Blue Gold Program Wiki - User contributions [en]

My wiki:Privacy policy

2023-12-21T16:19:43Z

Bigblue:

We personally do not collect any specific data from users or visitors. However, Google Analytics is used to measure data related to audience engaging such as: location, IP address, duration, pages visited, and device type. For privacy policy related the Google Analytics, [https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites visit this page].

MediaWiki:Copyright

2021-12-21T06:56:02Z

Bigblue: Created page with "=== General copyright information === The work presented in Blue Gold wiki has been funded by the Governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The Blue Gold wiki has been pr..."

=== General copyright information ===
The work presented in Blue Gold wiki has been funded by the Governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The Blue Gold wiki has been prepared by the technical assistance team grant-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Government of the Netherlands, represented locally by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dhaka. The technical assistance team was led by Euroconsult Mott MacDonald.

=== Can I download and use, or redistribute the documents, images, charts, general files, graphs and maps etc. found on the Blue Gold wiki? ===
All materials used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki can be downloaded and redistributed, on condition that an acknowledgement is provided (such as ‘This information was obtained from a report on the Blue Gold Program prepared by a technical assistance team financed by the Netherlands Government.’) accompanied by a disclaimer (such as ‘The information is not necessarily endorsed by the Government of the Netherlands, or the implementing agencies of the Government of Bangladesh which are the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)’.

=== Who should I contact for further information? ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Bangladesh Water Development Board
|''[mailto:dp3.bwdb@gmail.com dp3.bwdb@gmail.com]''
|-
!Department of Agricultural Extension
|''[mailto:info@dae.gov.bd info@dae.gov.bd]''
|-
!Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
|''[mailto:DHA@minbuza.nl DHA@minbuza.nl]''
|-
!Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
|''[mailto:euroconsult@mottmac.com euroconsult@mottmac.com]''
|}

My wiki:Privacy policy

2021-12-21T06:54:30Z

Bigblue:

My wiki:Privacy policy

2021-12-21T06:54:10Z

Bigblue:

We personally do not collect any specific data from users or visitors. However, Google Analytics is used to measure data related to audience engaging such as: location, IP address, duration, pages visited, and device type. For privacy policy related the Google Analytics, [[https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites|visit this page]].

My wiki:Privacy policy

2021-12-21T06:50:51Z

Bigblue:

This privacy notice describes how we might use your information if you:
Visit our website at bluegoldwiki.com
Engage with us in other related ways ― including any sales, marketing, or
events
In this privacy notice, if we refer to:
"Website," we are referring to any website of ours that references or links to
this policy
"Services," we are referring to our Website, and other related services,
including any sales, marketing, or events
The purpose of this privacy notice is to explain to you in the clearest way possible
what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have in relation to it.
If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please
discontinue use of our Services immediately.
Please read this privacy notice carefully, as it will help you understand what we
do with the information that we collect.

My wiki:Privacy policy

2021-12-21T06:37:20Z

Bigblue: Created page with "Privacy"

Privacy

Glossary and acronyms

2021-12-21T06:11:31Z

Bigblue: Undo revision 6513 by Bigblue (talk)

;access to markets
:Generally refers to how many and/or in which way people are able to buy or sell, and reach, a reliable supplier or buyer in a market
;ADG
:Additional Director General
;ADP
:Annual Development Plan
;AEO
:Agricultural Extension Officer
;AGEP
:Agricultural Growth and Employment Program
;ail
:a shallow earth bund on plot boundaries which allows the ponding of water for basin irrigation
;AIS
:Agricultural Information Systems
;aman
:a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;ARM
:Annual Review Mission, the broad objective of which was to secure and where possible further enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. ARM members were individuals who were appointed by, and reported directly to, EKN and BWDB/DAE
;arotdar
:service provider to bepari and paikers in wholesale markets. Facilitates the buying/selling process, and may provide negotiation assistance with purchases, storage space, selling space, short term and seasonal credit, and arrange truck transport of goods purchased by bepari to market
;aus
:a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;B Aman
:broadcast aman; a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;B Aus
:broadcast aus; a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;BADC
:Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
;bagda
:brackish-water shrimp species
;baor
:oxbow lake
;bari
:a homestead in which one or more households (chula) of the same kinship group share facilities within an enclosed or semi-enclosed compound
;BARI
:Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
;basok leaves
:basok leaves are the leaves of a medicinal shrub found along road roadside, often used as fencing of houses in our polders (especially in Satkhira and Khulna) that are dried and then sold to pharmaceutical companies for medicine preparation, in particular to prepare cough syrup.
;BAU
:Bangladesh Agricultural University
;BBS
:Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
;BCIC
:Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
;BDP
:Bangladesh Delta Plan
;BDS
:Business Development Services
;BDT
:Bangladesh Taka
;beel
:wetland inundated for at least one season per year, formed by the inundation of a low-lying natural depression
;beneficiary
:Any individual or group who, in one way or another is favourably influenced by the project.
;bepari
:key wholesaler in the supply chain, moves goods between markets by buying in source markets and selling in destination markets, and exerts the main influence on price earned by farmers.
;BGIF
:Blue Gold Innovation Fund
;BGP
:Blue Gold Program
;BHWDB
:Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board
;bigha
:area varies between localities - range 30-40 decimals (0.12-0.16 ha)
;BINA
:Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
;borgadar
:share-cropper
;boro
:A rice crop planted under irrigation during the dry season from December to March and harvested between April and June. Local boro varieties are more tolerant of cool temperatures and are usually planted in areas which are subject to early flooding. Improved varieties, less tolerant of cool conditions, are usually transplanted from February onwards. All varieties are insensitive to daylength.
;BRAC
:Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (an NGO)
;branch khal
:Secondary or tertiary drainage channel (in Bangla sakha khal)
;brinjal
:eggplant, aubergine
;bundh
:small earthen embankment or dam
;BWDB
:Bangladesh Water Development Board, government agency which is responsible for surface water and groundwater management in Bangladesh, and lead implementing agency for the Blue Gold Program
;BWFMS
:Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy
;cage fishing
:cage culture is an aquaculture production system in which the fish are held in floating net pens using existing water resources (riverss and ponds) with water passing freely between the fish and the surrounding water body for water circulation and waste removal into the surrounding water.
;catchment
:an idealised hydrologically independent drainage unit within a polder - comprising a network of inter-connected khals draining to a regulator from where water is discharged to a peripheral river. Because the land levels in a polder vary within a small range (typically up to a maximum of 1.5 m), water flows can be affected by downstream water conditions and eventually drain through more than one regulator at diffferent times of year. .
;catchment planning
:Identification and planning of both interventions and operations & maintenance within the catchment, resulting in an action plan for the catchment.
;CAWM
;Community-led Agricultural Water Management
:Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;CDF
;CDFs
;Community Development Facilitator
:Community Development Facilitator - a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, and provided the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;CDMP
:Comprehensive Disaster Management Program
;CDSP
:Char Development and Settlement Project
;CEGIS
:Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services
;CEIP
:Coastal Embankment Improvement Project
;CFWM
:Community-led Fisheries and Water Management
;CGIAR
:Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
;chal
:husked rice
;char
:accreted sediment in a river course or estuary, including both lateral (point-bars) and medial (braid-bars). Chars (or sand bars) emerge as islands within the river channel (island chars) or as attached land to the riverbanks (attached chars), create new opportunities for temporary settlements and agriculture.
;chula
:Literally a traditional cooking stove. Used here to identify a household - an independent economic family unit - which shares kitchen facilities and eats together
;CI
;cropping intensity
:Cropping intensity - The number of crop harvest per unit land per year. The average cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as the total area of all crops per year divided by the area of cultivable land. In its CI calculations BGP treats fish ghers as another crop; the DAE method excludes fish ghers in its CI calculations. Hence the CI calculated by BGP is higher than as calculated by DAE.
;CII
;Cropping Intensity Initiative
:Cropping Intensity Initiative: Year-long demonstrations with farmers on increasing cropping intensity related to improved water management, also involving market actors, and by organising demand driven sessions and workshops
;CIMMYT
:International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
;CLF
:Community-led Fisheries
;CO
;COs
:Community Organiser
;CA
;collective action
;collective actions
:Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce
;commercial agriculture
:agricultural production aimed at meeting market-demands. It is based on establishing a profitable farming unit and involves a multitude of business relations with other actors in the market system. Used in contrast to subsistence farming which focuses mostly on home consumption.
;CAHW
;Community Animal Health Workers
:Community Animal Health Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their animals
;CLW
;Community Livestock Workers
:Community Livestock Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their livestock
;community mobilization
:Community mobilization is a process that brings together different societal factions to undertake development activities. Within BGP this especially refers to organizing the community members into Water Management Groups
;control structure
:A permanent structure placed in a farm canal, ditch, or subsurface drainage conduit, which provides control of the discharge of surface and/or subsurface drainage by menas of flashboards, gates, valves, risers, or pipes.
;CPP-FAP-20
:Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20
;CPW
;Community Poultry Workers
:Community Poultry Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their poultry
;CPWF
:Challenge Programme on Water and Food
;cross-dam
:Earthen embankment placed across a khal or river to prevent water flow.
;CSISA
:Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
;culvert
:A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow beneath a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
;CWM
:Chief of Water Management (BWDB)
;CYSs
:courtyard sessions
;DAE
:Department of Agricultural Extension, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for disseminating scientific research and new knowledge on agricultural practices through communication and learning activities for farmers in agriculture, agricultural marketing, nutrition and business studies.
;DAM
:Department of Agricultural Marketing
;DANIDA
:Danish International Development Agency
;decimal
:one hundredth of an acre (0.004 ha)
;DFID
:Department for International Development (UK government's development department); since September 2020, known as Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office - FCDO - after a merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office - FCO
;DG
:Director General
;dhan
:unhusked rice (paddy)
;dheki
:manually operated rice husking machine
;diversification of agriculture
:Movement of resources from (few) low value commodities to more higher value ones, increasing the total production value and reducing risks
;DLS
:Department of Livestock Services, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for the livestock industry in Bangladesh
;DoC
:Department of Cooperatives
;DoE
:Department of Environment
;DoF
:Department of Fisheries, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for regulating the fisheries industry in Bangladesh
;DP III
:Department of Planning III, one of three planning departments in BWDB headed by a Superintending Engineer which reports to the Chief Engineer (Civil) Planning to the Assistant Director General (Planning)
;DPP
;DPPs
;Development Project Proforma
:Development Project Proforma: a formal document which sets out the intention of a GoB organisation to invest in a development project, seeking approval for the investment and, if successful, a budget allocation. The DPP follows a prescribed format, including the project’s financial and physical scope, benefits, and proposals for monitoring and internal and external audits. The approval of a development project proposal follows a number of stages: formation with preliminary studies, formulation to develop greater detail and with additional information to make the economic case for the project, scrutiny by the executing agencies and concerned ministries, appraisal by the Planning Commission, recommendation for approval by Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), Minister/ECNEC approval, and inclusion of a budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
;drainage congestion
:the south-western coastal zone is characterised by broad tidal flats and fluvio-tidal plains, lying approximately 1 metre above sea level, with drainage provided by numerous tidal creeks and channels a some major rivers. Empolderisation now protects the intrusion of sea water to agricultural areas but restricts the deposition of sediments to within the channels, thus reducing the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels, causing drainage congestion.
;DRR
;Disaster Risk Reduction
:Disaster Risk Reduction - The Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) has been given the mandate to lead disaster preparedness, mitigation, emergency response and post disaster rehabilitation, by informing local people, empowering them to take practical measures to reduce risk at household and community levels and to disseminate success stories of reducing disaster risks widely among local people.
;DTL
:Deputy Team Leader
;DTW
:deep tube wells
;EC
:Executive Committee
;EC members
:Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules
;ECC
:Environmental Clearance Certificate
;economic growth
:Increase in the capacity of a country or an economic region to produce goods and services. It also refers to the increase in market value of the goods and services produced by an economy. It is usually calculated using inflation adjusted figures, in order to discount the effect of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced
;EDP
:Estuary Development Program
;EIA
;EIAs
:Environmental Impact Assessment
;EIP
:Early Implementation Project
;EKN
:Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the contractual representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and signatory to the agreement for the Blue Gold Program with the External Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance as the signatory for the Government of Bangladesh
;embankment
:Earthen dyke or bundh raised above surrounding ground level, for example so that roads or railway lines are above highest flood levels, or so that an area is empoldered to protect it from external floods and saline waters.
;EMM
:Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
;empolder
:to surround an area of low-lying land by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;empowerment
:empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.
;enabling environment
:an environment of policies, regulations, norms, institutions, and overall economic governance which allows market systems to function and perform well
;EO
:Earth Observation
;EOI
:Expression of Interest
;EPWAPDA
:East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority
;EWM
:Equitable Water Management
;fall boards
:boards temporarily placed in slots or grooves in the pier walls of regulators or sluices to prevent the flow of water during maintenance of the structure or gates.
;FAO
:Food and Agriculture Organization
;FAP
:Flood Action Plan
;fariahs
:small traders
;FCD
:Flood Control and Drainage
;FCDI
:Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
;feasibility study
;feasibility studies
:A feasibility study is an analysis that takes all of a project's relevant factors into account—including economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations—to ascertain the likelihood of completing the project successfully.
;feminization of agriculture
:Feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector. This can be due to men taking up non-farm employment locally, male out-migration from rural areas to urban areas or abroad, poverty (need for women to raise income), and/or women's empowerment (women taking own initiatives to engage in agricultural production). The increase in agricultural productivity requiring more labour input (be it family or wage labour) can also contribute to a larger role of women in agriculture.
;FFD
;Farmer Field Day
;Farmer Field Days
:Farmer Field Day - Exchange events organized at the end of each Farmer Field School to share the FFS learnings with other community members
;FFS
;FFSs
;Farmer Field School
;Farmer Field Schools
:Farmer Field School - A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.
;FGD
;FGDs
:Focus Group Discussions - in which a group of participants from similar backgrounds or experiences gather to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a group facilitator who introduces the topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves
;flap gate
:Hinged gate on the river-side of a regulator vent which automatically closes when water rises above the country-side water level.
;flushing
:The practice of admitting (fresh or saline) water for irrigation (or shrimp production) through regulators or inlets.
;FO
;FOs
:FFS Organiser in the technical assistance (TA) team
;FRERMIP
:Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program - A program financed by ADB and EKN with consultancy services provided by Northwest Hydraulic Consutants and Mott MacDonald, which provided structural and non-structural flood and riverbank erosion risk management measures in three high priority subproject areas, with the aim in subsequent projects of extending the protected reaches using designs adjusted to current riverbank erosion conditions and considering the possibilities of reclaiming lost floodplain land.
;FT
;FTs
;Farmer Trainer
;Farmer Trainers
:Farmer Trainer - Well-performing and capable farmers, previously trained in Farmer Field Schools, who became FFS facilitator themselves after ToT training
;FY
:Financial Year
;GAP
:Gender Action Plan
;GDP
:gross domestic product
;GED
:General Economics Division, one of six divisions in the Planning Commission, with responsibility for the preparation of mid- and long-term plans; M&E of plans; and the determination of macroeconomic scenarios

;gender
:Refers to socially constructed and therefore learned roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and women, girls and boys based on their sex. Gender is not the same as sex, the physical and biological attributes that make someone female, male or both. Gender comprises the expectations, roles, attitudes and behaviours of women and men. Gender roles change over time and vary within and between cultures, societies and classes.
;gender blindness
:Gender-blindness refers to the failure to identify or acknowledge differences on the basis of gender where it is significant. Projects, programs, policies and attitudes which are gender blind do not take into account the different roles and needs of men and women. They maintain or reinforce the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations.
;gender equality
:Gender equality exists when men and women, boys and girls are attributed equal social value, equal rights and equal responsibilities; and men and women have equal access to the means (resources, opportunities) to exercise those rights and responsibilities. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but rather that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether someone is born male or female.
;gender equity
:Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings.
;gender indicators
:Gender indicators are performance indicators that help assess or measure the effects of a policy, programme or project on changes in gender relations and the status of men and women, and hence the extent of advancement of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. Gender indicators can be quantitative and qualitative.
;gender issues
:Any issue where relations, differences, connections and/or inequalities between men and women have either a positive or negative effect or influence
;gender mainstreaming
:This is the process of systematically recognizing and taking into account gender issues (such as differences between the conditions, roles and needs of women and men) within core activities of projects and programmes and covering design, implementation and M&E. Gender mainstreaming also takes into account the likely implications for men and women of planned interventions.
;gender relations
:Gender relations are the specific sub-set of social relations uniting men and women as social groups in a particular community, including how power and access to and control over resources are distributed between the sexes. Gender relations intersect with all other influences on social relations - age, ethnicity, race, religion - to determine the position and identity of people in a social group. Since gender relations are a social construct, they can be transformed over time to become more equitable.
;gender-sensitive approach
:Refers to recognizing and taking into account gender issues, aiming to promote gender equality
;GESAP
:Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (of BWDB)
;gher
;ghers
:An area enclosed by low embankments to store either freshwater or brackish water for the production of fish, shrimps or prawns.
;GIS
:Geographic Information Systems
;GLD
:Gender and Leadership Development (training)
;GoB
:Government of Bangladesh; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;golda
:freshwater prawn species
;GoN
:Government of the Netherlands; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;GPWM
:Guidelines for Participatory Water Management
;gusthi
:kinship group which traces its origins to a common male ancestor - an important element of social identity in a village
;ha
:hectare
;hajol
;hajols
:A hajol is an unfired earthenware nesting vessel for egg hatching, with small receptacles for water and seed to provide the immediate needs. The hajol saves the hen effort and time for searching food, thus ensuring proper hatching in less time, thereby reducing egg waste.
;hat
:small rural market, held weekly or bi-weekly
;HBB
:herringbone bond - a brickwork pattern used as the wearing course for rural roads with a low traffic volume
;HH
;HHs
:Household
;highland
:0-30 cm: intermittent flooding, land suited to HYV T Aman in monsoon season
;HL
:Horizontal Learning
;Horizontal Learning
:Learning from peers; and in the context of Blue Gold, farmer-to-farmer learning in which a host WMG invites representatives from visiting WMGs to witness an event - such as the harvesting of a new variety of rice - to pass on the knowledge and lessons gained from their experience
;HR
:Human Resources
;HVC
:high value crop(s)
;HYV
;High Yielding Variety
:High Yielding Variety - Introduced varieties developed through formal breeding programs. HYVs have a higher yield potential than local varieties but require correspondingly high inputs of fertiliser and irrigation to achieve high yields.
;IBRD
:International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
;ICM
:Integrated Crop Management
;ICRD
:Integrated Coastal Resources Database
;ICT
:Information Communication Technology
;ICZM
:Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Programme Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (PDO-ICZM)
;IF
:Innovation Fund
;IFI
:International Financing Institution eg World Bank, Asian Development Bank
;IFMC
:Integrated Farm Management Component (DANIDA-funded program)
;IGA
:Income Generating Activity
;IMIP
:Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)
;IMRC
:Inter-Ministerial Review Committee

;inclusiveness
:The inclusion of the (interests of) different types of people and treating them fairly and equally, considering their different roles and interests in water management
;INGO
:International NGO
;inlet
:Structure designed to only admit (fresh or saline) water across an embankment.

