Part one Chapter one.doc

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PART TWO

Chapter-1

Char dwellers in Bangladesh- an overview

1.1 Char land area in Bangladesh

With a population of over 150 million (BBS: 20012) living in an area of 147,570

square kilometers (or 1,045 persons per square kilometer), Bangladesh is one of

the most densely populated countries in the world. About 80% of the population

lives in rural areas and is mainly engaged in agriculture and related non-farm

activities. More than two thirds of the rural population is landless or functionally

landless (owning less than 0.2 hectares of land), 44% are below the national poverty

line and 29% are classified as very poor (BBS: 2005). Of this population at least 5%

are char dwellers. Endowed with limited land and other natural resources, and

with a high population density, poverty is a pervasive problem in rural Bangladesh.

Chars in Bangladesh can be considered a 'by-product' of the hydro-morphological

dynamics of its rivers. The Irrigation Support Project for Asia and the Near East (ISPAN)study indicates that the chars that are not eroded in the first four years of their

emergence could be used for either cultivation or settlement by the end of these four

years. BBS report of 1997 suggests that in the relatively lower reaches, where land is

more fertile, cropping intensity in the chars appears to be between 150 and 185, which

is quite similar to the average intensity of 165 for the entire country. However, the island

and attached chars appear to be less productive than adjacent mainland areas. The

major reasons for this are the relatively less favorable soil conditions in some of the

chars, uncertainties caused by erosion and frequent floods(Banglapedia 2003:312).

Many of the chars have extensive areas of grasslands. These are used as grazing lands

for the cattle. Catkin grass, which grows quite extensively on chars during the early

period of vegetation, is used as thatching material. In some chars there are good


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prospects for sand mining, which can be properly exploited to benefit from the

increasing demand for sand as a construction material.

The chars are extremely vulnerable to both erosion and flood hazards. Recent analysis

of time series satellite images indicates that over 99% of the area within the riverbanks

of the Jamuna had been char at one time or another during the 27-year period of 1973

to 2000. The same analysis shows that about 75% of the chars persisted between one

and nine years, while only about 10% lasted for 18 years or more. In certain areas,

however, the chars can be quite stable (for example, in the Upper Meghna area).

During the period of 1984 to 1993, char areas increased in all rivers, except in the

Upper Meghna. The net increase of chars during this period amounted to 36,000 ha.

The effects of riverbank erosion and widening of the river channel on the people living in

chars have been significant. During 1981 to 1993, a total of about 729,000 people were

displaced by riverbank erosion. More than half of the displacement was along the

Jamuna.

Each year a large percentage of the chars get flooded. The flooding, if it comes early,

can damage the crops in the fields. People in chars build their homesteads on the

highest available land and, if they stay there for any length of time, they further elevatetheir homesteads on built-up plinths to avoid annual inundation. The island chars are

found to be flooded more extensively than the attached chars. Among the chars within

different river reaches, those within the Ganges are found to be most extensively

flooded.

1.2 Geographic distribution of char dwellers

Chars in Bangladesh have been divided into five sub-areas: the Jamuna, the Ganges,

the Padma, the Upper Meghna and the Lower Meghna rivers. There are other areas of

riverine chars in Bangladesh, along the Old Brahmaputra and the Tista rivers. But

compared to the chars in the major rivers, these constitute much less land area. It is

estimated that in 1993 the total area covered by chars in Bangladesh was 1,722 sq

km(Banglapedia 2003:314)..


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The Jamuna Within the braided belt of the Jamuna, chars have different sizes. An

assessment of 1992 dry season Landsat image shows that the Jamuna contained a

total of 56 large chars, each longer than 3.5 km. There were an additional number of

226 small chars, varying in length between 0.35 and 3.5 km. This includes sandy areas

as well as vegetated chars.

During 1984-1992 period, the area within the banks of the Jamuna has increased by

15%, out of which the increase in sand area accounts for more than half. Increases in

water area and vegetated land area account for about one-sixths and one-thirds of the

total increased area respectively. This signifies that widening of the braided belt of the

Jamuna and corresponding floodplain erosion during the above period has been

compensated to a substantial extent by the increases in sand and vegetated land areas.In the Jamuna the period between 1973 and 2000, chars have consistently appeared in

the reaches opposite to the Old Brahmaputra offtake, north and east of Sirajgani and in

the southernmost reach above the confluence with the Ganges.

