Delta

Characteristics of migration in Satjalia Island in the Indian Bengal Delta

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Migration is a complex phenomenon. DECCMA defines migration as “the process by which individuals or whole households leave their usual place of residence for another geographic location, usually crossing an administrative or national border and remaining for at least six months, usually as a result of a change in the relative attractiveness, real or perceived, of the usual place of residence with respect to the destination.”

At the same time, DECCMA recognises that migration is multi-dimensional. The duration and distance of migration vary, as do the migration patterns of men and women in different contexts. Dr Tuhin Ghosh and his colleagues from Jadavpur University in Kolkata have been investigating the nature of migration in Satjalia Island in the Indian Bengal delta.

Local residents in Satjalia island have been trained to undertake a participatory household survey to investigate the nature of migration patterns. Climate change and environmental change are among the stresses contributing to migration, as sea level rise is higher than average, and the high population density exacerbates those at risk when river embankments fail.

The island experiences a variety of migration types, by men and women. In-migration and out-migration are both occurring, and on both a seasonal and permanent basis. Just over half of the migrants are men who migrate on a seasonal basis in search of work. In this clip, Dr Ghosh explains the results from the nearly-3000 surveyed households.

The nature of migration, and the destinations, strongly reflects dominant roles for men and women. The majority of seasonal male migrants are working age (36-55) and their main destinations are peri-urban areas in other cities, where they are able to find work as labourers. The rate of migration of women is much lower, and the destinations are typically urban centres (of cities closer to Satjalia) where they can find work within the domestic and childcare spheres. More information on this project was profiled on the TransRe website in March 2016 in a blog on “Understanding internal migration patterns in the Indian Bengal delta”

Migration, resettlement, river erosion and cyclones; WP 3 Fieldwork in Bangladesh – May 2016

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migration fieldwork in bangladesh

Migration fieldwork in Bangladesh

Of all the countries in the world, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The regular and severe environmental hazards that already batter the country – tropical cyclones, river erosion, flood, landslides and drought – are all projected to increase in intensity and frequency as a result of global environmental change. Fieldwork conducted in the Lakshmipur district, southeast of Dhaka, enabled Northern and Bangladesh WP 3 members to observe first-hand how the effects of cyclones such as Roanu (heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge) together with the impact of Meghna river erosion affect the daily lives and livelihoods of inhabitants of Lakhipur and Ramgoti. The WP3 team in the field consisted of Dr Anwara Begum (BIDS), Mr Rashed Bhuiyan and Mr Mahmudol Hasan Rocky (RMRRU), and Dr Ricardo Safra de Campos (University of Exeter), with logistical support provided by BUET.

As part of our work associated with resettlement, displacement and abandonment, the fieldwork team interviewed local government officials in Lakhipur and Ramgoti, members of governmental agencies in Dhaka, NGO representatives, resettled communities and members of households residing in vulnerable localities. In total, 19 stakeholder interviews were conduct by the WP 3 field team covering resettlement policy design and implementation. The fieldwork also included visits to resettlement projects in Ramgoti Upazila where researchers conducted interviews and collected empirical evidence on perceptions, expectations, and material and subjective wellbeing of local families. Among other findings, the interviews revealed the magnitude of the impact of riverbank erosion in Ramgoti. The mighty Meghna River has already engulfed 37 kilometres of the 96 kilometre flood protection embankment covering the Ramgati and Kamalnagar Upazilas, putting agricultural land, homes and local infrastructure at risk. These and the many other adverse effects of climate change will have profound repercussions for the economy and development of the country.

One of the most important impacts related to climate change and environmental hazards will be the forced movement of people throughout Bangladesh as a result of loss of homes, lands, property and livelihoods. For many inhabitants of deltaic areas in the country, spatial mobility in the form of permanent, seasonal and circular migration has become an integral part of life. Over past decades, a significant proportion of men and women in those areas have become migrant workers in order to sustain their families back home. The vast majority of this population movement takes place internally presenting the government with enormous challenges such as addressing key issues of housing, income-generating activities and access to frontline services such as health, education and basic sanitation in large urban centres such as Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna.

