Trees and tender-heartedness in Borguna

by Shihab

Nowadays, migration and climate change are talked about regularly. When a person goes from one place to another, this is called migration.  My long dream was to work for the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) and these days have been some of the greatest of my life.  During the field trip, as a supervisor, my main task was to supervise and monitor the field.

First of all, RMMRU selected a team which consisted of seven members (including myself).  My first trip was to Assassuni in the Satkhira Districts.  After a long journey, we arrived but when we disembarked from the bus, we faced different types of problems that came one after another. Due to the strong bond of my team, we overcame all the problems.  Every member of the team was kind and our sophisticated thinking allowed us to handle any type of problem easily.  After Assassuni, we went to Kaligong in Satkhira which was an excellent area.  After completing our work in Kaligong, we reached Satkhira Sadar.

image001

 

 

show more

As usual, we awoke early in the morning and after breakfast went to the field but didn’t find anyone.  After searching, we came to the conclusion that there was a listing problem.  So, we came back to Dhaka with the work unfinished.  After four days rest, we went to Borguna which was very enjoyable compared to the other areas.  Every village was covered with trees and informants were so friendly.  Right now we miss those people.  That was the story of two fields, they are Hoglapasha and Borguna Sadar.  Gendamara was a very different field and also difficult.  I have never seen a village as large.  There were no transport systems in the whole village and villagers are used to walking, although we are not!  We worked easily and were enthusiastic about being there.  After completing the Taltoli field, we went to Patuakhali Kalapara, after which we got a one day vacation, which we used to visit Kuakata where you can watch the sunset and sunrise.  We saw some nice nature and water.  In this same way we finished our Patuakhali Sadar and Mirjagong field.  Banajora Boufol in Patuakhali was so different from the other places.  We encountered some folks who held strong views and this created some difficulties. Still, we enjoyed a full moonlit night with the river blows which was amazing. After four days rest, we prepared to go to a new field in Chandpur, which is known for being abundant with fish.  Above all, I like to describe my happy moments, however, I think I hold this memory in the corner of my heart.  Thanks to RMMRU for this excellent trip, I eagerly await the next opportunity.

show less

Migration & Adaptation: A Short Story of Khulna & Jessore

by Md. Niaz Murshed

Khulna is the third largest city in Bangladesh.  It is situated on the banks of the Bhairab and Rupsha rivers. It is also the centre point of the Khulna division. Khulna is also known for its port. This division consisted of ten districts and it is the gateway to the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.  Mangla is home to an important port for Southwest Bangladesh.  It has fabulous natural beauty but the lifestyle is not so easy here: drought, cyclone and other weather events are a regular phenomenon.  With each day, the risks increase. The local people have to fight for water on a regular basis. Khulna is also in a dangerous point because of climate change. Experts think that the future will be worse than the present.

image001 Phultola is a village in Batiaghata Upazilla near Pashur river. Most of the population is educated. Some people are living in other cities because of their studies and employment, and some are living abroad. People are mainly involved with agriculture. They are producing seasonal fruits and crops including paddy, daal, several vegetables, etc. Most of the houses are made of wood and leaves. Some people are engaged with prawn cultivation. Drought and cyclone are the main natural disasters here. Because of the saltiness in the soil, agriculture is becoming increasingly difficult.

show more

Saral Ward of Paikgacha Upazilla is situated in the middle of the Upazilla and most of the people are permanent residents. They are mainly engaged with business, though some people are involved with prawn cultivation.

The devastating form of nature can be seen from Amurkata , a village of Soladana Union of Paikgacha. It is situated near the river, Shibsha. The village has poor communication systems. Van, motorcycle and various local vehicles are the main medium for transport.  For 2 pots of water, village women have to go three or four kilometres away from the village.  They don’t have proper drinking water or water for daily use. Most of the people work outside of the village.  Most of them go to Gopalganj or Khulna district for a job. During cultivation, men and women work together in the field.  Amurkata has huge lakes for prawns.  Those who have smaller fields cultivate prawns and crabs. Due to saltiness in the water, they do not have any other option for cultivation. Houses are made of several leaves and soil. Because of the cyclones, there is a school which can also be used as a cyclone centre.

image003Our second place was Jessore beside Kapataksha river which is linked to the poet Michael Madhushudan Dutta.  Jessore is one of the districts of Khulna and one of the oldest cities. It has eight Upazillas. During the British Raj period, Jessore was a “mahakuma”.
Kotoali, Bagharpara , Keshobpur and Manirampur were our workplaces. Bahadurpur of Kotoali Upazila had less risks. Sekandardarpur of Bagharpara and Panjia of Keshobpur are less affected by natural disasters. Only Diganga of Manirampur has the risk of flood, but it is not because of nature, it is because of drainage problems.