The Ganges The process of char formation in the Ganges is quite different from that of

the Jamuna. These two rivers have rather different hydromorphologic and planform

characteristics. The dynamics of chars is more complex in a braided river like the

Jamuna than in a meandering river like the Ganges.

In 1993, total vegetated char within the bank was 35% in the Ganges River and 43% in

the Jamuna River. The characteristics of the two types of chars (attached and island

chars) are different for braided and meandering rivers. The ratio of attached char area

to island char area in the Ganges was found to be 1.6, compared to the ratio of about

1.0 for the Jamuna.

The Padma In the dry season of 1993, the Padma had a total of 13 accreted island

chars, each longer than 3.5 km and an additional 18 island chars were each between

0.35 and 3.5 km long. These islands include vegetated char lands and sand masses.

The presence of chars is related to the width of the river. The Padma is a single

channeled stream at Mawa and no char exists there. In the river reaches where the


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width is 12-15 km, wide and long island chars are visible. Char erosion and accretion

depends on the migration of the meandering bends of the river. The area of attached

chars is higher than that of island chars. The area of vegetated chars in the Padma is

much less than that in the Jamuna or the Ganges. Vegetated land area covered only

12% of the total within-bank area in 1984. In 1993, the vegetated area increased to 20%

of the total within-bank area(Banglapedia 2003:316)..

The Upper Meghna The chars in the Upper Meghna river are quite stable. The river is

a multi-channelled stream, consisting of parallel channels, which behave as separate

meandering rivers rather than forming a braiding river.

The Lower Meghna The characteristics of char dynamics at the confluence of the

Padma and the Upper Meghna rivers are different from those in the Lower Meghna river

downstream of the confluence. At the confluence the river has widened, which has

resulted in an increase in char area. The widening of the river during 1984-1993

resulted a loss of about 4,500 ha of land. The increment of vegetated land during 1984-

1993 was about 3,000 ha. The vegetated land area in 1984 was 10,500 ha, constituting

about 30% of the total area within the banks.In the part of the Lower Meghna

downstream of Chandpur, the situation is completely different.

The instability of the chars in the Jamuna is inherent in the dynamic characteristics of

this braided river. The earthquake of 1950 in Assam and adjacent areas might also

have contributed to the instability of the Jamuna chars. Due to this earthquake, huge

amounts of sediments might have been dumped into the river, which travelled

downstream during subsequent decades. As the total supply of sediments exceeded the

transport capacity of the river, sediments were gradually deposited in the riverbeds. To

compensate for its reduced water-carrying cross section, the river eroded substantial

parts of its riverbanks. This resulted in a continuous process of char formation and river

widening in the Jamuna during the last 27 years (average widening 125 m/year),

whereby relatively fine bank material was eroded and coarser material got accreted.


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Analysis of recent satellite images show that the rate of widening of the Jamuna has

been reducing since the early nineties. The Padma has been showing an increasing

trend of widening in the last years. This could result in the formation of more chars in

the area. In the Ganges the increase of sediment supply might be due to processes of

deforestation and growing intensive cultivation of the upstream.

1.3 Demographic composition of char dwellers

Bangladesh is the 7th most populous country and one of the most densely populated

country in the world (Wikipedia, 2010b) having a total population of 160 million (World

Bank, 2010). As of 2006, 1109 persons are living within a square kilometer (World

Bank, 2008a). Bangladesh is also the most densely settled rural nation in the world

(Islam, 1982). Although urbanization has been rapid in the past two decades, more than

75% of the total population still lives in rural areas. Despite the decline in poverty

incidence from 57 % at the beginning of the 1990s to 40 % in 2005 (World Bank, 2008

b), eradicating poverty remains a great challenge for Bangladesh. The Household

Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES) of 2000 and 2005 conducted by the

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) show that the percentage of the population with

a per capita consumption below the upper poverty line declined by 18 % during 2000-2005, while that below the lower poverty line (the threshold for extreme poverty)

declined by 27 %. Although the rural-urban gap has narrowed, the rural poverty rate in

2005 was still more than one and a half times the urban rate. The total population in the

chars during 1993 works out to be about 631,000. The majority of these people (65%)

live in the Jamuna chars. The char population in 1993 represents a 47% increase over

the population in 1984. The national population growth over the same period is

estimated to be 26%. Thus, there is a growing importance of chars in providing land for

human habitation in Bangladesh.