Other objectives of the field activity included pre-testing the preliminary draft of the migrant receiving area questionnaire in localities in Dhaka that concentrate large numbers of migrants. The WP 3 team visited the informal settlement districts of Mirpur-12, Bholar Bosti, Molla Bosti and Duaripara. Interviews with local residents of these localities revealed a variety of migration pathways, histories and driving factors including an environmental factor – whether climate related or not. Virtually all stakeholders interviewed suggested that rural to urban migration will continue to slums. Due to the lack of adequate income, food, water, shelter and basic amenities these migrants might be drawn into a cycle of poverty and indebtedness, as labour migration is often costly in itself. Nonetheless, those families that cannot employ migration as an option to improve their living condition might be worse off. These people may be ‘trapped’ in a deteriorating environment where traditional forms of livelihood are unsustainable and poverty and social disadvantage are a constant presence in their everyday lives.

Training of Enumerators for Sending Area Survey in the Volta Delta, Ghana

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training of enumerators

Training of enumerators

DECCMA Ghana Work Package Three (WP3) has trained 30 Field Enumerators (FEs) and 6 Supervisors for the Sending Area Household Surveys in the Volta Delta. The Sending Area Survey involves some 1500 households in 50 Enumeration Areas (EAs) across 9 Administrative Districts within the Volta Delta stretching from Prampram in the Greater Accra region to Aflao in the Volta region.

The DECCMA project is aimed at analysing the impacts of climate change and other environmental drivers across deltas in Africa and Asia. This Household survey together with other participatory research and economic methods will be used to analyse the processes of migration across the deltas.

The four-day (3-6 May) training held at the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) of the University of Ghana took participants through the survey instruments, the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) as well as a pilot survey in Oshiyie near Kokrobite in Accra. The training covered specific areas with respect to data collection such as community entry, questionnaire administration, as well as safety on the field. The enumerators were also taken through the various sections of the Household Head and Individual Questionnaires.
Following a thorough discussion of the various sections of the questionnaires in the hard copy format, the FEs formed three groups according to the languages spoken in the study area (Ewe, Ga/Dangbe and Twi). After several bouts of translation exercises and role plays, the Computer Aided Personal Interviewer (CAPI) was introduced and similar role play sessions carried out. At this point, a number of omissions and errors were detected while additional comments and suggestions were made on how to improve the final instrument.

On the final day of training, the FEs together with the trainers visited a fishing community along the coast of Accra and carried out a 4 hour pilot interview with members of the Oshiyie Community following the regular protocols of community entry which included a visit to the Chief of the town.

To ensure that the data collected meet the highest standards for synchronization and comparison with data from other Deltas, a Survey Structure which consists of an apex Survey Headquarters (based at RIPS), Supervisors and finally the Field Enumerators at the base was put in place. The Supervisors are directly in charge of all field operations including daily assignment of surveys to enumerators, community entry, editing, approval, collation and onward transmission of data to the Survey Headquarters who have final authority in accepting or rejecting completed instruments submitted through the Supervisors.

Beyond the three main elements of the structure, there are also a standby Teams of Observers and Monitors who would carry out regular visits to field teams to observe their work, make suggestions to Supervisors as well as the Headquarters on the progress of work among others.

Follow our posts on our Google+ page and also visit our blog for more updates on Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) Ghana activities.

Integrated Shrimp Aquaculture for Climate Change Adaptation

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integrated shrimp aquaculture

Shrimp aquaculture in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta

Shrimp aquaculture started in GBM delta during 1980s and mainly within coastal polders. It expanded rapidly where salinity was suitable. However, there was much concern on environmental and social grounds due to mal-practice of shrimp culture and diseases. In course of time, shrimp culture practice and areas of shrimp culture changed and mix culture took hold at many places. Integrated or mix farming with less environmental and social conflicts appears to have great potential as an adaption option to climate change in the coastal zone. Recently, a field survey has been conducted to learn more about this adaption option and appears to hold great promises.

It has been found that integrated farming is propagating in areas with salinity lower than 15 ppt. Various forms of integrated and mix farms can be seen. Such farms adopts a combination of crops such as brackish water shrimp (bagda), freshwater shrimp (golda), tilapia, other fin fish, crab, horticulture/agriculture (dry season vegetables and paddy) and Geese/duck. Usual cropping pattern would be Bagda-Paddy, Golda-Paddy, Golda-Bagda-Agriculture. These integrated farming systems are developed by farmers through trial and error with little extension support from line agencies. However, such integrated approaches usually are difficult to be supported by single line agency. Extension support for such integrated farming will require a completely different extension model. These integrated approaches would be more resilient, cost effective, rational use of resources to climate change condition.

