Vulnerability of rural livelihoods to multiple stressors: A case study from the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh

Abstract

The coastal area of Bangladesh has been a focus of climate change and hazard research due to its extreme vulnerability to tropical cyclones, often leading to disaster. While there have been recent studies on the nature of these disasters, people's vulnerability and responses, little is known about how other key stresses, interacting with these extreme weather events, impact natural resources and the flow of ecosystem services that sustain local livelihoods. In this paper, we explore the process by which major stresses and hazards shape the vulnerability of people's livelihoods in dynamic social-ecological environments in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data from a case study, we identify the key drivers of change in social-ecological systems and evaluate whether these drivers have affected livelihood outcomes and various components of human wellbeing. This analysis suggests that increasing salinity intrusion, tropical cyclone and land-use change (directly and through changes in ecosystem services) affect the access to livelihood assets at household scale. This undermines social wellbeing by seriously impacting food and water security. Through identification of key stresses and their interactions, and the consequent impacts on ecosystems services and household capitals, the current study proposes a conceptual framework to understand the present day vulnerability to multiple stressors in the context of the coastal region of Bangladesh.