Disappearing Lands: Supporting

Communities Affected by River Erosion

Gaibandha

April 2004-March 2009

Our Vision

A world free of poverty and injustice

In which

technology is used to the

benefit of all.

Our Mission

Practical Action aims to eradicate

poverty in developing countries by

developing and using technology, and

by demonstrating results, Sharing

knowledge and influencing others.

Our main focus is to shift emphasis

from

Short-term relief and rehabilitation

to

Strengthening community’s capabilities

to

Better cope with disasters through

Long term mitigation measures

and

mainstreaming disasters into

development practices

MAJOR DISASTERS and CHALLANGES

IN the REGION

FLOOD

RIVER EROSION

TORNADO

SEASONAL VULNERABILITY

THE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCES

MONGA, RAISING POVERTY and FEAR OF HUNGER

?

?

http://images.google.com.bd/images

ADDITIONALLY GLOBAL WARMING

GLOBAL WARMING and MELTING GLACIERS

?

?

THE SCOPE, OPPORTUNITY

and

THE HOPES

A CASE ON RIVER ERODED COMMUNITIES

IN BANGLADESH

Project Title:

Disappearing lands: Supporting Communities

Affected by River Erosion

Project Location

North-Eastern part of Bangladesh

Project Outcomes

Outcome : 1

The capacity of communities and support

Institutions enhanced to incorporate disaster

Mitigation strategies into natural resources

Management and planning

Outcome : 2

Unemployed and low income men and

women benefit through improved income

and employment opportunities and alternative

livelihood options

Outcome: 3

Disadvantaged men, women and children

have improved access to basic services

Outcome : 4

Disadvantaged men, women and

children benefit from improved

awareness and ability to articulate their civil and political rights

Where WE are?

31 erosion prone

unions in 4 Upazila

locations in

Gaibandha District

REP Working Area in context of Gaibandha District

Sadullapur

Palashbari

Gobindaganj

Sundarganj

Sadar

Fulchari

U-13

Sh

ag

h

ata

U-15

U-17

U-12

U-2

U-4 U-3

U-1

U-5

U-10

U-7

U-9

U-6

U-29

U-21 U-31

U-28

U-20

U-23

U-

11

REP working Unions

UNION CODE

Gazaria Union U-1

Kanchipara Union U-2

Oria Union U-3

Udakhali Union U-4

Bharatkhali Union U-12

Ghuridaho Union U-13

Haldia Union U-14

Jumarbari Union U-15

Muktinagar Union U-17

Shaghata Union U-18

Badiakhali Union U-5

Ghagoa Union U-6

Gidari Union U-7

Kuptola Union U-9

Malibari Union U-10

Mollarchar Union U-11

Chandipur Union U-20

Dahobond Union U-21

Kanchibari Union U-23

Sreepur Union U-28

Tarapur Union U-29

Belka Union U-30

Haripur Union U-31

U-18

Communities

risk and

vulnerability

Natural

disasters RE,

flood, cold

wave

Shelter

during

crisis

High

mortality of

livestock

Displacement

& migration

Abandonment

of women

Dowry, early

marriage,

trafficking

Poor

health

facilities

Food

insecurity

Inadequate

basic

services Low job

opportunity

Vulnerability

reduction

strategies

Capacity

building of

partners

Strengthen

local service

providers Long-term

disaster

management

planning

Strengthen

right based

issues

Support

to basic

services

Policy

advocacy &

influence

Small

enterprise

development

Skill

development

training

Alternative

livelihood

strategies

Why the project

needed ?

What are the

project

initiatives ?

Group – 1

Men, women and children, with priority

given to female-headed households

M

4500

F

5500

Group-2

Unemployed and rural resource – poor men

and women (labours, fisher folk and petty

traders)

M

1800

F

2200

Group – 3

Adolescent boys, girls and children who

suffer from malnourishment, lack of

schooling and are vulnerable to

exploitation (e.g. early marriage, child labour)

M

2700

F

3300

Local partner NGOs + other interested NGOs will benefit from enhanced skills related

to disaster mitigation strategies, natural resources management and community-led

participatory approaches development.