It is apprehended that in climate change condition new areas of GBM Delta will be inundated and salinity will intrude farther. Many areas may not remain suitable for paddy farming and may be considered for shrimp aquaculture. In such situation only good practices with integrated form may be one of the adaptive solutions. Based on investigation made during 2015-16 by IWFM, BUET under DECCMA study, several integrated and sustainable shrimp farming practices in Chitalmari and Fakirhat of Bagerhat District has been found where horizontal and vertical expansion of this aquaculture pattern absorbed seasonal and local unemployed youth including women. It is observed that in these areas farmer opted brackish water shrimp in one season and freshwater shrimp in another season. In between, farmers considered Tilapia and other fin fishes and also horticulture/agriculture. The yield and income has been profitable and sustainable. There are indications that such integrated/mix farms reduces migration too.

So far, integrated farming is mostly seen in the Khulna region. It is not seen much in Barisal or Chittagong region. With climate changed condition it is estimated that more areas will become brackish especially in some areas in Pirojpur, Jhalokathi and Barisal. It is apprehended that people would prefer mix shrimp-fish culture (towards integration) as salinity level will not be high to choose for Bagda alone and not so less to continue with rice farming. So there will be scope for integrated fish-shrimp-horticulture. Thus, existing coverage of integrated farming though not very high but in future it will be considerable especially if there is adequate extension support. In future, integrated farming involving marine fish may also take hold where salinity would be little high. Again it will require new form of extension services.

Integrated shrimp aquaculture also observed other Deltas under DECCMA study. In Mahanadi Delta in India especially in the Chandipur area at the outfall of Subarnarekha River within permissible salinity range. In Volta Delta in Ghana Shrimp Farming not yet flourished. One farm established in 2013 (including a hatchery) in the Ada East District and created job opportunity for many people.

Examples of adaptation to climate change in deltas

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examples of adaptation

Examples of adaptation

The DECCMA WP6 partners have been recording examples of adaptation that are in practice across our study sites. These examples, from literature and observation, are being collated into Adaptation Inventories for each area – a database of current adaptation practices that are being utilised to combat climate change in deltas.

For a sneak peak at some of the types of adaptation that have been recorded, see these illustrated examples:
– Mahanadi Delta, India
– Volta Delta, Ghana
– Ganges Brahamputra Meghna Delta, Bangladesh
– Indian Bengal Delta, India

The full Adaptation Inventories will be completed later in 2016.

Drones over the delta: Monitoring coastal protection structures along the shoreline of Ghana’s Volta delta using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)

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Coastal erosion in the Keta district of the Ghana’s Volta delta is causing increasing problems by destroying property and infrastructure and displacing people. With erosion rates of up to 8 metres per year, proactive efforts are required to manage these impacts. Within the Keta Sea Defence Project (KSDP) various erosion control measures have been employed. These include hard engineering, such as groynes and revetments, and soft engineering, such as beach nourishment.

Since its establishment in 2004, there has been no sustainable scheme in place to monitor the effectiveness of the coastal defence structures within the Keta Sea Defence Project.
Traditional methods of monitoring the rate of coastal erosion include Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS), aerial photographs and satellite imagery – but these are expensive to buy, require specialist training to use, and can be time consuming. Although some satellite images are freely available, their coarse resolution (30m x 30m) mean that that are unsuitable for monitoring the KSDP.

Kwasi Appeaning Addo and his team in the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences at the University of Ghana and the Centre for Tropical Marine Ecology at the University of Bremen, Germany are pioneering a new mechanism to monitor the rate of coastal erosion. Unnamed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or “drones” are relatively inexpensive to buy (less than US$1000) and easy to use (it takes only a day to train research assistants to fly the drone). In addition they allow flexibility in the monitoring process – the researchers determine the flight path and the altitude at which the drones fly, which results in much more relevant and reliable data. Being able to choose the height at which the drones fly means that clouds are not a problem as they can be in both aerial photographs and satellite imagery.

Dr Appeaning Addo and his team have been undertaking bi-monthly repeated surveys were undertaken using a drone known as DJI Phantom Series. They first established ground control points using a high precision differential GPS system in order to effectively guide the drone. The survey produce in high resolution aerial photographs which are then analysed and used to create 3D models of the earth’s surface. The models from each drone monitoring mission are then overlaid with the previous ones. In comparing them, it is possible to identify any changes over time and also the extent of change allows calculation of the rate at which the change was occurring. Since the drones produce photographs, it is possible to use them to investigate of what is causing the changes and whether they are permanent or cyclical, for example. The preliminary results from two months (May and July 2015) of drone-led field surveys showed that there was significant lateral and topographic changes in the beach system.