;intensification of agriculture
:Increasing agricultural production per unit of inputs, such as per unit of land
;interventions
:A defined set of temporary activities through which facilitators seek to effect change
;IOB
:The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) is the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which researches and prepares reports on the outcomes of Dutch foreign policy for reasons of accountability and so that the findings can be used in adjusting future policymaking
;IP
:Input Providers
;IPM
:Integrated Pest Management
;IPSWAM
:Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management
;IPSWARM
:(Guidelines for) Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Resources Management
;IPWM
;in-polder water management
:In-polder water management; term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for evacuation through the sluice/regulator
;IRRI
:International Rice Research Institute
;ISPM
:Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
;IWM
:Institute of Water Modelling
;IWMI
:International Water Management Institute
;IWRM
;Integrated Water Resources Management
:Integrated Water Resources Management - Internationally-accepted approach for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of water resources especially applicable where there are multiple stakeholder interests with conflicting demands.
;JBIC
:Japanese Bank for International Cooperation
;katcha
:impermanent, unofficial; an unimproved version, eg earthen road, earth-walled house
;keshari
:Local pulse crop
;khal
:drainage channel or canal
;kharif
:The wet season - typically mid-March to mid-October - characterised by rain and high temperatures
;kharif-1
:The first part of the kharif season (mid-March to mid-June). Rainfall is variable and temperatures are high. The main crops are aus, summer vegetables and pulses. Broadcast aman and jute are planted.
;kharif-2
:The second part of the kharif season (mid-June to mid-October) characterised by heavy rain and floods. T Aman is the major crop grown in this season. Jute is harvested.
;khas
:Land owned by the state, including recently accreted land
;KJDRP
:Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project
;KSS
:Krishi Samabay Samity - farmer cooperative
;kup
:Protected dug well
;landless
:assumed in this report to operate up to 0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
;Landless Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. Term including 'landless' is generally used by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) whereas BWDB's PWMR 2014 uses 'Labour' Contracting Societies.
;large farmer
:assumed in this report to operate more than 5.5 acres (2.23 ha)
;LCG
:Local Consultative Group
;LCS
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LCS
;Labour Contracting Societies
:Labour Contracting Societies - Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LG
:Local Government
;LGED
:Local Government Engineering Department
;LGI
;LGIs
:Local Government Institutions - Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad etc
;lift gate
:vertical gate typically raised and lowered by operating a handwheel up and down a vertical screw, with the gate kept in position by means of steel channels set in the walls of a regulator.
;livelihood
;livelihoods
:A livelihood is a way of making a living. It comprises capabilities, skills, assets (including material and social resources), and activities that households put together to produce food, meet basic needs, earn income, or establish a means of living in any other way.
;livelihood strategies
:The strategies that people employ in order to utilize and transfer assets to produce income today and deal with problems tomorrow. These strategies change and adapt in response to various shocks, external influences, institutional norms and rules, and other factors.
;local varieties
:Varieties developed by farmers, sometimes referred to as local improved varieties (LIVs)
;lowland
:Prone to seasonal (<9 months) or perennial flooding (>9 months), land on which B aman can be grown in the monsoon season. Flood depth 180-300 cm or more
;LRP
:Land Reclamation Project
;LV
:low value crop(s)
;M/F
:Male / Female
;M&E
:Monitoring and Evaluation
;maintenance
:actions taken to prevent or repair the deterioration of water management infrastructure and to keep the physical components of a water management system in such a state that they can serve their intended function.
;market
:Any formal or informal structure (not necessarily a physical place) in which buyers and sellers exchange goods, labour, or services for cash or other goods. The word 'market' can simply mean the place in which goods or services are exchanged. Essentially, markets are defined by forces of supply and demand, rather than geographical location
;market linkages
:Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.
;market orientation
:Within BGP this refers to enhancing insights of especially FFS participants in how markets work, how to collect market information, facilitating linkages with market actors and increasing negotiation capacities
;maund
:unit of weight 37.3 kg, equal to 40 seer
;medium farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 2.5 acres and 5.5 acres (1.0 to 2.23 ha)
;medium highland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to local varieties of aus and T aman in the monsoon season. Flood depth: 30-90 cm
;medium lowland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to B Aman in monsoon season. Flood depth: 90-180 cm
;MFI
;MFIs
:Micro Finance Institute
;MFS
;Market-oriented Farmer Field School
:Market-oriented Farmer Field School - Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.
;MIS
:Management Information System
;MLGRDC
:Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
;MoA
:Ministry of Agriculture
;mohajon
:village money lender
;MoU
;MoUs
:Memorandum of Understanding
;mouza
:an administrative unit chiefly used for cadastral land registration

;MoWR
:Ministry of Water Resources
;mPower
:mPower is the social enterprise which is dedicated to information technology solutions and strategies that maximize impact on people’s lives.
;MRL
:Monitoring, Reflection & Learning
;MT
:metric ton (tonne)
;MTR
:Mid – Term Review Mission
;NAEP
:New Agriculture Extension Policy
;natok
:popular theatre, a living tradition especially in rural areas of Bangladesh, and a powerful and accepted instrument which can be used to raise discussion on sensitive issues
;NEC
:National Economic Council
;NGO
:Non-Governmental Organisation
;NSB
:National Seed Board
;NWMP
:National Water Management Plan
;NWPo
:National Water Policy
;NWRC
:National Water Resources Commission
;NWRD
:National Water Resources Database
;O&M
:Operation and Maintenance
;O&M Sub-Committee
:A sub-committee of a Water Management Association (WMA) responsible for the planning operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in a specific catchment.
;OCWM
:Office of the Chief of Water Management (in BWDB) responsible for the 'establishment of water user organizations, their training and participation, in project planning, implementation, operation and maintenance and cost recovery'

;ODK
:Open Data Kit
;OFRD
:On‐Farm Research Division
;OMPI
:O&M Performance Improvement
;OMS
:Open Market Sale
;operation
:the adjustment of gates in water management infrastructure to control hydraulic conditions (water levels and discharges) in a water management system.
;outlet structure
:gated structure (typically with only a flap gate on the river-side) designed to drain water through the polder embankment to an external tidal river channel
;owner-operator
:a person who farms or otherwise operates his own land
;paiker
:buys produce directly from individual farmers and sells bulk produce to arotdar or to destination market. Exerts a main influence on price earned by farmers.
;participation
:A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.
;PWM
;participatory water management
;Participatory Water Management
:A process by which the local stakeholders are directly and actively involved in identification, planning, design, implementation, operation & maintenance and evaluation of a water management project.
;PBDP 2100
:Preparation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;PCD
:Program Coordinating Director
;PD
:Project Director
;PDP
:Polder Development Plan - presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB Development Project Proforma (DPP). PDPs for all 22 polders are available through the File Library.
;peripheral rivers
:In the coastal zone, the river or rivers surrounding a polder which carry the outflow from the regulators or sluices to the sea
;PF
;PFs
:Producer Group Facilitator
;plot
:contiguous area of land operated as a single unit by a farmer - average area of 27 decimals (0.11 ha), with a normal range between 10 and 70 decimals (0.04 to 0.28 ha)
;PM
:Participatory Monitoring
;PM
:Progress Marker
;PMC
:Project Management Committee
;polder
:An area of low-lying land surrounded by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;Polder Development Plan
:A plan which presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB DPP.
;PPP
:Public Private Partnership
;primary infrastructure
:The main channels or khals within a polder through which excess rain or flood water is discharged to an external tidal river channel and thence to the sea via a regulator, sluice or outlet in the polder embankment.
;productive work
:Labour that results in goods or services that have monetary value in the capitalist system and are thus compensated by the producers in the form of a paid wage, or otherwise results into (monetary) income. Productive work includes subsistence agriculture and homestead production.
;PS
:Private Sector
;PSC
:Program Steering Committee
;PSD
:Private Sector Development
;PSSWRSP
:Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project
;PSTU
:Patuakhali Science and Technology University
;pucca
:permanent, official, an improved version: brick-paved road as opposed to an earthen road; brick-built house as opposed to earth-walled house
;PWMR
:Participatory Water Management Rules (2014)
;rabi
:The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.
;RAC
:Regional Accounts Committee (BWDB) is inter alia responsible for the administration of payments for construction contracts
;RDPP
:Revised Development Project Proforma
;regulator
:the principal function of a regulator or drainage sluice is to allow the drainage of water from the polder into a peripheral river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry from the river channel into the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season), thus allowing freshwater to be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.
;reproductive work
:Labour that is associated with the private sphere and involves anything that people have to do for themselves that is not for the purposes of receiving a wage or producing goods. It includes cleaning and repairs, cooking, care, and fetching water and fuel. Reproductive work is also referred to as unpaid care work (UCW) or domestic work and care.
;RF
;Resource Farmers
:Resource Farmers (RF) are members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs). They are selected from the FFS groups to lead other members in organizing different useful collective actions and to maintain networks on behalf of the members. These RFs are given additional capacity building training to enhance their knowlege on simple record keeping and business skills.
;responsible development
:In BGP's context this refers to inclusive and sustainable development as transversal elements within BGP's approach, with inclusiveness meaning that also women and poor household benefit from BGP
;retention structure
:a structure that provides for the storage of runoff and is designed to maintain a permanent pool of water.
;riverbank erosion
:the removal of materials in the river bank by water flowing in the river channel; also termed bank scour. In coastal polders, riverbank erosion - if unchecked - can result in breaches to polder embankments - where they are aligned close to rivers - and consequent loss of human and animal life as well as damage to farmland, crops, housing, and other infrastructure.
;RMG
:Ready Made Garments
;ROI
:Return on Investment
;RRI
:River Research Institute - a national public organisation under the Ministry of Water Resources, headquartered at Harukandi in Faridpur, with two technical directorates for hydraulic research and geotechnical research
;rural transformation
:A process of change in rural areas strengthening the local economies
;SAAO
;SAAOs
:Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;SAE
:Sub-Assistant Engineer (BWDB)
;saline intrusion
:The influx of sea water into an area that is not normally exposed to high salinity levels - for example, the inflow of seawater into a fresh water wetland or a fresh water aquifer.
;salinisation
:An increase in salt content within soils due to (a) 'primary salinity' in which natural processes cause fluctuations in soil salt content; or (b) 'secondary salinity' - which is of greater concern - where man-made or climate change affect natural soil salinity levels
;samity
;samities
:association or society
;SC
:South-Central hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 15,436 km2 including the Arial Khan river
;SDE
:Sub-Divisional Engineer (BWDB)
;SE
:Superintending Engineer (BWDB)
;secondary infrastructure
:Smaller channels connecting sub-catchments to main channels, sometimes with associated minor structures (e.g. small one vent sluice) which regulate flow between primary and secondary infrastructure. Secondary channels may also be called sakha-khal or branch-khals.
;sedimentation
:Sedimentation is the process by which fine particles of silt and clay suspended in river water settle out, for example when there is a drop in velocity.
;sediment transport
:sediment transport is the general term used for transport of silt, sand, gravel, boulders in rivers
;Seer
:unit of weight 0.93 kg, equal to 80 tola
;sharecropper
:a person who operates land owned by others under an agreed output and input sharing arrangement
;SIBDP 2100
:Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;siltation
:Typically undesirable increase in concentration and deposition of water-borne silt particles in a body of water.
;SIMT
:System Improvement and Management Transfer
;six step approach
:An approach in six steps to develop Water Management Groups developed by the previous IPSWAM project
;sluice
:A vertical gate to control the flow of water; also referred to as 'regulator'
;small farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 0.5 acres and 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1.0 ha)
;SO
:Section Officer (BWDB)
;SRP
:Systems Rehabilitation Project
;SSSFCDI
:Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project
;SSWMI
:Small-scale water management structure: an initiative to improve in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions in Blue Gold polders which was started in 2018. The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes, a pilot fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision from government or TA staff.
;SSWRDSP
:Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
;STW
:shallow tube wells
;sub-catchment
:Part of the catchment which is not directly connected to the regulator, and is hydrologically independent from other parts of the catchment.
;sustainable water resources management
:management actions required to address the changing demands on water resource systems both in the present and the long-term future so as to avoid system degradation
;SVC
:Strengthened Value Chain
;SW
:South-West hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 26,226 km2 including the Garai, Kumar and Bhairab-Kapatakhya rivers
;SWAIWRPMP
:Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project
;T Aman
:transplanted aman; a rice crop, with nurseries for seedlings started in June/July, for transplanting in July/August in areas liable to a maximum flood depth of about 50cm. Harvested in November/December. Local varieties are sensitive to daylength whereas modern varieties are insensitive or only slightly sensitive.
;T Aus
:transplanted aus; The distinction between a late-planted boro and early transplanted aus is academic since the same varieties may be used. Insensitive to daylength.
;T&C
:Training & Communications
;TA
:Technical Assistance
;tertiary infrastructure
:smaller channels connecting fields to secondary infrastructure, sometimes with associated small scale structures (gated pipe or box culverts) which regulate flow between secondary channels and tertiary channels. Tertiary channels may also be called sakha-khals or branch-khals.
;tidal flooding
:tidal flooding is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas during high tide events.
;tidal rivers
:river whose flow and level are influenced by tides
;TL
:Team Leader
;TNA
:Training Needs Assessment
;ToC
:Theory of Change, planning tool
;Tola
:unit of weight 11.7 g
;ToR
:Terms of Reference
;ToT
:Training of trainers
;TR
:Technical Report
;TSP
:Triple Supper Phosphate
;TTAP
:Technology Transfer for Agricultural Production (DAE)
;UAEO
:Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer (DAE)
;UAO
:Upazila Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;UMIC
:Upper Middle Income Country
;unified approach
:The Blue Gold approach which integrated the earlier 'four components' (ie social empowerment, water management infrastructure, agricultural technologies and farming-as-a-business) into a single work process
;Union
:Lowest tier of local government
;UP
;Union Parishad
:Union Parishad - Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman
;UNO
:Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Upazila Executive Officer. Appointed head of the civil administration at Upazila level
;Unpaid care work (UCW) or Domestic work and care
:Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, and includes caring for children, elderly and sick people and domestic tasks as washing, cooking, shopping, cleaning and helping other families with their chores. Unpaid care work is reproductive work.
;Upazila Parishad chairman
:Elected official assigned as Chief Executive of the Upazila Parishad.
;Upazila
:Middle tier of local government, between Union and District
;UZP
;Upazila Parishad
:Upazila Parishad - Upazila Council, chaired by an elected Upazila Chairman. The civil administration at this level is headed by the UNO
;ustad
:An ustad is a village-level technological entrepeneur who runs a local business providing services and/or goods eg electrical, mechanical repairs; cast iron foundry etc)
;value chain
:the set of activities that need to be performed in a specific production sector in order to deliver the end product to the consumer. Agricultural value chains typically include input supply, growing/production, processing and marketing/distribution.
;VC
:Value Chain
;VCA
:Value Chain Analysis
;VCD
:Value Chain Development
;VCS
:Value Chain Selection
;very lowland
:>300cm seasonal or perennial flooding, does not permit growing of B Aman in the monsoon season
;ward
:Union sub-unit. Each Union comprises of 9 wards. Union Parishad members are elected to represent their ward
;ward sobha
:Ward-level public meeting to consult the ward inhabitants in the planning process of the Union
;WARPO
:Water Resources Plan Organisation
;WASH
:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
;waterlogging
:Soil is regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted and anaerobic conditions prevail. In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser depth in the soil. Waterlogging of the soil stops air getting in. How near the water table must be to the surface for the ground to be classed as waterlogged, varies with the purpose in view. A crop's demand for freedom from waterlogging may vary between seasons of the year.
;water management
:human intervention in the capture, conveyance, utilisation and drainage of surface and/or ground water in a certain area: a process of social interaction between stakeholders around the issue of water control.
;WMA
;WMAs
;Water Management Association
:Water Management Association - In Blue Gold, the polder-level representative of WMGs, and signatory to an O&M Agreement with BWDB
;Water Management Cooperative Association
:The legal entity for a Water Management Organisation under registry by the Department of Cooperatives
;WMF
;Water Management Federation
:Water Management Federation - The organization of local stakeholders at the apex level of the water resource project/sub-project/scheme
;water management for development
:The strapline of the Blue Gold Program for a transformative approach to smallholder agriculture which combines water infrastructure and locally-led initiatives for better water management, using modern agricultural technology and a business-orientation.
;WMG
;WMGs
;Water Management Group
:Water Management Group - The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.
;WAP
;WAPs
;Water Management Group Action Plan
:Water Management Group Action Plan - A plan drafted by water management groups; initially as a formal requirement for registration; later on as a building block for a sluice catchment management plan
;WMO
;WMOs
;Water Management Organizations
:Water Management Organizations - The common name of organizations of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/sub-project/scheme. The concept WMO typically refers to WMGs and WMAs (and/or WMFs) together
;Water management partnership
:Regular cooperation between Water Management Organisations and partner organisations, such as Local Government Institutions, BWDB, DAE, community-based organisations and private sector organisations
;water management stakeholders
:Individuals (both men and women) whose livelihood is directly affected by a water management system, be it positively or negatively.
;water productivity
:the amount of output (such as crops) produced per unit water
;WB
:World Bank
;WBC
:Women’s Business Centre
;WF
:WorldFish (CGIAR)
;WMCA
:Water Management Cooperative Association
;WMIP
:Water Management Improvement Project (WB-funded)
;WMKIP
:Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program - starting in December 2017 and led by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) with the aim of contributing to the long term development goals for the Southern Coastal Region as well as to objectives of the Blue Gold Program through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research. https://www.deltares.nl/en/news/developing-water-management-innovations-local-communities-bangladesh/
;WEE
;women's economic empowerment
:Women’s Economic Empowerment - Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Women's economic empowerment increases women's access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
;women's empowerment
:The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.
;women's physical empowerment
:The right of women to safety and security, to access to proper health care and reproductive health services, and the ability to resist violence. This also includes access to adequate nutrition and WASH facilities and the absence of physical overburdening.
;women's political empowerment
:The capacity of women to organize one self and others, to take part in society and its democratic processes, to make one's voice heard and have the opportunity to influence decision-making. This applies to all levels, from local level (such as WMOs) to national level.
;women's socio-cultural empowerment
:The capacity of women to have their own independent identity, a positive self-image and social status as an individual and as a group.
;WMPS
:Water Management Problem Score
;WRM
:Water Resource Management
;WUR
:Wageningen University and Research Centre
;XEN
:Executive Engineer (BWDB)
;ZSE
:Zonal Socio-Economist - a social scientist working in the technical assistance (TA) team responsible for supervising activities in a group of polders.

Frequently Asked Questions

2021-12-20T09:06:38Z

Bigblue: /* Do I need to go back to the homepage every time I need to access the table of contents? */

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Welcome to Blue Gold wiki's FAQ. We hope this helps you to have a better experience of the wiki.

== General Questions ==

=== What is a wiki? ===
A wiki is a website or online resource to which multiple users have contributed. Some wikis - such as the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia - are publicly accessible. Others are used by organizations to manage information in-house, enabling teams to easily share knowledge and work together more effectively. A wiki typically collates knowledge from various sources in a descriptive manner, with links to source documents, and in that respect is not unlike a report presented for easy accessibility in an on-line format.

=== What is the Blue Gold wiki? ===
This wiki presents lessons learnt over the 8+ years of Blue Gold program. The Blue Gold Program is a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over the eight+ year period from March 2013 to December 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies, the planning of an annual cropping pattern to maximise cropping intensities, and the collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce for highest profitability.

The wiki lessons learnt report (LLR) has been prepared to complement the BWDB and DAE project completion reports (PCRs), with the aim of recording lessons learnt for use in the design and implementation of future interventions in the coastal zone. The aim of this report is to review and analyse approaches and methodologies used in the delivery of Blue Gold, how and why they evolved over the lifetime of Blue Gold with reasons for the adaptations and adjustments that were introduced and an explanation for the timing of the intervention.

Much of the lessons learnt report has been completed before the end of the project while resources within the technical assistance (TA) team were available. At the time of preparing a working version of the report (around May 2021), DAE’s involvement as a stakeholder partner had finished at end-December 2020, and BWDB’s involvement continued to end-December 2021. During the last six month period of Blue Gold from June to December 2021, a skeleton TA team concentrated on assisting with quality control and payment certification for construction contracts, with supervising fieldwork for a final socio-economic survey of WMGs and analysing and reporting on the results, and with amending the lessons learnt report with this information.

Although the wiki report is in English, many documents were prepared in Bangla for use in communicating with, and building the capacity of, Blue Gold communities and are available in the File Library.

=== Why use wiki to distribute information? ===
One of the main aims of the wiki report is to pass on the knowledge and experience gained during the 8+ years of the project to the planners and policy makers working towards the realisation of the Delta Plan, and to those responsible for the design and implementation of future projects in the coastal zone. We hope that students, researchers and others concerned with development will also benefit from the experiences recorded here. In particular, the wiki provides digital versions of documents prepared by the project team, by other organisations through the Innovation Fund and the many valuable references (policy documents, legislation etc) that have provided direction to Blue Gold. The documents have been organised in categories (see “File Library”) to aid searches.

