Abstract
In 2009, the tropical cyclonic storm Aila hit 11 southwestern coastal districts in Bangladesh, which triggered migration. Many studies were conducted on the impact of Aila on southwestern coastal communities; however, no comparative study was done on migrant and non-migrant households. Therefore, this article set out to assess the impact of cyclone Aila on the socio-economic conditions of migrant and non-migrant households. The households that could not cope with the impact, resulting in at least one household member having to migrate to seek an alternative source of income, were considered migrant households. On the other hand, non-migrant households were considered as those where no one migrated. The unit of analysis was the households. The research was conducted in the Koyra and Shymnagar sub-districts of Khulna and Satkhira, respectively. Mixed-method analysis was carried out using quantitative data collected from 270 households through a survey and qualitative data through 2 focus group discussions, 12 key informant interviews, and informal discussions. Data were analyzed through a comparative analysis of the migrant and non-migrant households. The findings showed that migrant households were better equipped to recover from losses in terms of income, housing, food consumption, and loan repayments than non-migrant households. It can be argued that the options of migration or shifting livelihood are better strategies for households when dealing with climatic events. Furthermore, the outcome of this research could contribute to the growing body of knowledge in an area where there are evident gaps. The findings could support policymakers and researchers to understand the impacts of similar climatic events, as well as the necessary policy interventions to deal with similar kinds of climatic events in the future. The study could be useful for developing and refining policies to recover from losses as a result of the same types of climatic events.
Highlights
Climate change is responsible for catastrophic disasters such as droughts, storms, and floods that lead to human migration [1]
These have affected the socio-economic conditions of the people such as those related to housing and other assets, income-generating activities, food consumption pattern, water supply, and sanitation in the coastal communities
This paper focused on the impacts of the cyclone Aila in 2009 on the socio-economic conditions of migrant and non-migrant households in the southern part of the coastal areas of Bangladesh
Summary
Climate change is responsible for catastrophic disasters such as droughts, storms, and floods that lead to human migration [1]. The consequence of cyclone Aila was much different from other cyclones as Aila was a Category 1 type, cyclonic storm formed in the Indian Ocean, with a slow onset but long-term consequences It induced the migration of around two million people [20]. Another main difference between cyclones Aila with other cycloneis that it led to three other extreme events or climatic events, flood, storm surge, salinity, and waterlogging, viewed as new forms of calamities in the southern coastal districts [28]. The shock resulting from climatic events affected the socio-economic conditions of coastal communities that were dependent on natural resources in various ways such as a loss of assets and livelihood options, reduced income, food shortage, and water scarcity [16]. Lessons from the Cyclone Aila can be applied to deal with similar future disasters
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