As drones provide more reliable data for scientists to analyse, they will be able to have a greater understanding of the nature and rate of coastal erosion in the Volta Delta shoreline. This provides a reference point to assess the effectiveness of the KSDP. It also provides important information for the government of Ghana to ensure that their attempts to address coastal erosion are well targeted and effective.

Drone footage of community flooding and coastal erosion in the Volta delta

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On February 3rd 2016, the Daily Graphic, the main newspaper in Ghana, reported of destruction being caused by ocean waves in a number of communities within the Volta Delta, including Fuveme. In response to the news, the DECMMA Ghana team set out to verify the situation on 6th February 2016 and carried out a drone survey using DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone.

The video shows strong wave activities during high tide resulting in overtopping of the beach and flooding of the Fuveme community. Buildings were destroyed during the flooding, which rendered people homeless. Natural fish landing sites were also eroded. This has affected fishing business, which is the main source of livelihood in the community and resulted in migration from the community.

A Tale of two Cities

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2015 saw an acceleration of DECCMA with extensive work on the development of Household Surveys across four study deltas in India, Bangladesh and Ghana, looking at the component role climatic change might play in migration and adaptation. This work has been substantially supported by the outcomes of a sister project to DECCMA in the form of ESPA Deltas. Both of these projects were represented at the AGU December 2015 in San Francisco at a specific session relating to Delta research, called Sustainable Deltas: Multidisciplinary Analyses of Complex Systems II, Global Environmental Change (Primary Convener Irina Overeem CSDMS/INSTAAR on behalf of Belmont Deltas), with cross-referencing between the talks demonstrating a continuity of learning and development. The following were presented:

Hutton C.W., & Nicholls, R.J. & Allan, A. (2015), Migration in Vulnerable Deltas: A Research Strategy. AGU, 2015, San Francisco, 14-18th December

Nicholls, et. al. (Hutton, C.W) (2015). Ecosystem services and livelihoods in deltaic environments (Invited). AGU 2015, San Francisco, 14-18th December

Lazar, A. et. al. (Hutton, C.W) (2015). An integrated framework to assess plausible future livelihood and poverty changes in deltas: an application to coastal Bangladesh. AGU 2015, San Francisco, 14-18th December

Payo Garcia, A. & Hutton, C.W. (2015). Assessing the time scale response of Health, Livelihoods, Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation in Populous Deltas. AAG, Chicago 2015

The presentations within the session were wide ranging and thought provoking with examples of papers and posters from highly developed contexts to regions of the developing world under extraordinary stress from environmental degradation and climatic changes. One common thematic approach that might be drawn from the session was the diversity and complexity of the social interaction across these landscape scale features with competing requirements for industry and food production as well as the socio-economic and cultural needs of the people who occupy the lands including the complex drivers of migration and urbanisation. The meeting was followed by a meal in down town San Francisco where, Profs Overeem and Nicholls lead a discussion on possible collaborative efforts that have continued from this meeting.

Drawing on a specific component of this discussion, namely that of land and water and the relation to food security, The DECCMA project was also presented as a case study at the Land and Water Days, November 2015 in Rome where a conference was jointly convened by FAO, IFAD and WFP as part of efforts aimed at reaching effective and lasting impacts for land and water actions on the ground. The event is presented as an opportunity to review policies, technologies and approaches to secure sustained improvements in support to activities on the ground; and foster exchanges of experience between countries and regions. The University of Southampton presented a detailed study of DECCMA in the “Land and Water assessment for identifying vulnerabilities and sustaining rural livelihoods” session entitled; Deltas, Vulnerability & Climate Change: Migration & Adaptation: Assessing vulnerability of populations to land and water shocks, with elements of the lessons learned in ESPA Deltas as an example of how remote sensing can be used to extract both social and biophysical data of relevance to planning in food security and livelihoods. The talk was well received and as well as ongoing established links with FAO (specifically John Latham NRL) has spawned some discussions and potential collaboration with WFP.

