Adaptation of Livelihood to Drought, Bangladesh
A Study in Niamatpur Upazila, Naogaon, Bangladesh
1. Introduction
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| Location Map of Naogaon District Keywords: Drought, Disaster, Adaptation, Groundwater, Bangladesh |
2. Study Area
Critical Dry Periods in Niamatpur Upazila
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| Pre-kharif drought prone areas in Naogaon district (Data Source: BARC, 2011) |
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Kharif drought prone areas in Naogaon district (Data Source: BARC, 2011) |
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| Rabi drought-prone areas in Naogaon district (Data Source: BARC, 2011) |
3. Methodology
The following diagram shows the activity of this research:
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| The activity of this research, Drought |
4. Results and Findings
Water Crisis in the Study Area
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| Base map showing the location of Gonpur village (Data Source: Google Earth) |
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| Rainfall variability in Niamatpur Upazila (Data Source: BMDA) |
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| The Rainfall measurements report |
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| Some photos from Gonpur village, Niamatpur show the crisis of water (Source: Field Survey) |
Groundwater Decline and Depletion in the Study Area
- drying up of wells
- reduction of water in streams and lakes
- deterioration of water quality
- increased pumping costs
- land subsidence
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| Depletion
of groundwater in Niamatpur Upazila (Data source: BMDA) The figure above shows the yearly and monthly depletion of groundwater in Niamatpur Upazila. Data from the table above shows that the groundwater in Niamatpur Upazila is decreasing by about one to three feet per year. This is causing a water crisis in this Upazila which is extreme in Gonpur village. Mostly agriculture and livelihood of the people in these areas are totally out of sufficient water supply. Lake of irrigation causes a decrease in agricultural production, unemployment problem, migration of people towards urban areas and also effects on local biodiversity. |
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| Meeting with DAE authority, Niamatpur, Nawgaon |
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Yearly
depletion of groundwater in Niamatpur Upazila (Data source: BMDA)Agricultural production in NiamatpurAs an extreme drought-prone area, the production of agriculture is not much like in other areas of Bangladesh. The Department of agricultural extension in Niamatpur Upazila is trying to increase the production of agriculture in this area by modifying the crop calender.  General information about agricultural sector in Niamatpur upazila (Source: DAE, Niamatpur upazila) Department of agricultural extension (DAE) of Niamatpur Upazila is motivating the local farmers to cultivate less water consume crops such as wheat, mustard, lentil etc. as these are produced as a short duration crops without huge amount of irrigation and have the the maximum productive capacity. DAE is also assisting the local farmers by giving themselves seeds and fartilizers in drought periods. Production of Aus riceThe production of Aus rice is increasing in Niamatpur Upazila as a short-duration crop. DAE authority is motivating the local farmers to cultivate this crop. The production of Aus rice in 2019-2020 was 9955 tons which is the highest cultivation of Aus rice in Niamatpur in the last decade.  Aus rice production
in Niamatpur upazila (Source: DAE, Niamatpur upazila) Production of Aman riceThe highest production of crops in Niamatpur Upazila is Aman rice. As a drought-prone area the cultivation of aman rice profitable crop. DAE in Niamatpur assist the local farmers to cultivate the aman crops. They provide training to the local farmers and sometimes also provide seeds and fertilizers.  Aman
rice production in Niamatpur upazila (Source: DAE, Niamatpur upazila) Production of Boro riceThough local farmers in Niamatpur are keen to cultivate Boro crops, DAE tries to demotivate the local farmers to cultivate boro crops as this is a high amount of water consumed crop and it takes more time to cultivate which is a less profitable crop.  Boro rice production in Niamatpur upazila (Source: DAE, Niamatpur upazila) Production of Mustard and WheatBoth mustard and wheat are profitable crops in drought-prone areas like Niamatpur. DAE motivates the local farmers to cultivate these Robi crops as these need less water and have good productivity. Each year DAE is trying to increase the cropland of wheat and mustard.  Mustard
and Wheat production in Niamatpur upazila (Source: DAE, Niamatpur upazila)
Table: Yearly production (ton) of Boro, Aus, Aman, Mustard and Wheat in Niamatpur upazila (Source: DAE, Niamatpur upazila) The figure above is indicating that the highest agricultural production in Niamatpur Upazila is Aman which is about 44% of total production. But in Rabi season when there is a scarcity of rainwater, mustard and wheat are the only crops to grow in this region.  Mustard
and wheat cultivation in Gonpur village, Niamatpur (Source: Field Survey) 5. Effects of drought on livelihood in the study areaFlood security: Effect
