Service accessibility and livelihood strategies in rural Bangladesh

Agriculture based economy makes the rural areas important in south-eastAsia. Lack of accessibility to certain services were observed in countrieslike, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India etc. As a result, rural-urban migrationbecame a regular practice. Though spatial dimension of accessibility wasstudied, non-spatial dimension was mostly unexplored for access toeducation, healthcare, food and modern agricultural services. So, withten villages of Bangladesh as study area, 452 questionnaire surveys, 22FGDs and 27 KIIs were conducted to understand the problems behindlack of access to these services. Different statistical tests, and qualitativecomparison suggested that non-farm activities were more sustainable forhouseholds, and provided more access to services than fully farmingbasedhouseholds. Some services were available, but inaccessible to thelocal people due to mismanagement. Livelihood diversification throughcollaboration of community and women empowerment could be thesustainable solutions for ensuring proper service accessibility indeveloping countries.