Impacts of Flood and Riverbank Erosion on Human Livelihoods: A Case Study of Some Riverside Villages in the Lower Ayeyarwady

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how people adapt themselves to the effects of natural disasters. The study mainly focuses on people in Parhlei, Tarwa, Konsu, Innmalay, Innmagyi, Chaunggyi and Kanchaung villages on the eastern bank of the Ayeyarwady River, affected by flood and riverbank erosion. The study tries to make a link between people’s livelihood and lifestyle pattern change in pre-flood, during flood and post-flood conditions and also observe how they utilize their land after floods. To analyze the data, mixed methods are applied, utilizing primary as well as secondary sources, based on survey questionnaire and interviews. It is found that those living on the banks experience positive effects from the floods as they have alluvial residues that are deposited by the floods. People who live far from the banks were found not to benefit from the floods. People suffer from a temporary loss of agricultural land, but they grow paddy on the fertile land in summer which yields better productivity to compensate for the poor yields in the rainy season. The study also measures the socio-economic conditions of the local people living in the affected areas. Suggestions are made to the authorities concerned to raise the height of the revetment by at least five or more feet and to stop business people from producing construction materials like sand, gravel and pebbles from the riverbank by means of sucking machines.