting the Upazila is that it is located near the coastal belt and is highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as cyclones, flood, salinity intrusion, etc. (Grant et al., 2015; Rahman et al., 2017). In addition, to the best of our knowledge, we found no prior studies have been conducted on options and determinates of LD of smallholder farmers in this district. We, therefore, considered Shyamnagar Upazila to provide a general overview of the diversification strategies adopted by the farmers in the face of environmental change. Local smallholder farmers in the study area have been chosen as the sample. Smallholder, in the current study, is referred to the farmers who operate on farm size (0.02–1) hectare or farmland less than 2.5acres. This definition of smallholder farmers is adopted from studies conducted by Ali (2003), Nabi (2008) and Schreinemachers et al. (2016) in the context of Bangladesh with relevance to coastal region. The number of smallholder farmers is smaller compared with other professionals in the study area. Among the total population, on average, about 33 per cent are currently engaged in agricultural activities (Didar-Ul Islam et al., 2015). A total of 60 smallholder farmers (n = 60) from Burigoalini, Munshigonj and Atulia unions out of 11 unions of Shyamnagar Upazila have been selected using a simple random sampling technique to minimise the inference biasedness occurred from the small sample size. These unions are located adjacent to the coastal belt and fully exposed to any natural events that occurred in the area. Estimation Method A set of statistical and econometric tools has been used to analyze the collected data. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum has been used to examine the socio-economic status of the respondents. Simpson index (SI) and Herfindahl index (HI) have been used to measure the extent of LD. Priority index (P.I) is used to rank the constraints to adopting diversified activities. A multiple linear regression model using the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation technique is applied to identify the determinants of LD. The assumptions of OLS have been carefully checked and maintained before establishing causality between the dependent variable and explanatory variables in this study. For instances, the variables in the model have been acquired from a random sampling procedure and the parameters are assumed to be linear. In addition, the conditional mean value of the error term is assumed to be zero with no linear correlation with the explanatory variables. Besides, we assumed that there is no multicollinearity among the independent variables and the existence of homoscedasticity in the error terms.

Source of Information: Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development, 30(1–2) 7–26, 2020

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: 10.1177/1018529120946159

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

In recent years, coastal farming communities are living under the threat of climate-induced natural disasters to secure their income and livelihood. Several diversified economic activities (primary, secondary and tertiary) are adopted by them to cope with the damage from the hazards. The significant share of their income comes from primary activities, leaving them less diversified and unsecured against future uncertainties. Although the income from the tertiary level is secured, a few of them can manage to afford it. Some economic and environmental factors, such as limited access to capital and frequent disasters, are responsible for the decrease in diversification level. Although farmers are trying to adapt diversified activities amid the limitations, supports from the government can be a great help to increase the diversified economic activities for improving economic levels and resilience measure to disaster. Due to the nature and scope of the objective of this study, this research was based on a specific region and occupational group. Since the study area is situated in the coastal part of the country, it was hard to incorporate many samples within the study time period. In addition, our sample group consisted of only smallholder farmers that also limited our focus on a certain community. Further research could be accomplished covering other professional groups of the society to get an overall idea. In addition, a cross-comparison study focusing on the respondents from both coastal and inland areas could also shed light on patterns of diversification practice of different groups from different parts of the country.

Knowledge Management: Journal