Shiree Q2 Research on Extreme Poverty in Bangladesh Author Institution CMS1 Reference Interviewee name Union, Upazilla and Zilla Dates of Interview Well-being Status Livelihoods before and after the intervention Sohel Rana and AKM Fazlur Rahman (Research Team of Save the Children) Uttaran 487256392313 Romena Begum Sex Female Before the Intervention: Parulia union, Debhata upazillas, Satkhira 12 June 2015 Age 54 Before the intervention: Oct 2010 Destitute 1.Cultivating own plot of land 2. Goat rearing Ethnicity/Religion: Bengal Muslim Endline Parulia union, Debhata upazillas, Satkhira After intervention: June 2015 Moderate poor 1. shrimp farm labourer 2. Cultivating own plot of land 3. Working as cook Productive Asset or IGA owned working capital Marital status and household composition Keywords 1. 17 decimal plot of land With a ditch 2. Goats She lives alone. Daughter with her husband and four children lives nearby. Parents, brothers live nearby. 1. 17 decimal plot of land with a ditch 2. Trees 3. Investment on shrimp farm with son in law She lives alone. Her daughter with her husband andand son-in-law with four children lives nearby. And parents, brothers live nearby. Cook, shrimp farm, safety net, social capital, relatives, khasland, wellbeing 1
INTRODUCTION Romena Begum, (54) has various livelihood options. In the last two years, she was involved in various types of income generating activities such as shrimp farm labourer, working as a cook, cultivating paddy and mustard. Being a single household her life is bit different from others. Within the last two years her wellbeing has not changed that much. Most of the time she lived with her relatives and was not involved with any type of economic activities. From the last ROI we come to know that she sold her cow for 21,000 taka. With the money she installed a tube well worth 6,000 taka and lend 6,000 taka to her brother in law. She kept rest of the money to herself. From April, 2013 to August, 2013 she worked in the shrimp farm as day labourer. She was paid 100 taka per day. She could manage 10-15 days of work per month. In august, 2013 she started working as a cook in Reshilpi an NGO where she worked up to October, 2013. She was paid with 1,500 taka per month three times food. In October, 2013 she slipped near her daughter s housed and broke her hand which cost her around 8,000 taka. In October, 2013 she also cultivated mustard which cost her 500 taka. In November, 2013 she moved to her sister house in Nalta, a union of Shatkhira. She stayed there for more than 6 months. During this time once she came back to her village to harvest mustard in January, 2014. After coming back from her sister s house she cultivated paddy July, 2014. Her total production cost was 1,500 taka. Total production was 3 maunds of paddy. After harvesting paddy she also cultivated mustard there with 500 taka and harvested in January, 2015. She got 13 kg of mustard which she stored in her house. In January, 2015 she gave 10,000 taka to her son-in-law for releasing shrimp fries on their shrimp farm and she is expecting that after the production she will get 15,000 taka in return. In February, 2015 she moved to her niece s house in Munshigonj, an Upazilla of Satkhira district. She stayed there till May, 2015. Now they are requesting her to go there again and stay with them in the month of Ramadan. Throughout the period she never faced shortage of food. She has some saving as well. RECENT TURNING POINTS Working as a Cook At the end of last ROI, she was working as a shrimp farm labourer. She worked in the shrimp farm up to August, 2013. In August, 2013 she got a job as Cook in Rishilpi where she cooked three times a day. She was paid 1,500 taka per month and three times food per day. She worked there up to October, 2015. After breaking the hand she was unable to continue the job and left it. She received 5,000 taka from there. Broken hand and loss of job Within the last two years, breaking hand was the most significant shock for her. It also cost her 8,000 taka for treatment. It was mustard cultivation season. She could not do any kind of work in the field and required help from others. After cultivating mustard, she moved to her sister s house where she was taken care properly. After a month she opened the bandage. Cultivating paddy and mustard 2
On the 17 decimal of Khas land just in front of her house she used to cultivate two crops every year, paddy cultivation in the rainy season and mustard cultivation in the winter. Costs of her paddy and mustard cultivations are 1,500 and 400 taka respectively. Paddy and mustard cultivated on her land meet up the demand of rice for six months and oil for the entire year. Living with relatives Within the last two years, she was living outside of her house for a long period of time. When she broke her hand she went to her sister s house and stayed there for more than six months. Within those six months she came back once to harvest mustard. Second time on February, 2015 she moved to her niece house and stayed there for 3 months. Now they are requesting her to go there again and stay with them in the month of Ramadan. In reply to the question, who looks after everything in her absence she said her brother and mother look after the house. Her daughter also collects fire wood and leaves from her homestead land. In her niece s house, there are four members. Two children stay in school during the day and her husband who is a business man come home late. So throughout the day she is alone, she wants Romena to go there and live with them. Hazards Shocks Events Lose the job as a cook Accident and fracture on hand Cultivating paddy and mustard Seasonal unemployment Living with the relatives Working as cook in Reshilpi Investing 10,000 taka to her sonin-laws shrimp farm WELLBEING STATUS AT