Economic conditions of people of the Coastal Zone

Human assets
The following sections give an indication of the education and health levels in the coastal zone as important human assets.

Education
Education of children irrespective of sex has been perceived as an important human asset. According to the 1991 population census, the adult literacy rate13 (both male and female) in most of the coastal districts was higher than the national average (both sexes 35%, male 44% and female 26%). However, adult literacy rate is lower in the districts of Cox’s Bazar, Shariatpur and Bhola.

According to data obtained from the Directorate of Primary Education, the gross enrolment rate in primary schools14 is slightly lower in the coastal zone (95, compared to 98 outside the coastal zone). However, the gross enrolment rate for girls is similar (98 in the coastal zone and outside). Access to education is often influenced by schooling facility in the locality. The primary school population ratio is relatively high in the coastal zone, varying immensely, roughly from West (highest) to East (lowest). Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar have the lowest number of GoB schools per 10,000 people.

Health
The infant mortality rate (IMR) in Bangladesh is 92. 15 Nine coastal districts out of 19 have higher IMRs than the national IMR. Chittagong tops the list with an IMR of 103, followed by Chandpur (99), Feni (98) and Patuakhali (97).

There are more men than women. The sex ratio in the coastal zone is 102 compared to 104 outside the coastal zone.3 This may be a reflection of male out-migration being relatively higher in the coastal zone than in the rest of the country. Within the coastal zone, Chittagong and Khulna with more concentration of urban population have a higher sex ratio (109 and 108 respectively, reflecting a relatively high male in-migration). The average size of households is 5.08. This is higher than in other parts of the country (4.77) and is indicative of a higher dependency ratio.

The demographic dependency ratio4 is 1.06 compared to 1.01 outside the coastal zone. This is mainly because of the higher concentration of children and old people. In the coastal zone, 46 percent of the people are below 15 years of age, which is likely to have profound implications in the job market in the future.

Five percent children suffer from severe malnutrition in Bangladesh.16 This is higher for girls (6%)than for boys (4%). The extent of malnutrition (male and female combined) is higher in the coastal zone, particularly for girls. Eleven coastal districts out of 19 have a higher extent of severe malnutrition of children than the national average, being the highest in Bhola (14%), followed by Gopalganj (10%), Noakhali (9%) and Jhalakati, Shariatpur and Barisal (8% each). The situation is less severe in Satkhira (2%) and Khulna and Chandpur (3% each).

Health infrastructure is relatively poorer in the coastal zone. This has been found in terms of population-hospital bed ratio. There is one hospital bed per 3,782 persons on the average in the
coastal zone compared to 2,764 persons outside the coastal zone. These figures are of hospitals run by the government and NGOs only. Bed-population ratio is highest of the coastal zone in Barisal, Khulna and Chittagong (around 2,500 people per bed) 17 and very low in Chandpur, Lakshmipur and Satkhira (around 8,000 people per bed). Data are not available for private sector hospitals.

Social assets
Many households in the coastal zone consider membership of NGO groups an important asset. Many national and local NGOs have activities in different coastal districts as elsewhere in the country. According to CDF statistics,18 BRAC, Proshika, ASA and Caritas are the top four NGOs accounting for almost four-fifths of the total households covered by all NGOs. Together they cover one-third of the coastal households. Data reveals that extent of their coverage in and outside the coastal zone is almost similar. Within the coastal zone, however, their coverage is poor in Lakshmipur, Chittagong and Chandpur (less than 25% households), and quite high in Shariatpur and Gopalganj (above 50% households).

Access to local government (Union Parishad-UP) is also considered a valuable asset. Proximity to UP office is assumed to be positively correlated with services rendered by the UP in respective jurisdictions. In the coastal zone, the average area under a UP is 35 km2, which is higher than outside the coastal zone (32 km2). The average area is obviously high in Khulna-Bagerhat-Satkhira districts as vast areas are under forest. Besides, the average area of a union in Patuakhali, Barguna, Cox’s Bazar and Bhola districts is much higher than the coastal or national average: 50 km2 and above.

Natural assets
People have been living in the coastal zone in close interaction with nature for centuries. The country and not in the last place the coastal zone, is a “land of rivers, flood and marshes where man’s livelihood largely depends upon the vagaries of nature. The wide expanse of the rivers makes an ideal landscape, and the boatmen and cultivators play about in unison with nature. Man’s response to nature is not to resist but to tune his life to the melody of eternity” (Establishment Division, 1982: 97).

Households in a rural setting perceive land as the most important natural asset. Land is scarce. It is even scantier in the coastal zone. According to the 1996 agriculture census, the per capita availability of homestead land is lower in the coastal zone (0.004 ha) than outside the coastal zone(0.005 ha). The situation is also worse in the coastal zone in terms of cultivable land, gross cropped area and net cultivated area. Per capita land endowment is the lowest in Chittagong.

