Occupational Strategies in Coastal Villages of the Lower Bengal Delta: Questions for Sustainability

Abstract

Occupations in the Lower Bengal Delta have been disrupted for various reasons, such as natural disasters, social degradation, economic crisis, and political revenge. It results in changing their traditional occupations. This study discusses how traditional occupations can be made sustainable in the future. An empirical study has been conducted in two villages in the Shyamnagor subdistrict of Satkhira district in southwestern coastal Bangladesh. The empirical methods included 310 household surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Results show that 15 professions have been recorded and grouped into four categories: zero-capital instant wage occupations, minimum capital-end rewarding occupations, intellectual occupations, and capital-based occupations, depending on the type of capital. These categories accommodate mainly hand-based occupations—a trend most experienced in stressed environmental conditions. The intellectual occupations desire more institutional support for their sustainability. However, the sustainability of current occupational strides can be achieved by healthy external subsidies for applying knowledge and tangible inputs with information, communication, and technology support, as suggested by households (HH) involved in capital-based occupations. These HH suggested an integrated approach for occupational stride; however, such occupations are primarily land-based. The current climate-induced hazards to land and water’s physicochemical attributes suggest an uncertain return from such capital-based, land-oriented occupations. Thus, this study suggests that hand-based occupations have a better chance for sustainability than subsidised capital-based land-oriented occupations.