Manuscript_ID 18-CDEV1359-RA_R4.pdf (467.77 kB)
Climate change, environmental stress and loss of livelihoods can push people towards illegal activities: a case study from coastal Bangladesh
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 17:09 authored by Istiakh Ahmed, Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, Kees van der Geest, Saleem Huq, Joanne Catherine JordanThis paper aims to understand how environmental stressors influence people’s livelihood options in the coastal belt of Bangladesh. We argue that environmental stressors such as cyclones, riverbank erosion, salinity intrusion, and floods have negative impacts on people’s lives by reducing their livelihood options. Twelve in-depth interviews (Livelihood Histories) and twelve Focus Group Discussions (FGD) based on two Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools (Village Timeline and Contextual Change) were carried out in three different sites in coastal Bangladesh were conducted under the study. Our study finds that when there are insufficient adaptation strategies to environmental stressors, many people turn to livelihoods banned by the government. These ‘illegal livelihoods’ include using fine mesh nets to collect shrimp fry in the rivers as well as logging in the Sundarbans. These people are often the poorestand vulnerable, and law enforcement only exacerbate their vulnerability. We end by concluding those that have turned to ‘illegal livelihoods’ as a result of detrimental environmental stressors should be viewed as a special category of vulnerable people by policymakers, and steps need to be taken to ensure resilience to different environmental stressors.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Climate and DevelopmentISSN
1756-5529Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Department affiliated with
- Global Health and Infection Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-03-07First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-03-05First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-03-06Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedLicence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC