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Rural poverty in Bangladesh Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking third after India and China in the extent of poverty. The population is predominantly rural, with about 85 per cent of its 135 million people living in rural areas. For their livelihoods rural people depend mainly on the land, which is both fertile and extremely vulnerable. Most of the country is made up of flood plain, and while the alluvial soil provides good arable land, large areas are at risk because of frequent floods and cyclones, which take lives and destroy crops, livestock and property. Since the 1990s the country has made good progress towards reducing the incidence of poverty, achieving a 1 per cent drop in the proportion of people living below the poverty line every year. Estimates of rural poverty rates now stand between 53 per cent and 43.6 per cent. In general the depth and severity of poverty has been reduced more successfully in rural zones than in urban areas, although rural zones still lag far behind urban areas in terms of development. Who are the rural poor? About 20 per cent of rural households live in extreme poverty. Chronically poor people suffer persistent food insecurity, own no cultivable land or assets, are often illiterate and may also suffer serious illnesses or disabilities. Another 29 per cent of the rural population is considered moderately poor. They may own a small plot of land and some livestock, but while they generally have enough to eat, their diets lack protein and other nutritional elements. This segment of the rural population is at risk of sliding deeper into poverty as a result of health problems or natural disasters. Injury or crop failure caused by unexpected and severe weather conditions frequently ruins the livelihoods and the hopes of many Bangladeshis. Small-scale farmers may subsist at either of these levels of poverty. Their livelihoods are precarious, both because of the seasonal nature of farm income and because natural disasters such as floods and drought may periodically destroy their crops and animals. Women are among the poorest of the rural poor, especially when they are the sole heads of their households, such as widows or wives of men who have migrated in search of employment. They suffer discrimination because of their gender, they have scarce income-earning opportunities and their nutritional intake is often inadequate. Among extremely poor people, there is a disproportionate number of households headed by women. Fishing communities are also among the poorest and most disadvantaged groups in the country. Where are they? Aside from hilly areas in the extreme north-east and south-east, Bangladesh is made up entirely of low-lying deltaic flood plain. Poverty is concentrated in three areas: the north-west, which is prone to drought and river erosion; the centre-north, which is subject to severe seasonal flooding that limits crop production; and the southern coastal zones, which are affected by soil salinity. The direct link between chronic poverty and unfavourable agricultural environments is becoming increasingly apparent, partly as the result of difficult climatic conditions and partly as a consequence of mismanagement of natural resources and the enormous population pressure on the land. Why are they poor? One of the main causes of rural poverty in Bangladesh is the erratic and extreme climate and the fact that a large proportion of the country is low-lying and vulnerable to flooding. Many of Bangladesh 's rural poor people live in areas subject to extreme annual flooding, which can destroy their crops, homes and livelihoods. They often have to resort to moneylenders in order to rebuild their lives, which pushes them deeper into poverty. For the large numbers of rural poor people whose subsistence depends on agriculture, income and food security are highly precarious. Many farmers eke out a livelihood on small and fragmented plots. For those who are landless or almost landless, the situation is even more severe. Almost half of the population falls into this category. Another root cause of rural poverty has been the enormous population growth and the pressure this has placed on the environment, unleashing problems such as erosion and flooding that in turn aggravate the situation of rural poor people. Bangladesh has made progress in developing rural infrastructure, but much remains to be done. Many poor people living in remote areas lack services such as education, health clinics and adequate roads, particularly road links to markets. Only 19 per cent of rural households have electricity.
Source: IFAD |
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