=== Can I obtain a printable version of the wiki? ===
A mirror version of the wiki has been developed as [[:File:Bgp-llr-printable-edition-20211219.pdf|a digital document]] (.pdf) which is also available as a printable publication.

A print copy of the report has been distributed to all key stakeholders of Blue Gold by the end of the Blue Gold Program. In addition, a limited number of print copies of the report are available from early 2022 onwards on a first-come first-served basis via the Euroconsult Mott MacDonald office in Dhaka (with postage/delivery costs payable by the requestee).

== Browsing the wiki ==

=== How is the wiki organised? ===
The wiki mainly follows a 'report' format, divided over eight (8) sections. Each section comprises a summary and a number of chapters. The layout of the sections and chapters is provided in the Table of Contents on the homepage. To see the contents of a specific chapter, a more detailed table of contents is also provided in the homepage.

=== How do I browse the pages? ===
A summary for each section provides an overview, and the table of contents helps navigation through the section.

=== Do I need to go back to the homepage every time I need to access the table of contents? ===
No. For better navigation experience, every page in a section incorporates a table of contents for the particular section and another table of contents for the entire wiki at the bottom of the page. Look for 'See more' at the bottom of the page to find it.

=== How do I find a page with particular topic? ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|500|right}}
Start with the table of contents on the homepage. If you don’t find the topic in this list, a search bar is provided in the upper right corner of the page: type the topic in the search bar and press enter.

== Files and downloads ==
{{#ev:youtube|GtSTWcAh_Ps|500|right}}
=== Where do I find files that have been referenced on a page? ===
In general, a hyperlink will be provided to the reference.

=== How can I see a list of the files? ===
A File Library provides all digital documents used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki, categorised by keywords, sections, language, and authors.

=== How do I search for a file? ===
{{#ev:youtube|ycAZAhEmzp4|500|right}}
The list of files available in Blue Gold wiki has a search functionality.

=== How do I export a particular page? ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|500|right}}
All major internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox etc. already have the ability to export PDFs, and will likely be available from your browser's toolbar across the top of the screen. On Apple Safari, for instance, you need to select File >> Export as PDF in order to download the page you are currently on.

== Copyright and permissions ==

=== General copyright information ===
The work presented in Blue Gold wiki has been funded by the Governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The Blue Gold wiki has been prepared by the technical assistance team grant-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Government of the Netherlands, represented locally by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dhaka. The technical assistance team was led by Euroconsult Mott MacDonald.

=== Can I download and use, or redistribute the documents, images, charts, general files, graphs and maps etc. found on the Blue Gold wiki? ===
All materials used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki can be downloaded and redistributed, on condition that an acknowledgement is provided (such as ‘This information was obtained from a report on the Blue Gold Program prepared by a technical assistance team financed by the Netherlands Government.’) accompanied by a disclaimer (such as ‘The information is not necessarily endorsed by the Government of the Netherlands, or the implementing agencies of the Government of Bangladesh which are the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)’.

=== Who should I contact for further information? ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Bangladesh Water Development Board
|''[mailto:dp3.bwdb@gmail.com dp3.bwdb@gmail.com]''
|-
!Department of Agricultural Extension
|''[mailto:info@dae.gov.bd info@dae.gov.bd]''
|-
!Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
|''[mailto:DHA@minbuza.nl DHA@minbuza.nl]''
|-
!Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
|''[mailto:euroconsult@mottmac.com euroconsult@mottmac.com]''
|}
=== How long will this wiki site be available? ===
The site will be available until end-December 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

2021-12-20T06:07:58Z

Bigblue: /* Can I obtain a printable version of the wiki? */

__FORCETOC__

__INDEX__
__NEWSECTIONLINK__

Welcome to Blue Gold wiki's FAQ. We hope this helps you to have a better experience of the wiki.

== General Questions ==

=== What is a wiki? ===
A wiki is a website or online resource to which multiple users have contributed. Some wikis - such as the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia - are publicly accessible. Others are used by organizations to manage information in-house, enabling teams to easily share knowledge and work together more effectively. A wiki typically collates knowledge from various sources in a descriptive manner, with links to source documents, and in that respect is not unlike a report presented for easy accessibility in an on-line format.

=== What is the Blue Gold wiki? ===
This wiki presents lessons learnt over the 8+ years of Blue Gold program. The Blue Gold Program is a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over the eight+ year period from March 2013 to December 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies, the planning of an annual cropping pattern to maximise cropping intensities, and the collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce for highest profitability.

The wiki lessons learnt report (LLR) has been prepared to complement the BWDB and DAE project completion reports (PCRs), with the aim of recording lessons learnt for use in the design and implementation of future interventions in the coastal zone. The aim of this report is to review and analyse approaches and methodologies used in the delivery of Blue Gold, how and why they evolved over the lifetime of Blue Gold with reasons for the adaptations and adjustments that were introduced and an explanation for the timing of the intervention.

Much of the lessons learnt report has been completed before the end of the project while resources within the technical assistance (TA) team were available. At the time of preparing a working version of the report (around May 2021), DAE’s involvement as a stakeholder partner had finished at end-December 2020, and BWDB’s involvement continued to end-December 2021. During the last six month period of Blue Gold from June to December 2021, a skeleton TA team concentrated on assisting with quality control and payment certification for construction contracts, with supervising fieldwork for a final socio-economic survey of WMGs and analysing and reporting on the results, and with amending the lessons learnt report with this information.

Although the wiki report is in English, many documents were prepared in Bangla for use in communicating with, and building the capacity of, Blue Gold communities and are available in the File Library.

=== Why use wiki to distribute information? ===
One of the main aims of the wiki report is to pass on the knowledge and experience gained during the 8+ years of the project to the planners and policy makers working towards the realisation of the Delta Plan, and to those responsible for the design and implementation of future projects in the coastal zone. We hope that students, researchers and others concerned with development will also benefit from the experiences recorded here. In particular, the wiki provides digital versions of documents prepared by the project team, by other organisations through the Innovation Fund and the many valuable references (policy documents, legislation etc) that have provided direction to Blue Gold. The documents have been organised in categories (see “File Library”) to aid searches.

=== Can I obtain a printable version of the wiki? ===
A mirror version of the wiki has been developed as [[:File:Bgp-llr-printable-edition-20211219.pdf|a digital document]] (.pdf) which is also available as a printable publication.

A print copy of the report has been distributed to all key stakeholders of Blue Gold by the end of the Blue Gold Program. In addition, a limited number of print copies of the report are available from early 2022 onwards on a first-come first-served basis via the Euroconsult Mott MacDonald office in Dhaka (with postage/delivery costs payable by the requestee).

== Browsing the wiki ==

=== How is the wiki organised? ===
The wiki mainly follows a 'report' format, divided over eight (8) sections. Each section comprises a summary and a number of chapters. The layout of the sections and chapters is provided in the Table of Contents on the homepage. To see the contents of a specific chapter, a more detailed table of contents is also provided in the homepage.

=== How do I browse the pages? ===
A summary for each section provides an overview, and the table of contents helps navigation through the section.

=== Do I need to go back to the homepage every time I need to access the table of contents? ===
No. For better navigation experience, every page in a section incorporates a table of contents for the particular section and another table of contents for the entire wiki at the bottom of the page. Look for 'See more' at the bottom of the page to find it.

=== How do I find a page with particular topic? ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|500|right}}
Start with the table of contents on the homepage. If you don’t find the topic in this list, a search bar is provided in the upper right corner of the page: type the topic in the search bar and press enter.

== Files and downloads ==

=== Where do I find files that have been referenced on a page? ===
In general, a hyperlink will be provided to the reference.

=== How can I see a list of the files? ===
A File Library provides all digital documents used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki, categorised by keywords, sections, language, and authors.

=== How do I search for a file? ===
{{#ev:youtube|ycAZAhEmzp4|500|right}}
The list of files available in Blue Gold wiki has a search functionality.

=== How do I export a particular page? ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|500|right}}
All major internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox etc. already have the ability to export PDFs, and will likely be available from your browser's toolbar across the top of the screen. On Apple Safari, for instance, you need to select File >> Export as PDF in order to download the page you are currently on.

== Copyright and permissions ==

=== General copyright information ===
The work presented in Blue Gold wiki has been funded by the Governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The Blue Gold wiki has been prepared by the technical assistance team grant-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Government of the Netherlands, represented locally by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dhaka. The technical assistance team was led by Euroconsult Mott MacDonald.

=== Can I download and use, or redistribute the documents, images, charts, general files, graphs and maps etc. found on the Blue Gold wiki? ===
All materials used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki can be downloaded and redistributed, on condition that an acknowledgement is provided (such as ‘This information was obtained from a report on the Blue Gold Program prepared by a technical assistance team financed by the Netherlands Government.’) accompanied by a disclaimer (such as ‘The information is not necessarily endorsed by the Government of the Netherlands, or the implementing agencies of the Government of Bangladesh which are the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)’.

=== Who should I contact for further information? ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Bangladesh Water Development Board
|''[mailto:dp3.bwdb@gmail.com dp3.bwdb@gmail.com]''
|-
!Department of Agricultural Extension
|''[mailto:info@dae.gov.bd info@dae.gov.bd]''
|-
!Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
|''[mailto:DHA@minbuza.nl DHA@minbuza.nl]''
|-
!Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
|''[mailto:euroconsult@mottmac.com euroconsult@mottmac.com]''
|}
=== How long will this wiki site be available? ===
The site will be available until end-December 2026.

File:Bgp-llr-printable-edition-20211219.pdf

2021-12-20T06:04:32Z

Bigblue: Print edition of BGP's Lessons Learnt Report

== Summary ==
Print edition of BGP's Lessons Learnt Report

Explanatory Videos

2021-12-20T03:23:03Z

Bigblue: /* Searching for within the file library */

=== Searching for a specific text ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|800|center}}
=== Searching within the file library ===
{{#ev:youtube|ycAZAhEmzp4|800|center}}

=== Extracting texts and images ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|800|center}}
=== Reading and downloading resources ===
{{#ev:youtube|GtSTWcAh_Ps|800|center}}

File library

2021-12-20T03:22:52Z

Bigblue: /* Video Tutorials */

This section is intended to help you to identify and locate specific files and videos from the range of materials which has been generated over the past 8+ years of the Blue Gold Program.

== '''Video Tutorials''' ==
The following explanatory video tutorials have been prepared to help you quickly navigate your way around the wiki:

# [[Explanatory Videos#Searching for a specific text|Searching for specific text]]
# [[Explanatory Videos#Searching within the file library|Searching within the file library]]
# [[Explanatory Videos#Extracting texts and images|Extracting text and images]]
# [[Explanatory Videos#Reading and downloading resources|Reading and downloading resources]]
#

==File library==
A complete list of the references hosted in the file library can be found [https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/images/1/18/BGP-Wiki-File-List-v1.1.xlsx '''here''']. You can browse through this list or search it using a specific word or phrase. When you have found the title of a document you want to locate, enter the title or selected keywords into the search bar at the top right-hand corner of this page (ie the magnifying glass) and select the 'multimedia' option to search within the entire file library. This search method usually yields the most comprehensive results when searching for documents.

The following three options for searching are intended to complement the above search method. They present a broad range of Blue Gold topics (when searching by keyword), the non-BGP authors (when searching by author), and allow searching by language. The first two search methods provide different angles of search rather than being comprehensive. Searching by language provides the overview of all available English language documents or of all available documents in Bangla.
*'''[[:Category:Keywords used in files|Files by keywords]]''' Files categorised using keywords - providing, for example, a quick way of locating all the Polder Development Plans (PDPs)
*[[:Category:Files by author|'''Files by author''']] Files categorised by the author of the publication
*'''[[:Category:Files by language|Files by primary language]]''' Files organized by the primary language of the document ie English or Bangla.

== Communication Products ==
From the following headings of five different groups of communication products, a specific document or video can be quickly located to read, view or download:
*'''[[:Category:Thematic Brochures|Thematic brochures]]''' [[:Category:Thematic Brochures|-]] to provide the context for the different types of interventions or themes of the Blue Gold Program, and their outcomes and impact, and how inclusiveness has been addressed
*'''[[:Category:Slide Decks|Slide decks]]''' - pdf versions of slide decks used for presentations on ten different themes of the Blue Gold Program
*'''[[:Category:Case Studies|Case studies]]''' - examples of success stories showing the practical impact of the core interventions – but written from the perspective of the main stakeholders
*'''[[:Category:Videos|Videos]]''' - a small number of high quality videos cover the main features of Blue Gold: participatory water management, what water management means, agricultural outcomes (prepared by one of the implementation partners, the Department of Agricultural Extension), women's empowerment, and farming-as-as-business, In addition, there are a large number of videos about the Blue Gold Program on YouTube varying from films of specific activities, TV newscasts, extracts from the TV extension program ‘Mati O Manush’. They have been filmed for a wide range of reasons by TV news programs, professional film makers and Blue Gold colleagues.
*'''[[:Category:Maps|Maps]] -''' A collection of detailed technical maps are presented here for the 22 polders included in the Blue Gold Program. The maps are categorised as either '''Overview Maps''' which provide a range of information on a map whose coverage is that of the entire project area or '''Polder Maps''' which give detailed technical information on maps of each of the 22 polders.

Explanatory Videos

2021-12-20T03:22:22Z

Bigblue:

=== Searching for a specific text ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|800|center}}
=== Searching for within the file library ===
{{#ev:youtube|ycAZAhEmzp4|800|center}}
=== Extracting texts and images ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|800|center}}
=== Reading and downloading resources ===
{{#ev:youtube|GtSTWcAh_Ps|800|center}}

Frequently Asked Questions

2021-12-20T03:22:11Z

Bigblue: /* How do I find a page with particular topic? */

__FORCETOC__

__INDEX__
__NEWSECTIONLINK__

Welcome to Blue Gold wiki's FAQ. We hope this helps you to have a better experience of the wiki.

== General Questions ==

=== What is a wiki? ===
A wiki is a website or online resource to which multiple users have contributed. Some wikis - such as the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia - are publicly accessible. Others are used by organizations to manage information in-house, enabling teams to easily share knowledge and work together more effectively. A wiki typically collates knowledge from various sources in a descriptive manner, with links to source documents, and in that respect is not unlike a report presented for easy accessibility in an on-line format.

=== What is the Blue Gold wiki? ===
This wiki presents lessons learnt over the 8+ years of Blue Gold program. The Blue Gold Program is a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over the eight+ year period from March 2013 to December 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies, the planning of an annual cropping pattern to maximise cropping intensities, and the collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce for highest profitability.

The wiki lessons learnt report (LLR) has been prepared to complement the BWDB and DAE project completion reports (PCRs), with the aim of recording lessons learnt for use in the design and implementation of future interventions in the coastal zone. The aim of this report is to review and analyse approaches and methodologies used in the delivery of Blue Gold, how and why they evolved over the lifetime of Blue Gold with reasons for the adaptations and adjustments that were introduced and an explanation for the timing of the intervention.

Much of the lessons learnt report has been completed before the end of the project while resources within the technical assistance (TA) team were available. At the time of preparing a working version of the report (around May 2021), DAE’s involvement as a stakeholder partner had finished at end-December 2020, and BWDB’s involvement continued to end-December 2021. During the last six month period of Blue Gold from June to December 2021, a skeleton TA team concentrated on assisting with quality control and payment certification for construction contracts, with supervising fieldwork for a final socio-economic survey of WMGs and analysing and reporting on the results, and with amending the lessons learnt report with this information.

Although the wiki report is in English, many documents were prepared in Bangla for use in communicating with, and building the capacity of, Blue Gold communities and are available in the File Library.

=== Why use wiki to distribute information? ===
One of the main aims of the wiki report is to pass on the knowledge and experience gained during the 8+ years of the project to the planners and policy makers working towards the realisation of the Delta Plan, and to those responsible for the design and implementation of future projects in the coastal zone. We hope that students, researchers and others concerned with development will also benefit from the experiences recorded here. In particular, the wiki provides digital versions of documents prepared by the project team, by other organisations through the Innovation Fund and the many valuable references (policy documents, legislation etc) that have provided direction to Blue Gold. The documents have been organised in categories (see “File Library”) to aid searches.

=== Can I obtain a printable version of the wiki? ===
A mirror version of the wiki has been developed as a digital document (.pdf) which is also available as a printable publication.

A print copy of the report has been distributed to all key stakeholders of Blue Gold by the end of the Blue Gold Program. In addition, a limited number of print copies of the report are available from early 2022 onwards on a first-come first-served basis via the Euroconsult Mott MacDonald office in Dhaka (with postage/delivery costs payable by the requestee).

== Browsing the wiki ==

=== How is the wiki organised? ===
The wiki mainly follows a 'report' format, divided over eight (8) sections. Each section comprises a summary and a number of chapters. The layout of the sections and chapters is provided in the Table of Contents on the homepage. To see the contents of a specific chapter, a more detailed table of contents is also provided in the homepage.

=== How do I browse the pages? ===
A summary for each section provides an overview, and the table of contents helps navigation through the section.

=== Do I need to go back to the homepage every time I need to access the table of contents? ===
No. For better navigation experience, every page in a section incorporates a table of contents for the particular section and another table of contents for the entire wiki at the bottom of the page. Look for 'See more' at the bottom of the page to find it.

=== How do I find a page with particular topic? ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|500|right}}
Start with the table of contents on the homepage. If you don’t find the topic in this list, a search bar is provided in the upper right corner of the page: type the topic in the search bar and press enter.

== Files and downloads ==

=== Where do I find files that have been referenced on a page? ===
In general, a hyperlink will be provided to the reference.

=== How can I see a list of the files? ===
A File Library provides all digital documents used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki, categorised by keywords, sections, language, and authors.

=== How do I search for a file? ===
{{#ev:youtube|ycAZAhEmzp4|500|right}}
The list of files available in Blue Gold wiki has a search functionality.

=== How do I export a particular page? ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|500|right}}
All major internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox etc. already have the ability to export PDFs, and will likely be available from your browser's toolbar across the top of the screen. On Apple Safari, for instance, you need to select File >> Export as PDF in order to download the page you are currently on.

== Copyright and permissions ==

=== General copyright information ===
The work presented in Blue Gold wiki has been funded by the Governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The Blue Gold wiki has been prepared by the technical assistance team grant-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Government of the Netherlands, represented locally by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dhaka. The technical assistance team was led by Euroconsult Mott MacDonald.

=== Can I download and use, or redistribute the documents, images, charts, general files, graphs and maps etc. found on the Blue Gold wiki? ===
All materials used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki can be downloaded and redistributed, on condition that an acknowledgement is provided (such as ‘This information was obtained from a report on the Blue Gold Program prepared by a technical assistance team financed by the Netherlands Government.’) accompanied by a disclaimer (such as ‘The information is not necessarily endorsed by the Government of the Netherlands, or the implementing agencies of the Government of Bangladesh which are the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)’.

=== Who should I contact for further information? ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Bangladesh Water Development Board
|''[mailto:dp3.bwdb@gmail.com dp3.bwdb@gmail.com]''
|-
!Department of Agricultural Extension
|''[mailto:info@dae.gov.bd info@dae.gov.bd]''
|-
!Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
|''[mailto:DHA@minbuza.nl DHA@minbuza.nl]''
|-
!Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
|''[mailto:euroconsult@mottmac.com euroconsult@mottmac.com]''
|}
=== How long will this wiki site be available? ===
The site will be available until end-December 2026.

Explanatory Videos

2021-12-19T10:15:41Z

Bigblue: /* Reading and downloading resources */

=== Searching for a specific text ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|800|center}}
=== Searching for a file ===
{{#ev:youtube|AR2GUystLGA|800|center}}
=== Extracting texts and images ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|800|center}}
=== Reading and downloading resources ===
{{#ev:youtube|ycAZAhEmzp4|800|center}}

Blue Gold Lessons Learnt Wiki

2021-12-19T06:50:19Z

Bigblue:

[[File:Bgp-LLR-banner-wiki-01.png|frameless|491x491px]]

The wiki version of the Lessons Learnt Report of the Blue Gold program, documents the experiences of a technical assistance (TA) team working in a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over an eight+ year period from March 2013 to December 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies and the importance of crop selection, collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce to maximise profitability.

