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Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience and Hazards pp 345–368Cite as

Livelihood Diversification as a Climate Change Coping Strategy Adopted by Small-Scale Fishers of Bangladesh

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Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

Coastal areas and wetlands are on the frontline of climate change and variability in Bangladesh. Small-scale coastal and floodplain fishers continually face a host of cross-scale stressors, some induced by climate change. This research is based on 21-month long field study carried out in two coastal and floodplain fishing villages represented by two distinct ethnic groups. Adopting nuanced people-centered ethnographic approach of field research, this study examines the ways small-scale fishers address the arrays of stressors in order to construct and reconstruct their livelihoods. Findings of our study highlight fishers’ capability to plan and construct creative livelihood strategies and their adaptability in the face of stresses. We observed that fisher’s coping strategies comprise a fluid combination of complex overlapping set of actions that they undertake based on their capabilities, socio-cultural embeddedness, and experiential learning under different adverse situations. Broadly, the coping strategies embody under economic, physiological, social, survival, institutional and religiosity-psychological factors. In this article, considering its predominant roles, only economic dimensions of coping actions that fishers undertake under unusual and abnormal stresses for survival and well-being are analyzed.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    From literature, we get a similar picture of cow ranching known as habbanae in rural Cameroon which is based on social reciprocity. The habbanae is the loan of an animal (e.g., a heifer) from a herdsman to another. The receiver keeps the animal for a given period of time throughout which he can hold it in usufruct (e.g., a heifer’s milk and calves). Afterward, the animal is returned to the provider, who may then enjoy a new habbanae in return. This system of gift giving––based on habbanae as a common norm of reciprocity––is a device for herdsmen to build and maintain social relationships and, incidentally, to protect themselves from exposure to natural disasters (dryness, epizootics, etc.) by dispersing part of their herds and asking members of their network for help as needed (synthesized from Ballet et al. 2007).

  2. 2.

    Floodplain fishers adapted well to the banned mono-filament ‘current nets’ given their low price, poor regulatory measures and easy availability in the market. Similarly owners of larger marine set bag nets convert their nets to suit in the shallow coastal waters during bad weather periods through further reducing mesh sizes at the cod end.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the individuals of the fishing villages for their active participation in the research. We are thankful to the editor and reviewers for their valuable insights.

We are also grateful for the support received through SSHRC and CBRM project of Dr. Fikret Berkes, University of Manitoba, Canada.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Strategic Policy and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Environmental Stewardship Division, Department of Sustainable Development, Government of Manitoba, 123 Main Street, 2nd floor, Suite 160, Box 30, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3C 1A5, Canada

    Apurba Krishna Deb

  2. Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, 319 Sinnott Building, 70 Dysart Rd, Winnipeg, R3T 3X8, MB, Canada

    C. Emdad Haque

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  1. Apurba Krishna Deb
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  2. C. Emdad Haque
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Correspondence to Apurba Krishna Deb .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science, Research and Transfer Center, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Food and Tourism Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Haruna Musa

  3. Manchester, United Kingdom

    Gina Cavan

  4. Geography & Environmental Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Paul O'Hare

  5. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal

    Julia Seixas

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Deb, A.K., Haque, C.E. (2016). Livelihood Diversification as a Climate Change Coping Strategy Adopted by Small-Scale Fishers of Bangladesh. In: Leal Filho, W., Musa, H., Cavan, G., O'Hare, P., Seixas, J. (eds) Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience and Hazards. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39880-8_21

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