Nexus Between Vulnerability, Livelihoods and Non-Migration Strategies Among the Fishermen Communities of Sundarbans, Bangladesh

Abstract

This article investigates the reasons behind the non-migration of fishermen communities living adjacent to the Sundarbans in Bangladesh. In addition to the livelihood strategies of these communities living in the southern districts of the country, this article explores a symbiotic relationship among livelihoods, risks and natural resources in understanding the fishermen’s choice of locations in these vulnerable areas. We have adopted a mixed scientific approach method in collecting, analysing and summarizing obtained information. We have employed a triangulation schema in the study, that is, collected data from multiple sources to compare and use relevant methods to check consistencies. On analysing the data collected from field investigation, it can be concluded that a critical relationship exists among livelihoods, risks and the immobility of the fishermen community in the Sundarbans. Their non-migration can be explained between voluntary and non-voluntary movements depending on livelihoods, vulnerability and available resources. The findings reveal that households seek to mobilize resources and opportunities to combine them into a livelihood strategy which includes the following: (a) natural resource extraction; (b) diversified income generation; (c) borrowing and investment; (d) labour and asset pooling; and (e) social networking. Finally, this study concludes that this process of combining and transforming different assets for livelihood strategies can be explained as an autonomous adaptation process.