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.
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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.
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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.
Our 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”.
We 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.
I 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.
This 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.
Prof. 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 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 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 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. 
Dr. 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 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 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 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 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.
Beyond 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. 
Dr. 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 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.
Mrs. 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.
Mr. 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 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 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 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 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 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.
Ruth 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 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.