After observation on four Upazillas of Jessore we found that people are mainly involved with agriculture but they work in their own fields with different vegetables, paddy, mustard, daal and wheat. They produce fruit for a commercial purpose.

To have a good lifestyle, people work in the capital city, their own divisional city or abroad. For higher education many people live in cities.

show less

Work with RMMRU and DECCMA: seeing a new side of Bangladesh and feeling a deeper connection to the country as a whole

by Rabeya Bosri Chandni, Research Assistant

While working at RMMRU, it was easy to forget I was in an office. Everyone is very cordial there. Colleagues are often introduced as “senior friends.”

image001We worked in Khulna, Jessore, and Bagerhat Districts. Among the various field-sites we worked at, I remember two names especially – Moralganj and Amurkata. In my opinion, the situation in Amurkata indicates the unequal development that occurs across Bangladesh. Many essential facilities seem to be lacking or in need of improvement. Similarly, people in Moralgonj face difficulties in accessing clean water, while also being vulnerable to getting trapped in the oppressive loan-interest cycle.

show more

These experiences have certainly impacted my professional life, but they have also made an impression upon my personal life. The culture of teamwork that I encountered in the work especially, has influenced me in a personal way.  Also, I feel even more connected to my identity as a Bangladeshi citizen because of my participation in this work.

Through this work, I have seen my country in a new face, which is not gorgeous and not well-developed.  It is, I think, a sleeping beauty.  The visits to various Upzillas of Bangladesh have created a feeling of real citizenship for me. Living in a particular area gives a person a particular sense of identity, of belonging. However, I feel as if this fieldwork experience has enabled me to go beyond my Dhaka and Gazipur identities, so that I now feel that the whole country is my place.
I would like to thank the DECCMA project and all of my colleagues at RMMRU – I’m grateful that I had the chance to work with them, and learn so many things from them.

show less

Senior Bangladeshi policy maker visits University of Southampton

By Alexander Chapman, University of Southampton

Professor Shamsul Alam, Senior Secretary of the General Economics Division (GED), Government of Bangladesh visited the University of Southampton (24-25 August 2017) to continue our collaboration on several large delta-focused projects.

Prof Alam visit

show more

The severe flooding ongoing in Northern Bangladesh, which has destroyed an estimated 640,500 homes, highlights the threat the country faces from a wetter, more extreme, future climate. As head of GED Prof. Alam oversees the development strategy in Bangladesh, including the design of over 70 large projects associated with the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, the centrepiece of the country’s response to climate change.

In his meeting with Southampton’s Vice Chancellor & President, Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, Prof Alam emphasised the importance of designing interventions which give consideration to the complexities of the social-ecological system of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta (GBM). In the low-lying GBM, where interactions with upstream developments, flooding and storm surges, and rural livelihoods are constantly changing actions can often have detrimental effects if not systemically analysed. Through three ongoing multi-million pound research projects the University of Southampton and its partner The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) aim to provide integrated systems modelling support to the government. Our work will help stakeholders, drawn from a cross section of society, understand the impacts of future policy trajectories.

On day one of the visit Prof Robert Nicholls, Principle Investigator of the ESPA Deltas project, reported on our progress evaluating two of GED’s key coastal zone projects. The team are currently calibrating the ESPA Deltas model, ΔDIEM, ready to simulate development of large-scale coastal embankments and natural buffers in the Southwest region. In March 2018 ESPA Deltas will report on the poverty, livelihood, and ecosystem service implications of various different options being looked at in the Delta Plan. Looking forward, the DECCMA project, which has also placed great emphasis on stakeholder engagement, hopes to provide insight into different migration and adaptation policy trade-offs in the coastal region. Prof Alam is Chair of the Bangladesh National Advisory Expert Group within the DECCMA project – a group of key stakeholders that provides high level direction to the project.

On day two we discussed the projects’ legacies. In October Southampton will host a further representative from GED, as well as two researchers from BUET, as we aim to build in-country capacity to run and best utilise ΔDIEM and other integrated models for policy evaluation. Both building knowledge sharing and capacity building into ongoing projects, and ensuring a pipeline of technical and research projects into the future are important objectives for GED, who have strong ambitions for poverty reduction and livelihood improvement in Bangladesh. The team spent a productive afternoon with Ken de Souza of DFID discussing how to build legacy for the current work which, it is hoped, is only a test case to demonstrate what is possible with collaboration on integrated systems research projects.

