Resilient Future: Women Led Sustainable Livelihoods for Coastal Fishing Community in Bangladesh

October 31, 2024

a person standing in front of a house — Glimpse of the vulnerability of the southern belt’s fishing commuity

By Ramiz Uddin, PhD, Head of Experimentation, UNDP Accelerator Lab Bangladesh; Samiha Akter Sima, Experimentation and Innovation Associate; Nawmee Jessica Hawladar, Innovation Associate- Climate Change and Environment, UNDP Accelerator Lab Bangladesh; Shanta Islam, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University.

Fish and fisheries sector hold a major disposition on the socio-economic development and cultural heritage of Bangladesh, deeply rooted in its history. The production of fishes is generated from water resources like rivers, estuaries, and vast marine water from the coastal belt of Bangladesh. Kuakata fishing settlements are situated on the west and south banks of the Bay of Bengal and its embankment that meets major supplies of protein for the nationwide demand. During the prime fishing season, around 90% of this coastal community male involve themselves in fishing and fishing related activities. In contrast, their spouses or female counterparts remain idle at home without any employment, worrying about their husband’s safety. 65 days of national fishing ban period and back-to-back maritime signals for natural calamities make their lives horrible as they face uncertainty of income. In addition, Bangladesh’s fishermen have essentially ended up in a generational debt trap (Traditionally known as ‘Dadon’), forever indebted and unable to afford necessities of life, while increasingly frequent natural disasters force them out of the sea, their only livelihood.

timeline — Fig 1: Geographical Data of the Kuakata Fishing Community (Source: Need Assessment Survey, 2023)

diagram — Fig 2: Major challenges of the fishermen community

To alter the situation, it’s imperative to include this fishing community women in household income generating activities to support the family to some extent. But women encounter certain psycho-social challenges when attempting to go fishing because of their biological constraints. Large families find it physically impossible for women to accomplish strenuous household activities when they are pregnant. In that case, women are ideal for homebased alternative livelihood activities such as- homestead gardening, raising livestock, handicraft production, and so on. UNDP Bangladesh Accelerator Lab in close collaboration with Ministry of Fisheries and livestock, Ministry of Women and Children affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and local Govt. have taken initiatives to empower such coastal vulnerable fishing community women and engage them in alternative income generating activities. These efforts aim to improve the livelihood status of those who are vulnerable to the coastal climate.

a group of people in different colors — Photo 1: Climate Vulnerable coastal community at Mombipara and Gangamoti villages (Joint survey by UNDP)

Strategies Undertaken to Change Lives of Coastal Communities

Community Profiling: At the very beginning of the experiment, we focused on community profiling of the fishing community. It helped us to identify the unique challenges, needs, and strengths of the community, providing a solid foundation for effective interventions. For instance, community profiling provided us an in-depth understanding of the Kuakata fishing community’s specific needs, dynamics, ensuring that interventions are relevant. We also become enlightened that in coastal fishing communities there are increased number of declining fish stocks, seasonal income instability, or gender-based economic disparities.

diagram, schematic — Fig 3: Dynamics of community profiling

Seasonal Calendar Mapping on Livelihood Activities: The seasonality of fish supply causes revenue changes for communities who depend on fishing. Seasonal calendar mapping makes it easier to pinpoint times of year when fishing is at its best (bringing in more money) and off-season when the community may need to find other sources of income. We identified the household economy based seasonal calendar of livelihood activities that can generate income for these fishing communities during off-fishing season or in the fishing ban period.

(High=***, Medium=**, Low= *)

Beneficiary Selection: Out of the context analysis reports that the beneficiaries have chosen for the Community Vulnerability Assessment, 40 female participants have primarily selected to provide some capacity-building training in order to make them productive for their family. The women are mainly the wives of the fishermen who are vulnerable to the climate, have no access to resources, and who does not have any institutional education.

