Cinderella and the Missing Slipper: Gender Dynamics in Water Management in the Coastal Region of Bangladesh

The water world is socially constructed, reflecting continuous gender inequalities and discrimination by those who hold dominant perspectives on water. This qualitative study was conducted in coastal areas of Bangladesh i.e. Bajua and Laodob union of Dacope upazilla of Khulna district. This study explored the gendered roles, responsibilities, and inequalities of access to and control over water management in the household, irrigation and agriculture. Results of this study lightened the importance of taking into account the complexity of power and negotiation in local water structures within women’s social realities. This study observed that there are considerable gender imbalance with regard to household activities, income generating activities, participation and mobility, ownership and control of resources, decision making power and involvement in different activities in the water management. The distinct roles and the relations between men and women may give rise to gender inequalities where one group is systematically favored and holds advantages over another. Therefore, gender mainstreaming in the water management is an integral dimension to bringing to light the concerns and experiences of both men and women. The study is convinced that dissemination of information with regards to the role of women in the water management and benefits of a gendered approach in the water sector has been neglected. There were inadequate research materials, especially locally in relation to gender, water management and women empowerment, indicating that there either has been not much research conducted to explore the top or there has been no proper documentation of research papers pertaining to the same. Possible areas of further research may include evaluating the gender mainstreaming strategies in the water and agriculture management in the southwest coastal regions of Bangladesh. If strategies are there and people are enlightened, where is the missing link? Lastly, further research is needed to focus on how women knowledge in water management can be translated to community and national benefits

Coastal Water: Wisdom, Destruction, Conflicts and Contestation – A Case of Southwest Coastal Region of Bangladesh

The coastal zone of Bangladesh is full of opportunities and vulnerabilities. Water is the central source of these opportunities and vulnerabilities. Seawater, river water, canal water, floodplain water, wetlands water, pond water is the dominant source of livelihoods of coastal people. The propel of the coastal economy is dependent on this water. But salinity alone creates vulnerability of the economy and people dependent on this water. Tidal surge, storm surge, drainage congestion, waterlogging, saline water aquaculture are the driving forces of water crises. Water crises are the unsolved issues ever despite large scale interventions. A shortage of freshwater suffers coastal people ever in regards to crop production, drinking water, health, aquaculture, and so on. Uncertainties driven by cyclones, river erosion, outsiders’ interventions-led consequences are the big challenges of the coastal zone in managing water. Coastal people are challenging, resilient, adaptive, and strong in contestations in managing water resources for their livelihoods. They exploit the opportunities using their ability of reconstruction

SOLARENERGY FUELS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS: CASE STUDY OF SOUTHWEST COASTAL REGION OF BANGLADESH

Electrification is one of the most crucial factors to ensure social and economic growth in Bangladesh. Being in a developing country, people from various districts of Bangladesh have been experiencing electricity crisis due to the increasing daily demand for power, which outweighs the supply of on-grid electricity. It is noted that about 30 percent of 160 million people, majority living in the rural areas are out of electricity connection in Bangladesh. Consequently, the shortage of energy hampers socioeconomic development and lowers living standards of people. Since, non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels and natural gas, the primary sources of energy production in Bangladesh, are limited, usage of renewable energy technology such as solar energy efficiently can satisfy the rising energy demand and in turn improve the existing energy shortage situation. This study found that Bangladesh has been implementing Solar Home System (SHS) programs that contribute in achieving the target to reach electricity to its every citizen by 2020. As of June 2017 a total of 262,515 households do have solar home systems from which an estimated 1.6 million people are benefitted. This article is written based on a research conducted in the districts of southwest coastal region of Bangladesh where a total of 5.1 million people live of which on an average 42.6 percent are poor and 24.9 percent are extreme poor. In-depth interviews, group discussions, key informant interviews, and household survey were used for collection of data to explore the impacts of SHS on the livelihoods of coastal people of Bangladesh. This research found that impacts of Solar Home System services are both immediate and long-term oriented. SHS program contributes enriching all kinds of livelihoods assets such as human, social, financial and physical of the SHS customers. The poor and extreme poor people of climate vulnerable villages of southwest coastal region of Bangladesh are benefited in different ways from SHS programs such as save daily expenditures for kerosene, doing income generating activities in evening hours by both male and female members of family, children sit for study regularly, women feel safety from lightening of house, they can charge cell phone, they have access to weather forecasting, their social status upgraded, and they save money because they do not need to pay bill for electricity. The SHS is one time investment and they customer can pay for SHS package in installments. As the SHS program approach is environment and poor people friendly, its impacts on livelihoods are found sustainable

International journal of midwifery and nursing practice volume 3 no 1 2020

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International journal of midwifery and nursing practice volume 3 no 2 2020

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Local knowledge and practices can help in drought prediction and extreme weather management

448-453Local knowledge and practices can help people in drought prediction and extreme weather management. The study was carried out to elicit and document local knowledge use in drought prediction and weather extremes management. Focus group discussions were used for this study. The appearance of certain insects, birds, animals and indication of weather are all seen as important signals of change with respect to timing and seasonality of natural phenomena that are well understood in traditional knowledge systems. The lying of pigeon on the ground by spreading its feathers is considered as the sign of drought. The sound of wild cat with dhul was also indicates the notice of drought. If the west sky appeared with bright red colour during sunset, that also warn the drought. Termites den and mound in dry soil was thought as the hint of immense drought and termites den and mound in wet soil was looked as the indication of immediate rainfall. People from Hindu families organized frog’s marriage to end drought. They find that local knowledge and practices are very much useful in drought prediction and management

Water Pollution and the Textile Industry in Bangladesh: Flawed Corporate Practices or Restrictive Opportunities?

The textile industry in Bangladesh has been a great engine for boosting economic growth in the country. However, with great success came environmental deterioration. Untreated effluents containing heavy metals are being released into rivers from nearby factories, affecting the health of people who live along the polluted rivers. The existing law in Bangladesh, requiring such factories to install an effluent treatment plant (ETP), has not been effective in reducing environmental noncompliance. This paper aims to investigate the reality of the situation that the textile industry faces regarding environmental compliance. It is based on primary data collected from textile factories in Dhaka through a questionnaire survey with complementary interviews. This study especially highlights the barriers and difficulties faced by factories in the installation and operation of ETPs. The results confirm previous findings: Low willingness of companies to meet environmental compliance requirements and inadequate monitoring and enforcement by government authorities. In addition, we reveal that the dominant barriers to ETP installation are at the purchase stage, rather than the construction stage: ETPs are unavailable in local markets and the import tax is high. Institutional arrangements are required to improve this situation; this could include establishing a subsidy scheme that would encourage voluntary construction of central ETPs. We suggest that external pressure is essential for Bangladesh to change and the external bodies exerting such pressure should have objective measures by which to judge compliance; the quality of river water might be the only reliable measure of environmental compliance in this situation

Hydro-meteorological trends in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh : perspectives of climate change and human interventions

Cyclone, storm surge induced flooding, riverine coastal flooding, salinity intrusion and coastal erosion are the main climate and hydrologic hazards in the area. This study investigates long-term trends in temperature, rainfall, sunshine, humidity and tidal water level in the Khulna region. Results reveal that the temperature is increasing at a significant rate, particularly in recent years. The sunshine duration is decreasing while humidity is increasing. Rainfall is increasing in terms of magnitude and number of rainy days. Human interventions through upstream diversion and coastal polders have contributed more in hydro-morphological changes in the southwest than climate change