It was a pleasure to welcome Prof. Alam to Southampton, his passion for achieving ambitious poverty reduction goals in such a challenging context, and his openness to challenging conventional approaches to policy were impressive. We look forward to working together further and playing our part in building in-country capacity which will hopefully serve Bangladesh long beyond the lifetime of our research there (which, with a bit of funding luck, still has a good few years left in it!).

show less

The lengths one must go for drinking water

by Aysha Akter Akhi

image003I went to Noakhali, Laxmipur, Khulna, Bagerhat, Jessore, and Gopalgonj for field surveys for the DECCMA project and gained so many experiences from this journey.  Among them, I can share the place called Amurkata of Paikgacha of the Khulna district where there is a scarcity of drinking water. This area of six or seven kilometres has no internal transport. People paddle from one part to another. The ground in that area is high in salinity. There are also very few trees and the weather is quite rough. People often travel three of four kilometres by foot to collect drinking water from a deep well which is placed in a “Local Bazaar.” Every day in the morning or evening, they go with one or two jars to collect water. In today’s age, this scenario is shocking to see.image001

Working with RMMRU on DECCMA; The memories I will not forget

by Rafiqul Islam, Research Assistant (RMMRU)

Life is full of experiences and I want to share my experience about the journey to perform research with RMMRU and about the memorable time I spent with my colleagues.

First, I want to give thanks to my Lord because I think I am so lucky to work with RMMRU for a few months. In those few months I have learned many things from RMMRU and from my colleagues.

image001

 

show more

First, I went to Chandpur, Lakshmipur and Bhola to conduct household listing surveys. We faced some accommodation problems. My colleagues were very supportive and helpful to me as we overcame all sorts of problems regarding staying, eating, and travelling. I was one of the younger members of the team, so I received love from my senior brothers.  I am a jolly-minded person, so I can communicate with my respondents and my colleagues spontaneously but when we had to do the surveys, we had faced some problems because we had no female members in the group. When we reached each household, a few people were reluctant to participate in our survey but generally the majority were very helpful to us in our research. After completing these surveys, we returned to Dhaka.

In April, we left Dhaka again for another round of field work and to conduct interviews with selected respondents. This time I was in a new group. Our journey was good and we had 7 members on our team, including me. My partner was Tamanna Apu. Frankly speaking, at first I was not comfortable with her because her way of thinking and my way of thinking was a little bit different. Gradually we understood each other’s work and we became good friends for the purpose of the work. My other team members including Musabbir Bhai, Saiful and Roni Bhai, Ridita and Popy Apu were too good.  We had two members replacing Roni Bhai and Saiful were Himel and Tanjim Bhai. They were also friendly.  Every morning the females got up early in the morning, got ready quickly and were waiting for us.  All of these moments were so memorable for me and made for a very friendly work environment. This friendly attitude among the team members was not limited to the work but also in all spheres, generally, we got along as a team. I really will not forget those days.

Another memorable day was visiting our field work by Ricardo and Rocky Bhai in Lakshmipur.  I was little bit sick and nervous that day because Rocky Bhai scolded us for our mistake. At that moment I was sad but after, I realised that it was my fault. I always respect and love Rocky Bhai from the core of my heart undoubtedly. A most horrible experience occurred on 28th May 2016.  On that day we started our journey from Lakshmipur sadar to Bhola on a trawler ship, when suddenly a storm began.  All of us had begun to fear for our lives, but by the grace of almighty Allah we made it through. We have finished our journey through some ups and downs but in the end, the experience left me with one of the more significant memories in my life.

It was a great opportunity for me to work with a reputed organisation like RMMRU. Finally, I want to thank all the members of RMMRU.

show less

The Changing Footprint in Indian Bengal Delta (IBD) (Sundarban)

By Subhas C Acharyya, Sumana Banerjee, and Dr Tuhin Ghosh.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”

The Darwin Correspondence Project of the University of Cambridge has revealed that this quote is wrongly attributed to Charles Darwin as it has evolved out of a paraphrase of Darwin in writings of Leon C. Megginson, Professor of Management and Marketing at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge (1). Whether paraphrased or not, the essence of the quote highlights that the survival of species is dependent on its ability to adapt to change. The land use changes that the Indian Bengal Delta has been undergoing shall be documented in this post and it shall be explored whether the landscape is adapting to change and surviving or failing to adapt but trying hard to keep pace with the changes.

