Abstract
Communities living in coastal regions are vulnerable to flooding, salinity intrusion, and natural hazards. This is aggravated by climate change. In order to reduce this vulnerability, governments have invested heavily in developing coastal infrastructures. One type of infrastructure development regards polders (i.e., pieces of land previously subject to permanent or temporal overflow that are now surrounded by embankments that prevent inundation). The impact of polderization on livelihood vulnerability is not straightforward and is therefore still poorly understood. In order to analyze such impacts, we present a comparative case study of four polders in Bangladesh that are characterized by varying societal circumstances, hydrological conditions, hydrological interventions, and different levels of community response to polderization. How does livelihood vulnerability vary temporally and spatially in polders, and what explains such variation? We use data collected via 162 surveys, 40 semi-structured interviews, and secondary research to analyze trends in the scores of the livelihood vulnerability index. Based on our analysis, we argue that after accounting for interactions amongst variables like hydrological conditions, hydrological interventions, community response, and other societal factors, livelihood vulnerability is lower in polders characterized by higher community involvement in using hydrological interventions to control the flow of saline water.
Highlights
Coastal regions around the world are a rich source of commercial and subsistence resources
The research questions that this article seeks to answer are the following: How does livelihood vulnerability vary temporally and spatially in polders characterized by different hydrological conditions, different hydrological interventions, and by different levels of community response? What explains such variation? These questions are answered using data collected via surveys, semi-structured interviews, and secondary research on four polders located in the south-western belt of coastal Bangladesh
Hydrological conditions in the polders, hydrological interventions, the types of livelihood practiced by local communities, and community responses to such conditions prevailing in the polders influence the vulnerability of local communities
Summary
Coastal regions around the world are a rich source of commercial and subsistence resources. They led to the destruction of the traditional agriculture-based ways of life in this region [8] These changes led to increasing poverty levels, affecting the vulnerability levels of the community living in the coastal belt of Bangladesh. In the face of increasing salinity intrusion in the south-western belt, shrimp farming is almost a way of life in some of the polders (polder 21) of this region. Polders in the south-western belt of Bangladesh provide varied instances of how communities have responded to problems brought about by polderization during times of climate change Such responses have implications for the vulnerability of local communities residing in coastal regions. The research questions that this article seeks to answer are the following: How does livelihood vulnerability vary temporally and spatially in polders characterized by different hydrological conditions (salinity intrusion, drainage congestion), different hydrological interventions (use of polder-infrastructure to control salinity intrusion), and by different levels of community response? What explains such variation? These questions are answered using data collected via surveys, semi-structured interviews, and secondary research on four polders located in the south-western belt of coastal Bangladesh
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