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1.4 Socio-cultural Scenario of char dwellers:

The physical structure of char society refers to the tangible entities in char society:

different patterns adopted by char people in their settlement, the spatial distribution of

houses, the available resources and the number, density and composition of char

people themselves.

The pattern of settlement of char people has differed in various parts of the world and in

some cases within a country itself. Several factors, identified as influencing this pattern,

give some insight into the background from which char society in different areas has

emerged, and aid in understanding certain aspects of behavior that may be fashioned

by the settlement pattern. The settlement pattern, as well as the type and arrangement

of dwellings within the settlement pattern, on the other hand, may itself be fashioned by

the attitudes, belief and behavior of char people to meet specific needs and purposes.

1.3.a CHAR RESOURCES

Char Resources refer to any developed or underdeveloped materials or energies both

natural and human, or means that are available in the area for use by people in char

society for meeting their needs and the needs of the society in which they live. These

resources vary from society to society and from one region or country to another, and

have been used by people in different ways for different purposes and to serve differentends. Whatever their uses, they are an important part of the physical structure of char

society and it is important that they be recognized, understood and appreciated as re-

sources available to char society. While char resources have been classified in various

ways, the following is sufficiently analytical to serve our purpose here:

A. NATURAL RESOURCES

1. Land. Land is used here as to refer the area of cultivated land, uncultivated but

arable land, and land unfit for agricultural pursuits.

2. Water. The existence of water supply for purposes such as drinking and other

domestic use, irrigation of farm land, for fisheries and fish culture and the growth of

edible aquatic plants, as a source of power for electricity, water mills and other industry


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and mechanical devices using water power, and as a communication channel for

transport of goods, livestock and humans from one place to another.

3. Climate. The amount, frequency, velocity, periodicity, etc. of each of the natural

elements of wind, rainfall, and temperature in the area are used to compose the climate.

4. Forests or Groves. An area being made up with a variety or trees, animals, birds,

water etc either in developed form as a source of income or undeveloped as a potential

resource or income is included here as forests.

5. Minerals. The resources under the surface of the earth such stone, special sand for

glass making, iron, bauxite, coal, oil and other types of minerals if available in the area

and used.

B. MAN-MADE RESOURCES

In char society some resources have been purposefully created to meet specific needs,

but are available to serve in various ways:

1. Transport and Communication Facilities: Gravel or soft surface roads, footpaths,

waterways, bicycles, rickshaws, horse-drawn vehicles, boats, radio, television,cellular phone, post and are examples of such facilities.

2. Health and Welfare Facilities. Health facilities range from a periodic dispensary with a

compounder or local Vaid (herb doctor) to a sophisticated rural clinic with modern

equipment and well trained staff to public health and preventative medical facilities such

as regular immunization, first-aid instruction, sanitation measures and any man-made

arrangements which make for maintenance of the people in a good state of health.

Welfare facilities refer to the existence of programs and arrangements by agencies

aimed programs other than health, such as agricultural production development , home

and family improvement, village community development, programs for children,

youth and the aged, development of handicrafts and village industry. These

programs may be run privately or by the government or by both,


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3. Supply and Service Agencies. These are the existing facilities for the supply of

the commodities demanded by char people and those for which a demand is

being created through welfare and development programs. The existing channels

of supply, the available services and their agencies and channels are further

examples.

4. Marketing and Industrial Facilities. Resources available to process from produce

and to distribute products, such as flour and oil mills, rice hulling and cotto'n

ginning plants, other small industrial units, marketing systems and facilities for

storage and disposal of products, cooperative societies, and other organizations

available to provide marketing and industrial facilities.

5. Financial Facilities. Provision of adequate banking, credit and loan facilities,

perhaps through government or non-government agencies such as credit

cooperatives, money lenders, and private banks are financial facilities.

6. Public Utilities. Adequate means of water supply, electricity or gas supply,

conservancy facilities and other public utilities.

7. Educational Facilities. School, technical and vocational training facilities,

colleges, educational services of any kind available to people in char society

through adult education, char welfare, char extension or other agencies under

whatever sponsorshipgovernment or nongovernment.

8. Religious Facilities. Temples, mosques, churches, centers of religious

pilgrimage, religious instruction, discourse or meditation such as ashrams,

monasteries, and convents.

9. Recreational Facilities. A variety of facilities such as playground for various

games and athletics, theatres, cinemas, radio and television, clubs to provide

recreation and enjoyment to char people in ways and forms acceptable to

society.