show more


Sundarbans Land TransformationThis land’s journey through changes shall be narrated in sections and we begin with the formation of the land. More than 70 million years ago, when silt carried down by the Ganges and Brahmaputra River systems deposited continuously in areas of Bangladesh and India, it formed the Sundarban delta region which now lies on either side of an international boundary. This act of deposition was assisted by the back feeding of tidal actions from the sea face. Both fluvial and marine land building processes have simultaneously been at work with cyclical advancement and retreat of sea during past geological ages. The sea face gradually retreated southwards and sedimentation continued to build new land on the continental shelf. Our focus will be on the Sundarban deltaic region in India which is a part of the Indian Bengal Delta. The Indian part of Sundarbans measures a total area of 9630 sq. km which lies between 21 32’ and 22 40’ north latitude and between 88 05’ and 89 00’ east longitude. The region is bounded by the river Hooghly on the west, Bay of Bengal on the south, Ichhamati- Kalindi-Raimongal on the east and the Dampier-Hodges Line on the north. When Nature embarks on a building process, she does not leave things incomplete. After building a piece of land, nature went on to build mangroves whom she appointed as gatekeepers of her first creation. Mangroves are multifarious as they can derive their nourishment from both oceanic and terrestrial water, as well as from the saline soils and can also regenerate naturally. The Indian part of Sundarbans had 102 isolated islands mostly covered with mangrove forests. The Sundarban mangrove ecosystem is unique in the world because of its diversity of habits.

From Forest to Agriculture

Nature is a hard worker and continues to work hard but mankind is not so kind after all and manages to interfere with nature’s processes. During the late 1700s, this deltaic region, being a part of the undivided India, was under the rule of the British East India Company who undertook plans for reclamation of these mangrove forest lands and to transfer these lands under cultivation. These low-lying tracts were occupied, where the delta building processes had not been over and circuit embankments were constructed to grab the forest land. The process of clearing the forests continued till 1878 and the remaining forest was declared “Reserved” or “Protected”. In the mid-1900s, large scale land reclamation occurred owing to the incidence of Partition in 1947, where this region experienced a huge influx of refugees from the newly created East Pakistan to West Bengal. Subsequently 54 islands out of 102 had been reclaimed, mainly for human settlements and agricultural operations. While this human intervention was occurring, nature did not throw a tantrum for toying with her plans but did her best to provide support. By virtue of the monsoon rain, these saline soils became cultivable with rice. The lands were protected by embankments where the accumulating rain water helped to dissolve the nutrients in the soil and made the rice farming sustainable. This could have been an end of land transformation and thereby the happily-ever-after but life in the delta is a bit more challenging which will lead us to the next step of land transformation.

From Agriculture to Fisheries

The Sundarbans region of the Indian Bengal Delta saw a growth of population which could not sustain itself on the mono-cropped rice based agrarian economy. Low per capita land and poor cropping intensity worsened the situation. The poverty level started becoming very high. Under these pressures, the farming communities started exploring avenues to shift livelihoods through harnessing natural resources namely forest resources and aquatic & marine resources. The situation may be defined as – land surplus to land scarcity and labour scarcity to labour surplus. Brackish water fisheries (Bheries) with monoculture of tiger prawn (Peneaous monodon) emerged as a lucrative option for the people. Large tracts of agricultural lands were transformed to brackish water fisheries in north and central blocks of the Sundarban region by breaching embankments and letting the saline water into the cultivable lands. The prospect of exporting these cultivated prawns attracted money and muscle power in this transformation process. The agriculture-based landscape in seven blocks had been changed to brackish water fish farms which altered the socio-economic set up of the area. Yet again, this could have been an end of the land transformation process but the challenge faced from this transformation was the harbinger of the next transformation.

From Aquaculture to Brick Kiln

While the commercial aquaculture farming was emerging successful, the area saw an out flux of people as the agricultural labour went out of jobs as the labour requirement for fishery operation was lesser than that of crop husbandry. The happy state of affairs of the export-oriented commercial aquaculture farming in Sundarbans began to decline in the course of time for various reasons, such as decreasing productivity, disease infestation in fish stock, non-availability of quality brood stock, increasing cost factors, failure to export, etc. The fishery operators now changed gear and focused on the thriving brick manufacturing industry with political patronage. The brick field owners used the opportunity and cooked the land owners to give away their lands on higher lease rents for operating brick kilns in the aquaculture farms. The intending operators procured permission from local self-governments to start brick kilns. Over the past few years, hundreds of such brick kilns have rapidly cropped up in these areas and is gradually becoming a feature of the Sundarban landscape. The conical chimneys standing around 100’ tall with thick black smoke billowing out of them is polluting the air in adjacent areas. Having traced a trajectory till the present time, the story of transformation of this landscape will pause here.