of drought on food security (Source: Field Survey) The figure above shows the effect of the water crisis on food security. The survey was conducted on 18 different houses beside the road located in Gonpur. Here we can see that around 33% of people do not accept the concept of food shortage due to drought. On the other hand, 17% of people accept that there is a very high risk of food security due to drought. Around 39% of people believe that a medium type of food crisis can occur due to drought. Unemployment:In the graph below we can see that almost 78% of people accept that the unemployment rate rises due to drought whereas 22% of people think that drought causes the unemployment rate but its effect is a little bit lesser. Almost 100% of people accept that drought has a high impact on the unemployment rate.  Unemployment rate and its relation to drought (Source: Field Survey) Migration of People:The focus group discussions indicated the importance of migration as a response to drought and expectations of drought. The people tend to prefer temporary or seasonal migration, typically migrating for 2–3 months each year due to the unavailability of work during the off-season. One exception is that many young adults prefer to migrate permanently to the capital city of Dhaka. The seasonal calendar indicates that migration out from the area is high from September to December, especially in December when there are few agriculture-related tasks to do. People move to other areas to work at jobs such as rickshaw pulling, masonry construction, and garment making. They return in January for harvesting. Regarding April and May, the people who migrate (mostly adult males) tend to leave during the “summer” when there is a water shortage and then they return once the monsoon starts.  Effect of drought on migration (Source: Field Survey) The household survey indicated that approximately 45% of the population migrate to nearby cities, namely Rajshahi or Naogaon, when cultivation stops. About 36% remain behind to tend to livestock, with the others involved mainly in household activities. The social impacts of drought are ways that drought affects people’s health and safety. Social impacts include public safety, health, conflicts between people when there isn't enough water to go around, and changes in lifestyle. Examples of social impacts include:
Effects of drought on the Environment in the study areaIn the figure below it can be observed how drought can impact environmental changes in a particular area. Analyzing this graph it can be said that most people agreed that drought or rainfall crisis is responsible for the growing temperature in that particular area. They also realize that some other environmental problems like forest degradation, pasture degradation, water scarcity and groundwater decline and wildlife damage are also caused by droughts.  Environmental changes caused by drought. (Source: Field Survey) Adaptation of Livelihood to DroughtMost animals are well adapted to their biotic and abiotic conditions due to behavioural, physiological or structural adaptations that increase their chances of survival and reproduction. An adaptation is a characteristic of an organism that improves its chances of surviving and/or reproducing. Organisms are generally well adapted to the abiotic and biotic conditions of the environment in which they live. An organism’s adaptations are a result of the genes the organism inherits from its parents. The proportion of well-adapted organisms in a population can increase over the generations by the process of evolution by natural selection. There are three different types of adaptations:
Adaptation practices by local farmersFrom the field survey data, it is found that the scenario of agricultural adaptation policy by the farmers during drought season. Here it can be seen that farmers usually do not want to change their crop calendar, even though most of them do not want to migrate to the less water-consuming crops. But, many farmers want to keep the land unsown if they predict that there is a possibility of drought. Some of them show interest in using deep tube wells or sprinklers to manage the irrigation. Most of the farmers are careless about the wastage of water and water preservation systems to avoid drought situations. Local people have developed behavioural & physiological adaptations. They do not want to change their lifestyle, they believe in their faith. Most of the people in the study area are indigenous people. Most of the farmers have land and they try to produce their crops natural. The farmers do not have huge money to have a deep tube well but some farmers recently tried to install a dug-well in order to reserve water so that they can utilize this source of water to produce crops. In the dry season, many of them take a short time migration in order to earn money to survive their life. They also take a loan when they do not earn money in the dry season, in this regard NGOs help a lot of the people of this region. As well as some incidence also occurs due to NGO’s load. Farmers expect that after harvesting crops loans will be paid, but many of them can not reach the target, and they are unable to release from a loan. NGOs authority creates artificial pressure on them, and they fail to pay loans. Even some farmers take extreme decisions to kill themselves due to the extra pressure of loans. It happens when extreme drought in the area.  Agricultural adaptations used to mitigate drought impacts (Source: Field Survey) Initiatives by local administrationThe local administration has taken various initiatives to reduce the impacts of drought and to increase agricultural production in Gonpur, Niamatpur Upazila. The construction of a dug well for drinking water and limited cultivation of vegetables is one of the initiatives taken by Barendra Multipurpose Development Authority in Niamatpur Upazila. Gonpur village has one of those dug well.  