The pattern of land distribution in the coastal zone does not vary significantly from that of the country as a whole. In the coastal zone 0.2 percent of rural households do not own any land at all, neither homestead nor cultivable land. According to the 1996 agriculture census, their number is over ten thousand. More than a million rural households do not own any cultivable land, though they possess homesteads. Households possessing cultivable land less than half an acre (often categorized as “functional landless”) are 54 percent of total rural households in the coastal zone and they together own only 17 percent of land. This compares with 53 percent of rural households owning 13 percent of land for Bangladesh as a whole, implying a less skewed distribution in the coastal zone than in the remaining part of the country. (Table 6).

The pattern of land distribution based on Table 6 is shown in Figure 4. Data show that landownership is slightly more egalitarian in the coastal zone compared to Bangladesh as a whole, as the CZ curve is closer to the diagonal representing the line of equality.

The general form of the curves in Figure 4, in which the slope is gentle up to a certain point and then becomes much steeper, indicates a higher concentration of land in the hands of big landowners. It is visible from Figure 4 that around 60 percent households own only about 20 percent land and 80 percent households own about 40 percent land in the coastal zone.

Physical assets

Tubewell
Tubewells are the main source of drinking water. According to the 1991 population census, three fourths of the households (75% in the coastal zone and 76% outside the coastal zone) use tubewell water for drinking. Use of tubewells is low in the districts of Bagerhat (47%), Jhalakati (51%) and Pirojpur (52%) and relatively high in Jessore (96%) and Narail (95%).

According to latest DPHE data (unpublished DPHE database), the tubewell-population ratio is slightly higher in the coastal zone:110 persons per running tubewell, compared to 116 outside the coastal zone.20 However, a higher number of tubewells may not necessarily ensure higher access; proximity to a tubewell is also an important factor. In the coastal zone, tubewell-density (number of running tubewells per km2) is seven, which is less than outside the coastal zone (eight). Among the coastal districts, tubewell-density is the highest in Chittagong (32/km2) followed by Jessore (23/km2) and Satkhira (17/km2) and the lowest in Shariatpur, Pirojpur and Feni (3/km2). In the coastal zone, the proportion of choked tubewells is higher (5%) than in other areas of the country (4%), which is indicative of slightly poorer maintenance status of tubewells in the coastal zone.

The majority of households in the coastal zone (51%) depend exclusively on water from ponds and rivers for other domestic purposes, such as cooking, bathing, washing, etc. This is exceptionally high, compared with outside the coastal zone where the proportion is only 10 percent. Use of potable water for domestic purposes is relatively higher in Cox’s Bazar (82%) and Jessore (79%) and very low in Patuakhali, Barguna, Pirojpur, Barisal and Lakshmipur (5% or less).

Latrine
The state of sanitation with respect to the use of sanitary latrines is very poor in the country and
even poorer in the coastal zone. In the coastal districts only 11 percent of the households have a water-sealed latrine compared to 14 percent outside the coastal zone (BBS&UNICEF, 2002).21
Within the coastal zone, access to water-sealed latrines is low in Bhola, Barguna, Jhalakati, Patuakhali, Shariatpur and Cox’s Bazar (5% or less) and relatively high in Narail and Feni (above 20%).

Electricity
In Bangladesh, households’ access to the national electricity grid is limited and even worse in the coastal zone. According to the 1991 population census, 10 percent of the households had an
electricity connection in the coastal zone compared to 15 percent outside the coastal zone. Access to electricity is very low in the districts of Barguna, Bhola, Narail and Gopalganj (less than 3% of thehouseholds). Some upazilas have even less than one percent coverage of electricity, such as: Lalmohan (Bhola); Mehendiganj (Barisal); Kotalipara (Gopalganj); Koyra (Khulna); and Companiganj (Noakhali). Access of households to electricity is relatively high in the districts of Chittagong and Khulna (37% and 33% of the households, respectively).

Some parts of the coastal zone, particularly the offshore islands being remote and not easilyaccessible, will not be connected with the national electricity grid in the foreseeable future. However, renewable energy resources offer opportunities for development in this respect. Many
private parties, NGOs, government agencies (Bangladesh Railway, Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board and Bangladesh Army) and educational institutions (BUET, Dhaka University, and BITs) have so far installed many solar PVs. The sales progress of PV systems up to June 2002 shows that 45 percent of totally installed solar PV systems in Bangladesh have been installed in coastal districts (Islam, 2002).

Housing
The state of housing is poor in terms of materials used. According to the 1991 population census, the majority of the households use straw/bamboo as wall material (54% in the coastal zone and 59% outside the coastal zone). However, households possessing brick wall is less in the coastal zone (7%) compared to that outside the coastal zone (9%). Brick wall is more prevalent in the districts of Khulna, Jessore, Narail and Chittagong (more than 10% of the households) and very low in Shariatpur, Barguna, Bhola, Patuakhali, Lakshmipur, Gopalganj, and Pirojpur (less than 2%).

Housing conditions in terms of roof material is slightly poorer in the coastal zone, with 50 percent households having straw/bamboo/polythene roof, compared to 44% outside the coastal zone. Four percent households have houses with cemented roof in the coastal zone. This is relatively high in Chittagong and Khulna (10% and above) and very low in Shariatpur, Bhola, Barguna, Patuakhali, Lakshmipur, Pirojpur and Gopalganj (less than 1%).

