Doctoral Dissertation Research: Scientific Knowledge, Market Development and Adaptation to Ecological Change

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project will examine the use of shrimp farming as an adaptation strategy in low-lying regions vulnerable to sea level change. The project will investigate how the introduction of shrimp farming as a strategy to adapt to the impacts of sea level change has transformed land, landscape, and livelihoods in coastal delta regions. A key issue to consider is the extent to which the introduction of shrimp farming as an economic opportunity generates other forms of ecological degradation and economic vulnerability. The project will focus on a case study of the Khulna district of Bangladesh to analyze how communities understand and respond to major economic and environmental transformations. In so doing, it will address how different understandings of vulnerability and ecological change shape development strategies, landscapes, and livelihood decisions. The objective of the research is to inform policy and practice around sea level change adaptation by advancing understanding of how market development strategies impact the rural poor. To accomplish this goal, the project will examine the social and ecological changes taking place in coastal Bangladeshi communities, the drivers to which these communities attribute these changes, and the variety of strategies employed by these communities themselves to address them. The study will address three linked questions: 1) How do different development practitioners (e.g. donors, development agencies and government officials) understand ecological change in Bangladesh and how is this knowledge shaping a new development paradigm; 2) How has shrimp aquaculture been articulated, designed and implemented from the state and capital city to rural communities; and 3) How are both ecological change and shrimp aquaculture understood, experienced and negotiated on the ground by rural communities? The research will be conducted through interviews and ethnographic research in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, as well as in three communities in southern Bangladesh where these social and ecological dynamics are being negotiated in different ways. Policy makers, government, and development agencies are urgently seeking solutions and strategies for addressing ecological change and crisis. Many emergent strategies offer technical solutions to profoundly social and historical processes. This research shifts debate to place social dynamics and outcomes at the center of such conversations.