Bridging Gaps: Capacity Development for Sustainable Livelihoods

*Conservation Initiative to Protect Mother Nature: Women are mothers; by birth, they can defend and create new things. The Fisherwomen received training on how to protect the environment, the value of women's empowerment, climate change adaptation strategies, alternative livelihoods to improve their living conditions and help reduce overfishing, household carbon emission reduction strategies, personal hygiene maintenance, appropriate food chart for babies and women to ensure a smart nation.

a group of people sitting at a table — Photo 2: Conservation initiative session

*Homestead Agriculture and Organic Fertilizer Production: The fisherwomen received instructions from a representative from the Agriculture Department on how to engage in homestead agriculture to cultivate salinity tolerant variants, pheromone traps for controlling insects, and other organic ways to treat the soil to get better production. The representative also discussed the initiatives that need to be taken when a natural disaster affects agricultural fields, such as producing organic fertilizer for their own use rather than artificial fertilizer and to sell to the local market, as well as NGO offices that are involved in market chain development. The women received knowledge and insights from NGO officials on how to make organic fertilizer using earthworms and cow dung. Through agricultural runoff, the development and usage of organic fertilizer will help lessening marine pollution.

a group of people standing on top of a cutting board with a cake — Photo 3: Beneficiaries receiving effective session on homestead agriculture and organic fertilizer production.

*Livestock Rearing Strategies: Under the direction of the Upazila Livestock Officer (VS), the women received session on how to care for household animals such as- cows, goats, pigeons, ducks, and chickens etc. They also got to know about the selection of better species, habitants’ preparation, vaccination, and communication strategies. The coastal community's immunization effort will be further coordinated with assistance from the Upazila Livestock Department. In the event of a climate calamity and during the Fishing Ban Period, the women fishermen will benefit from engaging in income-generating activities. Not only do these empower women, but also reduce the rate of malnutrition among younger population.

a group of people in a room — Photo 4: Induction on livestock rearing directed by the Livestock Officer

Knowledge Gathering on Alternative Livelihood for the Coastal Community

What we learned from the overall process is that building local collaborations, encouraging data-driven decision-making, and understanding the community profiling process can facilitate the community needs and goals. It aided in obtaining an understanding of the local context, including the difficulties the neighborhood faced, the resources on hand, and the regional culture and customs. These lessons can help us build interventions that support social fairness and inclusion while being specifically catered to the needs and goals of the community.

Recommended Interventions for Future Innovations

To support vulnerable fishing communities, particularly women, in transitioning toward more resilient and sustainable livelihoods, innovative interventions can address the unique economic, social, and environmental challenges they face. Here are some recommended interventions for future innovations:

Promote sustainable aquaculture (fish farming) and mariculture (cultivating marine species) as an alternative or supplementary livelihood. This can include shrimp farming, seaweed cultivation, and shellfish farming.
Encourage the development of value-added fish products (e.g., dried fish, fish powder, smoked fish, fish pickles) and introduce improved processing techniques for higher quality and marketability.
Develop ecotourism ventures that allow fishing communities to diversify income by showcasing their unique culture, traditional fishing methods, and coastal biodiversity.
Leverage mobile technology to connect fishers to wider markets, share real-time information on fish prices, and provide weather and navigation data to improve safety at sea.
Provide training for community members, especially women, in alternative livelihoods such as weaving, handicrafts, tailoring, or food production, offering pathways for income generation during lean fishing seasons.
Introduce climate-resilient livelihoods that are less dependent on natural resources, such as- livestock rearing, agroforestry, or renewable energy (e.g., solar power installation and maintenance).
Conduct Leadership training and capacity-building programs to empower women to take on decision-making roles in the community.

Way Forward

As the futuristic sustainable livelihood strategies, fishing community women are under the climate resilient livelihood initiatives and experimentation will be ongoing with continuous follow-up and monitoring. As a next step, we are moving forward for learning data capture and sharing the piloting results with different communities, inside and outside the lab for replication or scaling up the prime initiative.

Wholesome, inclusive, and long-lasting innovations are needed in fishing communities, particularly those that cater to women's concerns. The main goals of these interventions ought to be to diversify sources of income, increase climate change resilience, and empower women via leadership, financial inclusion, and skills development. These communities can go from being vulnerable to being resilient and sustainable by fusing traditional wisdom with contemporary technologies.