Going back to the quote with which we began this post, it brings two contrasting thoughts to mind. The land of the Sundarban delta having undergone changes, from the green verge of deep mangrove forests to rice fields to supporting brackish aquaculture farms and finally giving way to brick kilns, is proof that it has survived. But the costs for this survival should be examined. When a lot of costs are involved, it makes us think if this survival is at all adapting to change or whether it is a frantic scratching the walls of the well before getting lost in the bottomless pit. The Sundarban region of the Indian Bengal Delta emerges as an adult who in spite of being shattered from within, puts up a brave front in times of loss.

We hope for a change in this landscape where we put efforts to make a sustainable living and give something back to nature who can rebuild this landscape the way she envisaged hundreds of years ago. Before the future landscape comprises only of ruins of brick kiln structures with heaps of burnt soil alongside huge unproductive water bodies, we need to think of corrective measures. We still have the luxury to imagine lush green forests with a range of flora and fauna when we hear Sundarbans. It will be a pity if our future generations use only the black, brown, and grey crayons to colour a Sundarban of their times.

Bibliography

1. The evolution of a misquotation [Internet]. Darwin Correspondence Project. 2017 [cited 24 March 2017]. Available from: https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/people/about-darwin/six-things-darwin-never-said/evolution-misquotation.

show less

University of Ghana

Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe

scodjoe@ug.edu.gh

Sam CodjoeProf. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe is an Associate Professor of Population Studies and the Director of the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon. His research areas include population-environment nexus, migration, fertility, climate change/variability and its impact on urban and rural livelihoods.  Prof. Codjoe is the PI for Ghana on the DECCMA Project.

Prof. Kwasi Appeaning Addo

kappeaningaddo@ug.edu.gh

Kwasi Appeaning Addo newProf. Kwasi Appeaning Addo is a senior lecturer in coastal processes in the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana. His research areas include coastal vulnerability index to sea level rise, coastal erosion, climate change impacts, and shoreline change monitoring. Kwasi has published extensively in his area of research.  Prof. Appeanning Addo is the Deputy PI for Ghana on the DECCMA Project.

Gertrude Domfeh Owusu

geowusu@ug.edu.gh

Gertrude Domfeh newGertrude Owusu holds an MA in International Studies (specialisation – Women and Development) from Ewha Woman’s University in South Korea. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology with Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon.  She has previously worked with ABANTU for Development, a gender rights and policy advocacy organisation, as the Governance Programme Manager. As part of the DECCMA team, she is responsible for co-ordinating the day-to-day activities of work packages within the DECCMA project in Ghana.

Dr Clifford Amoako

camoako.cap@knust.edu.gh

Clifford Amoako JohnsonDr. Clifford Amoako is a lecturer at the Department of Planning, KNUST- Kumasi, Ghana. He holds a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and an M.Phil degree in Planning from The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the same university where he obtained his B.Sc. Planning with First Class Honours.

show more

His research and professional persuasions, which date back to 2001, have been in urban and regional development planning, contemporary issues in climate change adaptation, community vulnerability and emerging responses to climate variability. He is capable of blending participatory appraisal techniques with structured methodologies to elicit stakeholder concerns on development projects in both urban and rural settings. He has full understanding of both local and international legislations/protocols and concepts that guide the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessments and Project Monitoring and Evaluation systems.  Clifford comes on board as the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) expert for the six work packages under the DECCMA project in the Volta Delta in Ghana. His key contribution is to produce and help implement an M&E system that defines standards, tracks project approaches and methods; and ensures participatory monitoring and evaluation of project achievements, results and impacts by all stakeholders. In achieving these tasks, he plays a catalyst role to support building M&E capacity, and together with the project team in Ghana, implement the M&E system, recommending adjustments to project efforts where necessary.

show less

Dr Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe

caddoquayetagoe@ug.edu.gh

Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe newDr. Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana, Legon. Her research interests and experience are in migration, decentralisation, participatory approaches to governance, institutions and gender issues.

