Impact of micro-finance on reducing vulnerability of river erosion and flood affected people in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is crisscrossed by hundreds of river,s. Since the country is geographically a deltaic plane, it is vulnerable to waler allied natural disasters like flood and river erosion. In Bangladesh, ilie lrcqueney of hazards is such that efforts to mitigate one disaster are often followed by another event, thllS entailing the need for all-year-round preparedness. That is why, the local NUOs (Non Government Organization) or MFls (Micro Finance Institutions) aft' the m(lst important organizations to playa significant role in disaster fighting. This research is an attempt to examine the role of Micro Finance Institutions in reducing vulnerability of flood and river erosion affected people. This study has been condllCtcd on 5 villages from Char Algi Union of Mymensingh District and 5 villages from Mohonpur Union of Chandpur District which arc vulnerable to flood and river erosion re~pectively. The over all actIvitics of Micro-finance Institutions in the study areas along with their activities for di~ter managcment has bccn identified in this research. To reach the goal, this research has examined the comparative advantage and disadvantage of the .Microfinanec program beneficiaries in coping with disasler as well as the change in disaster fighting ability of the beneficiaries aftcr bcing membcr of MFls tluough conducting an extensive field survey. In orUcr to a%css the comparative advantages of MFI members in coping with flood and erosion, thc lcvel of difference between the beneficiary and non-beneficiary in some social, economic and health indicators related to vulnerability to Ilood and erosion have been examined. Similarly, to assess thc impact of MFI activities on its members, the extent of change in social, economic and health indicators related to vulnerability to flood and erosion havc also becn examined. Following ilia analysis and findings on vulnerability indicators, ~omc critical comments and recommendatioru; have been made for further rcs!ructuring of MI'l"s activities and programs toward the more effective contribution to dlsa~tcr management. Hopefully iliis re,;earch rill opcn up somc new vistas for the intervention of micro-finance ill disaster management.