Forced Migration as a Livelihood Adaptation in Response to Climate Change: An Empirical Study on Central South Exposed Coast of Bangladesh

Md. Shamimul Islam, Md. Amzad Hossain, Rafia Islam Lina

Abstract

Bangladesh, a densely populated country, is threatened by the impact of climate change. Interestingly, Bangladesh seems to be the worst victim of climate change, especially, the coastal areas; even though, it had a very little noticeable role in climate change. Adaptation to climate change will be crucial for the sustainable development of Bangladesh, where migration will perform a key role in this framework. This paper attempts to focus on the overall impact of migration due to climate change, and will particularly observe the factors related with migration decision, connecting impact of Salinity, Sea-level rise, Riverbank Erosion and Disasters (Storm, Drought, and Cyclones etc.); particularly, vulnerable coastal districts of central-south regions of Bangladesh. In theory, migration decision is determined by both pull and push factors.  This study is purely an empirical study that reflected the push factors due to climate change. To conduct the study, primary data has been collected from 99 households head covering all possible professions through questionnaires and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). After that, data is analyzed by SPSS, and the findings were presented through graphs and simple descriptive statistics to figure out the overall impact of migration due to climate change. Remarkably, the study identified the interconnections among migration, climate change, and terrible challenges of sector based livelihood. Moreover, it has been observed that there are severe effects of climate change on migration, and a large number of people have been migrated to have a better life and livelihood. To conclude, government should incorporate climate induced migration policies in formulating national development plan, and take initiatives to mitigate the impact of natural calamities.

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