 

 

Prosper Adiku

prosperyaw@cariaa.net

Prosper Adiku newProsper Adiku holds an MPhil (Oceanography) from the Marine & Fisheries Sciences Department of the University of Ghana. Prosper is interested in vulnerability & hazard (flood) mapping, and Science Communications. He is the Technical Officer for the ‘Promoting Research into Use through Networking and Engagement’ (PRUNE) under the Ghana Country Engagement Group (G-CEG) of CARIAA. His main role is to support the implementation of the RiU strategies for the CARIAA consortia (ASSAR & DECCMA) in Ghana.

Dr. Barnabas Amisigo

barnyy2002@yahoo.co.uk

Barnabas Amisigo newDr. Barnabas Amisigo is a Hydrologist/Water Resources Engineer with interests in hydrological modelling and integrated Water Resources Planning and management research, modelling the impacts of climate and environmental change on river basin water resources, data assimilation in hydrology, operational streamflow forecasting and flood and drought risk assessments in river basins. Dr Amisigo is the Ghana lead on Work Package 5 on the DECCMA Project.

Dr Mumuni Abu

mabu@ug.edu.gh

Mumuni Abu newDr. Mumuni Abu is a lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, where he teaches and provides mentorship to students in the area of technical and social demography. His interest areas are population projections and estimations; climate change, migration and health.  Dr Abu is a research scientist  working on Work Package 3 on the DECCMA project.

 

Dr. Benjamin Kofi Nyarko

bnyarko@ucc.edu.gh

Benjamin Nyarko newDr. Benjamin Kofi Nyarko is a Senior Lecturer and a Physical Geographer at the Department of Geography & Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast. His research interest is in fluvial geomorphology and application of spatial techniques in fluvial dynamics.  Dr Nyarko will be working on Work Package 5 on the DECCMA Project.

 

Dr Emmanuel Ekow Asmah

easmah@ucc.edu.gh

Emmanuel Ekow AsmahBeyond working as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, UCC for the past fifteen years, Dr. Emmanuel Ekow Asmah is a visiting lecturer and a network member of the Africa Economic Research Consortium and has in the past worked with the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings (US) as a Research Fellow and an Intern Macroeconomist with the World Bank Tanzania Office.

show more

His broad interests are in the Drivers of Development in Africa, mainly using household survey data and SAM-Based Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Modelling Approaches. On the DECCMA project, Dr. Asmah supports the Work Package 4 team involved in the economic modelling of the impacts of climate change, with specific tasks ranging from the construction and calibration of delta level input-output (IO) to assistance in the prediction of prices of tradeable agricultural commodities and other key outputs under different climate scenarios for 2030, 2060 and 2100.

show less

Dr. Prince Osei-Wusu Adjei

poadjei.cass@knust.edu.gh

PrinceDr. Prince Osei-Wusu Adjei holds a PhD in Geography and Rural Development. His research interest and experiences are on Local Governance and Rural Development, Livelihoods and Poverty Studies.  He is currently a Lecturer at the Department of Geography and Rural Development, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.  Dr Adjei is the Ghana lead on Work Package 4 on the DECCMA Project.

 

Dr. Joseph Kwadwo Asenso

joekas75@yahoo.com

Joseph AsensoDr. Joseph Asenso is the Head of the Energy/Oil and Gas Unit of the Real Sector Division, Ministry of Finance. He is responsible for the annual projection of the Government’s petroleum revenue, reporting on petroleum revenues and general coordination of petroleum revenue-related activities. He also coordinates the national GDP projection exercise.  Dr Asenso will be focusing on Work Package 4 on the DECCMA Project.

 

Francisca Martey

f.martey@meteo.gov.gh

Francisca MarteyMrs. Francisca Martey is a Senior Meteorologist and Researcher in the Research Department of the Ghana Meteorological Agency and has expertise on issues of climate change, climate variabilities and climate scenarios in Ghana. She is also interested in Numerical Weather Prediction models for nowcasting and seasonal forecasting.  Francisca is working on Work Package 2 on the DECCMA project.

 

Winfred Nelson

winfrednelson@yahoo.co.uk

Winfred Nelson newMr. Winfred A. Nelson holds an MPhil Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK and is a member of the Ghana Institute of Planners. He is currently a Deputy Director at the National Development Planning Commission, responsible for the mainstreaming of environment issues into the national development planning and budgeting processes. Winfred will be working on Work Package 1 on the DECCMA project.

 

Dr. Adelina Mensah

ammensah@staff.ug.edu.gh

Adelina Mensah newDr. Adelina Mensah is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana. Her main areas of research include the varying complexities of inland and coastal aquatic systems, including inter-linkages with socio-economic drivers and sustainable management; and vulnerability and adaptation to climate change.  Dr Mensah is the Work Package 6 Lead for Ghana on the DECCMA Project.

