First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Almighty Allah, who gave me the opportunity to complete my dissertation. Farmers, traditional fishermen, shrimp farmers, wage laborers and Sundarban dependents are the major livelihood groups affected by the immediate storm surge flooding and long-term tidal flooding.
Introduction
Cyclones "Sidr" in 2007 and "Aila" in 2009 caused extensive damage to property and destruction of people's livelihoods. The risk of dam failure is thus accelerated by the intensity and size of the cyclone and the storm surge (have simultaneously accelerated the risk of dam failure (BWDB, 2013a).
Objective of the study
The present study is an attempt to determine biophysical hazards and vulnerability to storm surges and the relationship between physical factors and impact on food insecurity in a polder area in the southwest coast of Bangladesh.
Organization of the thesis
The chapter also includes the description of in-depth focus group discussions (FGDs), interview and other methods used in the study to assess the impacts of short-term and long-term floods. The chapter also includes assessment of associated impacts on food security for various vulnerable livelihood groups.
Introduction
Biophysical Hazards in Coastal Bangladesh
With approximately 160 million inhabitants, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world (BBS, 2016). Livelihoods in Bangladesh are largely dependent on agricultural practices, but agricultural productivity in this region is lower than the national average and this is one of them.
Cyclones and Storm Surges in Bangladesh
The storm forced a 20-foot storm surge inland over a wide area, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless. The storm caused an estimated $1.5 billion (1991 US dollars) in damage. The storm surge then caused the dike, but also entire villages, to be swept away.
Physical Features of Polder 32
Coastal Resources and Livelihoods of Different Vulnerable
Coastal Resources
Livelihoods
A huge area of farmland was suddenly flooded, and a number of shrimp were damaged by Aila's push. The main livelihood in the affected areas is fishing, with more than 60% of people directly or indirectly involved in fishing sectors.
Damage and losses due to Cyclone Aila
In the affected areas of Koyra, Dcaopa and Paikgacha, at least 90 percent of families lost their households. At least 35 percent of the forest camps in the western part of the Sundarbans were completely damaged.
Four Major Dimensions of Food Security: Theoretical
Analyzing food security
A Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) is a baseline study that provides an in-depth picture of the food security situation and household vulnerability in a given country. The analysis identifies the main causes of food insecurity and vulnerability; provides an in-depth profile of food insecure and vulnerable people and their livelihoods; provides an analysis of markets, their functioning and price trends in the country; includes an analysis of risk (hazards, natural disasters, economic shocks, etc.) and their potential impact on the most vulnerable. Within the widely accepted conceptual pillars of access, availability, utilization and stability, FAO's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis System operationally and conceptually draws together key sectors for food security analysis including agriculture, climate, markets, food and natural resources.
Each household may have many possible sources of entitlement (ie the rights, privileges and resources the household possesses and its position in the legal, political and social structure of society) (CARE, 2002).
Agriculture, climate and food security
Stability: Affects the Long Term Food Insecurity
Different hazards and more gradual changes influence the macro context and household-level assets and strategies, and thus household food security. The vulnerability dimension of food security is increasingly placed in the context of climate change. The impact on natural resources also had an impact on the dependent group of people in achieving food security.
Food security in Bangladesh is threatened by many factors, from the country's ever-increasing population density, climate change, scarce natural resources (almost zero uncultivated agricultural land), sensitivity to price shocks, and persistent poverty (WFS, 2013). ).
Livelihood Vulnerability and Food Insecurity
Key indicators of exposure to risk include the area not used for agriculture or unavailability of irrigation, which provides a measure of the extent of exposure to climate shocks such as drought, cyclonic storm surges, waterlogging. A second group of indicators captures risks or shocks that directly affect food security, such as fluctuations in food and input prices, production and supply. The number of extreme events such as droughts, floods and cyclones has increased in recent years, as has the unpredictability of weather patterns, leading to significant losses in production and lower incomes in vulnerable areas.
As the number of poor and vulnerable people living in urban slums grows, the availability of non-agricultural employment opportunities and urban dwellers' access to adequate food from the market will become increasingly important drivers of food security.
Introduction and Overview of the Study Area
Area and Geographical Location
Demographic Features
Socio-Economy
Education
Livelihood Groups
Changes in food security indicators such as household production, economic access to food, etc. Livelihood in the Kamarkhola community of the study area is mostly agriculture (crop production). Fishermen in the affected area suffered as they lost their fishing boats and nets.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) &.
Income and Expenditure
Topography
Land Type
Land type classifications presented in Table 4.5 are based on the inundation depth during the monsoon season due to normal inundation of agricultural land.
Land Use
Farming Practices
River, Canal and Drainage System
Natural Disasters
Tropical cyclones are a major threat to coastal areas, causing loss of life and livestock and serious damage to crops, fisheries and property. The most recent most destructive cyclones that hit the southwest coast under Khulna district were in 2007 (Sidr) and 2009 (Aila). At that time, the water level in the study area was 3-5 feet from the ground.
Thus, in the past 52 years, the number of cyclones hitting the coastal areas of Bangladesh has increased five times compared to the previous 57 years.
