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Socioeconomic Profile Findings Figure 15: Land Ownership by Sex of Household Head % of Households Own 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Land Ownership M ean land area (in decim al) is show n on the top of the bar 139 9 19 51 145 Female Male Sex of Household Head Ag. Land Homestead Pond Land ownership patterns also vary by region. Chittagong Hill Tracts and Drought zone households typically own larger areas of land (more than 170 decimals each compared to average land holders between 123 and 154 decimals in the other four zones). CHT and drought-prone households also hold substantially more land for other purposes beyond cultivation. Land is relatively less productive in drought-prone areas, requiring households to have larger areas of land to make a living. Although CHT households own relatively large areas of land, the value of land in CHT is substantially lower compared to all other regions. In a land hungry country, where rural families depend on agricultural production on cultivable land as the major source of their livelihoods, the CHT represents a magnification of the problem of the struggle over land. Although the scarcity of land is not as acute as elsewhere, land access has been severely exacerbated by the pressures of a growing population compounded by the settlement of plains-lands people from other parts of the country. Thousands of hectares of land historically belonging to the hill peoples have been taken by settlers. In addition, the government has gradually taken up lands traditionally under jum cultivation – also known as swidden, shifting, rotational, or ‘slash and burn’ agriculture – to turn into reserve forests. Much of the land classified as ‘agricultural land’ in Table 22 is undoubtedly used in the CHT as jum cultivation. The pressures on land during the past two to three decades have forced jum farmers to reduce the fallow period, which is crucial in order to maintain land productivity, from the traditional time period of 10 to 12 years to three years on average today, thereby severely affecting the fertility of the soil. 3 FINANCIAL CAPITAL The microfinance "revolution" in Bangladesh has been based upon the premise that household poverty and livelihood vulnerability is, in large part, due to lack of access to financial capital. The recent bestowal of the Nobel Peace Price to Mohammed Yunus for his pioneering work in promoting microfinance opportunities for poor women and poor households illustrates most profoundly the worldwide recognition that well targeted income generating opportunities can provide an engine toward development and poverty alleviation. 14 16
Socioeconomic Profiles of WFP Operational Areas and Beneficiaries This section will discuss household ability to save and use credit toward building productive livelihoods strategy. 3.1 SAVINGS Approximately 35 percent of the households in the study population save. Survey results indicate that savings increase according to household socioeconomic status. Approximately half of the non-vulnerable households regularly save, whereas only a quarter of the invisible poor reported regular savings. Saving behaviour varies significantly across regions; households living in the Northwest save most (46 percent) while the lowest proportion of households able to save are located in the Haor region (26 percent). The proportion of female-headed households able to save is significantly lower (21.5 percent) than their maleheaded counterparts (36 percent). Figure 16: Household Savings by Socioeconomic Status % of household 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Yes No Does any HH member save? Non 2 3 Most Vulnerable vulnerable Households socioeconomic status The advent of the Grameen Bank and other microfinance institutions, which stipulate savings as a requirement for membership, has promoted household savings into what is becoming a widespread livelihood strategy in rural Bangladesh. Under this model, a savings account is a prerequisite for micro-credit. There are, in addition, other forms of savings available in villages, such as local formal and informal savings groups (samities) and the formal insurance savings programs. Savings is highly correlated with household membership in NGOs, CBOs or Grameen. Interestingly, more than half of all non-vulnerable households who save are also members of NGOs or the Grameen Bank. Typically member households of NGO or Grameen keep their savings in these organizations. Almost 25 percent of the vulnerable households are able to save and more than 60 percent of the non-vulnerable households reported keeping their savings in an NGO or Grameen, although almost one-third (32 percent) of the nonvulnerable households have some savings in commercial banks. Table 23: Average Household Savings by WFP Priority Zone WFP Zone CHT Coast Drought NW Char Haor Totals Mean Taka Std 4433.74 6470.87 4391.70 3520.60 2934.18 3802.50 3709.28 Deviation 9121.21 13529.71 9584.14 8036.49 5057.94 9454.91 8328.68 52
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RURAL BANGLADESH SOCIO-ECONOMIC PRO
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This socioeconomic
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Bibliography 97-99 TABLES & FIGURES
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Table 51 Dietary Diversity by House
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PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal P
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♦ ♦ ♦ Household survey of 2,7
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households, who farmed on seven tim
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Water & Sanitation: Up to 97% of ru
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RECOMMENDATIONS The following recom
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