The wiki lessons learnt report (LLR) is intended to complement the BWDB and DAE project completion reports (PCRs), by recording lessons learnt for use in the design and implementation of future interventions in the coastal zone. The aim of this report is to review and analyse approaches and methodologies used in the delivery of Blue Gold, how and why they evolved over the lifetime of Blue Gold with reasons for the adaptations and adjustments that were introduced and an explanation for the timing of the intervention.

Whilst Blue Gold will end in December 2021, much of the lessons learnt report will have been written in 2020 and early 2021 while the principal contributors in the TA team remained in place. But the completion of some sections of the report will only be possible when, for example, final payments have been made for water infrastructure contracts at end-June 2021, and findings are available from impact surveys conducted in 2021. DAE’s involvement as an implementation partner finished at end-December 2020, whilst BWDB’s involvement continued to end-December 2021.

Meanwhile, in order to pass on the knowledge and experience gained from the implementation of Blue Gold to planners and policy makers working towards the realisation of the Delta Plan, and to those responsible for the design and implementation of future projects in the coastal zone, the report is published in June 2021 in a partially-complete form. Those sections of the report which are either incomplete or missing will be marked accordingly in the draft report, and then finalized before end-December 2021.

In particular, this wiki provides digital versions of documents prepared by the project team, by other organisations through the Innovation Fund and the many valuable references (policy documents, legislation etc) that have provided direction to Blue Gold. Guidance on how to locate a specific document is given in the section [[File library|File Library]]. Although the wiki report is in English, many documents were prepared in Bangla for use in training of Blue Gold communities and are also available in the File Library.

Aimed at first-time users, the [[Frequently Asked Questions|frequently asked questions]] (FAQ) page provides answers about the wiki, browsing, files and downloads and points of contact for further information.

==Table of Contents: overview==
To aid navigation through the report, this wiki has been organised into multiple sections and chapters. Within the table (bottom right hand corner), there is a [[file library]] to explore the hundreds of files generated or used as references during the 8+year period of Blue Gold. Below you will see multiple navigation boxes, divided and organised for easier use - so that you can browse through the wiki and find the subject matter which is of greatest relevance to you.

{{Full ToC}}

== Table of contents: detailed view ==
This section of table of contents provides a more detailed view of the contents of each chapter, allowing the reader to navigate directly to a specific subsection.

=== Executive summary: Call for Action ===
{{main|Executive summary: a call for action}}
===Section A: Background and context===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section A: Background and context}}{{ToC Section A}}

===Section B: Development Outcomes===
{{For|summary and introduction of this section|Summary and Introduction of Section B: Development Outcomes}}{{ToC Section B}}

===Section C: Water Infrastructure===
{{For|summary of this section|Summary of Section C: Water Infrastructure}}{{ToC Section C}}

===Section D: Participatory Water Management===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management}}{{ToC Section D}}
===Section E: Agricultural Development===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development}}{{ToC Section E}}
===Section F: Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section F - Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability}}{{ToC Section F}}

===Section G: Project Management===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section G: Project Management}}{{ToC Section G}}

===Section H: Innovation Fund===
{{For|summary of this section|Summary of Section H: Innovation Fund}}{{ToC Section H}}

===Files and others===
{| width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;" border="0" cellpadding="3px" cellspacing="2px"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[File library]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Glossary and acronyms]]'''
|}__NOINDEX__
__NONEWSECTIONLINK__
__FORCETOC__

File:Bgp-LLR-banner-wiki-01.png

2021-12-19T06:49:43Z

Bigblue:

BGP LLR Wiki banner

Glossary and acronyms

2021-12-19T06:24:27Z

Bigblue:

;access to markets
:Generally refers to how many and/or in which way people are able to buy or sell, and reach, a reliable supplier or buyer in a market
;ADG
:Additional Director General
;ADP
:Annual Development Plan
;AEO
:Agricultural Extension Officer
;AGEP
:Agricultural Growth and Employment Program
;ail
:a shallow earth bund on plot boundaries which allows the ponding of water for basin irrigation
;AIS
:Agricultural Information Systems
;aman
:a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;ARM
:Annual Review Mission, the broad objective of which was to secure and where possible further enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. ARM members were individuals who were appointed by, and reported directly to, EKN and BWDB/DAE
;arotdar
:service provider to bepari and paikers in wholesale markets. Facilitates the buying/selling process, and may provide negotiation assistance with purchases, storage space, selling space, short term and seasonal credit, and arrange truck transport of goods purchased by bepari to market
;aus
:a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;B Aman
:broadcast aman; a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;B Aus
:broadcast aus; a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;BADC
:Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
;bagda
:brackish-water shrimp species
;baor
:oxbow lake
;bari
:a homestead in which one or more households (chula) of the same kinship group share facilities within an enclosed or semi-enclosed compound
;BARI
:Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
;basok leaves
:basok leaves are the leaves of a medicinal shrub found along road roadside, often used as fencing of houses in our polders (especially in Satkhira and Khulna) that are dried and then sold to pharmaceutical companies for medicine preparation, in particular to prepare cough syrup.
;BAU
:Bangladesh Agricultural University
;BBS
:Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
;BCIC
:Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
;BDP
:Bangladesh Delta Plan
;BDS
:Business Development Services
;BDT
:Bangladesh Taka
;beel
:wetland inundated for at least one season per year, formed by the inundation of a low-lying natural depression
;beneficiary
:Any individual or group who, in one way or another is favourably influenced by the project.
;bepari
:key wholesaler in the supply chain, moves goods between markets by buying in source markets and selling in destination markets, and exerts the main influence on price earned by farmers.
;BGIF
:Blue Gold Innovation Fund
;BGP
:Blue Gold Program
;BHWDB
:Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board
;bigha
:area varies between localities - range 30-40 decimals (0.12-0.16 ha)
;BINA
:Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
;borgadar
:share-cropper
;boro
:A rice crop planted under irrigation during the dry season from December to March and harvested between April and June. Local boro varieties are more tolerant of cool temperatures and are usually planted in areas which are subject to early flooding. Improved varieties, less tolerant of cool conditions, are usually transplanted from February onwards. All varieties are insensitive to daylength.
;BRAC
:Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (an NGO)
;branch khal
:Secondary or tertiary drainage channel (in Bangla sakha khal)
;brinjal
:eggplant, aubergine
;bundh
:small earthen embankment or dam
;BWDB
:Bangladesh Water Development Board, government agency which is responsible for surface water and groundwater management in Bangladesh, and lead implementing agency for the Blue Gold Program
;BWFMS
:Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy
;cage fishing
:cage culture is an aquaculture production system in which the fish are held in floating net pens using existing water resources (riverss and ponds) with water passing freely between the fish and the surrounding water body for water circulation and waste removal into the surrounding water.
;catchment
:an idealised hydrologically independent drainage unit within a polder - comprising a network of inter-connected khals draining to a regulator from where water is discharged to a peripheral river. Because the land levels in a polder vary within a small range (typically up to a maximum of 1.5 m), water flows can be affected by downstream water conditions and eventually drain through more than one regulator at diffferent times of year. .
;catchment planning
:Identification and planning of both interventions and operations & maintenance within the catchment, resulting in an action plan for the catchment.
;CAWM
;Community-led Agricultural Water Management
:Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;CDF
;CDFs
;Community Development Facilitator
:Community Development Facilitator - a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, and provided the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;CDMP
:Comprehensive Disaster Management Program
;CDSP
:Char Development and Settlement Project
;CEGIS
:Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services
;CEIP
:Coastal Embankment Improvement Project
;CFWM
:Community-led Fisheries and Water Management
;CGIAR
:Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
;chal
:husked rice
;char
:accreted sediment in a river course or estuary, including both lateral (point-bars) and medial (braid-bars). Chars (or sand bars) emerge as islands within the river channel (island chars) or as attached land to the riverbanks (attached chars), create new opportunities for temporary settlements and agriculture.
;chula
:Literally a traditional cooking stove. Used here to identify a household - an independent economic family unit - which shares kitchen facilities and eats together
;CI
;cropping intensity
:Cropping intensity - The number of crop harvest per unit land per year. The average cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as the total area of all crops per year divided by the area of cultivable land. In its CI calculations BGP treats fish ghers as another crop; the DAE method excludes fish ghers in its CI calculations. Hence the CI calculated by BGP is higher than as calculated by DAE.
;CII
;Cropping Intensity Initiative
:Cropping Intensity Initiative: Year-long demonstrations with farmers on increasing cropping intensity related to improved water management, also involving market actors, and by organising demand driven sessions and workshops
;CIMMYT
:International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
;CLF
:Community-led Fisheries
;CO
;COs
:Community Organiser
;CA
;collective action
;collective actions
:Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce
;commercial agriculture
:agricultural production aimed at meeting market-demands. It is based on establishing a profitable farming unit and involves a multitude of business relations with other actors in the market system. Used in contrast to subsistence farming which focuses mostly on home consumption.
;CAHW
;Community Animal Health Workers
:Community Animal Health Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their animals
;CLW
;Community Livestock Workers
:Community Livestock Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their livestock
;community mobilization
:Community mobilization is a process that brings together different societal factions to undertake development activities. Within BGP this especially refers to organizing the community members into Water Management Groups
;control structure
:A permanent structure placed in a farm canal, ditch, or subsurface drainage conduit, which provides control of the discharge of surface and/or subsurface drainage by menas of flashboards, gates, valves, risers, or pipes.
;CPP-FAP-20
:Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20
;CPW
;Community Poultry Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their poultry
;CPWF
:Challenge Programme on Water and Food
;cross-dam
:Earthen embankment placed across a khal or river to prevent water flow.
;CSISA
:Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
;culvert
:A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow beneath a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
;CWM
:Chief of Water Management (BWDB)
;CYSs
:courtyard sessions
;DAE
:Department of Agricultural Extension, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for disseminating scientific research and new knowledge on agricultural practices through communication and learning activities for farmers in agriculture, agricultural marketing, nutrition and business studies.
;DAM
:Department of Agricultural Marketing
;DANIDA
:Danish International Development Agency
;decimal
:one hundredth of an acre (0.004 ha)
;DFID
:Department for International Development (UK government's development department); since September 2020, known as Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office - FCDO - after a merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office - FCO
;DG
:Director General
;dhan
:unhusked rice (paddy)
;dheki
:manually operated rice husking machine
;Disaster Risk Reduction
:The Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) has been given the mandate to lead disaster preparedness, mitigation, emergency response and post disaster rehabilitation, by informing local people, empowering them to take practical measures to reduce risk at household and community levels and to disseminate success stories of reducing disaster risks widely among local people.
;diversification of agriculture
:Movement of resources from (few) low value commodities to more higher value ones, increasing the total production value and reducing risks
;DLS
:Department of Livestock Services, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for the livestock industry in Bangladesh
;DoC
:Department of Cooperatives
;DoF
:Department of Fisheries, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for regulating the fisheries industry in Bangladesh
;DoE
:Department of Environment
;DP III
:Department of Planning III, one of three planning departments in BWDB headed by a Superintending Engineer which reports to the Chief Engineer (Civil) Planning to the Assistant Director General (Planning)
;DPP
;DPPs
;Development Project Proforma
:Development Project Proforma: a formal document which sets out the intention of a GoB organisation to invest in a development project, seeking approval for the investment and, if successful, a budget allocation. The DPP follows a prescribed format, including the project’s financial and physical scope, benefits, and proposals for monitoring and internal and external audits. The approval of a development project proposal follows a number of stages: formation with preliminary studies, formulation to develop greater detail and with additional information to make the economic case for the project, scrutiny by the executing agencies and concerned ministries, appraisal by the Planning Commission, recommendation for approval by Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), Minister/ECNEC approval, and inclusion of a budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
;drainage congestion
:the south-western coastal zone is characterised by broad tidal flats and fluvio-tidal plains, lying approximately 1 metre above sea level, with drainage provided by numerous tidal creeks and channels a some major rivers. Empolderisation now protects the intrusion of sea water to agricultural areas but restricts the deposition of sediments to within the channels, thus reducing the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels, causing drainage congestion.
;DRR
:Disaster Risk Reduction
;DTL
:Deputy Team Leader
;DTW
:deep tube wells
;EC
:Executive Committee
;EC members
:Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules
;ECC
:Environmental Clearance Certificate
;economic growth
:Increase in the capacity of a country or an economic region to produce goods and services. It also refers to the increase in market value of the goods and services produced by an economy. It is usually calculated using inflation adjusted figures, in order to discount the effect of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced
;EDP
:Estuary Development Program
;EIA
;EIAs
:Environmental Impact Assessment
;EIP
:Early Implementation Project
;EKN
:Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the contractual representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and signatory to the agreement for the Blue Gold Program with the External Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance as the signatory for the Government of Bangladesh
;embankment
:Earthen dyke or bundh raised above surrounding ground level, for example so that roads or railway lines are above highest flood levels, or so that an area is empoldered to protect it from external floods and saline waters.
;EMM
:Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
;empolder
:to surround an area of low-lying land by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;empowerment
:empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.
;enabling environment
:an environment of policies, regulations, norms, institutions, and overall economic governance which allows market systems to function and perform well
;EO
:Earth Observation
;EOI
:Expression of Interest
;EPWAPDA
:East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority
;EWM
:Equitable Water Management
;fall boards
:boards temporarily placed in slots or grooves in the pier walls of regulators or sluices to prevent the flow of water during maintenance of the structure or gates.
;FAO
:Food and Agriculture Organization
;FAP
:Flood Action Plan
;fariahs
:small traders
;Farmer Field Day
;Farmer Field Days
:Exchange events organized at the end of each Farmer Field School to share the FFS learnings with other community members
;Farmer Field School
;Farmer Field Schools
:A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.
;Farmer Trainer
;Farmer Trainers
:Well-performing and capable farmers, previously trained in Farmer Field Schools, who became FFS facilitator themselves after ToT training
;FCD
:Flood Control and Drainage
;FCDI
:Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
;feasibility study
;feasibility studies
:A feasibility study is an analysis that takes all of a project's relevant factors into account—including economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations—to ascertain the likelihood of completing the project successfully.
;feminization of agriculture
:Feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector. This can be due to men taking up non-farm employment locally, male out-migration from rural areas to urban areas or abroad, poverty (need for women to raise income), and/or women's empowerment (women taking own initiatives to engage in agricultural production). The increase in agricultural productivity requiring more labour input (be it family or wage labour) can also contribute to a larger role of women in agriculture.
;FFD
:Farmer Field Day
;FFS
;FFSs
:Farmer Field School
;FGD
;FGDs
:Focus Group Discussions - in which a group of participants from similar backgrounds or experiences gather to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a group facilitator who introduces the topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves
;flap gate
:Hinged gate on the river-side of a regulator vent which automatically closes when water rises above the country-side water level.
;flushing
:The practice of admitting (fresh or saline) water for irrigation (or shrimp production) through regulators or inlets.
;FO
;FOs
:FFS Organiser in the technical assistance (TA) team
;FRERMIP
:Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program - A program financed by ADB and EKN with consultancy services provided by Northwest Hydraulic Consutants and Mott MacDonald, which provided structural and non-structural flood and riverbank erosion risk management measures in three high priority subproject areas, with the aim in subsequent projects of extending the protected reaches using designs adjusted to current riverbank erosion conditions and considering the possibilities of reclaiming lost floodplain land.
;FT
;FTs
:Farmer Trainer
;FY
:Financial Year
;GAP
:Gender Action Plan
;GDP
:gross domestic product
;GED
:General Economics Division, one of six divisions in the Planning Commission, with responsibility for the preparation of mid- and long-term plans; M&E of plans; and the determination of macroeconomic scenarios

;gender
:Refers to socially constructed and therefore learned roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and women, girls and boys based on their sex. Gender is not the same as sex, the physical and biological attributes that make someone female, male or both. Gender comprises the expectations, roles, attitudes and behaviours of women and men. Gender roles change over time and vary within and between cultures, societies and classes.
;gender blindness
:Gender-blindness refers to the failure to identify or acknowledge differences on the basis of gender where it is significant. Projects, programs, policies and attitudes which are gender blind do not take into account the different roles and needs of men and women. They maintain or reinforce the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations.
;gender equality
:Gender equality exists when men and women, boys and girls are attributed equal social value, equal rights and equal responsibilities; and men and women have equal access to the means (resources, opportunities) to exercise those rights and responsibilities. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but rather that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether someone is born male or female.
;gender equity
:Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings.
;gender indicators
:Gender indicators are performance indicators that help assess or measure the effects of a policy, programme or project on changes in gender relations and the status of men and women, and hence the extent of advancement of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. Gender indicators can be quantitative and qualitative.
;gender issues
:Any issue where relations, differences, connections and/or inequalities between men and women have either a positive or negative effect or influence
;gender mainstreaming
:This is the process of systematically recognizing and taking into account gender issues (such as differences between the conditions, roles and needs of women and men) within core activities of projects and programmes and covering design, implementation and M&E. Gender mainstreaming also takes into account the likely implications for men and women of planned interventions.
;gender relations
:Gender relations are the specific sub-set of social relations uniting men and women as social groups in a particular community, including how power and access to and control over resources are distributed between the sexes. Gender relations intersect with all other influences on social relations - age, ethnicity, race, religion - to determine the position and identity of people in a social group. Since gender relations are a social construct, they can be transformed over time to become more equitable.
;gender-sensitive approach
:Refers to recognizing and taking into account gender issues, aiming to promote gender equality
;GESAP
:Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (of BWDB)
;gher
;ghers
:An area enclosed by low embankments to store either freshwater or brackish water for the production of fish, shrimps or prawns.
;GIS
:Geographic Information Systems
;GLD
:Gender and Leadership Development (training)
;GoB
:Government of Bangladesh; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;golda
:freshwater prawn species
;GoN
:Government of the Netherlands; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;GPWM
:Guidelines for Participatory Water Management
;gusthi
:kinship group which traces its origins to a common male ancestor - an important element of social identity in a village
;ha
:hectare
;hajol
;hajols
:A hajol is an unfired earthenware nesting vessel for egg hatching, with small receptacles for water and seed to provide the immediate needs. The hajol saves the hen effort and time for searching food, thus ensuring proper hatching in less time, thereby reducing egg waste.
;hat
:small rural market, held weekly or bi-weekly
;HBB
:herringbone bond - a brickwork pattern used as the wearing course for rural roads with a low traffic volume
;HH
;HHs
:Household
;highland
:0-30 cm: intermittent flooding, land suited to HYV T Aman in monsoon season
;HL
:Horizontal Learning
;Horizontal Learning
:Learning from peers; and in the context of Blue Gold, farmer-to-farmer learning in which a host WMG invites representatives from visiting WMGs to witness an event - such as the harvesting of a new variety of rice - to pass on the knowledge and lessons gained from their experience
;HR
:Human Resources
;HVC
:high value crop(s)
;High Yielding Variety
:Introduced varieties developed through formal breeding programs. HYVs have a higher yield potential than local varieties but require correspondingly high inputs of fertiliser and irrigation to achieve high yields.
;HYV
:High Yielding Variety
;IBRD
:International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
;ICM
:Integrated Crop Management
;ICRD
:Integrated Coastal Resources Database
;ICT
:Information Communication Technology
;ICZM
:Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Programme Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (PDO-ICZM)
;IF
:Innovation Fund
;IFI
:International Financing Institution eg World Bank, Asian Development Bank
;IFMC
:Integrated Farm Management Component (DANIDA-funded program)
;IGA
:Income Generating Activity
;IMIP
:Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)
;IMRC
:Inter-Ministerial Review Committee
;in-polder water management
:term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which primarily aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for eventual discharge through the sluice/regulator to a peripheral river
;inclusiveness
:The inclusion of the (interests of) different types of people and treating them fairly and equally, considering their different roles and interests in water management
;INGO
:International NGO
;inlet
:Structure designed to only admit (fresh or saline) water across an embankment.
;Integrated Water Resources Management
:Internationally-accepted approach for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of water resources especially applicable where there are multiple stakeholder interests with conflicting demands.
;intensification of agriculture
:Increasing agricultural production per unit of inputs, such as per unit of land
;interventions
:A defined set of temporary activities through which facilitators seek to effect change
;IOB
:The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) is the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which researches and prepares reports on the outcomes of Dutch foreign policy for reasons of accountability and so that the findings can be used in adjusting future policymaking
;IP
:Input Providers
;IPM
:Integrated Pest Management
;IPSWAM
:Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management
;IPSWARM
:(Guidelines for) Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Resources Management
;IPWM
:In-polder water management; term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for evacuation through the sluice/regulator
;IRRI
:International Rice Research Institute
;ISPM
:Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
;IWM
:Institute of Water Modelling
;IWMI
:International Water Management Institute
;IWRM
:Integrated Water Resources Management
;JBIC
:Japanese Bank for International Cooperation
;katcha
:impermanent, unofficial; an unimproved version, eg earthen road, earth-walled house
;keshari
:Local pulse crop
;khal
:drainage channel or canal
;kharif
:The wet season - typically mid-March to mid-October - characterised by rain and high temperatures
;kharif-1
:The first part of the kharif season (mid-March to mid-June). Rainfall is variable and temperatures are high. The main crops are aus, summer vegetables and pulses. Broadcast aman and jute are planted.
;kharif-2
:The second part of the kharif season (mid-June to mid-October) characterised by heavy rain and floods. T Aman is the major crop grown in this season. Jute is harvested.
;khas
:Land owned by the state, including recently accreted land
;KJDRP
:Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project
;KSS
:Krishi Samabay Samity - farmer cooperative
;kup
:Protected dug well
;Labour Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;landless
:assumed in this report to operate up to 0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
;Landless Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. Term including 'landless' is generally used by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) whereas BWDB's PWMR 2014 uses 'Labour' Contracting Societies.
;large farmer
:assumed in this report to operate more than 5.5 acres (2.23 ha)
;LCG
:Local Consultative Group
;LCS
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LCS
:Labour Contracting Societies
;LG
:Local Government
;LGED
:Local Government Engineering Department
;LGI
;LGIs
:Local Government Institutions - Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad etc
;lift gate
:vertical gate typically raised and lowered by operating a handwheel up and down a vertical screw, with the gate kept in position by means of steel channels set in the walls of a regulator.
;livelihood
;livelihoods
:A livelihood is a way of making a living. It comprises capabilities, skills, assets (including material and social resources), and activities that households put together to produce food, meet basic needs, earn income, or establish a means of living in any other way.
;livelihood strategies
:The strategies that people employ in order to utilize and transfer assets to produce income today and deal with problems tomorrow. These strategies change and adapt in response to various shocks, external influences, institutional norms and rules, and other factors.
;local varieties
:Varieties developed by farmers, sometimes referred to as local improved varieties (LIVs)
;lowland
:Prone to seasonal (<9 months) or perennial flooding (>9 months), land on which B aman can be grown in the monsoon season. Flood depth 180-300 cm or more
;LRP
:Land Reclamation Project
;LV
:low value crop(s)
;M/F
:Male / Female
;M&E
:Monitoring and Evaluation
;maintenance
:actions taken to prevent or repair the deterioration of water management infrastructure and to keep the physical components of a water management system in such a state that they can serve their intended function.
;market
:Any formal or informal structure (not necessarily a physical place) in which buyers and sellers exchange goods, labour, or services for cash or other goods. The word 'market' can simply mean the place in which goods or services are exchanged. Essentially, markets are defined by forces of supply and demand, rather than geographical location
;market linkages
:Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.
;market orientation
:Within BGP this refers to enhancing insights of especially FFS participants in how markets work, how to collect market information, facilitating linkages with market actors and increasing negotiation capacities
;Market-oriented Farmer Field School
:Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.
;maund
:unit of weight 37.3 kg, equal to 40 seer
;medium farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 2.5 acres and 5.5 acres (1.0 to 2.23 ha)
;medium highland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to local varieties of aus and T aman in the monsoon season. Flood depth: 30-90 cm
;medium lowland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to B Aman in monsoon season. Flood depth: 90-180 cm
;MFI
;MFIs
:Micro Finance Institute
;MFS
:Market-oriented Farmer Field School
;MIS
:Management Information System
;MLGRDC
:Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
;MoA
:Ministry of Agriculture
;mohajon
:village money lender
;MoU
;MoUs
:Memorandum of Understanding
;mouza
:an administrative unit chiefly used for cadastral land registration