Migration: A complex phenomena which defies simplification

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Climate change, poverty and the nexus of socio-environmental drivers that drive or influence migration has emerged as a challenging issue to a wide group of researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Recognised in Paris and the Sustainable Development Goals alike (SDG 10, which sets out a target for “facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies) the issue has made it in where it had not in the MDGs 15 years earlier. However, when we drill deeper into these phenomena it becomes clear that unlike say poverty, social injustice or the disease burden, migration describes a social phenomenon to which it is disputed as to whether it poses a threat or an opportunity to society, or as seems more likely, sits as some complex connective tissue between the two.

What is responsible migration and who is the beneficiary? Within the experience of the DECCMA project, the universal tacit response has been that Migration is generally a bad thing, a port of last call, a sign of decline. However, discussions with communities and local policy makers nuance this picture and mark the requirement for a far more subtle understanding of this multi-stranded process. Whilst It is clear this is a complex process with many different sub-phenomena occurring we perhaps need to ask ourselves whether it might be helpful to explicitly differentiate between types of migration in our common lexicon (as is common in the literature). Could we use the word commute for shorter periods of activity with migration reserved for more extensive periods only? Or introduce a typology of migration with type 1, 2 and 3 where type 1 represents weekly migration and type 3 permanent. The reason this might be suggested is that migration is sometimes handled, particularly by decision makers, as a single phenomenon requiring a single policy response.

Perhaps even more pressing is the need to recognise that there really is no consensus on, if and when different types of migration might be a benefit and to whom. It seems reasonable to say that as a component of livelihood diversification it provides input to the overall resilience of a society, allowing communities to respond to shocks and stresses by offering an alternative income (the classic example being the temporary rickshaw puller dispatched by a family to supplement income), but what of more permanent migratory behaviour? On the one hand this can pick at the fabric of a community with the generation of women headed households where the burden of work and family care falls to women alone and migrators being isolated from family and community. However, it is also apparent that such migratory behaviour underpins elements of developing and emerging economies. Indeed, we might ask ourselves where the West would be if migration to industrial centres had not occurred?

In a development context we often conflate economic growth with a decline in poverty (although the relationship is in fact more complex) but are we then, de facto, really saying cheap labour from the rural areas is often the fuel of competitive industry. A thought inducing example of this that has been recognised in the ESPA Deltas project (www.espadeltas.net) is that salinity ingress to the delta is associated with shrimp production. Plausibly this might be seen as a reasonable adaptation to a climate related phenomena, however the process induces large-scale loss of livelihood which can be associated with migration. This in turn generates cheap labour forces with supressed wages in urban environments. In both cases, GDP will be benefited but the distribution of that wealth is of grave concern. Further to this, it is possible to see that policy perspectives in this area can also be rather simplistic with economic investments designed to retain people in their region of origin potentially mobilising people to move. It is perfectly plausible to see investment in agriculture providing better incomes, which in turn allow for migration, which is a costly business in itself. These subtleties became substantial phenomena when considered across the populations for which migration is a potential option. As such we need to work towards an understanding of this phenomena, before establishing policy strategies.

Pre-test of sending area household survey at Jhapa Village of Satkhira, Bangladesh

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Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) carried out a pre-test survey on the DECCMA Sending Area Household Survey on 8-12 December, 2015 at Jhapa village of Shyamnagar, Satkhira, Bangladesh. A team of 9 researchers traveled to Satkhira, Bangladesh to conduct the survey.

The objectives of the pre-test were:

  1. To assess the effectiveness of the questionnaire in collecting information on migration and adaptation.
  2. To explore different issues related to sending survey questionnaire e.g., length of the interview, flow of logic, wording of the questionnaire, logistics issues etc.
  3. To produce a report on the questionnaire to assist northern team to modify the final questionnaire for sending household survey.

pretest of sending area household survey

Survey setting


A total of twelve households were interviewed during the pre-test survey. Among the households, 9 were migrant households and 3 were non-migrant households. From each household, the team interviewed two persons – one with the household head and another adult of opposite sex (except one household where the household head was migrant and no other adult family members were available). Altogether, the team interviewed 23 people(12 female and 11 male).

After the survey, a detailed report on the questionnaire was prepared and sent to the DECCMA Northern team to assist them to produce the final questionnaire. The report contained the issues encountered by field facilitators during the interviews. Among the issues, personality related questions, adaptation related questions and length of the survey were of major concerns. The average time of the survey varied from two and half hours to three hours. The report compiled every single comment made by the field facilitators to help the Northern team to enlighten the actual scenario of the pre-test.

The DECCMA Household Survey is scheduled to be rolled out to 1500 households within the delta study site in February and March 2016.