Poverty and Development

Lifting people out of poverty requires knowing who is actually poor, where and how the poor households of our society live (Banerjee and Duflo 2012; Ravallion 2016). Selection criteria for identifying those poor households should, therefore, be mentioned clearly as the targeting indicators. Practised indicators for selecting project participants is then used to check the homogeneity of the targeted households.   To understand the dynamics of poverty, it is important to understand the different dimensions and definitions of poverty and its measurement techniques (World Bank 2001). Poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon ( Narayan and Petesch, 2002 ,  Osmani et al., 2015 ) – it has no single reason. Gordon (2002) defined poverty as follows: “Poverty has various appearances, including lack of income and productive resources; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services …… homelessness; unsafe environment and social discrimination

Research and policy both recognize that Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change. Bangladesh faces a variety of climate-related hazards because of its geographical position and the low-lying topography. Tropical cyclones with storm surges, saline water intrusion into freshwater ecosystems, droughts, floods, sea-level rise, and unfavorable conditions for fishing and agriculture are some of the common climatic hazards in Bangladesh with other social challenges. In terms of local-level organizations, it is the microfinance providers that have the widest network involved with 60% people. The objective of this presentation is to understand the contributions of microfinance organizations to reducing vulnerability to climate change in Bangladesh. For this research, one national-level and one local-level microfinance organization working in disaster-prone areas of coastal areas in southern Bangladesh were studied as case studies. Data were collected through interviews, focus gr

Geographers have long analysed livelihoods as a means to understand vulnerability to environmental change (Bohle et al., 1994; Dow, 1992; Downing, 1991; Cutter, 1996; Liverman, 1990 and Wisner et.al., 2004). A livelihoods approach, based on assessing five kinds of capitals, helps to explain social vulnerability – that is, why people living exposed to similar types of environmental changes have different levels of vulnerability. Nevertheless, while assessing vulnerability through indicators of capital helps to identify the relative vulnerability of households or groups, it often fails to capture the social drivers of this vulnerability. Knowing that people are vulnerable is not the same as knowing  why  they are vulnerable. Social context matters, and needs to be understood if livelihoods analysis is to be used as a basis for policies and programmes that aim to help to build sustainable livelihoods and reduce vulnerability to environmental change.  This paper reports on a resear

Abstract Microfinance Organisations (MFOs) are working with more than 175 million families around the world. In theory, they can be instrumental in reducing social vulnerability to climate change, yet their effect on social vulnerability to climate change has not been well demonstrated. This study aims to explore the role that MFOs play in reducing social vulnerability to climate change in Bangladesh, a country that not only pioneered microfinance but also is one of the most vulnerable to climate change. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through interviews with 60 households across four villages in a disaster-prone coastal area in south-western Bangladesh, along with observations and interviews with key informants. The quantitative data was used to develop a social vulnerability index based on an assessment of livelihood capitals (human, physical, natural, financial, and social), which was compared with different levels of membership with microfinance organisations

The interview was given on many development aspects of Bangladesh in  Maasranga Ranga Shokal  program, The program was aired on May 11, 2018 in Maasranga TV Channel.  It can be accessed by clicking the following link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyY5r4SXHpc

One in eleven people in the world lives under $1.90 a day. In that context, there were 767 million poor people in the world in 2013 . Considering the importance of poverty reduction, the United Nations targeted ending poverty as the number one goal out of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Many countries and development partners aim to fight against poverty in all its dimensions, putting poverty reduction as their central goal. Despite notable achievements in reducing poverty, Bangladesh is still the home of 40 million poor people. A person with inadequate income for meeting his/her basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter and other necessities is largely treated as poor. Yet, poverty is not always only associated with income. As Sen(2001) has reiterated that poverty needs to be examined from the perspective of deprivation of basic capabilities, which complicates in ensuring one's well-being. Capability deprivation is often more important than the reduction

