Changes in livelihood assets due to the intervention of a development project

A case study at Khutamara Union, Bangladesh

Bibliographic Data

ID22190087
AuthorsMohammad Amzad Hossain (0009-0003-6134-1183, United International University), Mohammad Tariq Hasan (0000-0003-0810-5395, United International University), Md Kazimul Hoque (0009-0009-6217-7454, United International University), Hamidul Huq (United International University)
Year2024
Volume8
Issue6
Pages4180
Publication date2024-07-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Infrastructure Policy and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2572-7923 • E-ISSN: 2572-7931
PublisherEnPress Publisher (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.24294/jipd.v8i6.4180
OpenAlexW4400514975
LanguageEN
References cited37

Presently, any development initiatives without considering sustainability can barely be imagined. There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of the development partners from the mere development to sustainable development. However, the role of development partners in bringing sustainability in livelihood assets of the rural community has long been questioned. Hence, this study aims to explore the sustainability in the form of changes in livelihood assets of a local community in Bangladesh. This study considers the changes in livelihood assets of the community over the three-time frames - before, during, and after a project implemented by a national NGO called ‘UST’ and subsequently identifies the community’s capacity to sustain the project outcomes after the completion of the project. ‘Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF)’ developed by Department for International Development (DFID) was utilized in this study to analyse the vulnerability and livelihood issues of the community members. Data has been collected through focus group discussions, household survey and key informants’ interviews from three distinct villages of ‘Khutamara’ union in the ‘Nilphamari’ district of Bangladesh. The finding of the study states that all the livelihood assets such as the social capital, human capital, natural capital, financial capital, physical capital have positively changed due to the interference of the development partners. This study further finds that even after the completion of project tenure, such positive trends continue to exist among the community members indicating sustainable development. Moreover, political capital- a new type of livelihood has also emerged because of the project implementation which was not quite evident before the inception of the project. In addition, this study explored the unique phenomenon of the Shabolombee Gram, where the transformation altering farmers’, livelihoods does not come from the government or the private sector but originates from a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). Therefore, the government and its development partners may adopt and incorporate the Modified Sustainable Livelihood Framework (MSLF) to ensure the sustainable development

Agriculture · Business · Capital asset · Community development · Economic growth · Economics · Financial capital · Focus group · Geography · Human capital · Livelihood · Natural capital · Political science · Social capital · Sustainability · Sustainable development · Agricultural Innovations and Practices · Agricultural risk and resilience · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Finance · Marketing

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Open DOIOpen Access