Water Management Problems and Issues in Polder 32
Food security
Introduction
Selection of the Study Area
Methodology of Inundation Mapping by PGIS Area
Preliminary field observation in the affected area
In the first phase of the study a exploratory survey was conducted in the study area to know the location, geographical features and most importantly its suitability as a study area for this specific study. It is also done to get the initial impression of the study area in order to facilitate research techniques.
Preparation of the base map
The base map was divided into a number of grids and the latitude and longitude of the grids were noted for reaching that point and for gathering information about the inundation depth and duration at those particular locations. Photo 4.2: Individual (semi-structured) interviews conducted in different locations of polder-32 with different groups of local people. The collected information corresponding to the latitude and longitude of the grid point was arranged and a tabular database was prepared using MS Excel 2013.
The shapefile of polder 32 with proper geographic coordinates and references was added as another layer as the boundary of the study area.
Validation of the Prepared Maps and Databases
Using the same procedure, colored maps of the ramp flooding for the year and 2011 were prepared, which significantly describe the depth and duration of flooding in different years. The maps were then used to link biophysical factors to losses in various sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, shrimp farming, etc.
Linking Inundation with Food Security for Different Vulnerable
Identification of vulnerable groups
Identification of breakthrough locations that are allowed, which relates the prolonged flooding shown in Figure 5.1 to the breakthrough of the polder. The situation worsened, while the abrasion at the toe of the polder accelerated and deepened the breach. After the Aila hit, the damage and the breaching of the Polder in those places was prolonged.
More specifically, they depend on the Sundarbans directly for almost half the year (from October to March). For three to four months of the year they engage in fishing in the nearby river. From the field observations, it was found that most of the houses in the study area were built of earth.
Impacts on farmers
As a result, farmers had no access to land directly due to submergence of lands during this period. Although the water began to run out in September 2010 and all agricultural land was free of water logging (with water remaining only in the natural depression areas) by mid-2011, agriculture was also not possible in 2011 by the farmers due to poor soil quality, when soils became highly saline due to prolonged saline inundation. As a result, farmers in the Kamarkhola area missed three and 2011) consecutive harvest years due to water logging followed by unfavorable soil and soil quality conditions.
Also due to less access to communication facilities as well as markets due to deterioration of all internal roads, people suffered more as they faced difficulties in finding alternative means of livelihood.
Impacts on fishermen and shrimp cultivators
But the sufferings of the shrimp farmers increased due to continued effects extending to 2 to 2.5 years of salt water inundation. The loss of shrimp production in Sutarkhali Union was 60,79,590 kg/year causing loss of income and livelihood to the dependent groups. To restart shrimp farming and freshwater fishing requires rehabilitation of the polder and sluice gates in addition to high capital investment.
Some shrimp farmers returned to arable farming in areas where shrimp farming was previously practiced; however, they achieved low rice yields compared to other agricultural lands.
Impacts on Sundarban dependent people
As employment opportunity and alternatives were lost for more than two years to prolonged flooding, this limited the scope of capital investment in shrimp dam restoration. Also the flooding of resources such as households and agricultural land for more than two years made them too poor to start any livelihood alternatives again. Since Aila damaged all their belongings, it was not possible for them and others who worked on golpata collection boats to continue their regular livelihood practices.
The local people said that some of them have already migrated to the cities in search of income opportunities.
Impacts on wage laborers
Impacts on Food Security
- Food security of farmers
- Food security of fisherman
- Food security of Sundarban dependent people
- Food security of wage laborer
The deterioration of food quality was also persistent, as they consumed food with a lower caloric value and less nutritional value. The Sundarban dependent people in the study area were mainly dependent on fishing near the Sundarbans, shrimp fry collection and golpata collection. Most households dependent on the Sundarbans, according to Aila, have been unemployed for more than a year and so.
The wage laborers of the study area mainly worked as agricultural laborers in the harvest seasons.
Synthesis of Food Security Dimensions 76
Percentage of food consumed from household
Access to food was found to be an important dimension and functional unit of food security resulting from loss of livelihood and income. Reduced access to Sundarban resources due to loss of resource bases caused Sundarban dependent people to be food insecure. Along with the Sundarban dependents, wage laborers were considered the most vulnerable in terms of gaining income to ensure access to food.
As discussed earlier, slower rehabilitation and the resulting impact on access to adequate quality drinking water and sanitation affected the utilization of food value.
Conclusions
Farmers, traditional fishermen, shrimp farmers, wage laborers and Sundarban dependent people were found to be the major livelihood groups affected by flash flood inundation (Aila) and prolonged tidal inundation. Pursuit of diversified economic activities by different livelihood groups was found to be present in the study area. As the Aila damaged all assets (fishery and golpata collection), the Sundarban dependent people suffered significant loss of livelihood.
Cropping season loss, resource access, resource quality, and resource loss appeared to be important factors linking flooding to food availability.
Recommendations
Climate Change Cell, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Component 4b, Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP), Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, Bangladesh. Dasgupta S, Kamal FA, Khan ZH, Choudhury S, Nishat A (2014) River salinity and climate change: evidence from coastal Bangladesh. Climate Change 2007: A Synthesis Report, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), WMO-UNEP, Geneva, Switzerland, p.
Participatory GIS (PGIS) as a tool for flood mapping in climate change adaptation: A case study of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.
