Is shrimp farming a successful adaptation to salinity intrusion?

A geospatial associative analysis of poverty in the populous Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of Bangladesh

Abstract

The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of Bangladesh is one of the most populous deltas in the world, supporting as many as 140 million people. The delta is threatened by diverse environmental stressors including salinity intrusion, with adverse consequences for livelihood and health. Shrimp farming is recognised as one of the few economic adaptations to the impacts of the rapidly salinizing delta. Although salinity intrusion and shrimp farming are geographically co-located in the delta, there has been no systematic study to examine their geospatial associations with poverty.

In this study, we use multiple data sources including Census, Landsat Satellite Imagery and soil salinity survey data to examine the extent of eospatial clustering of poverty within the delta and their associative relationships with salinity intensity and shrimp farming.

This research was supported by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme

Citation

Johnson, A., Hutton, C., Hornby, D., Lazar, A., Mukhopadyay, A., Is shrimp farming a successful adaptation to salinity intrusion? A geospatial associative analysis of poverty in the populous Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of Bangladesh, Sustainability Science, vol.11, pp.423 - 439, 2016

Is shrimp farming a successful adaptation to salinity intrusion? A geospatial associative analysis of poverty in the populous Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta of Bangladesh

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Published 1 May 2016