A geospatial analysis of the social, economic and environmental dimensions and drivers of poverty in south-west coastal Bangladesh

Census and spatial data are used to analyse geographical variations in poverty and identify the key socio-economic and environmental drivers of poverty. Results show a strong clustering of poverty within the study area with multivariate analysis indicating a significant association with environmental predictors. However, whilst increasing intensity of salinity intrusion is significantly associated with poverty, neither large shrimp nor freshwater prawn farms impact on poverty. The strong association identified between salinity intrusion and poverty could be attributed to loss of arable land, reduced agricultural productivity and income, food insecurity, rural unemployment, social unrest, conflicts and forced migration. This analysis provides important inputs to the integrated analysis of coastal Bangladesh and the delta.