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C. HUMAN RESOURCES

The greatest resource of any organization, enterprise or society is the people who are

part of it. The human resources of char society, tremendous and usually under-tapped,

are reflected by two aspects: physical and mental. For instance, countries with high

population figures have many people of utilize as a physical human resource. India, as

an example, recognised this physical resource may years ago and launched what was

called Man-power Mobilization Program as a part of the community development efforts

in char areas. By sheer force of numbers, several public works such as tank digging,

road building, building of culverts, dams, school and community centre buildings were

completed. The program continues using this important physical human resource.

Mental human resources contain the vast fund of experience and "folk knowledge"

about farming, other occupations, and life and living in villages. This experience

cannot be matched by any formal university degree in agriculture although formal

education may aid effective utilization. In addition the farmer and other char people,

having contended with natural elements for centuries, have learned to manipulate them

to the best advantage and have gained an almost uncanny intuition about seed time,

optimum tilth of soil, harvest time and other such matters. Further, experience has

developed manual skills about other aspects of village life such as house construction.The range of char resources is wide and varied and if the char situation is analyzed with

care, resources will be found to be unexpectedly numerous.

1.3. b. CHAR INSTITUTION

To define institution sociologists Morton said it- an institution is an organized system of

social relationships which embodies certain common values and procedures and meets

certain basic needs of society (Morton, 1964, p. 206). Landis views as formal cultural

structures devised to meet basic social needs". [Landis, 1955, p. 555]

So whatever the definition of an institution is some common features it may have which

are as like as follows-


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A. Culturally approved patterns of behaviour including prescribed roles and procedures.

Each institution is laden with values, prescribed roles and codes of' conduct, some

written in laws, but most unwritten and subconsciously exerting social pressure on

members of society.

B. Patterns of behavior grouped about central human needs and organized so as to

direct behavior toward the meeting of these needs. Institutions are therefore purposive

having the satisfaction of social needs as a goal or objective.

C. Overall patterns or systems of behavior which have persisted long enough to be

considered relatively permanent. In these regard major intuitions of char land area are

as like as follows.

MAJOR INSTITUTIONS IN CHAR SOCIETY

Generally recognized are five basic institutions in both char and urban society: the

family, religion, the economic, government, and education.

The family: The family is the most multifunctional of all institutions in society, and is a

system of organized relationships involving workable and dependable ways of meeting

basic social needs. More specifically the family commonly fulfils the following tasks in

society:

1. Sex regulation,2. Reproduction and perpetuation of the family and human race,

3. Socialization,

4. Provision of economic maintenance and livelihood in many cultures.

5. Provision of love, affection and security to the individual, and

6. Provision of class status to the individual of the family into which he has been born.

Within the basic institution of the family are secondary institutions such as engagement,

marriage, courtship and relationships with the family into which marriage has taken

place.

The specific ways in which these functions and tasks are carried out are defined by the

culture of the society concerned, involving systems of social roles, norms of behaviour,

and prescribed rules and regulations governing forms and procedures involved in these

relationships.


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Religion:

Most religions of the world have the following elements:

I. A set of beliefs regarding the ultimate power in the universe,

II. A set of beliefs regarding the ideal and proper pattern of behavior,

III. A set of ceremonial ways of expressing these beliefs"(Rose, 1964, p. 203)

The religious beliefs, forms of worship, objects of worship, rituals, ceremonies of the

people of the world are varied and most numerous, but most are basic in the profound

influence that they exercise on the behavior of individuals, groups and society as a

whole in almost every aspect of life. Secondary institutions within the major institution of

religion include rituals, forms of worship, and organised groups for propagating

religions.

Economy or maintenance: These institutions provide basic physical subsistence for

society and meet basic needs for food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Included

are the economic institutions of productionagriculture, industry, and the distribution,

exchange, and consumption of commodities, goods and services necessary for human

survival. Secondary institutions included within the major economic institutions are

credit and banking systems, advertising, cooperatives, etc. Means of livelihood show

wide variety both in themselves and in associated functions and relationships not only in

various parts of the world but within societies.Education: Educational institutions are those which seek to socialize individuals in

society or introduce them in formal ways into their social and cultural world. Every new

generation must be prepared and trained to play a role in society. Educational

institutions have emerged from this backgroundfrom the home and the temple, the

mosque, the church or the ashram to the formal village school, college and university.