THE CLIENTS

20,000 Displaced Households

ITDG-B Partnership

Project partners: 1. AKOTA

2. Pally Badhue Kallan Sangstha (PBKS)

3. Samakal Samaj Unnayan Sangstha (SSUS)

4. Samaj Kallyan Sangstha (SKS)

5. Gana Unnayan Kendra (GUK)

Joint Venture

PMC

ITDG-B Country Director/ 3 x ITDG-B Team Larders

(Aim 1,2 and 3)/ Head of Finance and admin/

Project Manager/ 5 Chief Executives from partners

PMC will be responsible for overseeing the overall

management and monitoring of the project. It will

lead the project to achieve project goal and

strategic objectives.

PMC

(ITDG + Partner’s chief

executives)

PIC

The PICs for the project will be consisting of

7 staff members from ITDG-B/ 5 Staff from

partners/ 20 beneficiaries leaders (representatives)

PIC will ensure and oversee the appropriate

implementation and tracking the project to

achieve project purpose and outputs within the

time period.

PIC

(ITDG-B Technical team + Partners staff)

Consortium Individual Action Networking Mutual influence

HOW ITs

WORKING?

Practical Action-B

Strengthens

Project Staffing

Disaster Management Specialist

Training Specialist

Agriculture Specialist

Fisheries Specialist

Livestock Specialist

Small Enterprise Specialist

Flood prone housing Specialist

Gender Specialist

Agro-processing Specialist

Manufacturing Specialist

M and E Specialist

Project Coordinator - 1

Project Assistants –3

In each PNGO

Total = 20

Partners Strengthens

THE APPROACH and INTERVENTIONS

Infrastructure

Development

Cluster Village- 4

Emergency Shelter-3 Community Clinic- 4

PrimarySchool-7

Community Volunteer Group Rapid Evacuation System

WatSan Campaign Basic Health Campaign

The project has undertaken very comprehensive and holistic approaches

to address the needs & vulnerability of the target communities through

ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOOD BASED INITIATIVES

Flood Friendly

Agriculture

Practices

3 options

Flood Friendly

Fisheries

Management

3 options

Flood Friendly

Livestock

Management

3 options

Small Enterprise

Development

4 options

Light-

Engineering

5 options

Agro/Food

processing

Social and Gender

Development

&

Campaigns

Community Based

Extension System

Development

For

Long-term Sustainability

Participatory Needs Assessment and Planning

Participatory Needs Assessment conducted in 8 locations in 4 Upazilas (November, 2004)

ACHIEVEMENT TO DATE

AGRICULTURE

Reached to 7687 (F- 6068 M- 1619) beneficiaries through training and

demonstration with the following options

PRODUCTION ON FLOOD PROTECTION EMBANKMENT

CROPPING ON BARREN and UNFERTILE SAND BAR

FOR RESOURCE POOR

3273 Beneficiaries Produced 6.6 m pumpkins = 33608 MT Worth £5.5m

WHEN BARREN SAND BAR IS HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE

WHEN BARREN SAND BAR IS THE HOPE FOR MILLIONS

WHEN BARREN SANDY ISLAND TRANSFORMING LIVES

CAN YOU IMAGINE?

WHEN BARREN SAND BAR IS THE HOPE FOR LANDLESS

WHEN BARREN SAND BAR IS THE HOPE FOR LANDLESS

BANK FOR THE POOR

Change and Impacts

(ECONOMIC)

Sector Annual Income over the period (Tk.)

Baseline Year-2 Year-3 Year-4

Agriculture 2661 3411 10982 32251

Fisheries 1248 5045 3665 4574

Livestock 1753 5820 15262 17329

Small

Enterprise

3700 13957 50675 49991

Light-

Engineering

2015 15018 20934 51814

Agro-

processing

- 22330 109946 214564

Details PY-2

05/06

PY-3

06/07

PY-4

07/08

PY-5

08/09 Total

No. Pits 5801 59155 177480 421492 663928 (0.6m)

