Multi-dimensional well-being associated with economic dependence on ecosystem services in deltaic social-ecological systems of Bangladesh

Abstract

While the benefits humans gain from ecosystem functions and processes are critical in natural resource-dependent societies with persistent poverty, ecosystem services as a pathway out of poverty remain an elusive goal, contingent on the ecosystem and mediated by social processes. Here, we investigate three emerging dimensions of the ecosystem service-poverty relationship: economic contribution of provisioning ecosystem services to the household livelihood mix, social-ecological systems producing different bundles of ecosystem services and material wealth versus reported life satisfaction. We analyse these relationships in Bangladesh, using data from a bespoke 1586-household survey, stratified by seven social-ecological systems in the delta coastal region. We create poverty lines to ensure comparability with traditional poverty measures that overlook environmental factors and subjective measurements of well-being. We find that any contribution of ecosystem service-based income to the livelihood mix decreases the likelihood of the incidence of poverty, and of individuals reporting dissatisfaction. We find no relationship between the incidence of material poverty and the specific social-ecological systems, from agriculture to fishery-dominated systems. However, the probability of the household head being dissatisfied was significantly associated with social-ecological system. Individuals living in areas dominated by export-oriented shrimp aquaculture reported lower levels of life satisfaction as an element of their perceived well-being. These results highlight the need for social policy on poverty that accounts for the diversity of outcomes across social-ecological systems, including subjective as well as material dimensions of well-being. National poverty reduction that degrades ecosystem services can have negative implications for the subjective wellbeing of local populations.

Evaluation of Sustainable Regional Development Combining Remote Sensing Data and Ecological Constraints: A Case Study of Chaohu Basin, China

“…Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, conducting a multi-dimensional sustainability assessment is necessary during regional development. Many scholars use the coupling function to study the relationship between the SDGs, while the direction of sustainable development involves more than two subsystems [21][22][23]. Complexities in sustainability evaluations of subsystems will reflect multiple roles and these roles need to be integrated [24][25][26].…”

From rice fields to brackish water farms: changing livelihoods in agrarian coastal Bengal, India

“…When the question comes to the livelihoods, the study depicts statistically significant positive differences in the livelihoods system associated with shrimp cultivation over the traditional rice cultivation (Islam and Tabeta 2019 ; Adams et al 2020 ). The positive difference in the livelihoods of the inhabitants is mainly because of increasing economic profitability and flexibility (Adams et al 2020 ; Nguyen et al 2021 ).…”

“…When the question comes to the livelihoods, the study depicts statistically significant positive differences in the livelihoods system associated with shrimp cultivation over the traditional rice cultivation (Islam and Tabeta 2019 ; Adams et al 2020 ). The positive difference in the livelihoods of the inhabitants is mainly because of increasing economic profitability and flexibility (Adams et al 2020 ; Nguyen et al 2021 ). The findings confirm that the profit of shrimp farmers is more than three times larger than the profit from traditional agriculture, and it is the accelerating factor behind the inhabitant’s intentional shift from conventional rice cultivation.…”

Overcoming challenges for implementing nature-based solutions in deltaic environments: insights from the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh

“…The delta is characterised by heavily modified landscapes through aquaculture and polders and a low-income population with high dependence on ecosystem services e.g. groundwater resource, fisheries, and agriculture (Adams et al 2020). The coast in Bangladesh with an area of more than 47 000 km 2 , crowded with many ageing engineered structures e.g.…”