This major institution is of tremendous influence on the behavior of char people, their

inter-relationships and the molding of behavior and personality of individuals and

groups.


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1.3. CECOLOGICALENTITIES

Many species of plant and animal life are interdependent for their sustenance, growth

and development. Such mutually beneficial interdependence is called a symbiotic

relationship. The various kinds of interdependent relationships, fostering a balance in

nature, are collectively termed symbiosis.

Such spatial patterning can also be observed among human beings-based partly (but

not solely), on symbiotic relationships. Associating in varying degrees and forms of

inter-related organization with others in society, human beings distribute themselves in

relation to land areas in such a way as to create land-based relationships or units called

ecological entities(Anderson, 1964, p. 97) Similarly, the pattern of spatial distribution of

service establishments, industry, residential arrangements, whole-sale and retail trade

and commerce establishments, regulatory, educational services and other such

establishments depend on the inter-relationships among them. Human Ecology is the

study of "the symbiotic relationships and the resulting spatial patterning of human

beings and human institutions in the community"(Cuber, 1968, p. 410)

Region

The term region refers to an area of sufficiently homogeneous physical features to

distinguish it from another region. It has also been defined as "an area within which thecombination of environmental and demographic factors have created a homogeneity of

economic and social structure" (T. J. Woofter, Jr. in Taylor, 1949, p. 336) The essential

features ofa region are (a) homogeneity of physical environment as well as cultural and

economic uniformity, (b) uniqueness and distinctiveness of which people are aware and

which distinguishes it from other regions, (c) presence within it of a distinctive core, and

(d) the presence of indistinct boundaries which constitute the overlapping of two or more

distinct core-centered regions. Regions may be of different classes like-

a) Natural region which is differentiated from one another on the basis of a single

geographic characteristic such as soil, rainfall, topography, forest, irrigation.

b) Cultural regions may have differences in agricultural and living patterns between

people living in mountains regions and those living on the plains, nit more than

50-100 miles from each other, because of the different topographical conditions.


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c) Agricultural regions are based on the type of farming practiced in various areas,

climate, soil and other factors influencing a central crop and /or livestock

production.

Some other regions are service regions, composite regions and so others.

The Community

The term community means a group of people within a continuous geographical area

with a sense of belonging or identification with some common social values, norms, and

other aspects of culture in a common set of organizations and institutions. The locating

boundaries of a community are to become indistinct. Here in the below image of two

different communities can be viewed-

(Source: Roger, 1960:136)

Neighborhood

The neighborhood is a smaller unit than the community a community often is composed

of several neighborhoods, Carl Taylor has described the community as the first social

group in modern life that approaches self sufficiency (Taylor, 1949: 549). It is a limited

geographic area in which the individuals and families are known to each and carry on

intimate relationship to each other (Anderson, 1964: 107). Thus a neighborhood may be

characterized by

- a locality group of people,

- limited geographical area,

- frequent face-to-face contacts and intimate association with one another,


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- frequent participation in common activities such as visiting, inter-dining,

borrowing and exchanging and other forms of mutual aid, and

- presence of some service or supply agency, organization or institution.

These characteristics of neighborhood are very much appeared in the rural Bangladesh. Here

neighborhood is more sociability entities based on personal relationships than are communities,

which are based on social and economic requirements of residents and the satisfaction of them.

This does not imply that conflicts do not arise in neighborhoods and that relationships are

always amicable. Conflict may be quite intense within neighborhoods and within familial lines.

There exists a physical closeness of dwelling places and greater inter-personal contacts among

those living in the same neighborhood. Within individual neighborhoods, the men and women

may associate together in both work and leisure time.

Groups

From birth until death one associates with groups in some way or other. Groups

influence attitudes, thinking and behavior throughout life. They deeply influence the

development of personality and play a vital role in socialization. Here the following

image provides a clear sense of different groups an individual have to deal with in

his/her life time.

(Source: Rogers, 1960: 140)


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1.3.d Gender Inequality and Empowerment issues

Many researchers and writers on gender inequality in Bangladesh mainly in the char

areas focus on the following facts to prove their contentions-

- Female literacy rate is lower than males and girls lag behind boys in enrolment

and attendance.

- Consumption pattern indicates lesser quantity of food for women with poor

calorific value.

- Lower life expectancy and high mortality of women reflect discrimination faced by

females since birth.

