Poverty Alleviation – A Push Towards Unsustainability in Bangladesh?

Hossain A¹*, Marinova D¹*,

1. Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Western Australia, Australia

Social, economic, educational and infrastructure development programs in Bangladesh, including national and international aid and grants, currently focus on the agenda of ‘poverty alleviation’. However, they are not performing as expected – social degradation, poverty elevation, high rate of population growth with lower rate of intellectual growth, and mal-development are clearly on the increase. Environmental degradation, including floods, droughts, desertification and biodiversity depletion, is also increasingly taking place.

The paper analyses the reasons for the failure of development programs and the way they relate to the country’s sustainability. Some explanations are provided through the views of Bangladeshi rural activists, including Baul philosophers. They cover: (1) exclusion of poor people from participation in development programs, especially in natural resource management (which directly benefits them); and (2) widespread corruption accompanying foreign aid.

Yet another reason is that ’moderate poverty’ is seen in Bangladeshi culture as acceptable in the country’s social, economic and environmental conditions. It actually promotes a more sustainable way of living. ‘Poverty’ is a socially, economically and politically charged term and should be culturally embedded and contested. It should also be seen within the context of population growth and sustainable consumerism. ‘Poverty alleviation’ as promoted in development projects in Bangladesh is neither possible nor desirable, as it is not coupled with the means to achieve sustainability.

The paper makes recommendations how to overcome the poverty problem in a sustainable way, using local knowledge and developmental wisdom. Sustainability management approaches are outlined related to sustainability education, self-reliance and pro-sustainable way of living.

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