Setting a milestone by moving onto the row of developing countries from being one of the least developing countries in the world, Bangladesh has crossed some critical impediments in the path towards its social and economic development. However, the number does not always speak for volume. There are aspects of the development process which need to be analyzed to understand how the process works. Over the time, some development moves have worked magically, some had failed drastically. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad discusses these aspects in 26 articles in his book 'Socio-Economics of Bangladesh through the Decades'. Published by Pathak Shamabesh  Dr. Akm Nuruzzaman reviews why this book might a good read. An understanding of the nature and causes of the development of a nation lies at the heart of designing its own and often global economic and social strategies. The lessons learned from the previous experiences, therefore, are important to develop further for any country. Banglad

  Cite this paper: Md. Mahmuduzzaman, Zahir Uddin Ahmed, A. K. M. Nuruzzaman, Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed, Causes of Salinity Intrusion in Coastal Belt of Bangladesh,  International Journal of Plant Research , Vol. 4 No. 4A, 2014, pp. 8-13. doi: 10.5923/s.plant.201401.02.   Copyright © 2014 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved. Abstract As Bangladesh belongs to one of the seaside countries, the adverse impact of saltwater intrusion is significant here. Salinity mainly affects land and water in the coastal areas. With the consequence of climate change, it gradually extends towards inland water and soil. This scenario of gradual salinity intrusion in the coastal area of Bangladesh is very threatening to the primary production system, coastal biodiversity and human health. The total amount of salinity affected land in Bangladesh was 83.3 million hectares in 1973, which had been increased up to 102 million hectares in 2000 and the amount has raised to 105.6

Participated in a Talk Show in ATN Bangla Television on Integrated Development for people living in a coastal island in Bangladesh. The programme was aired on the ATN Bangla TV Channel on October 8, 2016. It can be accessed by clicking the following link. http://dusbangladesh.org/videogallery/

কতটা পথ এগিয়েছে নারী  নারীকে ‘মা’ হিসেবে বিবেচনা করে প্রতিনিয়ত আমরা শ্রদ্ধায় অবনত হই। শৈশবকালে আমাদের জীবনাচরণ ‘মা’ ছাড়া অচল। বাস্তবতা হলো, পরবর্তী সময়ে ‘মা’ আস্তে আস্তে আমাদের থেকে দূরে চলে যান বা আমরা দূরে ঠেলে দিই। পরিবারের সিদ্ধান্তগ্রহণ প্রক্রিয়ায় এবং সম্পদের অভিগম্যতায় অন্যদের প্রবেশ ঘটে। আমি যে ব্যক্তি আজকে দুই কলম লিখছি, সেই মানুষটি তৈরির অন্যতম কারিগর ‘মা’। সেই মায়ের আইনগতভাবে আমার সম্পদের ওপর তেমন আর কোনো অধিকার থাকে না। আমাদের এ দেশের বেশির ভাগ নারী শৈশবে বাবার, যৌবনে স্বামীর এবং পরিণত বয়সে সন্তানের ছত্রচ্ছায়ায় জীবনপাত করে। তারা শুধু দিয়েই যায়। বাংলা ভাষায় আমরা একটি শব্দ প্রায়ই ব্যবহার করি—‘মেয়েমানুষ’; মূলত নারীকে হেয়প্রতিপন্ন করার জন্য। পুরুষ হলে পারত, নারী বলে পারছে না—এ মনোভাব সমাজে এখনো অনেক ক্ষেত্রে প্রতিষ্ঠিত। অবস্থা এ পর্যায়ে গেছে এখন সরকারকে মা-বাবার ভরণ-পোষণ নিশ্চিত করার জন্য আইন করতে হয়েছে। আমাদের বেড়ে ওঠা ও শিক্ষার ভিত্তি তৈরি হয় প্রাথমিকভাবে আমাদের পরিবারে, তারপর শিক্ষাপ্রতিষ্ঠান, আমাদের সমাজ ও সংস্কৃতিতে, যেখানে আমরা বসবাস করি। এসব প্রতিষ্ঠানের আন্ত মিথস্