;MoWR
:Ministry of Water Resources
;mPower
:mPower is the social enterprise which is dedicated to information technology solutions and strategies that maximize impact on people’s lives.
;MRL
:Monitoring, Reflection & Learning
;MT
:metric ton (tonne)
;MTR
:Mid – Term Review Mission
;NAEP
:New Agriculture Extension Policy
;natok
:popular theatre, a living tradition especially in rural areas of Bangladesh, and a powerful and accepted instrument which can be used to raise discussion on sensitive issues
;NEC
:National Economic Council
;NGO
:Non-Governmental Organisation
;NSB
:National Seed Board
;NWMP
:National Water Management Plan
;NWPo
:National Water Policy
;NWRC
:National Water Resources Commission
;NWRD
:National Water Resources Database
;O&M
:Operation and Maintenance
;O&M Sub-Committee
:A sub-committee of a Water Management Association (WMA) responsible for the planning operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in a specific catchment.
;OCWM
:Office of the Chief of Water Management (in BWDB) responsible for the 'establishment of water user organizations, their training and participation, in project planning, implementation, operation and maintenance and cost recovery'

;ODK
:Open Data Kit
;OFRD
:On‐Farm Research Division
;OMPI
:O&M Performance Improvement
;OMS
:Open Market Sale
;operation
:the adjustment of gates in water management infrastructure to control hydraulic conditions (water levels and discharges) in a water management system.
;outlet structure
:gated structure (typically with only a flap gate on the river-side) designed to drain water through the polder embankment to an external tidal river channel
;owner-operator
:a person who farms or otherwise operates his own land
;paiker
:buys produce directly from individual farmers and sells bulk produce to arotdar or to destination market. Exerts a main influence on price earned by farmers.
;participation
:A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.
;participatory water management
;Participatory Water Management
:A process by which the local stakeholders are directly and actively involved in identification, planning, design, implementation, operation & maintenance and evaluation of a water management project.
;PBDP 2100
:Preparation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;PCD
:Program Coordinating Director
;PD
:Project Director
;PDP
:Polder Development Plan - presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB Development Project Proforma (DPP). PDPs for all 22 polders are available through the File Library.
;peripheral rivers
:In the coastal zone, the river or rivers surrounding a polder which carry the outflow from the regulators or sluices to the sea
;PF
;PFs
:Producer Group Facilitator
;plot
:contiguous area of land operated as a single unit by a farmer - average area of 27 decimals (0.11 ha), with a normal range between 10 and 70 decimals (0.04 to 0.28 ha)
;PM
:Participatory Monitoring
;PM
:Progress Marker
;PMC
:Project Management Committee
;polder
:An area of low-lying land surrounded by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;Polder Development Plan
:A plan which presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB DPP.
;PPP
:Public Private Partnership
;primary infrastructure
:The main channels or khals within a polder through which excess rain or flood water is discharged to an external tidal river channel and thence to the sea via a regulator, sluice or outlet in the polder embankment.
;productive work
:Labour that results in goods or services that have monetary value in the capitalist system and are thus compensated by the producers in the form of a paid wage, or otherwise results into (monetary) income. Productive work includes subsistence agriculture and homestead production.
;PS
:Private Sector
;PSC
:Program Steering Committee
;PSD
:Private Sector Development
;PSSWRSP
:Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project
;PSTU
:Patuakhali Science and Technology University
;pucca
:permanent, official, an improved version: brick-paved road as opposed to an earthen road; brick-built house as opposed to earth-walled house
;PWM
:Participatory Water Management
;PWMR
:Participatory Water Management Rules (2014)
;rabi
:The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.
;RAC
:Regional Accounts Committee (BWDB) is inter alia responsible for the administration of payments for construction contracts
;RDPP
:Revised Development Project Proforma
;regulator
:the principal function of a regulator or drainage sluice is to allow the drainage of water from the polder into a peripheral river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry from the river channel into the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season), thus allowing freshwater to be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.
;reproductive work
:Labour that is associated with the private sphere and involves anything that people have to do for themselves that is not for the purposes of receiving a wage or producing goods. It includes cleaning and repairs, cooking, care, and fetching water and fuel. Reproductive work is also referred to as unpaid care work (UCW) or domestic work and care.
;Resource Farmers
:Resource Farmers (RF) are members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs). They are selected from the FFS groups to lead other members in organizing different useful collective actions and to maintain networks on behalf of the members. These RFs are given additional capacity building training to enhance their knowlege on simple record keeping and business skills.
;responsible development
:In BGP's context this refers to inclusive and sustainable development as transversal elements within BGP's approach, with inclusiveness meaning that also women and poor household benefit from BGP
;retention structure
:a structure that provides for the storage of runoff and is designed to maintain a permanent pool of water.
;RF
:Resource Farmers are farmer leaders whose specialist skills and experience which have been augmented through training funded by Blue Gold
;riverbank erosion
:the removal of materials in the river bank by water flowing in the river channel; also termed bank scour. In coastal polders, riverbank erosion - if unchecked - can result in breaches to polder embankments - where they are aligned close to rivers - and consequent loss of human and animal life as well as damage to farmland, crops, housing, and other infrastructure.
;RMG
:Ready Made Garments
;ROI
:Return on Investment
;RRI
:River Research Institute - a national public organisation under the Ministry of Water Resources, headquartered at Harukandi in Faridpur, with two technical directorates for hydraulic research and geotechnical research
;rural transformation
:A process of change in rural areas strengthening the local economies
;SAAO
;SAAOs
:Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;SAE
:Sub-Assistant Engineer (BWDB)
;saline intrusion
:The influx of sea water into an area that is not normally exposed to high salinity levels - for example, the inflow of seawater into a fresh water wetland or a fresh water aquifer.
;salinisation
:An increase in salt content within soils due to (a) 'primary salinity' in which natural processes cause fluctuations in soil salt content; or (b) 'secondary salinity' - which is of greater concern - where man-made or climate change affect natural soil salinity levels
;samity
;samities
:association or society
;SC
:South-Central hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 15,436 km2 including the Arial Khan river
;SDE
:Sub-Divisional Engineer (BWDB)
;SE
:Superintending Engineer (BWDB)
;secondary infrastructure
:Smaller channels connecting sub-catchments to main channels, sometimes with associated minor structures (e.g. small one vent sluice) which regulate flow between primary and secondary infrastructure. Secondary channels may also be called sakha-khal or branch-khals.
;sedimentation
:Sedimentation is the process by which fine particles of silt and clay suspended in river water settle out, for example when there is a drop in velocity.
;sediment transport
:sediment transport is the general term used for transport of silt, sand, gravel, boulders in rivers
;Seer
:unit of weight 0.93 kg, equal to 80 tola
;sharecropper
:a person who operates land owned by others under an agreed output and input sharing arrangement
;SIBDP 2100
:Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;siltation
:Typically undesirable increase in concentration and deposition of water-borne silt particles in a body of water.
;SIMT
:System Improvement and Management Transfer
;six step approach
:An approach in six steps to develop Water Management Groups developed by the previous IPSWAM project
;sluice
:A vertical gate to control the flow of water; also referred to as 'regulator'
;small farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 0.5 acres and 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1.0 ha)
;SO
:Section Officer (BWDB)
;SRP
:Systems Rehabilitation Project
;SSSFCDI
:Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project
;SSWMI
:Small-scale water management structure: an initiative to improve in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions in Blue Gold polders which was started in 2018. The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes, a pilot fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision from government or TA staff.
;SSWRDSP
:Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
;STW
:shallow tube wells
;sub-catchment
:Part of the catchment which is not directly connected to the regulator, and is hydrologically independent from other parts of the catchment.
;sustainable water resources management
:management actions required to address the changing demands on water resource systems both in the present and the long-term future so as to avoid system degradation
;SVC
:Strengthened Value Chain
;SW
:South-West hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 26,226 km2 including the Garai, Kumar and Bhairab-Kapatakhya rivers
;SWAIWRPMP
:Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project
;T Aman
:transplanted aman; a rice crop, with nurseries for seedlings started in June/July, for transplanting in July/August in areas liable to a maximum flood depth of about 50cm. Harvested in November/December. Local varieties are sensitive to daylength whereas modern varieties are insensitive or only slightly sensitive.
;T Aus
:transplanted aus; The distinction between a late-planted boro and early transplanted aus is academic since the same varieties may be used. Insensitive to daylength.
;T&C
:Training & Communications
;TA
:Technical Assistance
;tertiary infrastructure
:smaller channels connecting fields to secondary infrastructure, sometimes with associated small scale structures (gated pipe or box culverts) which regulate flow between secondary channels and tertiary channels. Tertiary channels may also be called sakha-khals or branch-khals.
;tidal flooding
:tidal flooding is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas during high tide events.
;tidal rivers
:river whose flow and level are influenced by tides
;TL
:Team Leader
;TNA
:Training Needs Assessment
;ToC
:Theory of Change, planning tool
;Tola
:unit of weight 11.7 g
;ToR
:Terms of Reference
;ToT
:Training of trainers
;TR
:Technical Report
;TSP
:Triple Supper Phosphate
;TTAP
:Technology Transfer for Agricultural Production (DAE)
;UAEO
:Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer (DAE)
;UAO
:Upazila Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;UMIC
:Upper Middle Income Country
;unified approach
:The Blue Gold approach which integrated the earlier 'four components' (ie social empowerment, water management infrastructure, agricultural technologies and farming-as-a-business) into a single work process
;Union
:Lowest tier of local government
;Union Parishad
:Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman
;UNO
:Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Upazila Executive Officer. Appointed head of the civil administration at Upazila level
;Unpaid care work (UCW) or Domestic work and care
:Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, and includes caring for children, elderly and sick people and domestic tasks as washing, cooking, shopping, cleaning and helping other families with their chores. Unpaid care work is reproductive work.
;UP
:Union Parishad
;Upazila Parishad chairman
:Elected official assigned as Chief Executive of the Upazila Parishad.
;Upazila
:Middle tier of local government, between Union and District
;Upazila Parishad
:Upazila Council, chaired by an elected Upazila Chairman. The civil administration at this level is headed by the UNO
;ustad
:An ustad is a village-level technological entrepeneur who runs a local business providing services and/or goods eg electrical, mechanical repairs; cast iron foundry etc)
;UZP
:Upazila Parishad
;value chain
:the set of activities that need to be performed in a specific production sector in order to deliver the end product to the consumer. Agricultural value chains typically include input supply, growing/production, processing and marketing/distribution.
;VC
:Value Chain
;VCA
:Value Chain Analysis
;VCD
:Value Chain Development
;VCS
:Value Chain Selection
;very lowland
:>300cm seasonal or perennial flooding, does not permit growing of B Aman in the monsoon season
;WAP
;WAPs
:Water Management Group Action Plan
;ward
:Union sub-unit. Each Union comprises of 9 wards. Union Parishad members are elected to represent their ward
;ward sobha
:Ward-level public meeting to consult the ward inhabitants in the planning process of the Union
;WARPO
:Water Resources Plan Organisation
;WASH
:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
;waterlogging
:Soil is regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted and anaerobic conditions prevail. In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser depth in the soil. Waterlogging of the soil stops air getting in. How near the water table must be to the surface for the ground to be classed as waterlogged, varies with the purpose in view. A crop's demand for freedom from waterlogging may vary between seasons of the year.
;water management
:human intervention in the capture, conveyance, utilisation and drainage of surface and/or ground water in a certain area: a process of social interaction between stakeholders around the issue of water control.
;Water Management Association
:In Blue Gold, the polder-level representative of WMGs, and signatory to an O&M Agreement with BWDB
;Water Management Cooperative Association
:The legal entity for a Water Management Organisation under registry by the Department of Cooperatives
;Water Management Federation
:The organization of local stakeholders at the apex level of the water resource project/sub-project/scheme
;water management for development
:The strapline of the Blue Gold Program for a transformative approach to smallholder agriculture which combines water infrastructure and locally-led initiatives for better water management, using modern agricultural technology and a business-orientation.
;Water Management Group
:The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.
;Water Management Group Action Plan
:A plan drafted by water management groups; initially as a formal requirement for registration; later on as a building block for a sluice catchment management plan
;Water Management Organizations
:The common name of organizations of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/sub-project/scheme. The concept WMO typically refers to WMGs and WMAs (and/or WMFs) together
;Water management partnership
:Regular cooperation between Water Management Organisations and partner organisations, such as Local Government Institutions, BWDB, DAE, community-based organisations and private sector organisations
;water management stakeholders
:Individuals (both men and women) whose livelihood is directly affected by a water management system, be it positively or negatively.
;water productivity
:the amount of output (such as crops) produced per unit water
;WB
:World Bank
;WBC
:Women’s Business Centre
;WEE
:Women’s Economic Empowerment
;WF
:WorldFish (CGIAR)
;WMA
;WMAs
:Water Management Association
;WMCA
:Water Management Cooperative Association
;WMF
:Water Management Federation
;WMG
;WMGs
:Water Management Group
;WMIP
:Water Management Improvement Project (WB-funded)
;WMKIP
:Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program - starting in December 2017 and led by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) with the aim of contributing to the long term development goals for the Southern Coastal Region as well as to objectives of the Blue Gold Program through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research. https://www.deltares.nl/en/news/developing-water-management-innovations-local-communities-bangladesh/
;WMO
;WMOs
:Water Management Organisation
;women's economic empowerment (WEE)
:Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Women's economic empowerment increases women's access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
;women's empowerment
:The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.
;women's physical empowerment
:The right of women to safety and security, to access to proper health care and reproductive health services, and the ability to resist violence. This also includes access to adequate nutrition and WASH facilities and the absence of physical overburdening.
;women's political empowerment
:The capacity of women to organize one self and others, to take part in society and its democratic processes, to make one's voice heard and have the opportunity to influence decision-making. This applies to all levels, from local level (such as WMOs) to national level.
;women's socio-cultural empowerment
:The capacity of women to have their own independent identity, a positive self-image and social status as an individual and as a group.
;WMPS
:Water Management Problem Score
;WRM
:Water Resource Management
;WUR
:Wageningen University and Research Centre
;XEN
:Executive Engineer (BWDB)
;ZSE
:Zonal Socio-Economist - a social scientist working in the technical assistance (TA) team responsible for supervising activities in a group of polders.