Livestock
Livestock is considered an important household asset. According to the 1996 agriculture census, a lower number of households (44%) own cattle in the coastal zone than in other areas (47% outside the coastal zone). The average household endowment of cattle is slightly lower in the coastal zone (2.61 cattle per household in the coastal zone and 2.65 outside the coastal zone). The cattle population is more concentrated in Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur and Khulna (more than 3 per cattle owning household).

Transport and communication
Access to roads positively contributes to social mobility and economic activities. There are seven categories of road systems in Bangladesh. shows that the coastal zone has a slightly higher density of roads (0.71 km/km2) than other areas (0.67 km/km2). The density of roads is relatively higher in the districts of Feni, Jessore and Pirojpur and low in Bhola, Narail, Khulna and Cox’s Bazar (World Bank, 1996).

Among most common physical assets related to transport and communication -- and indicative of household material comfort -- are radio, television and bicycle. According to the 1991 population census, about one-fifth of the coastal households possesses a radio, while one-tenth owns a bi-cycle.

Less than four percent of the households own a television set. In the coastal zone more households possess a radio than in other parts of the country, while the situation is reverse for television and bicycle.

Western districts bordering India have a higher concentration of television. Most parts of the greater Barisal-Patuakhali districts are poorly endowed with radio (less than 1% of the households), while the Chittagong district has a higher radio-population ratio (more than 10% households possessing). Bi-cycles are mostly concentrated in Jessore and Satkhira where almost every third household possesses a bi-cycle.

Market
Physical facilities with respect to marketing outlets are critically important for economic life. The
country has a network of about 8,000 rural markets. Among these are 6,000 primary markets, 1,500 local assembly markets and about 4,500 secondary markets (World Bank, 1996: 14).In 1984, the government adopted a policy of identifying important markets as “growth centers”, to be focal points for rural development where investments in rural economic and social infrastructure would be concentrated. The Planning Commission designated 1,400 local assembly and secondary markets as growth centers in 1984 with participation by local authorities based on a set of guidelines. Another 700 markets were added in 1994. Each upazila has at least three growth centers.

Out of 2,100 growth centers, 588 (28%) are in the coastal zone. The density of growth centers is relatively lower in the coastal zone. While the average area per growth center is 80 km2 in the coastal zone, the average area is 66 km2 outside the coastal zone.  Within the coastal zone, Bhola, Noakhali and Patuakhali have a lower density of growth centers (over 100 km2 per center).25 The density is much higher in Feni, Chandpur and Shariatpur (less than 50 km2 per center).

Financial assets
Savings and credit are two major financial assets in the perception of the people. There are no disaggregate data available on savings. People depend on institutional (Government-sponsored special programs, Banks and NGOs) and non-institutional (private moneylenders) sources for credit. Access to micro-credit largely depends on the availability of credit-disbursing outlets in a particular area. Grameen Bank and NGOs are two major sources of micro-credit for the poor people. In 2001, Grameen Bank had 1,160 branches in the country of which 293 branches (25%) were in the coastal zone (Grameen Bank, 2001). Branch-population ratio is thus lower in the coastal zone than outside the coastal zone.

BRAC, Proshika, ASA and Caritas together account for 77 percent of the total credit disbursed (cumulative up to 2001) by all micro finance-NGOs (MF-NGOs). These four national NGOs cover the coastal zone well. Their total credit disbursement in the coastal districts in 2001 was 29 percent of their total disbursement in the country (CDF, 2002). It may be mentioned that the coastal zone accounts for 28 percent of the total population of the country. However, their coverage in the coastal zone was less extensive in the sense that they covered 19 percent of coastal households in comparison to 22 percent households outside the coastal zone. Household coverage is low in Bhola, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Lakshmipur (less than 15% households) and higher in Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Narail, Khulna, Bagerhat and Barguna (more than 25%).

There are some safety net programs targeted to the people in the poorest stratum. These include both food-assisted programs and cash transfer packages, which are: various food for work programs (now termed as rural development program); vulnerable group development (VGD) program; rural maintenance program (RMP), boyoshko bhata (allowance for the elderly), dustha bidhoba bhata (allowance for destitute women) and so forth. Certain number of beneficiaries is selected from each area, which is uniform for each union. Coastal districts are covered to the same extent as other parts of the country.

Regional differentiation
Descriptions of household assets and access to physical infrastructure show that the coastal zone in average is lagging behind in many respects. However, the variation within the coastal zone often is huge, implying that there are areas within the coastal zone that countrywide belong to the lowest developed areas. For example , areas close to the sea and offshore islands are poorer in terms of resource endowments. There are 39 upazilas / thanas (out of 110) in the coastal zone, which are either sea facing or islands. These upazilas constitute the exposed coast.26 Its total area is 23,021 km2 (16% of the country) and has a population of about 11 millions (9% percent of the country).

Analysis of 1991 census data shows that the situation of the households in the exposed coast is worse than in other areas. Within the exposed coast, islands are the most vulnerable in terms of
human deprivation indicators.

Source : COASTAL LIVELIHOODS : situation and context, Working Paper, Program Development Office for Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (PDO-ICZMP).