No of Location 09 14 25 30 78

Total Area ha. 7 71 211 502 791

No of Beneficiaries 177 460 1283 1353 3273

Total Prod. cost £2417 £14561 £40956 £105484 £1,63,418

Project contribution £451 £1169 £3233 £4456 £9309

Total Gross income £ 12532 £136511 £632851 £1.6 m £2.38m

Net Return £11930 £121950 £591894 £1.5 m £2.2m

Av. gross profit £81 £297 £512 £1227 £529

Av. Net profit £67 £265 £479 £1149 £490

Cost benefit ratio 1:5.9 1:9.4 1:15 1:15.7 1:11.5

Urban market value £0.029 £0.27m £1.27m £ 4 m £ 5.57 Total Production MT 318 2244 10283 20760 33608 MT

SAND BAR CROPPING PRODUCTION ECONOMICS

2005-2009

Change and Impacts

(ECONOMIC)

Sector Annual Income over the period (Tk.)

Baseline Year-2 Year-3 Year-4

Agriculture 2661 3411 10982 32251

Fisheries 1248 5045 3665 4574

Livestock 1753 5820 15262 17329

Small

Enterprise

3700 13957 50675 49991

Light-

Engineering

2015 15018 20934 51814

Agro-

processing

- 22330 109946 214564

WHAT

NEXT

In Sandy

Soil ?

Squash

Lettuce (green)

Lettuce (red)

Straw berry

Red beat

Broccoli

FLOATING VEGETABLE GARDEN

MEANS OF SURVIVAL

FLOATING GARDEN 2005-2009

423 Beneficiaries Produced 92 MT Vegetable Worth TK. 7.6 Lac

HOMESTEAD GARDENING 2004-2009

10,942 Beneficiaries Produced 2873 MT Vegetable Worth TK. 23 M

FISHERIES

5365 Beneficiaries Produced 157 MT Worth Tk. 12m Excluding Consumption

Community Based Fisheries Cage Aquaculture

Fingerling Production in Hapa

Wild Catch for non-resource base HH

LIVESTOCK

4113 Beneficiaries Generated income Tk. 68.6M through Cow

fattening,Sheep rearing and Duck farming

Vaccination Campaign Beef Fattening

Fodder Management Goat Farming Sheep Farming

Duck Farming Income and Family Nutrition

HH Level Goat farming Community Vaccinator

LIVESTOCK

Duck Hatchery

Vaccination Campaign

LIVESTOCK Cont.....

SMALL ENTERPRISE

Capacity built to date of 870 beneficiaries on alternative income generation

through small enterprise development

Weaving as Community based cold protection mechanism

Handicraft Skill training for Adolescent girls

Sewing skill for Women Improve Pottery

AGRO-PROCESSING FOR VALUE ADDITION (493 HHs)

LIGHT ENGINEERING SKILL TRAINING (696 Individuals)

BENEFICIARIES COVERAGE 2004-2009

Sector CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING

Since April 2004 – March 2009

Male Female Total End Project

evaluation

remarks

Agriculture 1,376 5,399 6,775 Exceeded

Fisheries 1,788 2,425 4,213 Exceeded

Livestock 514 4,102 4616 Exceeded

Small Enterprise 322 757 1079 Exceeded

Light-Engineering 803 4 807 Exceeded

Agro-processing 311 392 703 Exceeded

Gender & Technology 94 1,292 1386 Exceeded

Volunteer Group 232 57 289 Exceeded

Comm. Extensionist 240 403 643 Exceeded

CBO Mobilization 16 08 24 Just right

Total 5,696 14,839 20,535

Change and Impacts (ECONOMIC)

Sector Annual Income over the period (Tk.)

