| Project Detail |
The proposed project will improve climate resilient livelihoods and access to basic services for rural communities living in the three hill districts of Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati of the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) region, a remote and relatively under-developed region of Bangladesh. The project will adopt a holistic approach of addressing deficiencies in financial, human, physical, natural, and social capital that are needed to support sustainable and resilient community development. Specifically, the project will (i) develop small-scale community infrastructure; (ii) improve watershed protection and management; (iii) improve agricultural production, processing, and marketing; (iv) improve non-farm skills amongst rural youth and strengthen capacity of CHT institutions; and (v) improve rural road connectivity.
Project Name Climate-Resilient Livelihood Improvement and Watershed Management in Chittagong Hill Tracts Sector Project
Project Number 54047-001
Country / Economy Bangladesh
Project Status Approved
Project Type / Modality of Assistance Loan
Source of Funding / Amount
Loan 4333-BAN: Climate Resilient Livelihood Improvement and Watershed Management in Chittagong Hill Tracts Sector Project
The proposed project will improve climate resilient livelihoods and access to basic services for rural communities living in the three hill districts of Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati of the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT) region, a remote and relatively under-developed region of Bangladesh. The project will adopt a holistic approach of addressing deficiencies in financial, human, physical, natural, and social capital that are needed to support sustainable and resilient community development. Specifically, the project will (i) develop small-scale community infrastructure; (ii) improve watershed protection and management; (iii) improve agricultural production, processing, and marketing; (iv) improve non-farm skills amongst rural youth and strengthen capacity of CHT institutions; and (v) improve rural road connectivity. The project will explicitly support climate resilient outcomes and build long-term resilience of the institutional systems that it supports, in one of the most socially disadvantaged and highly vulnerable regions of Bangladesh.
The project is aligned with the governments 8FYP, which aims to reduce poverty in lagging regions through investments in rural roads, rural water supply and sanitation, irrigation and agriculture, rural enterprise development, community forest management, promoting sustainable development, and minimizing climate related challenges. The project also supports the strengthening of CHT institutions, empowerment of women, inclusion of ethnic communities in development, and partnerships with civil society organizations. The project compliments the programs of several other development partners engaged in the CHT. The project is also aligned with the objectives of: (i) the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100; and (ii) the Nationally Determined Contributions 2021 of Bangladesh. Within ADB, the project aligns with: (i) several operational priorities of ADBs Strategy 2030; and (ii) the Country Partnership Strategy for Bangladesh 2021-2025, specifically, strategic objective 2: promote green growth and climate resilience; and strategic objective 3: strengthening human capital and social protection.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
The CHT is predominantly an agrarian economy with 64% of its population engaged in agriculture, compared with the national average of 52% for rural areas. Farming is also the predominant livelihood activity of women, with more than 52% of female household heads reporting agriculture or agriculture labor as their main source of livelihood. The regions poor accessibility to markets, high levels of uncertainty due to climate variability, high post-harvest losses, limited crop diversification, low value addition, and low land productivity underscore the main challenges of supporting sustainable livelihoods of rural communities.
The non-farm rural economy in CHT remains underdeveloped with limited employment opportunities in the industry and service sectors. Low levels of education and skills limit employment and livelihood opportunities in the non-farm sector. The average literacy rate across the three districts of the CHT is 44% compared with the national rate of 72%. Less than 1% of the CHT population have received any technical or vocational training. As a result, the CHT has attracted limited interest from commercially oriented entrepreneurs and investors.
The CHT districts fare much worse in comparison to the rest of the country in terms of access to basic services. Access to safe water is the main challenge facing rural communities and poor sanitary practices compound the problem of poor drinking water quality. In the Bandarban district, for example, 74% of respondents to a household survey reported a river, canal, or pond/lake as the source of drinking water. Only 11% of households used a water-sealed sanitary latrine and 20% of households still had to resort to open defecation. Lack of access to water and sanitation leads to a greater burden of work for women, increased water-borne diseases, and lost opportunities for women and girls to participate in other productive activities.
Access to paved roads is very limited with 74% of the planned rural road network of the CHT being unpaved. Poor road conditions increase transportation time and costs, which in turn affects the disaster preparedness and viability of sustainable livelihood options. Access to electricity in the CHT on the other hand, has increased significantly due to the availability of off-grid solar power.
Impact
Enhanced human health and well-being, reduced vulnerability, and improved food security of the CHT people |