- Boy is preferred over girls and boy considered as a future support for economic

reasons.

- Death rate of children aged 1 -4 is higher for girls due to undernourishment.

- Women face dangers during pregnancy and child birth and have highest mortality

ratio in the world.

- Problems related to patriarchy and purdah.

- Girls given in marriage in char areas at young age.

- Childlessness may result in loss of face and even divorce.

- Curse of dowry and inadequate legal protection to women.- Hard domestic work plus the duties of a wife and mother.

- Daughter's entitlement to half a son's share in accordance with the Islamic Law of

inheritance and women are deprived of their share in some way or other.

- Women have little decision-making authority in the family affecting their lives.

- Women are paid less than men in farm or off-farm activities in char or urban

areas.

- Desertion, divorce, separation or widowhood leaves women to take care of

themselves without any resource.

- Women headed-households are poorer than male-headed households.

Many other items may, perhaps, be catalogued in support of gender inequality. A large

number of women live in char society where poverty affects the children since their

birth. The female children are the victims of sex-biased behavior particularly of mothers.


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Families normally depend largely on female role of mother and wife and its well-being

depends on women.

No one can deny that no development - socio-cultural, economic or political will be

meaningful without participation of men and women on equal footing. Development of

women as an isolated strategy will not be possible. Such development should cover the

entire society both in urban and char setting with some special measure to bring women

in the mainstream.

1.3.e Social Stratification

Differential position or status of members of society in its system of stratification is to be

found in human societies all over the world, from the most primitive to the most modern.

Members differ in the roles and status ascribed to them by society whether they belong

to a band of hunting tribes, a gigantic modern economic corporation, or a professional

group of surgeons. All are placed, however, in various strata of society according to

specially prescribed criteria. The dreams of Utopia and Classless state seem doomed

by the very nature of society which involves inevitable stratification. Despite political

ideologies which may claim a classless society and equal opportunities for all, the fact

of inequality in actual practice cannot be avoided.

The criteria or determinants used in classifying the Char people in different strata are asfollows:

1. Wealth

2. Ancestry-.

3. Functional utility of the individual

4. Religion-

5. Biological characteristics

6 Conquest

7 Race and Cultural Differences.

8 Division of Labor.

Planning Commission in Bangladesh in the Fourth Five Year Plan (1990-95) has divided

the population (on the basis of land ownership) into socio-economic groups as under


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a) Landless Agricultural Labor

b) Small Farmers (0.5-1.5 acres of land)

c) Medium Farmers (1.5-5.0 acres of land) (Owner-cum-tenant)

d) Medium Farmers - (1.5-5.0 acres of land). (Owner cultivator)

e) Large Farmers - (5.0-10.0 acres of land).

f) Very Large Farmers (more than 10 acres of land).

g) Char Formal (Households mainly rich engaged in the non-agricultural sector),

h) Char Informal (Household mainly poor engaged in the non-agricultural sector).

1.3.e Value and value system

In every society some objects, attitudes, and ideas are considered mere important than

others. A person who has completed college education may have greater prestige than

one who neglects this aspect of life despite the higher economic assets of the latter.

This relative worth is determined by the values that exist in society. Values in society

undergird and directly influence human behavior, its forms and the course it takes.

Personal values form the basis of an individual's judgments and decisions and have a

deep influence on behavior. In addition, because individuals live within the context of a

society, certain values are shared with other members of society, and these common

social values of the society also fashion and govern behavior. Social values influence

the planned development of char society through programs of promoted change such

as char community development in two important ways. Values in a society can make it

easy or difficult for char people to adopt new practices and to form or operate any new

organizations or groups necessary for the promotion of improved practices.


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1.5 Economic Situation of Char Dwellers

Of all the rivers, the Jamuna has by far the highest land area under chars. In 1992, the

total area of char in the Jamuna was about 100,000 ha, compared to 75,000 ha all other

rivers together. Also, in terms of percentage of total within-bank area covered by chars,

the Jamuna has a higher figure than the other rivers. Thus, while this figure works out to

be 45% for the Jamuna, the corresponding figures for the Ganges and the Padma are

30% and 20% respectively. The figure for the Lower Meghna is 20%, while that for the

Upper Meghna is 40%. The soil and water conditions in the chars of all river stretches

except for the northern part of the Jamuna offer opportunities of settlement as well as

agricultural activities. Economic life of the char dwellers based mainly on land area it

has and the economic situation is illustrated in below-

1.5.1Income Formation and Patterns of Livelihoods

Bangladesh char economy is characterized by preponderance of small holders and by

presence of a large number of landless and near landless households. Given the poor

resources and technology base of the farm sector, the reproduction of the households

depends crucially on income earning activities in the non-farm sector and places outside

the village in addition to their income from farm activities.^ In the year 1983-84, for

example, 7.7 per cent and 33.5 per cent of char labor force were engaged in

manufacturing and non-farm activities respectively(BBS,1986:42) This illustrates theimportance of such income earning activities in the context of Bangladesh char

economy.

