This section takes stock of the aspects of material wellbeing (or illbeing) that are characteristic of extreme poor people in the research location.
Occupation, employment and income
Extreme poor people in Dacope who are able to work earn their living through day labour, van pulling, catching small fish, gleaning, as household servants and by fetching water for other households. The majority are engaged in intense physical labour and those who work have multiple jobs in order to get by. An example of this is of a participant (female, 35 years) who takes care of her neighbour’s child, catches baby shrimps, fetches water for people and cooks for people. This is in contrast to the community’s perception that extreme poor people have one single source of income (see Table 4.1). Livelihood diversification is necessary for extreme poor people. As Morse and McNamara have stated, the diversification of livelihoods can mean the difference between being destitute or minimally viable for those below the poverty line (Morse & McNamara, 2013). For the extreme poor, it can also be the difference between destitution or death. This is especially evident during the rainy season. This is the most difficult time of the year. Many work activities become difficult or physically and logistically impossible to carry out. One of the participants who is a van puller explains what it is like to balance on the brink of the abyss:
During the rainy season I can hardly work, it is a miserable time. Sometimes we pass two or three days without any food. I cannot pull the van, because
48 Due to the salinity, people started using hybrid paddy more. The traditional paddy is less resistant to the saline soil.
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the rain destroys the roads. So I can only work as a shoe repairer, that is if I can reach the bajar (market). (male, 45 years)
As a result of seasonality, the income of the extreme poor fluctuates enormously and is hard to predict. The amount earned in the rainy season during flooding, is sometimes half or even a third of what it is during other seasons. On average, extreme poor people earn between 500 BDT ($6.25) to 3000 BDT ($37.48) per month. Besides the fact that these figures are rough estimates based on the information provided by extreme poor people, it is difficult to categorise and define them on the basis of income alone, as extreme poor people do not always receive money for their labour. In some cases, they are given food or even shelter in return. One of the participants works as a household servant for a family and, in return, they allow her to live with them. Some extreme poor people engage in gleaning and thus do not earn any money, but acquire food.
The majority of the participants are able to work, however those who are unable to work, e.g. because of old age or an illness, are fully dependant on others. Those extreme poor people fortunate enough to live in a family can rely predominantly on their partner or children, though they also resort to begging occasionally. Extreme poor people without the safety net of a family are completely at the mercy of others and have to rely entirely on begging and occasional handouts.
Food
Food seems to be the major problem, both for working and non-working extreme poor people. None of the participants is able to eat three meals a day in any season. The majority report taking two meals per day and the minority are able to have one meal per day. However, these are average numbers and food insecurity is pervasive. All participants stated that they often face a day or even multiple days where they go without any food. This becomes even more frequent during the rainy season:
[…] in September and October, I have stayed frequently without food for several days. (female, 60 years)
Food is also a major concern when disasters occur:
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Besides the frequency of meals, the extreme poor participants struggle to have variety in their diet. Rice is their staple food. The majority are able to add dhal49 or vegetables (e.g. pumpkin and kalmi shak50) to their diet. Those
unable to do so, use green chilli and salt to add some taste to the rice. Meat forms no part of their diet, but fish does as it is widely available in the area. Both the quality of food, but especially the lack of quantity of food is a serious problem. Moreover, there is a differentiation within the household, some members receive more food than others:
I never take breakfast, there is not enough food. The children sometimes take rice with onions and chili if there is any left from the last evening, but usually it is just my youngest that will have something to eat. (male, 45 years) Malnutrition due to the lack of quantity of food is physically visible. Looking at the participants, it is often immediately evident that they are malnourished and that they are underweight (see photo 4.4). Kabeer suggested that, in the case of Bangladesh, income may not be the best proxy for poverty, she proposed food insecurity instead (Kabeer, 2010). The findings of this case study support this proposal.
Housing, land and livestock
Housing is another major issue for the extreme poor in Dacope. A quarter of the participants have no house and are staying with families as household servants or carers for children. Those who own a house live in fragile constructions with wicker walls or sometimes no walls (see photo 4.5) at all and roofs made of leaves and branches. In a disaster-prone area such as Dacope, these constructions offer little protection and are destroyed easily:
Whenever there is a storm or if it rains, I have to repair the house. When there is heavy rain, we sit together in the middle .51 (male, 45 years)
Moreover, the land that the extreme poor have built their houses on, is khas52
land and they live in uncertainty about how long they may stay:
49 Lentils, also called poor man’s meat in South Asia. 50 Water spinach.
51 I have witnessed how one of the houses of an extreme poor man who lived along the riverside was severely damaged by a storm
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I am afraid that I may be evicted any time, as I live on government land. (male, 45 years)
It is highly unlikely for extreme poor people to own land and generally the extreme poor do not own any livestock. Geographically, the extreme poor build their houses along the riverside and roadsides, but rarely ‘inside’ the villages. These areas (riverside and roadside) are unpopular, as they are more dangerous when heavy storms or floods hit the area.
Education
None of the participants attended school and the majority of those who have children try to send their children to primary school, but not all succeed. Sometimes, the children have to work in order to contribute to the family income or they are ‘sold’ because the parents can no longer take care of them:
My oldest daughter was working as a garment worker in Chittagong. The man who offered to take her to Chittagong gave us 300 BDT, but that was all we received. We talk to her about once a month, she is still working there. (male, 70 years)
Those who can take care of their children are only able to send their children to primary school and, in most cases, the children do not complete their primary education. With regards to sons, the parents hope they find work when they grow up. The parents stimulate their children to learn the same profession as them, because they can transfer their skills and knowledge:
My father taught me to repair shoes when I was seven years old. I think my son should also learn this profession. We cannot provide them with higher education, so we have to teach them our traditional jobs. (male, 45 years) Extreme poor participants hope their daughters will marry into a good family:
I also dream that my daughters will marry into a good family and that I can witness it. (male, 40 years)
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Water, sanitation and health
The majority of extreme poor people in Dacope fetch drinking water from a pond. The water in these ponds is saline and contains iron, algae and arsenic (see photo 4.2 and 4.3). Some of the health issues named by the extreme poor participants could be related to contaminated drinking water, e.g. skin problems, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting, high blood pressure (Talukder, 2016; WHO, 2018). When the extreme poor fall ill, they usually visit a village doctor, and in cases of serious illnesses, they try to lend money or sell something of value, like a golden nose ring or a cycle van, in order to visit a public health centre.
Technology
Generally, extreme poor people do not own a mobile phone or have any access to electronics or technology, such as a radio or TV.
Sub-conclusion
Extreme poor people in Dacope face many difficulties and insecurities in relation to different aspects of material wellbeing, which makes it hard for them to secure and sustain their livelihoods. The fact that they live in a disaster risk area often pushes them further into their poverty and prevents them from building their material asset base. Instead, they are constantly attempting to repair or rebuild their assets that were lost due to disasters, e.g. their house. Moreover, worry and stress about feeding themselves and their
Photo 4.3
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family is an everyday concern. Since the income of extreme poor people can fluctuate greatly and sometimes they are not paid for their labour, but receive food instead, it is difficult to define extreme (material) poverty in this area using monetary indicators. The quality, but more importantly the quantity of food, as proposed by Kabeer (2010), may be more suitable as a proxy for extreme poverty in the research area, ideally in combination with other aspects of material wellbeing, such as access to shelter and the type of shelter.