Interview with Local Farmers, Gonpur, Niamatpur Barendra is a special soil zone among the soils of Bangladesh. As in other regions, the groundwater level in the region is not quite up to par. In the Barendra region, the groundwater level is so poor that it is not possible to lift it by deep tube wells or shallow tube wells, but in these areas, water is dug in the wells when dug wells. By harvesting the water deposited in wells, it is possible to cultivate such crops with low irrigation, including food, water and household use. To obtain satisfactory water it is necessary to dig up to forty-six inches in diameter to one hundred twenty / thirty feet deep. In this area, indigenous people are unable to produce such leaves and they live very hard and cannot produce any crops on their land. It is very difficult to lift water using a rope bucket from the very bottom of the well. To overcome this problem, measures have been taken to extract water using solar panels. Solar panels are shaped by some funnels, without the use of conventional long rows, with some funnel shapes, so that rainwater will fall into the well. This is a special quote from the Honorable Minister. The water deposited in dug-well is deposited in a tank mounted on a well using a submersible solar pump. The water deposited in the tank is collected by the PVC pipeline from tap installed near the dug-well for public drinking and household work, and irrigated water is used directly from the outlet and through the ribbon pipe by constructing the pipette line on the cultivated land and placing the faucets/outlets at different locations. Six dug-well activities excavated by the Barendra Multipurpose Development Authority are currently being conducted with the help of a solar pump. The beneficiaries drink the water of the dug-well as food for water and use it for household purposes as well as irrigation crops such as potatoes, potatoes, onions, chillies, garlic, sweet pumpkin, rice pumpkin, mushrooms, eggplant, beans, beans, legumes and lentils. Farming is beneficial. Rainwater is being conserved and the production of crops that require very little water is being used financially, which does no harm to the environment. Meanwhile, on August 7, 2019, a project titled "Production of short irrigation crops by the excavation of dug-well in Barendra area" was approved. The main purpose of the project is to produce short irrigation crops by water harvested by dug-well excavation and supply water to household work including food and water. Under this project, four places in the Barendra area of Rajshahi Division are in Chapai-Nawabganj district (Chapai-Nawabganj Sadar, Gomstapur and Nachol) and 1 in Naogaon district (Niamatpur, Mahadebpur, Patnitla, Dhamu, Jhapa, Tazu, Jhapa, Khata, Jhapa, Jhapa, Jhunjhunj and Tazu). It will be possible to supply water to households for irrigation crops, including food and households.  Meeting with BMDA authority, Niamatpur  Dug-well in Gonpor village, Niamatpur Upazila (Source: Field Survey) Recent initiatives by local authorities
6. Conclusion and RecommendationConclusionAnthropogenic factors and climatic conditions mutually reinforce the chronic livelihoods vulnerability of the drought-prone Niamatpur area in Bangladesh. Droughts strike regularly; however, it is the limited local capabilities and capacities and the lack of entrance to different forms of assets which make the livelihoods of people vulnerable. 7. RecommendationTo reduce increasing vulnerability to affected people, successful local adaptation should be taken and it requires multiple pathways with interrelated, well-planned short and long-term measures, including: a) Adjustment of existing agricultural practices – such as the introduction of drought-tolerant crop varieties, adjustment of cropping patterns, better storage of fodder and seeds, dry seedbeds, and alternative crop cultivation; b) Physical adaptive measures – for example, excavation, re-excavation of minibonds, canals, and storage facilities for preserving rainwater; c) Strengthening local initiatives – such as self-help programs, awareness raising and capacity building for local people; d) Adjusting socio-economic actions – such as market facilitation, livelihood diversification, integration of indigenous knowledge, and small-scale cottage industries; e) Strengthening formal institutional capacities – such as local financial institutions and disaster management committees; f) Formulating a strategy to catalyze the development of adaptive livelihood opportunities;g) Supporting better research activities– such as the invention of new drought-tolerant crop varieties or improved existing crop varieties, and other adaptive and conducive technologies. h) Creating advocacy and awareness on climate change. For the long-term sustainability of any type of intervention, the linkages between mainstream development and climate change adaptation need to be ensured, an enabling organizational environment must be established as well as coordination among local people, stack holders and related organizations must be needed. The fundamental requirement of long-term livelihood adaptation is communication and field operations activities, coordination of agency planning, and the activities of government agencies and departments, GO agencies, NGOs and farmers. -Thank You- |