Glossary and acronyms

2021-12-19T06:24:11Z

Bigblue:

;access to markets
:Generally refers to how many and/or in which way people are able to buy or sell, and reach, a reliable supplier or buyer in a market
;ADG
:Additional Director General
;ADP
:Annual Development Plan
;AEO
:Agricultural Extension Officer
;AGEP
:Agricultural Growth and Employment Program
;ail
:a shallow earth bund on plot boundaries which allows the ponding of water for basin irrigation
;AIS
:Agricultural Information Systems
;aman
:a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;ARM
:Annual Review Mission, the broad objective of which was to secure and where possible further enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. ARM members were individuals who were appointed by, and reported directly to, EKN and BWDB/DAE
;arotdar
:service provider to bepari and paikers in wholesale markets. Facilitates the buying/selling process, and may provide negotiation assistance with purchases, storage space, selling space, short term and seasonal credit, and arrange truck transport of goods purchased by bepari to market
;aus
:a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;B Aman
:broadcast aman; a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;B Aus
:broadcast aus; a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;BADC
:Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
;bagda
:brackish-water shrimp species
;baor
:oxbow lake
;bari
:a homestead in which one or more households (chula) of the same kinship group share facilities within an enclosed or semi-enclosed compound
;BARI
:Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
;basok leaves
:basok leaves are the leaves of a medicinal shrub found along road roadside, often used as fencing of houses in our polders (especially in Satkhira and Khulna) that are dried and then sold to pharmaceutical companies for medicine preparation, in particular to prepare cough syrup.
;BAU
:Bangladesh Agricultural University
;BBS
:Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
;BCIC
:Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
;BDP
:Bangladesh Delta Plan
;BDS
:Business Development Services
;BDT
:Bangladesh Taka
;beel
:wetland inundated for at least one season per year, formed by the inundation of a low-lying natural depression
;beneficiary
:Any individual or group who, in one way or another is favourably influenced by the project.
;bepari
:key wholesaler in the supply chain, moves goods between markets by buying in source markets and selling in destination markets, and exerts the main influence on price earned by farmers.
;BGIF
:Blue Gold Innovation Fund
;BGP
:Blue Gold Program
;BHWDB
:Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board
;bigha
:area varies between localities - range 30-40 decimals (0.12-0.16 ha)
;BINA
:Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
;borgadar
:share-cropper
;boro
:A rice crop planted under irrigation during the dry season from December to March and harvested between April and June. Local boro varieties are more tolerant of cool temperatures and are usually planted in areas which are subject to early flooding. Improved varieties, less tolerant of cool conditions, are usually transplanted from February onwards. All varieties are insensitive to daylength.
;BRAC
:Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (an NGO)
;branch khal
:Secondary or tertiary drainage channel (in Bangla sakha khal)
;brinjal
:eggplant, aubergine
;bundh
:small earthen embankment or dam
;BWDB
:Bangladesh Water Development Board, government agency which is responsible for surface water and groundwater management in Bangladesh, and lead implementing agency for the Blue Gold Program
;BWFMS
:Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy
;cage fishing
:cage culture is an aquaculture production system in which the fish are held in floating net pens using existing water resources (riverss and ponds) with water passing freely between the fish and the surrounding water body for water circulation and waste removal into the surrounding water.
;catchment
:an idealised hydrologically independent drainage unit within a polder - comprising a network of inter-connected khals draining to a regulator from where water is discharged to a peripheral river. Because the land levels in a polder vary within a small range (typically up to a maximum of 1.5 m), water flows can be affected by downstream water conditions and eventually drain through more than one regulator at diffferent times of year. .
;catchment planning
:Identification and planning of both interventions and operations & maintenance within the catchment, resulting in an action plan for the catchment.
;CAWM
;Community-led Agricultural Water Management
:Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;CDF
;CDFs
;Community Development Facilitator
:Community Development Facilitator - a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, and provided the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;CDMP
:Comprehensive Disaster Management Program
;CDSP
:Char Development and Settlement Project
;CEGIS
:Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services
;CEIP
:Coastal Embankment Improvement Project
;CFWM
:Community-led Fisheries and Water Management
;CGIAR
:Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
;chal
:husked rice
;char
:accreted sediment in a river course or estuary, including both lateral (point-bars) and medial (braid-bars). Chars (or sand bars) emerge as islands within the river channel (island chars) or as attached land to the riverbanks (attached chars), create new opportunities for temporary settlements and agriculture.
;chula
:Literally a traditional cooking stove. Used here to identify a household - an independent economic family unit - which shares kitchen facilities and eats together
;CI
;cropping intensity
:Cropping intensity - The number of crop harvest per unit land per year. The average cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as the total area of all crops per year divided by the area of cultivable land. In its CI calculations BGP treats fish ghers as another crop; the DAE method excludes fish ghers in its CI calculations. Hence the CI calculated by BGP is higher than as calculated by DAE.
;CII
;Cropping Intensity Initiative
:Cropping Intensity Initiative: Year-long demonstrations with farmers on increasing cropping intensity related to improved water management, also involving market actors, and by organising demand driven sessions and workshops
;CIMMYT
:International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
;CLF
:Community-led Fisheries
;CO
;COs
:Community Organiser
;CA
;collective action
;collective actions
:Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce
;commercial agriculture
:agricultural production aimed at meeting market-demands. It is based on establishing a profitable farming unit and involves a multitude of business relations with other actors in the market system. Used in contrast to subsistence farming which focuses mostly on home consumption.
;CAHW
;Community Animal Health Workers
:Community Animal Health Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their animals
;CLW
;Community Livestock Workers
:Community Livestock Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their livestock
;community mobilization
:Community mobilization is a process that brings together different societal factions to undertake development activities. Within BGP this especially refers to organizing the community members into Water Management Groups
;control structure
:A permanent structure placed in a farm canal, ditch, or subsurface drainage conduit, which provides control of the discharge of surface and/or subsurface drainage by menas of flashboards, gates, valves, risers, or pipes.
;CPP-FAP-20
:Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20
;CPW
;Community Poultry Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their poultry
;CPWF
:Challenge Programme on Water and Food
;cross-dam
:Earthen embankment placed across a khal or river to prevent water flow.
;CSISA
:Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
;culvert
:A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow beneath a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
;CWM
:Chief of Water Management (BWDB)
;CYSs
:courtyard sessions
;DAE
:Department of Agricultural Extension, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for disseminating scientific research and new knowledge on agricultural practices through communication and learning activities for farmers in agriculture, agricultural marketing, nutrition and business studies.
;DAM
:Department of Agricultural Marketing
;DANIDA
:Danish International Development Agency
;decimal
:one hundredth of an acre (0.004 ha)
;DFID
:Department for International Development (UK government's development department); since September 2020, known as Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office - FCDO - after a merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office - FCO
;DG
:Director General
;dhan
:unhusked rice (paddy)
;dheki
:manually operated rice husking machine
;diversification of agriculture
:Movement of resources from (few) low value commodities to more higher value ones, increasing the total production value and reducing risks
;DLS
:Department of Livestock Services, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for the livestock industry in Bangladesh
;DoC
:Department of Cooperatives
;DoF
:Department of Fisheries, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for regulating the fisheries industry in Bangladesh
;DoE
:Department of Environment
;DP III
:Department of Planning III, one of three planning departments in BWDB headed by a Superintending Engineer which reports to the Chief Engineer (Civil) Planning to the Assistant Director General (Planning)
;DPP
;DPPs
;Development Project Proforma
:Development Project Proforma: a formal document which sets out the intention of a GoB organisation to invest in a development project, seeking approval for the investment and, if successful, a budget allocation. The DPP follows a prescribed format, including the project’s financial and physical scope, benefits, and proposals for monitoring and internal and external audits. The approval of a development project proposal follows a number of stages: formation with preliminary studies, formulation to develop greater detail and with additional information to make the economic case for the project, scrutiny by the executing agencies and concerned ministries, appraisal by the Planning Commission, recommendation for approval by Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), Minister/ECNEC approval, and inclusion of a budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
;drainage congestion
:the south-western coastal zone is characterised by broad tidal flats and fluvio-tidal plains, lying approximately 1 metre above sea level, with drainage provided by numerous tidal creeks and channels a some major rivers. Empolderisation now protects the intrusion of sea water to agricultural areas but restricts the deposition of sediments to within the channels, thus reducing the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels, causing drainage congestion.
;DRR
;Disaster Risk Reduction
:Disaster Risk Reduction - The Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) has been given the mandate to lead disaster preparedness, mitigation, emergency response and post disaster rehabilitation, by informing local people, empowering them to take practical measures to reduce risk at household and community levels and to disseminate success stories of reducing disaster risks widely among local people.
;DTL
:Deputy Team Leader
;DTW
:deep tube wells
;EC
:Executive Committee
;EC members
:Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules
;ECC
:Environmental Clearance Certificate
;economic growth
:Increase in the capacity of a country or an economic region to produce goods and services. It also refers to the increase in market value of the goods and services produced by an economy. It is usually calculated using inflation adjusted figures, in order to discount the effect of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced
;EDP
:Estuary Development Program
;EIA
;EIAs
:Environmental Impact Assessment
;EIP
:Early Implementation Project
;EKN
:Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the contractual representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and signatory to the agreement for the Blue Gold Program with the External Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance as the signatory for the Government of Bangladesh
;embankment
:Earthen dyke or bundh raised above surrounding ground level, for example so that roads or railway lines are above highest flood levels, or so that an area is empoldered to protect it from external floods and saline waters.
;EMM
:Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
;empolder
:to surround an area of low-lying land by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;empowerment
:empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.
;enabling environment
:an environment of policies, regulations, norms, institutions, and overall economic governance which allows market systems to function and perform well
;EO
:Earth Observation
;EOI
:Expression of Interest
;EPWAPDA
:East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority
;EWM
:Equitable Water Management
;fall boards
:boards temporarily placed in slots or grooves in the pier walls of regulators or sluices to prevent the flow of water during maintenance of the structure or gates.
;FAO
:Food and Agriculture Organization
;FAP
:Flood Action Plan
;fariahs
:small traders
;FCD
:Flood Control and Drainage
;FCDI
:Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
;feasibility study
;feasibility studies
:A feasibility study is an analysis that takes all of a project's relevant factors into account—including economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations—to ascertain the likelihood of completing the project successfully.
;feminization of agriculture
:Feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector. This can be due to men taking up non-farm employment locally, male out-migration from rural areas to urban areas or abroad, poverty (need for women to raise income), and/or women's empowerment (women taking own initiatives to engage in agricultural production). The increase in agricultural productivity requiring more labour input (be it family or wage labour) can also contribute to a larger role of women in agriculture.
;FFD
;Farmer Field Day
;Farmer Field Days
:Farmer Field Day - Exchange events organized at the end of each Farmer Field School to share the FFS learnings with other community members
;FFS
;FFSs
;Farmer Field School
;Farmer Field Schools
:Farmer Field School - A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.
;FGD
;FGDs
:Focus Group Discussions - in which a group of participants from similar backgrounds or experiences gather to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a group facilitator who introduces the topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves
;flap gate
:Hinged gate on the river-side of a regulator vent which automatically closes when water rises above the country-side water level.
;flushing
:The practice of admitting (fresh or saline) water for irrigation (or shrimp production) through regulators or inlets.
;FO
;FOs
:FFS Organiser in the technical assistance (TA) team
;FRERMIP
:Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program - A program financed by ADB and EKN with consultancy services provided by Northwest Hydraulic Consutants and Mott MacDonald, which provided structural and non-structural flood and riverbank erosion risk management measures in three high priority subproject areas, with the aim in subsequent projects of extending the protected reaches using designs adjusted to current riverbank erosion conditions and considering the possibilities of reclaiming lost floodplain land.
;FT
;FTs
;Farmer Trainer
;Farmer Trainers
:Farmer Trainer - Well-performing and capable farmers, previously trained in Farmer Field Schools, who became FFS facilitator themselves after ToT training
;FY
:Financial Year
;GAP
:Gender Action Plan
;GDP
:gross domestic product
;GED
:General Economics Division, one of six divisions in the Planning Commission, with responsibility for the preparation of mid- and long-term plans; M&E of plans; and the determination of macroeconomic scenarios

;gender
:Refers to socially constructed and therefore learned roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and women, girls and boys based on their sex. Gender is not the same as sex, the physical and biological attributes that make someone female, male or both. Gender comprises the expectations, roles, attitudes and behaviours of women and men. Gender roles change over time and vary within and between cultures, societies and classes.
;gender blindness
:Gender-blindness refers to the failure to identify or acknowledge differences on the basis of gender where it is significant. Projects, programs, policies and attitudes which are gender blind do not take into account the different roles and needs of men and women. They maintain or reinforce the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations.
;gender equality
:Gender equality exists when men and women, boys and girls are attributed equal social value, equal rights and equal responsibilities; and men and women have equal access to the means (resources, opportunities) to exercise those rights and responsibilities. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but rather that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether someone is born male or female.
;gender equity
:Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings.
;gender indicators
:Gender indicators are performance indicators that help assess or measure the effects of a policy, programme or project on changes in gender relations and the status of men and women, and hence the extent of advancement of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. Gender indicators can be quantitative and qualitative.
;gender issues
:Any issue where relations, differences, connections and/or inequalities between men and women have either a positive or negative effect or influence
;gender mainstreaming
:This is the process of systematically recognizing and taking into account gender issues (such as differences between the conditions, roles and needs of women and men) within core activities of projects and programmes and covering design, implementation and M&E. Gender mainstreaming also takes into account the likely implications for men and women of planned interventions.
;gender relations
:Gender relations are the specific sub-set of social relations uniting men and women as social groups in a particular community, including how power and access to and control over resources are distributed between the sexes. Gender relations intersect with all other influences on social relations - age, ethnicity, race, religion - to determine the position and identity of people in a social group. Since gender relations are a social construct, they can be transformed over time to become more equitable.
;gender-sensitive approach
:Refers to recognizing and taking into account gender issues, aiming to promote gender equality
;GESAP
:Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (of BWDB)
;gher
;ghers
:An area enclosed by low embankments to store either freshwater or brackish water for the production of fish, shrimps or prawns.
;GIS
:Geographic Information Systems
;GLD
:Gender and Leadership Development (training)
;GoB
:Government of Bangladesh; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;golda
:freshwater prawn species
;GoN
:Government of the Netherlands; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;GPWM
:Guidelines for Participatory Water Management
;gusthi
:kinship group which traces its origins to a common male ancestor - an important element of social identity in a village
;ha
:hectare
;hajol
;hajols
:A hajol is an unfired earthenware nesting vessel for egg hatching, with small receptacles for water and seed to provide the immediate needs. The hajol saves the hen effort and time for searching food, thus ensuring proper hatching in less time, thereby reducing egg waste.
;hat
:small rural market, held weekly or bi-weekly
;HBB
:herringbone bond - a brickwork pattern used as the wearing course for rural roads with a low traffic volume
;HH
;HHs
:Household
;highland
:0-30 cm: intermittent flooding, land suited to HYV T Aman in monsoon season
;HL
:Horizontal Learning
;Horizontal Learning
:Learning from peers; and in the context of Blue Gold, farmer-to-farmer learning in which a host WMG invites representatives from visiting WMGs to witness an event - such as the harvesting of a new variety of rice - to pass on the knowledge and lessons gained from their experience
;HR
:Human Resources
;HVC
:high value crop(s)
;HYV
;High Yielding Variety
:High Yielding Variety - Introduced varieties developed through formal breeding programs. HYVs have a higher yield potential than local varieties but require correspondingly high inputs of fertiliser and irrigation to achieve high yields.
;IBRD
:International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
;ICM
:Integrated Crop Management
;ICRD
:Integrated Coastal Resources Database
;ICT
:Information Communication Technology
;ICZM
:Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Programme Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (PDO-ICZM)
;IF
:Innovation Fund
;IFI
:International Financing Institution eg World Bank, Asian Development Bank
;IFMC
:Integrated Farm Management Component (DANIDA-funded program)
;IGA
:Income Generating Activity
;IMIP
:Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)
;IMRC
:Inter-Ministerial Review Committee

;inclusiveness
:The inclusion of the (interests of) different types of people and treating them fairly and equally, considering their different roles and interests in water management
;INGO
:International NGO
;inlet
:Structure designed to only admit (fresh or saline) water across an embankment.

;intensification of agriculture
:Increasing agricultural production per unit of inputs, such as per unit of land
;interventions
:A defined set of temporary activities through which facilitators seek to effect change
;IOB
:The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) is the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which researches and prepares reports on the outcomes of Dutch foreign policy for reasons of accountability and so that the findings can be used in adjusting future policymaking
;IP
:Input Providers
;IPM
:Integrated Pest Management
;IPSWAM
:Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management
;IPSWARM
:(Guidelines for) Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Resources Management
;IPWM
;in-polder water management
:In-polder water management; term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for evacuation through the sluice/regulator
;IRRI
:International Rice Research Institute
;ISPM
:Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
;IWM
:Institute of Water Modelling
;IWMI
:International Water Management Institute
;IWRM
;Integrated Water Resources Management
:Integrated Water Resources Management - Internationally-accepted approach for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of water resources especially applicable where there are multiple stakeholder interests with conflicting demands.
;JBIC
:Japanese Bank for International Cooperation
;katcha
:impermanent, unofficial; an unimproved version, eg earthen road, earth-walled house
;keshari
:Local pulse crop
;khal
:drainage channel or canal
;kharif
:The wet season - typically mid-March to mid-October - characterised by rain and high temperatures
;kharif-1
:The first part of the kharif season (mid-March to mid-June). Rainfall is variable and temperatures are high. The main crops are aus, summer vegetables and pulses. Broadcast aman and jute are planted.
;kharif-2
:The second part of the kharif season (mid-June to mid-October) characterised by heavy rain and floods. T Aman is the major crop grown in this season. Jute is harvested.
;khas
:Land owned by the state, including recently accreted land
;KJDRP
:Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project
;KSS
:Krishi Samabay Samity - farmer cooperative
;kup
:Protected dug well
;landless
:assumed in this report to operate up to 0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
;Landless Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. Term including 'landless' is generally used by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) whereas BWDB's PWMR 2014 uses 'Labour' Contracting Societies.
;large farmer
:assumed in this report to operate more than 5.5 acres (2.23 ha)
;LCG
:Local Consultative Group
;LCS
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LCS
;Labour Contracting Societies
:Labour Contracting Societies - Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LG
:Local Government
;LGED
:Local Government Engineering Department
;LGI
;LGIs
:Local Government Institutions - Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad etc
;lift gate
:vertical gate typically raised and lowered by operating a handwheel up and down a vertical screw, with the gate kept in position by means of steel channels set in the walls of a regulator.
;livelihood
;livelihoods
:A livelihood is a way of making a living. It comprises capabilities, skills, assets (including material and social resources), and activities that households put together to produce food, meet basic needs, earn income, or establish a means of living in any other way.
;livelihood strategies
:The strategies that people employ in order to utilize and transfer assets to produce income today and deal with problems tomorrow. These strategies change and adapt in response to various shocks, external influences, institutional norms and rules, and other factors.
;local varieties
:Varieties developed by farmers, sometimes referred to as local improved varieties (LIVs)
;lowland
:Prone to seasonal (<9 months) or perennial flooding (>9 months), land on which B aman can be grown in the monsoon season. Flood depth 180-300 cm or more
;LRP
:Land Reclamation Project
;LV
:low value crop(s)
;M/F
:Male / Female
;M&E
:Monitoring and Evaluation
;maintenance
:actions taken to prevent or repair the deterioration of water management infrastructure and to keep the physical components of a water management system in such a state that they can serve their intended function.
;market
:Any formal or informal structure (not necessarily a physical place) in which buyers and sellers exchange goods, labour, or services for cash or other goods. The word 'market' can simply mean the place in which goods or services are exchanged. Essentially, markets are defined by forces of supply and demand, rather than geographical location
;market linkages
:Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.
;market orientation
:Within BGP this refers to enhancing insights of especially FFS participants in how markets work, how to collect market information, facilitating linkages with market actors and increasing negotiation capacities
;maund
:unit of weight 37.3 kg, equal to 40 seer
;medium farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 2.5 acres and 5.5 acres (1.0 to 2.23 ha)
;medium highland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to local varieties of aus and T aman in the monsoon season. Flood depth: 30-90 cm
;medium lowland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to B Aman in monsoon season. Flood depth: 90-180 cm
;MFI
;MFIs
:Micro Finance Institute
;MFS
;Market-oriented Farmer Field School
:Market-oriented Farmer Field School - Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.
;MIS
:Management Information System
;MLGRDC
:Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
;MoA
:Ministry of Agriculture
;mohajon
:village money lender
;MoU
;MoUs
:Memorandum of Understanding
;mouza
:an administrative unit chiefly used for cadastral land registration

;MoWR
:Ministry of Water Resources
;mPower
:mPower is the social enterprise which is dedicated to information technology solutions and strategies that maximize impact on people’s lives.
;MRL
:Monitoring, Reflection & Learning
;MT
:metric ton (tonne)
;MTR
:Mid – Term Review Mission
;NAEP
:New Agriculture Extension Policy
;natok
:popular theatre, a living tradition especially in rural areas of Bangladesh, and a powerful and accepted instrument which can be used to raise discussion on sensitive issues
;NEC
:National Economic Council
;NGO
:Non-Governmental Organisation
;NSB
:National Seed Board
;NWMP
:National Water Management Plan
;NWPo
:National Water Policy
;NWRC
:National Water Resources Commission
;NWRD
:National Water Resources Database
;O&M
:Operation and Maintenance
;O&M Sub-Committee
:A sub-committee of a Water Management Association (WMA) responsible for the planning operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in a specific catchment.
;OCWM
:Office of the Chief of Water Management (in BWDB) responsible for the 'establishment of water user organizations, their training and participation, in project planning, implementation, operation and maintenance and cost recovery'

