RURAL BANGLADESH - PreventionWeb

Socioeconomic Profiles of WFP Operational Areas and Beneficiaries
demand for labour is highly seasonal, wage rates drop precipitously in the off-season. Many
individuals involved in casual manual labour then migrate to nearby cities for several months
of the year. Households lacking alternative forms of income other than migration face
tremendous food security crises during the slack periods resulting in high levels of structural
vulnerability.
The largest proportion (one-quarter) of households dependent on manual labour are engaged
in agricultural labour during key phases of the agricultural production cycle. Agriculture,
including farming one’s own land, sharecropping, and horticulture nurseries constitutes the
second most important primary income strategy, involving 26 percent of household heads
and 30 percent of all adults. Fifty-five percent of working age individuals therefore depend
on agriculture as their primary income strategy through agricultural production activities and
agricultural labour.
Figure 22: Primary Income Strategy by Socioeconomic Class
% of Households
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Primary Income Strategy of the Head of Household
Non Vulnerable On-the-edge Vulnerable Invisible Poor
Household Socioeconomic Class
Manual Labor Agriculture Trading/ business Govt. & Private job Skilled worker Other
Figure 22 starkly illustrates the limited livelihood or income earning opportunities facing the
invisible poor relative to other socioeconomic category households. The invisible poor are
particularly dependent on manual labour. Seven of every 10 household heads must engage
in manual or casual labour as their primary income strategy; no more than 10 percent depend
on any other livelihood strategy. Most vulnerable households (57 percent) also depend on
manual labour but appear to have a wider spectrum of livelihood options on which to rely;
18 and 14 percent of vulnerable households respectively consider agriculture and business or
trading to be their primary income-earning strategy. On-the-edge households have a
balanced livelihood strategy portfolio as do non-vulnerable households. Both types of
households, particularly the non-vulnerable (41 percent), rely on agricultural production on
their own land. More than the poorer households, non-vulnerable households continue to
remain far more dependent on agricultural production activities as their primary livelihood
strategy. Almost one-quarter of the non-vulnerable also consider business earnings to
provide the primary income source for their households; another 15 percent are employed by
the government or private sector, far more frequently than other socioeconomic groups. The
middle-income households are engaged in skilled labour, including work in the garment or
textile industries, to an extent that is not found amongst the non-vulnerable or invisible poor.
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