Baseline Year-2 Year-3 Year-4

Agriculture 2661 3411 10982 32251

Fisheries 1248 5045 3665 4574

Small

Enterprise

3700 13957 50675 49991

Light-

Engineering

2015 15018 20934 51814

Livestock 1753 5820 15262 17329

Vaccinator

0 665 4197 5200

INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

MULTIPURPOSE REFUGE SHELTER

INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

MULTIPURPOSE REFUGE SHELTER

INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

MULTIPURPOSE EMERGENCY SHELTER

CLUSTER VILLAGE Horipur, SUNDERGANJ

FACILITIES and SERVICES

Livestock shed

Sanitation

Livelihood

Shelter Unit

CV Belka, Sundarganj

ADDITIONAL FACILITIES AT MULTIPURPOSE

SHELTER

SCHOOL

COMMUNITY CLINIC VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTRE

IMPACTS DURING RECENT FLOODING - 2007

Accommodated 1780 individuals and saved 3000 Livestock

USED BY OTHER

Relief items distribution by SHOUHARDO August 2007

Eye camp of Anderi-Helfi Germany January 2008

Health Campaign

CLUSTER VILLAGE FOR HOMELESS

ADDITIONAL FACILITIES AT CLUSTER VILLAGE

Homestead Gardening Sand Bar Cropping

Livestock Rearing Safe Water and Sanitation

IMPACTS DURING RECENT FLOODING-2007

Free from flooding, Where life is secured

INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES

MULTIPURPOSE REFUGE SHELTER

NON FORMAL SCHOOL

WatSan Campaign

COMMUNITY CLINIC and HEALTH SERVICE

IMPACT

Flooding August 2007

• Participatory plans and community-led approaches

are strongly required to achieve objectives and

goals;

• Adequate technical and social knowledge and

skills are required to overcome challenges

• An integrated development approach is required to

overcome complex poverty and disaster

issues/situations;

• Adequate administrative support is strongly

required to meet targets on ground

• An earmarked policy is required to sustain project

achievements and replication in other locations for

wider impact and benefit for vulnerable

communities

LESSON (S) LEARNT

- FRINDSHIP INTERNATIONAL- (Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Bagerhat, Patuakhali & Gaibandha

- SDC- Rajshahi, Sunamganj

- Inter-Cooperation- Sunamganj

- Reso. Dev. Foundation (RDF)- Barguna

- SHISHUK- Sirajganj

NETWORKING and COLLABORATION

-

DISSEMINATION BY OTHER UDPS LALMONIRHAT

Policy Advocacy & Influence at International Level

Making Poverty History Campaig

at

The House of Lords 2005

Ms. Jenny Borden,

Chair ITDG Board

of Trusty

Address by the host Lord Stevenson,

ITD vice Chair

Stop Climate Chaos campaign at

the Westminster- 2006

Tony Juniper, Director of Friends of

the Earth,

stressed the need for action

David Cameron, Leader of the

Opposition

Margaret Beckett, Minister for

environment listening intently on her

Carbon Date.

Menzies Campbell MP

looks enthusiastic about

his Carbon Date

Nazmul Chow, Practical Action

Bangladesh,

spoke passionately about the

huge impacts

of climate change on his

country

UK, BERLIN and BRUSSELS 2007- 08

Berlin Parliament, November 2007 The House of Commons Event “Raising Fear

of Hunger, June 2008

EU Parliament BRUSSELS 2007

SHARING and LINKAGE

Knowledge

Sharing

Local Level

An effective linkage have

been established with

Govt. Administration and

line departments.

National LEVEL

Collaboration with

Disaster Emergency

Response Group (DER),

Development Agencies

and Donors

International Level Making Poverty History Campaign at the House of Lords in 2005

Climate Chaos Campaign in March 2006 at Westminster

World Water Week-2007 in Stockholm

Asia Pacific Forum for Environment and Development in China 2007

Berlin Parliament, EU Parliament, The House of Lords and Sheffield University 2007

Campaign at Int. CC forum, House of Commons and Brunel University PA Supporters’ Day June 2008

"The 2007 Ryutaro Hashimoto APFED Awards for Good Practices"

Nazmul Chowdhury, Programme Manager, Received this

award from Mr. Masatoshi Wakabayashi (Minister of

Environment & Agriculture, Japan). Chengdu, China

August 24, 2007

FUTURE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE COUNTRY

The tested ideas could help many millions of

vulnerable resource poor communities living in

fragile environment, particularly on the edge of

mighty rivers and Coast line

in

Bangladesh

Thus, external dependency of the communities could

reduce significantly and could develop them as

productive force for the nation