Corruption in cyclone preparedness and relief efforts in coastal Bangladesh: Lessons for climate adaptation?

Abstract

T his a r tic le se e k s to d ra w p o s sib le le ss o n s for a d a p ta tio n p r o g r a m m e s in B a n g la d esh b y e x a m in in g w h e th e r c y c lo n e p r e p a r ed n e ss an d r e lie f in te r v e n tio n s are su b je c t to corru p t p r a c tic e s. B ased o n a r a n d o m sa m p le su r v ey o f 2 7 8 h o u se h o ld s, th re e fo c u s-g r o u p d is c u s sio n s an d s e v e n k e y -in fo r m a n t in te r v ie w s, th e a rticle in v e s tig a te s th e n atu re an d e x te n t o f co rr u p tio n in p re-and p o s t-d isa s te r in te r v e n tio n s in Khulna b e fo r e an d a fter C yclon e A ila in M ay 2 0 0 9 . N in e ty n in e p e r c e n t o f h o u se h o ld s rep o rted lo s se s from corru p t p ra ctices. P o st-d isa ste r in te r v e n tio n s (s u c h as fo o d aid an d p u b lic w ork s s c h e m e s ) su ffered from g r ea ter le v e ls, an d w o r se ty p e s, o f co rru p tio n th a n p r e -d is a s te r in te r v e n tio n s (s u c h as c y c lo n e w a r n in g s y s te m s an d d isa ste r -p r e p a r e d n e ss tra in in g ). U sin g an a s s e t in d e x c re a te d u sin g p rin cip a l c o m p o n e n t a n a ly sis, th e a rticle a s s e s s e s h o w co rru p tio n a ffec te d w e a lth q u a rtiles. U ltra p o o r h o u se h o ld s w e r e a ffec te d m o re b y co rr u p tio n in p r e -d is a s te r in te r v e n tio n s, th e w e a lth ie s t q u artile m o re in c er ta in p o s t-d isa s te r in

Religious Fractionalisation and Crimes in Disaster-Affected Communities: Survey Evidence from Bangladesh

“…5 In fact, Mahmud and Prowse (2012) find that the allocation of relief programs suffered from corruption during Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh. If this is the case, the households which are severely affected by the disaster but cannot receive the relief are likely to experience transient poverty.…”

“…Since five households were unavailable for the survey, I obtained 427 of 432 sample households from 24 para. The total sample size and studied villages in this study is comparable or larger than the other quantitative and qualitative studies on Cyclone Aila, such as Mallick and Vogt (2012;, Saha (2015), Mahmud and Prowse (2012), Sultana and Mallick (2015) and Mallick et al (2011). Appendix Table A1 Satkhira.…”

“…It appears from previous studies and my field interview that even two years after the cyclone attack, the land looked wasted in large areas (Mallick and Vogt 2012 p.224). The distribution of cash/food relief was also corrupted (Mahmud and Prowse 2012). Since the households with lower income have lower quality homes, they were affected more severely by the cyclones, and recovered more slowly (Mallick and Vogt 2015).…”

Geographically uneven landscapes of Asian corruption

“…Thus, corrupt practices have contaminated public procurements (Mahmood 2010), health and education services (Knox 2009), and cyclone preparedness (Mahmud and Prowse 2012). As a result, citizen distrust of the state is high and the country's economic growth has been impaired.…”

International aid and cyclone shelters in Bangladesh: adaptation or maladaptation?

“…As Alam and Collins (2010) point out, insufficient shelters in the unplanned settlement areas exacerbate livelihood vulnerability. For instance, a survey of 278 households in the coastal district of Khulna revealed that less than 5% of those considered ultra-poor had access to the shelters during cyclone Alia (Mahmud and Prowse 2012). Although the exact proportion of urban migrants is not known in Cox's Bazar, based on the average household size of 4.4 people in Bangladesh (BBS 2012c) and an approximation by a locally operating non-government organisation (NGO) called Mukti Cox's Bazar (MCB) that there are 6665 slum households in the district (MCB 2012), we estimate that there are around 30,000 slum people in the district.…”