In a land scarce country like Bangladesh, success of a household in its survival and

exploitation strategies depends, to a great extent, on the success in gaining access to

and maintaining control over land. The competition to gain access to land is intense

since it is the most important livelihood ensuring resource in char economy.

Livelihood strategies of char households

The two livelihood strategies of char households are clearly identifiable in Iheir

objectives. The strategy of accumulation implies that the objective of the household is to

gain access to more resources through savings and/or exchange. Households often

combine various sources of income so that total output per unit of resource is

maximized under this strategy. This entails intensification and/or diversification of crop


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production, diversification of farming activities from crop production to non-crop like

poultry or livestock production, leasing in more agricultural land or leasing out surplus

land, renting-out agricultural assets and equipment, etc. Fundamental to this strategy is

to maximize utilization of resources: Iand, labor and other assets to achieve to

maximum income.

As a part of the accumulation strategy, households may also utilize political links to

augment the process of surplus accumulation. Households are also found to have

implemented a mixture of strategies where some members of the households migrate to

cities and seek employment in white collar jobs while others remain in the char area.

The strategy of survival also involves similar activities except that the focus is to survive

or to stop further decline in the economic conditions. Households restoring to this

strategy often have very little or no resources to exploit except labor. Consequently, the

rate of utilization of labor force and other resources is maximized under this strategy.

Households tend to reduce seasonal unemployment through wage employment, petty

trading, and switching employment from agricultural to non-agricultural Iike rickshaw

pulling, working in rice-mils, construction, etc. Since a majority of these households are

resource poor, they also resort to exploitation of common property resources likefisheries, livestock, sharing open fields as common grazing ground, fuel gathering, etc.

Furthermore, households also resort to curtailment of consumption expenditure

through reducing the number of mouths (through seeking jobs with provisions for food),

migration to other regions for employment and other expenditure saving activities. In

some cases, households are compelled to remain half-fed during certain parts of the

years.

Sources of income - measurement and definitions

Before discussing the structure of income of char households it would be useful to

identify various sources of income of households living in the char land area. In s survey

conducted on 1996 fourteen different sources of income were identified. These were

defined and then measured according to the procedure mentioned below:


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1. Self-cultivated Owned-land Income: A farm household can cultivate whole or

part of the owned land during a season under the direct supervision of the head of the

household.

2. Share-cropping Income:Share-coping income refers to the value of the portion

of agricultural output that is retained on leased-in land (includes both land leased on

cash rent and rent in kind).

3. Leasing-out Income: Leasing-out income refers to value of crop rentals

received from the tenant net of the cost of input sharing, if any. In case of cash rent, it is

the money rent received from the tenant.

4. Other agricultural Income refers to income earned from selling poultry,

livestock, forestry and fishery products. In this case, gross value has been considered

as the proxy for inputs and labor used in these activities which are mostly derived from

family resources(Ullah1985 in Ullah:1996:196).

5. Agricultural wage Income: Agricultural wage income refers to wages' earned in

cash and kind for hiring out labour in agricultural activities. The kind component or pure

kind wages received from these activities have been imputed using the monetary value

assigned to them by the respondent concerned.

6. Orchard income: It refers to the value of output net of costs from an orchard

earned primarily by households living in Purbalach. The plantation includes coconut and

betelnut trees.

7. Non-agricultural wage Income: Non-agricultural wage income refers to wages

received by the household members from non-agricultural activities in cash and" kind.

The kind component or the pure kind wages have been imputed like that of agricultural

wages.

8. Trading incomerefers to the profit margins in trading activities.

9. Remittance and Service Income: It refers to salary income earned from

rendering regular services to any private individual, company, corporation or a

government body by any member of the household living within or outside the village

(within Bangladesh).