 

Prof. Ofori-Danson Patrick Kwabena

ofdan@ug.edu.gh

Ofori Danson Patrick Kwabena newProf. Ofori-Danson is a fisheries resource scientist with an interest in fisheries assessment and management.   He was awarded the 2010 best teacher award for the sciences from the University of Ghana.  As a member of the National Biodiversity Committee he has been involved in many policy decisions concerned with aquatic wildlife conservation issues to the Ghana government.  Prof. Kwabena is working on Work Package 4 on the DECCMA Project.

 

 

Philip-Neri Jayson Quashigah

pnjquashigah@gmail.com

Philip Neri Jayson Quashigah newPhilip-Neri Jayson-Quashigah is a PhD student in the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana, with skills in coastal zone monitoring using remote sensing and GIS. He holds an MPhil in Environmental Science and is currently researching on delta morphodynamics on the DECCMA Project.

 

 

Donatus Yaw Atiglo

yawatiglo@gmail.com

Donatus Yaw Atiglo is a PhD student in Population Studies at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, with research experience on gendered dynamics and reproductive health. His current research interests include vulnerability to environmental change, trapped populations, migration and gendered population dynamics on the DECCMA Project.

 

Kirk Anderson

kandersongh@gmail.com

Kirk Anderson newKirk Anderson is a demographer with eight years experience, particularly in the area of fertility. He is a PhD candidate on the DECCMA Project with research interest in the climate change adaptation options available to individuals within the Volta Delta in the context of demographic, cultural and socio-economic change.

 

Jennifer Ayamga

jennega@yahoo.com

Jennifer Ayamga new

Jennifer Ayamga holds an MPhil in Environmental Science and is currently a PhD candidate in Environmental Science on the DECCMA project. Her research interest is in climate change and integrated assessment of sensitivity, exposures of communities and their adaptive capacity of socio-economic and biophysical systems to climate change in the Volta Delta.

 

Ruth Quaye

ruthquay@gmail.com

Ruth Quaye newRuth M. Quaye holds an MPhil in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Ghana.  Her main areas of interest include climate change adaptation, institutions, gender and sustainable development.  Ruth is currently working with Work Package 1 of the DECCMA Ghana Project as a Research Assistant.

 

Gwendolene Asare-Konadu

gwen.asarekonadu@gmail.com

Gwendolene Asare KonaduGwendolene Asare-Konadu is a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) and Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG). She has worked on several donor-funded projects and has been responsible for multi-funded budgets ranging from $10,000 to $1,400,000. She is currently on the DECCMA team as Project Accountant.

Gender and Climate Change addressed for the first time at the XV National Conference on Women’s Studies, India

Inaugural session of the conference

Inaugural session of the conference

Gender and women’s rights are being increasingly addressed worldwide through movements and media, which are inspired by the realm of women’s studies. While this change is a welcome one, it also has to be kept in mind that the challenges and disparities still remain and a long way has to be traversed. At this juxtaposition of phenomenon, the Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS) organised the XV National Conference on Women’s Studies at the University of Madras, Chennai from 22 – 25 January 2017 with a theme “Women in a Changing World: Restructured inequalities, counter currents and Sites of Resistance”.

show more

The conference had a number of sessions focussing on themes related to women’s issues however the theme on “Gender and Climate Change” was introduced for the first time in an IAWS conference. Dr Amrita Patel (DECCMA) and Prof Nitya Rao (ASSAR) were the convenors of this sub-theme. Dr Patel chaired General Sessions, Prof Rao chaired sessions on Energy and Adaptation and Prof Asha Hans (DECCMA) also chaired a session on Flood and Deltas.

With two members from Sansristi as Session-chairs and four researchers as paper-presenters, DECCMA objectives and research undertaken were disseminated well. Brief summaries of the presentations are as follows:

Farha Naaz (Centre for Environment and Development) presented a paper titled “Climate Change and Adaptation: Strategy and coping mechanism – Role of women Self Help Groups in Indian Bengal Delta”. The presentation was based on the work done earlier by CED but the study area is a part of the DECCMA Study Area. DECCMA research studies the impacts of climate change on deltaic populations and involves having baseline knowledge on migration and adaptation initiatives taking place in the study areas and this study corroborates that. The presentation discussed the post-2009 Cyclone Aila scenario in IBD where male migration is on the rise as the delta in becoming increasingly vulnerable and the women who are left behind are tasked to take on more responsibility of the household looking after both the elderly and the children. In such a situation, Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) started acting as powerful means of social development and an important tool of micro financing. The scheme of micro financing through SHGs has given significant economic power to the hands of women thereby elevating the economic status of their families.