;ODK
:Open Data Kit
;OFRD
:On‐Farm Research Division
;OMPI
:O&M Performance Improvement
;OMS
:Open Market Sale
;operation
:the adjustment of gates in water management infrastructure to control hydraulic conditions (water levels and discharges) in a water management system.
;outlet structure
:gated structure (typically with only a flap gate on the river-side) designed to drain water through the polder embankment to an external tidal river channel
;owner-operator
:a person who farms or otherwise operates his own land
;paiker
:buys produce directly from individual farmers and sells bulk produce to arotdar or to destination market. Exerts a main influence on price earned by farmers.
;participation
:A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.
;PWM
;participatory water management
;Participatory Water Management
:A process by which the local stakeholders are directly and actively involved in identification, planning, design, implementation, operation & maintenance and evaluation of a water management project.
;PBDP 2100
:Preparation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;PCD
:Program Coordinating Director
;PD
:Project Director
;PDP
:Polder Development Plan - presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB Development Project Proforma (DPP). PDPs for all 22 polders are available through the File Library.
;peripheral rivers
:In the coastal zone, the river or rivers surrounding a polder which carry the outflow from the regulators or sluices to the sea
;PF
;PFs
:Producer Group Facilitator
;plot
:contiguous area of land operated as a single unit by a farmer - average area of 27 decimals (0.11 ha), with a normal range between 10 and 70 decimals (0.04 to 0.28 ha)
;PM
:Participatory Monitoring
;PM
:Progress Marker
;PMC
:Project Management Committee
;polder
:An area of low-lying land surrounded by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;Polder Development Plan
:A plan which presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB DPP.
;PPP
:Public Private Partnership
;primary infrastructure
:The main channels or khals within a polder through which excess rain or flood water is discharged to an external tidal river channel and thence to the sea via a regulator, sluice or outlet in the polder embankment.
;productive work
:Labour that results in goods or services that have monetary value in the capitalist system and are thus compensated by the producers in the form of a paid wage, or otherwise results into (monetary) income. Productive work includes subsistence agriculture and homestead production.
;PS
:Private Sector
;PSC
:Program Steering Committee
;PSD
:Private Sector Development
;PSSWRSP
:Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project
;PSTU
:Patuakhali Science and Technology University
;pucca
:permanent, official, an improved version: brick-paved road as opposed to an earthen road; brick-built house as opposed to earth-walled house
;PWMR
:Participatory Water Management Rules (2014)
;rabi
:The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.
;RAC
:Regional Accounts Committee (BWDB) is inter alia responsible for the administration of payments for construction contracts
;RDPP
:Revised Development Project Proforma
;regulator
:the principal function of a regulator or drainage sluice is to allow the drainage of water from the polder into a peripheral river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry from the river channel into the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season), thus allowing freshwater to be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.
;reproductive work
:Labour that is associated with the private sphere and involves anything that people have to do for themselves that is not for the purposes of receiving a wage or producing goods. It includes cleaning and repairs, cooking, care, and fetching water and fuel. Reproductive work is also referred to as unpaid care work (UCW) or domestic work and care.
;RF
;Resource Farmers
:Resource Farmers (RF) are members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs). They are selected from the FFS groups to lead other members in organizing different useful collective actions and to maintain networks on behalf of the members. These RFs are given additional capacity building training to enhance their knowlege on simple record keeping and business skills.
;responsible development
:In BGP's context this refers to inclusive and sustainable development as transversal elements within BGP's approach, with inclusiveness meaning that also women and poor household benefit from BGP
;retention structure
:a structure that provides for the storage of runoff and is designed to maintain a permanent pool of water.
;riverbank erosion
:the removal of materials in the river bank by water flowing in the river channel; also termed bank scour. In coastal polders, riverbank erosion - if unchecked - can result in breaches to polder embankments - where they are aligned close to rivers - and consequent loss of human and animal life as well as damage to farmland, crops, housing, and other infrastructure.
;RMG
:Ready Made Garments
;ROI
:Return on Investment
;RRI
:River Research Institute - a national public organisation under the Ministry of Water Resources, headquartered at Harukandi in Faridpur, with two technical directorates for hydraulic research and geotechnical research
;rural transformation
:A process of change in rural areas strengthening the local economies
;SAAO
;SAAOs
:Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;SAE
:Sub-Assistant Engineer (BWDB)
;saline intrusion
:The influx of sea water into an area that is not normally exposed to high salinity levels - for example, the inflow of seawater into a fresh water wetland or a fresh water aquifer.
;salinisation
:An increase in salt content within soils due to (a) 'primary salinity' in which natural processes cause fluctuations in soil salt content; or (b) 'secondary salinity' - which is of greater concern - where man-made or climate change affect natural soil salinity levels
;samity
;samities
:association or society
;SC
:South-Central hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 15,436 km2 including the Arial Khan river
;SDE
:Sub-Divisional Engineer (BWDB)
;SE
:Superintending Engineer (BWDB)
;secondary infrastructure
:Smaller channels connecting sub-catchments to main channels, sometimes with associated minor structures (e.g. small one vent sluice) which regulate flow between primary and secondary infrastructure. Secondary channels may also be called sakha-khal or branch-khals.
;sedimentation
:Sedimentation is the process by which fine particles of silt and clay suspended in river water settle out, for example when there is a drop in velocity.
;sediment transport
:sediment transport is the general term used for transport of silt, sand, gravel, boulders in rivers
;Seer
:unit of weight 0.93 kg, equal to 80 tola
;sharecropper
:a person who operates land owned by others under an agreed output and input sharing arrangement
;SIBDP 2100
:Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;siltation
:Typically undesirable increase in concentration and deposition of water-borne silt particles in a body of water.
;SIMT
:System Improvement and Management Transfer
;six step approach
:An approach in six steps to develop Water Management Groups developed by the previous IPSWAM project
;sluice
:A vertical gate to control the flow of water; also referred to as 'regulator'
;small farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 0.5 acres and 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1.0 ha)
;SO
:Section Officer (BWDB)
;SRP
:Systems Rehabilitation Project
;SSSFCDI
:Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project
;SSWMI
:Small-scale water management structure: an initiative to improve in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions in Blue Gold polders which was started in 2018. The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes, a pilot fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision from government or TA staff.
;SSWRDSP
:Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
;STW
:shallow tube wells
;sub-catchment
:Part of the catchment which is not directly connected to the regulator, and is hydrologically independent from other parts of the catchment.
;sustainable water resources management
:management actions required to address the changing demands on water resource systems both in the present and the long-term future so as to avoid system degradation
;SVC
:Strengthened Value Chain
;SW
:South-West hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 26,226 km2 including the Garai, Kumar and Bhairab-Kapatakhya rivers
;SWAIWRPMP
:Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project
;T Aman
:transplanted aman; a rice crop, with nurseries for seedlings started in June/July, for transplanting in July/August in areas liable to a maximum flood depth of about 50cm. Harvested in November/December. Local varieties are sensitive to daylength whereas modern varieties are insensitive or only slightly sensitive.
;T Aus
:transplanted aus; The distinction between a late-planted boro and early transplanted aus is academic since the same varieties may be used. Insensitive to daylength.
;T&C
:Training & Communications
;TA
:Technical Assistance
;tertiary infrastructure
:smaller channels connecting fields to secondary infrastructure, sometimes with associated small scale structures (gated pipe or box culverts) which regulate flow between secondary channels and tertiary channels. Tertiary channels may also be called sakha-khals or branch-khals.
;tidal flooding
:tidal flooding is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas during high tide events.
;tidal rivers
:river whose flow and level are influenced by tides
;TL
:Team Leader
;TNA
:Training Needs Assessment
;ToC
:Theory of Change, planning tool
;Tola
:unit of weight 11.7 g
;ToR
:Terms of Reference
;ToT
:Training of trainers
;TR
:Technical Report
;TSP
:Triple Supper Phosphate
;TTAP
:Technology Transfer for Agricultural Production (DAE)
;UAEO
:Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer (DAE)
;UAO
:Upazila Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;UMIC
:Upper Middle Income Country
;unified approach
:The Blue Gold approach which integrated the earlier 'four components' (ie social empowerment, water management infrastructure, agricultural technologies and farming-as-a-business) into a single work process
;Union
:Lowest tier of local government
;UP
;Union Parishad
:Union Parishad - Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman
;UNO
:Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Upazila Executive Officer. Appointed head of the civil administration at Upazila level
;Unpaid care work (UCW) or Domestic work and care
:Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, and includes caring for children, elderly and sick people and domestic tasks as washing, cooking, shopping, cleaning and helping other families with their chores. Unpaid care work is reproductive work.
;Upazila Parishad chairman
:Elected official assigned as Chief Executive of the Upazila Parishad.
;Upazila
:Middle tier of local government, between Union and District
;UZP
;Upazila Parishad
:Upazila Parishad - Upazila Council, chaired by an elected Upazila Chairman. The civil administration at this level is headed by the UNO
;ustad
:An ustad is a village-level technological entrepeneur who runs a local business providing services and/or goods eg electrical, mechanical repairs; cast iron foundry etc)
;value chain
:the set of activities that need to be performed in a specific production sector in order to deliver the end product to the consumer. Agricultural value chains typically include input supply, growing/production, processing and marketing/distribution.
;VC
:Value Chain
;VCA
:Value Chain Analysis
;VCD
:Value Chain Development
;VCS
:Value Chain Selection
;very lowland
:>300cm seasonal or perennial flooding, does not permit growing of B Aman in the monsoon season
;ward
:Union sub-unit. Each Union comprises of 9 wards. Union Parishad members are elected to represent their ward
;ward sobha
:Ward-level public meeting to consult the ward inhabitants in the planning process of the Union
;WARPO
:Water Resources Plan Organisation
;WASH
:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
;waterlogging
:Soil is regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted and anaerobic conditions prevail. In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser depth in the soil. Waterlogging of the soil stops air getting in. How near the water table must be to the surface for the ground to be classed as waterlogged, varies with the purpose in view. A crop's demand for freedom from waterlogging may vary between seasons of the year.
;water management
:human intervention in the capture, conveyance, utilisation and drainage of surface and/or ground water in a certain area: a process of social interaction between stakeholders around the issue of water control.
;WMA
;WMAs
;Water Management Association
:Water Management Association - In Blue Gold, the polder-level representative of WMGs, and signatory to an O&M Agreement with BWDB
;Water Management Cooperative Association
:The legal entity for a Water Management Organisation under registry by the Department of Cooperatives
;WMF
;Water Management Federation
:Water Management Federation - The organization of local stakeholders at the apex level of the water resource project/sub-project/scheme
;water management for development
:The strapline of the Blue Gold Program for a transformative approach to smallholder agriculture which combines water infrastructure and locally-led initiatives for better water management, using modern agricultural technology and a business-orientation.
;WMG
;WMGs
;Water Management Group
:Water Management Group - The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.
;WAP
;WAPs
;Water Management Group Action Plan
:Water Management Group Action Plan - A plan drafted by water management groups; initially as a formal requirement for registration; later on as a building block for a sluice catchment management plan
;WMO
;WMOs
;Water Management Organizations
:Water Management Organizations - The common name of organizations of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/sub-project/scheme. The concept WMO typically refers to WMGs and WMAs (and/or WMFs) together
;Water management partnership
:Regular cooperation between Water Management Organisations and partner organisations, such as Local Government Institutions, BWDB, DAE, community-based organisations and private sector organisations
;water management stakeholders
:Individuals (both men and women) whose livelihood is directly affected by a water management system, be it positively or negatively.
;water productivity
:the amount of output (such as crops) produced per unit water
;WB
:World Bank
;WBC
:Women’s Business Centre
;WF
:WorldFish (CGIAR)
;WMCA
:Water Management Cooperative Association
;WMIP
:Water Management Improvement Project (WB-funded)
;WMKIP
:Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program - starting in December 2017 and led by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) with the aim of contributing to the long term development goals for the Southern Coastal Region as well as to objectives of the Blue Gold Program through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research. https://www.deltares.nl/en/news/developing-water-management-innovations-local-communities-bangladesh/
;WEE
;women's economic empowerment
:Women’s Economic Empowerment - Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Women's economic empowerment increases women's access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
;women's empowerment
:The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.
;women's physical empowerment
:The right of women to safety and security, to access to proper health care and reproductive health services, and the ability to resist violence. This also includes access to adequate nutrition and WASH facilities and the absence of physical overburdening.
;women's political empowerment
:The capacity of women to organize one self and others, to take part in society and its democratic processes, to make one's voice heard and have the opportunity to influence decision-making. This applies to all levels, from local level (such as WMOs) to national level.
;women's socio-cultural empowerment
:The capacity of women to have their own independent identity, a positive self-image and social status as an individual and as a group.
;WMPS
:Water Management Problem Score
;WRM
:Water Resource Management
;WUR
:Wageningen University and Research Centre
;XEN
:Executive Engineer (BWDB)
;ZSE
:Zonal Socio-Economist - a social scientist working in the technical assistance (TA) team responsible for supervising activities in a group of polders.

Glossary and acronyms

2021-12-19T06:08:06Z

Bigblue:

;access to markets
:Generally refers to how many and/or in which way people are able to buy or sell, and reach, a reliable supplier or buyer in a market
;ADG
:Additional Director General
;ADP
:Annual Development Plan
;AEO
:Agricultural Extension Officer
;AGEP
:Agricultural Growth and Employment Program
;ail
:a shallow earth bund on plot boundaries which allows the ponding of water for basin irrigation
;AIS
:Agricultural Information Systems
;aman
:a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;ARM
:Annual Review Mission, the broad objective of which was to secure and where possible further enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. ARM members were individuals who were appointed by, and reported directly to, EKN and BWDB/DAE
;arotdar
:service provider to bepari and paikers in wholesale markets. Facilitates the buying/selling process, and may provide negotiation assistance with purchases, storage space, selling space, short term and seasonal credit, and arrange truck transport of goods purchased by bepari to market
;aus
:a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;B Aman
:broadcast aman; a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;B Aus
:broadcast aus; a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;BADC
:Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
;bagda
:brackish-water shrimp species
;baor
:oxbow lake
;bari
:a homestead in which one or more households (chula) of the same kinship group share facilities within an enclosed or semi-enclosed compound
;BARI
:Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
;basok leaves
:basok leaves are the leaves of a medicinal shrub found along road roadside, often used as fencing of houses in our polders (especially in Satkhira and Khulna) that are dried and then sold to pharmaceutical companies for medicine preparation, in particular to prepare cough syrup.
;BAU
:Bangladesh Agricultural University
;BBS
:Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
;BCIC
:Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
;BDP
:Bangladesh Delta Plan
;BDS
:Business Development Services
;BDT
:Bangladesh Taka
;beel
:wetland inundated for at least one season per year, formed by the inundation of a low-lying natural depression
;beneficiary
:Any individual or group who, in one way or another is favourably influenced by the project.
;bepari
:key wholesaler in the supply chain, moves goods between markets by buying in source markets and selling in destination markets, and exerts the main influence on price earned by farmers.
;BGIF
:Blue Gold Innovation Fund
;BGP
:Blue Gold Program
;BHWDB
:Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board
;bigha
:area varies between localities - range 30-40 decimals (0.12-0.16 ha)
;BINA
:Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
;borgadar
:share-cropper
;boro
:A rice crop planted under irrigation during the dry season from December to March and harvested between April and June. Local boro varieties are more tolerant of cool temperatures and are usually planted in areas which are subject to early flooding. Improved varieties, less tolerant of cool conditions, are usually transplanted from February onwards. All varieties are insensitive to daylength.
;BRAC
:Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (an NGO)
;branch khal
:Secondary or tertiary drainage channel (in Bangla sakha khal)
;brinjal
:eggplant, aubergine
;bundh
:small earthen embankment or dam
;BWDB
:Bangladesh Water Development Board, government agency which is responsible for surface water and groundwater management in Bangladesh, and lead implementing agency for the Blue Gold Program
;BWFMS
:Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy
;cage fishing
:cage culture is an aquaculture production system in which the fish are held in floating net pens using existing water resources (riverss and ponds) with water passing freely between the fish and the surrounding water body for water circulation and waste removal into the surrounding water.
;catchment
:an idealised hydrologically independent drainage unit within a polder - comprising a network of inter-connected khals draining to a regulator from where water is discharged to a peripheral river. Because the land levels in a polder vary within a small range (typically up to a maximum of 1.5 m), water flows can be affected by downstream water conditions and eventually drain through more than one regulator at diffferent times of year. .
;catchment planning
:Identification and planning of both interventions and operations & maintenance within the catchment, resulting in an action plan for the catchment.
;CAWM
;Community-led Agricultural Water Management
:Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;CDF
;CDFs
;Community Development Facilitator
:Community Development Facilitator - a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, and provided the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;CDMP
:Comprehensive Disaster Management Program
;CDSP
:Char Development and Settlement Project
;CEGIS
:Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services
;CEIP
:Coastal Embankment Improvement Project
;CFWM
:Community-led Fisheries and Water Management
;CGIAR
:Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
;chal
:husked rice
;char
:accreted sediment in a river course or estuary, including both lateral (point-bars) and medial (braid-bars). Chars (or sand bars) emerge as islands within the river channel (island chars) or as attached land to the riverbanks (attached chars), create new opportunities for temporary settlements and agriculture.
;chula
:Literally a traditional cooking stove. Used here to identify a household - an independent economic family unit - which shares kitchen facilities and eats together
;CI
;cropping intensity
:Cropping intensity - The number of crop harvest per unit land per year. The average cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as the total area of all crops per year divided by the area of cultivable land. In its CI calculations BGP treats fish ghers as another crop; the DAE method excludes fish ghers in its CI calculations. Hence the CI calculated by BGP is higher than as calculated by DAE.
;CII
;Cropping Intensity Initiative
:Cropping Intensity Initiative: Year-long demonstrations with farmers on increasing cropping intensity related to improved water management, also involving market actors, and by organising demand driven sessions and workshops
;CIMMYT
:International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
;CLF
:Community-led Fisheries
;CO
;COs
:Community Organiser
;CA
;collective action
;collective actions
:Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce
;commercial agriculture
:agricultural production aimed at meeting market-demands. It is based on establishing a profitable farming unit and involves a multitude of business relations with other actors in the market system. Used in contrast to subsistence farming which focuses mostly on home consumption.
;CAHW
;Community Animal Health Workers
:Community Animal Health Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their animals
;CLW
;Community Livestock Workers
:Community Livestock Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their livestock
;community mobilization
:Community mobilization is a process that brings together different societal factions to undertake development activities. Within BGP this especially refers to organizing the community members into Water Management Groups
;control structure
:A permanent structure placed in a farm canal, ditch, or subsurface drainage conduit, which provides control of the discharge of surface and/or subsurface drainage by menas of flashboards, gates, valves, risers, or pipes.
;CPP-FAP-20
:Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20
;CPW
;Community Poultry Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their poultry
;CPWF
:Challenge Programme on Water and Food
;cross-dam
:Earthen embankment placed across a khal or river to prevent water flow.
;CSISA
:Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
;culvert
:A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow beneath a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
;CWM
:Chief of Water Management (BWDB)
;CYSs
:courtyard sessions
;DAE
:Department of Agricultural Extension, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for disseminating scientific research and new knowledge on agricultural practices through communication and learning activities for farmers in agriculture, agricultural marketing, nutrition and business studies.
;DAM
:Department of Agricultural Marketing
;DANIDA
:Danish International Development Agency
;decimal
:one hundredth of an acre (0.004 ha)
;DFID
:Department for International Development (UK government's development department); since September 2020, known as Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office - FCDO - after a merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office - FCO
;DG
:Director General
;dhan
:unhusked rice (paddy)
;dheki
:manually operated rice husking machine
;Disaster Risk Reduction
:The Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) has been given the mandate to lead disaster preparedness, mitigation, emergency response and post disaster rehabilitation, by informing local people, empowering them to take practical measures to reduce risk at household and community levels and to disseminate success stories of reducing disaster risks widely among local people.
;diversification of agriculture
:Movement of resources from (few) low value commodities to more higher value ones, increasing the total production value and reducing risks
;DLS
:Department of Livestock Services, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for the livestock industry in Bangladesh
;DoC
:Department of Cooperatives
;DoF
:Department of Fisheries, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for regulating the fisheries industry in Bangladesh
;DoE
:Department of Environment
;DP III
:Department of Planning III, one of three planning departments in BWDB headed by a Superintending Engineer which reports to the Chief Engineer (Civil) Planning to the Assistant Director General (Planning)
;DPP
;DPPs
;Development Project Proforma
:Development Project Proforma: a formal document which sets out the intention of a GoB organisation to invest in a development project, seeking approval for the investment and, if successful, a budget allocation. The DPP follows a prescribed format, including the project’s financial and physical scope, benefits, and proposals for monitoring and internal and external audits. The approval of a development project proposal follows a number of stages: formation with preliminary studies, formulation to develop greater detail and with additional information to make the economic case for the project, scrutiny by the executing agencies and concerned ministries, appraisal by the Planning Commission, recommendation for approval by Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), Minister/ECNEC approval, and inclusion of a budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
;drainage congestion
:the south-western coastal zone is characterised by broad tidal flats and fluvio-tidal plains, lying approximately 1 metre above sea level, with drainage provided by numerous tidal creeks and channels a some major rivers. Empolderisation now protects the intrusion of sea water to agricultural areas but restricts the deposition of sediments to within the channels, thus reducing the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels, causing drainage congestion.
;DRR
:Disaster Risk Reduction
;DTL
:Deputy Team Leader
;DTW
:deep tube wells
;EC
:Executive Committee
;EC members
:Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules
;ECC
:Environmental Clearance Certificate
;economic growth
:Increase in the capacity of a country or an economic region to produce goods and services. It also refers to the increase in market value of the goods and services produced by an economy. It is usually calculated using inflation adjusted figures, in order to discount the effect of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced
;EDP
:Estuary Development Program
;EIA
;EIAs
:Environmental Impact Assessment
;EIP
:Early Implementation Project
;EKN
:Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the contractual representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and signatory to the agreement for the Blue Gold Program with the External Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance as the signatory for the Government of Bangladesh
;embankment
:Earthen dyke or bundh raised above surrounding ground level, for example so that roads or railway lines are above highest flood levels, or so that an area is empoldered to protect it from external floods and saline waters.
;EMM
:Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
;empolder
:to surround an area of low-lying land by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;empowerment
:empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.
;enabling environment
:an environment of policies, regulations, norms, institutions, and overall economic governance which allows market systems to function and perform well
;EO
:Earth Observation
;EOI
:Expression of Interest
;EPWAPDA
:East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority
;EWM
:Equitable Water Management
;fall boards
:boards temporarily placed in slots or grooves in the pier walls of regulators or sluices to prevent the flow of water during maintenance of the structure or gates.
;FAO
:Food and Agriculture Organization
;FAP
:Flood Action Plan
;fariahs
:small traders
;Farmer Field Day
;Farmer Field Days
:Exchange events organized at the end of each Farmer Field School to share the FFS learnings with other community members
;Farmer Field School
;Farmer Field Schools
:A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.
;Farmer Trainer
;Farmer Trainers
:Well-performing and capable farmers, previously trained in Farmer Field Schools, who became FFS facilitator themselves after ToT training
;FCD
:Flood Control and Drainage
;FCDI
:Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
;feasibility study
;feasibility studies
:A feasibility study is an analysis that takes all of a project's relevant factors into account—including economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations—to ascertain the likelihood of completing the project successfully.
;feminization of agriculture
:Feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector. This can be due to men taking up non-farm employment locally, male out-migration from rural areas to urban areas or abroad, poverty (need for women to raise income), and/or women's empowerment (women taking own initiatives to engage in agricultural production). The increase in agricultural productivity requiring more labour input (be it family or wage labour) can also contribute to a larger role of women in agriculture.
;FFD
:Farmer Field Day
;FFS
;FFSs
:Farmer Field School
;FGD
;FGDs
:Focus Group Discussions - in which a group of participants from similar backgrounds or experiences gather to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a group facilitator who introduces the topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves
;flap gate
:Hinged gate on the river-side of a regulator vent which automatically closes when water rises above the country-side water level.
;flushing
:The practice of admitting (fresh or saline) water for irrigation (or shrimp production) through regulators or inlets.
;FO
;FOs
:FFS Organiser in the technical assistance (TA) team
;FRERMIP
:Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program - A program financed by ADB and EKN with consultancy services provided by Northwest Hydraulic Consutants and Mott MacDonald, which provided structural and non-structural flood and riverbank erosion risk management measures in three high priority subproject areas, with the aim in subsequent projects of extending the protected reaches using designs adjusted to current riverbank erosion conditions and considering the possibilities of reclaiming lost floodplain land.
;FT
;FTs
:Farmer Trainer
;FY
:Financial Year
;GAP
:Gender Action Plan
;GDP
:gross domestic product
;GED
:General Economics Division, one of six divisions in the Planning Commission, with responsibility for the preparation of mid- and long-term plans; M&E of plans; and the determination of macroeconomic scenarios