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10. Non-salaried service Income is to income earned from rendering service as a

physician, priest or a faith healer. While salaried service income is mostly paid on

monthly or weekly basis at a fixed rate, non-salaried service income fluctuates and is

paid on individual basis.

11. Foreign remittance Income refers to money remitted to the household by any

member working abroad.

12. Income from new types of activities refers to earning net of paid out cost from

deploying an irrigation machine, means of transportation or any other type of agro-

equipment.

1.5.2 Framework of Char Marketing

Coming to the framework of char marketing, many marketers seem to take it to be

agricultural marketing. But, it is a wrong view of the subject. In fact, char marketing

mean the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods from urban to

char areas and vice-versa. So, char marketing has two major areas:

(A) Marketing of Agricultural Products

(B) Marketing of Manufactured Products in char areas.


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TABLE l Distinctive Features of Char and Urban Markets

Attribute Char Urban

1. Population Density Low High

2. Occupation Agriculture Trade, Industryand Service

3. Economy Closed and less Open andmonetized monetized

4. Infrastructure Poor and Weak Abundant andStrong

5. Attitude to Tradition- Ready for Modernisation bound adaptation

and change6. Family Structure Joint Nuclear 7. Possession of house- Low High

hold assets8. Mobility Low High9. Literacy Low High1

0.

Exposure Low High

1

1.

Attitude to Life Fatalistic Scientific

1

2.

Manufacturing activity Low High

13.

Distribution outlets Fewer More

Source: Dogra, B.S., Marketing Management and Char Marketing,

Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi, 1990.

Thus, the char marketing will not only include the flow of goods and services, from

urban to char areas, but it will also include the said flow from char and urban areas.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to analyze the problems which are of interest

in the above two areas and suggest suitable measures for solving the same.

(A) Marketing of Agricultural Products


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In order to check the exploitation of growers, various enactments like the 'Regulated

Market Acts' have been passed and the mechanism of announcing 'procurement price'

by the Government in case of major crops have been evolved. As a result of it, though

the dependence of growers on private traders and money-lenders have been reduced to

a considerable extent, yet there are following other problems which are of interest in the

marketing of agricultural products.

(1) Lack of Co-ordination

As a result of adoption of improved methods of agriculture and intensive use of fertilizers,

pesticides, etc., the production of various crops has increased significantly but the supportive

marketing infrastructure for marketing the produce has not improved at the same pace. This has

created a situation of glut in some markets and non-availability in others. So, not only themarketing infrastructure needs to be improved, but also, there needs to be perfect co-ordination

between production and marketing.

(2) Inadequate Transport and Communication Facilities

Inadequate transport and communication facilities are one of the prime obstacles in the

improvement of marketing efficiency.

(3) Inadequate Storage Facilities

Presently, the storage facilities are not only inadequate, but also the available godowns

are not properly managed. This has not only resulted in wastages and reduced

supplies, but also have been a push to the prevailing prices.

(4) Problems of Handling, Packaging and ProcessingAnother area of problems in marketing of agricultural produce is related to the problems

of handling, packaging and processing. Cereal crops present relatively few problems,

but the handling of perishables like vegetables and fruits calls for special care.

(5) Lack of Marketing Information


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Marketing information is vital for taking production and marketing decisions. The

domestic demand for food grains may be stable, but the demand for cash crops like

tobacoo, turmeric, sugarcane, etc., is dependent on several other factors

Other Problems

In addition to the above problems, the following problems are also emerged in

marketing of agricultural products:

(i) Low Price,

(ii) (ii) Lack of competition and alternative channels for procurement,

(iii) Distress sales due to indebtedness and social obligation,

(iii) High marketing cost

(iv) High rate of Commission Agents,

(v) Delayed Payments.

(B) Marketing of Manufactured Products

It is concerned that all those goods, manufactured or processed by the industry and

sold in the char markets either for ultimate consumption or for use in the agricultural

production. The following are the major marketing problems faced by the entrepreneurs

dealing manufactured products:

(1) Low prices due to lack of value-added.

(2) Frequent changes in demand and product specifications.

(3) Lack of alternative marketing channels.

(4) Sales at low prices because of work-contract on advanced payment and sales

agreement to particular trader.

(5) Problem of selling in potential markets due to distance communication and

transportation problems.

(6) High marketing costs.

(7) High rate of commission to intermediate traders.

(8) Lack of government agencies emporia and cooperatives.

(9) Partial payment with long intervals.

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