Gender and climate change session in progress

Gender and climate change session in progress

Jasmine Giri (Sansristi) presented a paper titled “Climate change effects on women: a case study of Odisha”. DECCMA has a strong focus on gender in its research components and this presentation based on secondary analysis examined the impact of disasters on women’s livelihood in Jagatsingpur district of Odisha. The paper relied on secondary data to identify the impact of disasters in the district and its effect on women’s livelihood, particularly after the super cyclone Kalinga in 1999. The dominant livelihood in Jagatsingpur area is agriculture and fisheries and thus the community, specifically the women are vulnerable to the slightest changes in the availability or access to these natural resources. The coping mechanisms adopted by women in such a situation were also shared.

Sukanya Banerjee (Centre for Environment and Development) presented a paper titled “Climate Change and Male Migration: Role of Women in the Changed Environ”. During the presentation, DECCMA’s overview was shared followed by the adverse impacts of Climate Change on the vulnerable Indian Bengal Delta (IBD) and its people. This presentation was also based on work done earlier by CED but the study area is a part of the DECCMA Study Area and the study was adapted to this presentation to throw light on DECCMA’s research questions pertaining to migration. The paper primarily focused on the fact that cyclone Aila wreaked havoc in IBD in 2009 as a result of which many people lost their livelihoods and 50% of able bodied males were compelled to migrate out of their homes to as many as 10 different states in India to work as unskilled labour in the real estate sector. The regular remittances which they send to their families as a result of this ‘climate induced’ migration has brought about a significant change in the social construct of the area. The women of the households were suddenly burdened with a new sense of responsibility in the form of being the new household heads in the absence of the male members of their families. The need for empowerment of women was also focused on to adapt to climate change.

Sumanta Banerjee (Chilika Development Authority) presented a paper titled “Linking Women Empowerment, Resilience in the context of Climate change: A case study of Bhusandapur in the shore of Chilika lake of Odisha” which aimed to conceptualize and understand the links of women’s empowerment and resilience in the context of the climate change. This presentation was based on Focus Group Discussions conducted in Bhusandapur village of Tangi block in Khordha district of Odisha. The environmental fragility of the study area was explained in the context of indicators of climate variability and then with the help of women’s empowerment framework by Longwe (1995), the paper looked at resilience as the result of absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities. The absorptive and adaptive capacities responses were captured and subsequently with the help of an example the transition phase of the Bhusandapur village was explained. Then, the successful case study of tent-house and Dry-fish business led by women’s organization in the context of climate change adaptation was linked with the primary objective of the study.

All the researchers felt that interactions with other researchers and attending relevant lectures helped them to gain a deeper understanding on the issues plaguing women in a changing world, be it employment, inequalities, discrimination, violence or women farmers (labour, livelihoods and resource rights). Case studies as shared by the speakers helped to bring together instances from across the country to one platform. In the theme Session 10 on Climate Change, discussions focussed on the impacts of climate change on health, socio economic conditions, particularly on women, and the risks and vulnerabilities that women face in the context of climate change. Adaptation strategies, coping mechanisms and approaches of mitigation were also discussed. This theme did not have as many presentations as compared to the other themes which may throw some light on the need to bring attention to the emerging issue of how a changing climate can have differential impacts based on gender. However, akin to a baby’s first step where the effort has to be continued to make sure the wobbliness disappears, this effort of addressing gender and climate change has to be continued to make our concerns visible.

This post was written with contributions from reports written by Dr Amrita Patel, Prof Nitya Rao, Ms Farha Naaz, Ms Jasmine Giri, Ms Sukanya Banerjee and Mr Sumanta Banerjee.

show less

Training opportunities availed by Indian researchers

Besides creating learning opportunities for its members, the DECCMA project also encourages them to make use of opportunities provided by institutes external to the project. Training opportunities help researchers to garner new knowledge and implement the lessons in their ongoing research.

Two researchers from the DECCMA-Indian Team, Dr Somnath Hazra & Subhajit Ghosh attended two trainings each during the past two months. While attending the trainings organized by the DECCMA consortium, the researchers were aware where in the project the knowledge will be utilised. For the trainings organized by other institutes, the knowledge provided a foundation for further learning and it helped them think about the applicability of the training in their DECCMA research areas. Continue reading