GENDER ADAPTATION TO CLIMATIC VULNERABILITIES IN COASTAL REGIONS OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

Being one of the most natural disaster prone countries in the world, Bangladesh is under vulnerable condition under the current changing climate. The challenge the country is facing is to scale up its resilience and protect the lives and livelihoods of the people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable groups, including women and children. Based on the climate change challenges this paper focuses on the current vulnerability and adaptation practices of one of the most vulnerable social groups to climate change – women. Specifically the objective of the study was to identify the gender differentiated impacts and adaptation mechanisms of climate change or climate variability in the coastal areas of Bangladesh in order to identity key information necessary for policy intervention. The primary goal was to identify if there are any differences in the vulnerability and adaptation capacity of men and women in that region with regards to climatic impacts, and if there is what the possible reasons for such differences are. Various theoretical frameworks were cited and an integrated conceptual framework for analysis was formulated that looked at gender issues of climate change in Bangladesh in a holistic manner unlike previous literature in this area. The framework demonstrates that climate change impact and adaptations should be looked at community, household and individual levels. It also shows that each of these levels have their own resilience and adaptation practices derived from their socio-economic characteristics. Thus unlike other studies in this area, the sustainable livelihoods framework of five capital assets and the social capital framework of three types of social capitals were used to understand these characteristics. The framework also took a holistic view in understanding adaptation measures which were classified according to wealth status and gender into a range of groups already identified in literature. Fieldwork was conducted in three villages in the coastal region of Bangladesh for data collection. The three selected villages - Sanatankathi village in Sathkhira District, Dakshinkhali village in Bagerhat District and Rastarpaar Village in Cox’s Bazar District were selected on the basis of existing poverty and climate change literature. All three villages fall under the most hazard prone and poverty stricken areas in the coastal zone of Bangladesh. A qualitative approach was used for data collection, where three Focus Group Discussions aimed at collecting information on the different aspects of the study were conducted in each village. The study found that women’s adaptation to climate change in the coastal villages of Bangladesh is different from the traditional understanding of adaptation. While some adaptations by women have positive impacts on the household other adaptation mechanisms at the household level can have negative impacts on women. The study also highlights the importance to looking at women’s adaptation in the face of climate change in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the study provides some theoretical insights into the adaptation measures of villagers in the coastal regions of Bangladesh which previous literature on that region did not divulge in. It shows that the main difference between the adaptation mechanism of rich and poor is that rich people tend to use anticipatory measures of adaptation such as raising houses before tidal surges while poor people use reactive measures such as temporary migration for work. Based on these finding a list of recommendations for the public authorities is provided which can help improve the adaptive capacity of women in the coastal regions of Bangladesh.