A people‐centred perspective on climate change, environmental stress, and livelihood resilience in Bangladesh

Ayeb-Karlsson, Sonja, van der Geest, Kees, Ahmed, Istiakh, Huq, Saleemul and Warner, Koko, (2016). A people‐centred perspective on climate change, environmental stress, and livelihood resilience in Bangladesh. Sustainability Science, 11(4), 679-694

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    Author Ayeb-Karlsson, Sonja
    van der Geest, Kees
    Ahmed, Istiakh
    Huq, Saleemul
    Warner, Koko
    Title A people‐centred perspective on climate change, environmental stress, and livelihood resilience in Bangladesh
    Appearing in Sustainability Science
    Volume 11
    Issue No. 4
    Publication Date 2016-06-11
    Place of Publication Tokyo
    Publisher Springer
    Start page 679
    End page 694
    Language eng
    Abstract The Ganges–Brahmaputra delta enables Bangladesh to sustain a dense population, but it also exposes people to natural hazards. This article presents findings from the Gibika project, which researches livelihood resilience in seven study sites across Bangladesh. This study aims to understand how people in the study sites build resilience against environmental stresses, such as cyclones, floods, riverbank erosion, and drought, and in what ways their strategies sometimes fail. The article applies a new methodology for studying people’s decision making in risk-prone environments: the personal Livelihood History interviews (N = 28). The findings show how environmental stress, shocks, and disturbances affect people’s livelihood resilience and why adaptation measures can be unsuccessful. Floods, riverbank erosion, and droughts cause damage to agricultural lands, crops, houses, and properties. People manage to adapt by modifying their agricultural practices, switching to alternative livelihoods, or using migration as an adaptive strategy. In the coastal study sites, cyclones are a severe hazard. The study reveals that when a cyclone approaches, people sometimes choose not to evacuate: they put their lives at risk to protect their livelihoods and properties. Future policy and adaptation planning must use lessons learned from people currently facing environmental stress and shocks.
    UNBIS Thesaurus BANGLADESH
    NATURAL DISASTERS
    CLIMATE CHANGE
    Keyword Adaptation
    Copyright Holder The Authors
    Copyright Year 2016
    Copyright type Creative commons
    DOI 10.1007/s11625-016-0379-z
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