ENDLINE Romena s wellbeing status remains same in the moderate poor level but during this period most of the time she was living with her relatives. When she stays at home she do not rally have to be very worried about food and other things because she gets rice and oil from own production. She also does not need to buy fish because her daughter provides her fish regularly when she is at home. For the last one month she is living in her house she hardly cooked 10 days at best, rest of the time she goes to her daughter s house and eat with them. While she was working in Reshilpi, they also provided three meals. She also has savings of 6,000 taka to her brother in law. Diets Employment Assets (Income Generating) Status She can take 3 meals in a day without any reduction. Every day she has fish and vegetables. She eats meat twice in a week Currently she is doing nothing but she cultivates paddy and mustard and works as a labourer in the shrimp farms. She has also a little investment on her son-in-laws shrimp farm. She has a capital of 10,000 taka, a small pond for fish culture, trees on her homestead and 10 decimal of cultivable land. 3
IDENTIFICATION OF VULNERABILITY SOURCES AND LEVEL OF EXPOSURE TO/PREPAREDNESS FOR HAZARDS Broke of her hand In October, 2013 she broke her hand while walking from her house to her daughters. She was taken to the nearby hospital and the doctor plastered her hand and suggested her to keep it like that for a month. Because of the fracture on hand she lost her job in Reshilpi as chef. There was actually no one to look after her all the time because her daughter also has to look after the shrimp farm could not manage time. So she went to her sister s house and stayed there for more than six months. When she was working as a cook in Reshilpi, she was quite happy because at that time she was given three meals from there and at the end of month all her salary remained on her hand. She was able to save entire amount. After fracturing her hand, she had to quit the job. Now she is planning to start goat rearing again. In reply to the question why not cow she replied that with her broken hand she will not be able to control the cow so she decided to go for goat rearing. Seasonal Unemployment Romena works as labourer in shrimp farms thus in the lean period of shrimp production she does not have any work. When she got a job as cook in Reshipi she was happy because she will be able to do the work throughout the year. Now she is planning that after coming back from her niece s house she will cultivate paddy and repair the cattle house so that she can start rearing goats and poultry birds. Becoming elderly Romena is very much aware of her age and working ability. She knows that day by day her ability of work will reduced. In reply to the question how long she will live along she said that as long as she can afford she will live alone. When she will not be able to look after herself her daughter will look after her. She has some land for this her relatives will look after her in the last days of her life. PROGNOSIS FOR FUTURE RESILIENCE Getting aged In our county social protection system is very poor especially for the senior citizens. Most of the people do not have savings or planning for their aged life. Romena is bit worried about her age and reduced working abilities. Relationship with the relatives Romena maintains a good relationship with all her relatives. When she broke her hand, her sister took her and looked after her for a long time. She also stayed for long time with her niece s family. At home she does not have to cook most of the time and eats with her daughter. This relationship with all her relative increased her resilience Type of Hazards Likelihood/Frequency Impact Strategy used to avoid impact Seasonal Unemployment Moderate Moderate She is planning to start rearing goats again Poor Health condition High High She is planning to start a goat rearing so that she will not have to involve in laborious job 4
ANALYSIS Ascents and descents of Wellbeing Within the last two years, fracture of hand was the major shock Romena had faced. She lost her job after that incident. She suffered a long time with her broken hand but her wellbeing status did not decreased. It remained on moderate poor level because she was well supported by her relatives and she has no dependent member in her family. She works as a shrimp farm labourer in the shrimp production season. She has also invested some money on her son in laws shrimp farm. She has a good amount of rice which she got from the land. She gets fish from her son-in-laws shrimp farm thus she can have three satisfying meals a day. Resilience capacity of the household Romena s household has medium level of resilient capacity. She does not have to buy rice all most for six months. She is also well supported by her relative. She thinks that her possession on 17 decimal of Khas land increased her resilience capacity and security on in the later life. She has saving and investment in her son-inlaw s shrimp farm. Being the only member of the household she is independent. SWOT Analysis of Romena s Family Strength Productive asset: 17 decimal of Khas land, kitchen garden, ditch, investment on son in laws shrimp farm She has a good relation with the relatives Savings Opportunities Weakness Threats Ownership of 10 decimal of khas land Old age and reduced working abilities Impact of Shiree Intervention on Resilience Capacity Shiree intervention provided Romena a bull. Before the intervention she was almost in a destitute situation and even begged. At this stage of her life when she was unable to do any kind of hard work, project intervention has given her the opportunity to uplift her wellbeing status. This improving economic also helped her to re-establish her relationship with her relatives. 5