Conflict of Resource Use Among Different Livelihood Group in Coastal Villages of South-Western Bengal Delta, Bangladesh

Abstract

People, ecosystems and resources are three crucial components for understanding resource use conflicts. This study examines resource use conflicts in two coastal villages of south-western Bangladesh, where access to resources are essential to rural livelihoods. Resource utilization conflicts can emerge when interests and needs of different users groups are incompatible or denied by each other. Considering these issues, this study has taken as an effort to explore the issues, reasons, stage, scale and impact of conflicts. Relevant data were collected through questionnaire survey, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key Informant Interview (KII). The study found that rapid encroachment of crop land into shrimp farming, contrasting dynamic occupational practices, human made over use or overstrain of natural resources combined with environmental degradation and climate change, pose serious threat to human security. These rapid, and mostly unexpected changes provoke conflicts among the dominant resource user groups. Moreover, driver of conflicts and typological classification were addressed to make them comparable in the sense which one requires the most attention according to the predicted scale and urgency of impact. Conflict management strategies were discussed by four building blocks which might be a remarkable part of conflict prevention in the study area.