;gender
:Refers to socially constructed and therefore learned roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and women, girls and boys based on their sex. Gender is not the same as sex, the physical and biological attributes that make someone female, male or both. Gender comprises the expectations, roles, attitudes and behaviours of women and men. Gender roles change over time and vary within and between cultures, societies and classes.
;gender blindness
:Gender-blindness refers to the failure to identify or acknowledge differences on the basis of gender where it is significant. Projects, programs, policies and attitudes which are gender blind do not take into account the different roles and needs of men and women. They maintain or reinforce the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations.
;gender equality
:Gender equality exists when men and women, boys and girls are attributed equal social value, equal rights and equal responsibilities; and men and women have equal access to the means (resources, opportunities) to exercise those rights and responsibilities. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but rather that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether someone is born male or female.
;gender equity
:Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings.
;gender indicators
:Gender indicators are performance indicators that help assess or measure the effects of a policy, programme or project on changes in gender relations and the status of men and women, and hence the extent of advancement of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. Gender indicators can be quantitative and qualitative.
;gender issues
:Any issue where relations, differences, connections and/or inequalities between men and women have either a positive or negative effect or influence
;gender mainstreaming
:This is the process of systematically recognizing and taking into account gender issues (such as differences between the conditions, roles and needs of women and men) within core activities of projects and programmes and covering design, implementation and M&E. Gender mainstreaming also takes into account the likely implications for men and women of planned interventions.
;gender relations
:Gender relations are the specific sub-set of social relations uniting men and women as social groups in a particular community, including how power and access to and control over resources are distributed between the sexes. Gender relations intersect with all other influences on social relations - age, ethnicity, race, religion - to determine the position and identity of people in a social group. Since gender relations are a social construct, they can be transformed over time to become more equitable.
;gender-sensitive approach
:Refers to recognizing and taking into account gender issues, aiming to promote gender equality
;GESAP
:Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (of BWDB)
;gher
;ghers
:An area enclosed by low embankments to store either freshwater or brackish water for the production of fish, shrimps or prawns.
;GIS
:Geographic Information Systems
;GLD
:Gender and Leadership Development (training)
;GoB
:Government of Bangladesh; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;golda
:freshwater prawn species
;GoN
:Government of the Netherlands; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;GPWM
:Guidelines for Participatory Water Management
;gusthi
:kinship group which traces its origins to a common male ancestor - an important element of social identity in a village
;ha
:hectare
;hajol
;hajols
:A hajol is an unfired earthenware nesting vessel for egg hatching, with small receptacles for water and seed to provide the immediate needs. The hajol saves the hen effort and time for searching food, thus ensuring proper hatching in less time, thereby reducing egg waste.
;hat
:small rural market, held weekly or bi-weekly
;HBB
:herringbone bond - a brickwork pattern used as the wearing course for rural roads with a low traffic volume
;HH
;HHs
:Household
;highland
:0-30 cm: intermittent flooding, land suited to HYV T Aman in monsoon season
;HL
:Horizontal Learning
;Horizontal Learning
:Learning from peers; and in the context of Blue Gold, farmer-to-farmer learning in which a host WMG invites representatives from visiting WMGs to witness an event - such as the harvesting of a new variety of rice - to pass on the knowledge and lessons gained from their experience
;HR
:Human Resources
;HVC
:high value crop(s)
;High Yielding Variety
:Introduced varieties developed through formal breeding programs. HYVs have a higher yield potential than local varieties but require correspondingly high inputs of fertiliser and irrigation to achieve high yields.
;HYV
:High Yielding Variety
;IBRD
:International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
;ICM
:Integrated Crop Management
;ICRD
:Integrated Coastal Resources Database
;ICT
:Information Communication Technology
;ICZM
:Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Programme Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (PDO-ICZM)
;IF
:Innovation Fund
;IFI
:International Financing Institution eg World Bank, Asian Development Bank
;IFMC
:Integrated Farm Management Component (DANIDA-funded program)
;IGA
:Income Generating Activity
;IMIP
:Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)
;IMRC
:Inter-Ministerial Review Committee
;in-polder water management
:term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which primarily aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for eventual discharge through the sluice/regulator to a peripheral river
;inclusiveness
:The inclusion of the (interests of) different types of people and treating them fairly and equally, considering their different roles and interests in water management
;INGO
:International NGO
;inlet
:Structure designed to only admit (fresh or saline) water across an embankment.
;Integrated Water Resources Management
:Internationally-accepted approach for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of water resources especially applicable where there are multiple stakeholder interests with conflicting demands.
;intensification of agriculture
:Increasing agricultural production per unit of inputs, such as per unit of land
;interventions
:A defined set of temporary activities through which facilitators seek to effect change
;IOB
:The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) is the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which researches and prepares reports on the outcomes of Dutch foreign policy for reasons of accountability and so that the findings can be used in adjusting future policymaking
;IP
:Input Providers
;IPM
:Integrated Pest Management
;IPSWAM
:Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management
;IPSWARM
:(Guidelines for) Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Resources Management
;IPWM
:In-polder water management; term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for evacuation through the sluice/regulator
;IRRI
:International Rice Research Institute
;ISPM
:Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
;IWM
:Institute of Water Modelling
;IWMI
:International Water Management Institute
;IWRM
:Integrated Water Resources Management
;JBIC
:Japanese Bank for International Cooperation
;katcha
:impermanent, unofficial; an unimproved version, eg earthen road, earth-walled house
;keshari
:Local pulse crop
;khal
:drainage channel or canal
;kharif
:The wet season - typically mid-March to mid-October - characterised by rain and high temperatures
;kharif-1
:The first part of the kharif season (mid-March to mid-June). Rainfall is variable and temperatures are high. The main crops are aus, summer vegetables and pulses. Broadcast aman and jute are planted.
;kharif-2
:The second part of the kharif season (mid-June to mid-October) characterised by heavy rain and floods. T Aman is the major crop grown in this season. Jute is harvested.
;khas
:Land owned by the state, including recently accreted land
;KJDRP
:Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project
;KSS
:Krishi Samabay Samity - farmer cooperative
;kup
:Protected dug well
;Labour Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;landless
:assumed in this report to operate up to 0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
;Landless Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. Term including 'landless' is generally used by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) whereas BWDB's PWMR 2014 uses 'Labour' Contracting Societies.
;large farmer
:assumed in this report to operate more than 5.5 acres (2.23 ha)
;LCG
:Local Consultative Group
;LCS
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LCS
:Labour Contracting Societies
;LG
:Local Government
;LGED
:Local Government Engineering Department
;LGI
;LGIs
:Local Government Institutions - Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad etc
;lift gate
:vertical gate typically raised and lowered by operating a handwheel up and down a vertical screw, with the gate kept in position by means of steel channels set in the walls of a regulator.
;livelihood
;livelihoods
:A livelihood is a way of making a living. It comprises capabilities, skills, assets (including material and social resources), and activities that households put together to produce food, meet basic needs, earn income, or establish a means of living in any other way.
;livelihood strategies
:The strategies that people employ in order to utilize and transfer assets to produce income today and deal with problems tomorrow. These strategies change and adapt in response to various shocks, external influences, institutional norms and rules, and other factors.
;local varieties
:Varieties developed by farmers, sometimes referred to as local improved varieties (LIVs)
;lowland
:Prone to seasonal (<9 months) or perennial flooding (>9 months), land on which B aman can be grown in the monsoon season. Flood depth 180-300 cm or more
;LRP
:Land Reclamation Project
;LV
:low value crop(s)
;M/F
:Male / Female
;M&E
:Monitoring and Evaluation
;maintenance
:actions taken to prevent or repair the deterioration of water management infrastructure and to keep the physical components of a water management system in such a state that they can serve their intended function.
;market
:Any formal or informal structure (not necessarily a physical place) in which buyers and sellers exchange goods, labour, or services for cash or other goods. The word 'market' can simply mean the place in which goods or services are exchanged. Essentially, markets are defined by forces of supply and demand, rather than geographical location
;market linkages
:Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.
;market orientation
:Within BGP this refers to enhancing insights of especially FFS participants in how markets work, how to collect market information, facilitating linkages with market actors and increasing negotiation capacities
;Market-oriented Farmer Field School
:Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.
;maund
:unit of weight 37.3 kg, equal to 40 seer
;medium farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 2.5 acres and 5.5 acres (1.0 to 2.23 ha)
;medium highland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to local varieties of aus and T aman in the monsoon season. Flood depth: 30-90 cm
;medium lowland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to B Aman in monsoon season. Flood depth: 90-180 cm
;MFI
;MFIs
:Micro Finance Institute
;MFS
:Market-oriented Farmer Field School
;MIS
:Management Information System
;MLGRDC
:Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
;MoA
:Ministry of Agriculture
;mohajon
:village money lender
;MoU
;MoUs
:Memorandum of Understanding
;mouza
:an administrative unit chiefly used for cadastral land registration

;MoWR
:Ministry of Water Resources
;mPower
:mPower is the social enterprise which is dedicated to information technology solutions and strategies that maximize impact on people’s lives.
;MRL
:Monitoring, Reflection & Learning
;MT
:metric ton (tonne)
;MTR
:Mid – Term Review Mission
;NAEP
:New Agriculture Extension Policy
;natok
:popular theatre, a living tradition especially in rural areas of Bangladesh, and a powerful and accepted instrument which can be used to raise discussion on sensitive issues
;NEC
:National Economic Council
;NGO
:Non-Governmental Organisation
;NSB
:National Seed Board
;NWMP
:National Water Management Plan
;NWPo
:National Water Policy
;NWRC
:National Water Resources Commission
;NWRD
:National Water Resources Database
;O&M
:Operation and Maintenance
;O&M Sub-Committee
:A sub-committee of a Water Management Association (WMA) responsible for the planning operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in a specific catchment.
;OCWM
:Office of the Chief of Water Management (in BWDB) responsible for the 'establishment of water user organizations, their training and participation, in project planning, implementation, operation and maintenance and cost recovery'

;ODK
:Open Data Kit
;OFRD
:On‐Farm Research Division
;OMPI
:O&M Performance Improvement
;OMS
:Open Market Sale
;operation
:the adjustment of gates in water management infrastructure to control hydraulic conditions (water levels and discharges) in a water management system.
;outlet structure
:gated structure (typically with only a flap gate on the river-side) designed to drain water through the polder embankment to an external tidal river channel
;owner-operator
:a person who farms or otherwise operates his own land
;paiker
:buys produce directly from individual farmers and sells bulk produce to arotdar or to destination market. Exerts a main influence on price earned by farmers.
;participation
:A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.
;participatory water management
;Participatory Water Management
:A process by which the local stakeholders are directly and actively involved in identification, planning, design, implementation, operation & maintenance and evaluation of a water management project.
;PBDP 2100
:Preparation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;PCD
:Program Coordinating Director
;PD
:Project Director
;PDP
:Polder Development Plan - presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB Development Project Proforma (DPP). PDPs for all 22 polders are available through the File Library.
;peripheral rivers
:In the coastal zone, the river or rivers surrounding a polder which carry the outflow from the regulators or sluices to the sea
;PF
;PFs
:Producer Group Facilitator
;plot
:contiguous area of land operated as a single unit by a farmer - average area of 27 decimals (0.11 ha), with a normal range between 10 and 70 decimals (0.04 to 0.28 ha)
;PM
:Participatory Monitoring
;PM
:Progress Marker
;PMC
:Project Management Committee
;polder
:An area of low-lying land surrounded by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;Polder Development Plan
:A plan which presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB DPP.
;PPP
:Public Private Partnership
;primary infrastructure
:The main channels or khals within a polder through which excess rain or flood water is discharged to an external tidal river channel and thence to the sea via a regulator, sluice or outlet in the polder embankment.
;productive work
:Labour that results in goods or services that have monetary value in the capitalist system and are thus compensated by the producers in the form of a paid wage, or otherwise results into (monetary) income. Productive work includes subsistence agriculture and homestead production.
;PS
:Private Sector
;PSC
:Program Steering Committee
;PSD
:Private Sector Development
;PSSWRSP
:Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project
;PSTU
:Patuakhali Science and Technology University
;pucca
:permanent, official, an improved version: brick-paved road as opposed to an earthen road; brick-built house as opposed to earth-walled house
;PWM
:Participatory Water Management
;PWMR
:Participatory Water Management Rules (2014)
;rabi
:The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.
;RAC
:Regional Accounts Committee (BWDB) is inter alia responsible for the administration of payments for construction contracts
;RDPP
:Revised Development Project Proforma
;regulator
:the principal function of a regulator or drainage sluice is to allow the drainage of water from the polder into a peripheral river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry from the river channel into the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season), thus allowing freshwater to be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.
;reproductive work
:Labour that is associated with the private sphere and involves anything that people have to do for themselves that is not for the purposes of receiving a wage or producing goods. It includes cleaning and repairs, cooking, care, and fetching water and fuel. Reproductive work is also referred to as unpaid care work (UCW) or domestic work and care.
;Resource Farmers
:Resource Farmers (RF) are members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs). They are selected from the FFS groups to lead other members in organizing different useful collective actions and to maintain networks on behalf of the members. These RFs are given additional capacity building training to enhance their knowlege on simple record keeping and business skills.
;responsible development
:In BGP's context this refers to inclusive and sustainable development as transversal elements within BGP's approach, with inclusiveness meaning that also women and poor household benefit from BGP
;retention structure
:a structure that provides for the storage of runoff and is designed to maintain a permanent pool of water.
;RF
:Resource Farmers are farmer leaders whose specialist skills and experience which have been augmented through training funded by Blue Gold
;riverbank erosion
:the removal of materials in the river bank by water flowing in the river channel; also termed bank scour. In coastal polders, riverbank erosion - if unchecked - can result in breaches to polder embankments - where they are aligned close to rivers - and consequent loss of human and animal life as well as damage to farmland, crops, housing, and other infrastructure.
;RMG
:Ready Made Garments
;ROI
:Return on Investment
;RRI
:River Research Institute - a national public organisation under the Ministry of Water Resources, headquartered at Harukandi in Faridpur, with two technical directorates for hydraulic research and geotechnical research
;rural transformation
:A process of change in rural areas strengthening the local economies
;SAAO
;SAAOs
:Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;SAE
:Sub-Assistant Engineer (BWDB)
;saline intrusion
:The influx of sea water into an area that is not normally exposed to high salinity levels - for example, the inflow of seawater into a fresh water wetland or a fresh water aquifer.
;salinisation
:An increase in salt content within soils due to (a) 'primary salinity' in which natural processes cause fluctuations in soil salt content; or (b) 'secondary salinity' - which is of greater concern - where man-made or climate change affect natural soil salinity levels
;samity
;samities
:association or society
;SC
:South-Central hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 15,436 km2 including the Arial Khan river
;SDE
:Sub-Divisional Engineer (BWDB)
;SE
:Superintending Engineer (BWDB)
;secondary infrastructure
:Smaller channels connecting sub-catchments to main channels, sometimes with associated minor structures (e.g. small one vent sluice) which regulate flow between primary and secondary infrastructure. Secondary channels may also be called sakha-khal or branch-khals.
;sedimentation
:Sedimentation is the process by which fine particles of silt and clay suspended in river water settle out, for example when there is a drop in velocity.
;sediment transport
:sediment transport is the general term used for transport of silt, sand, gravel, boulders in rivers
;Seer
:unit of weight 0.93 kg, equal to 80 tola
;sharecropper
:a person who operates land owned by others under an agreed output and input sharing arrangement
;SIBDP 2100
:Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;siltation
:Typically undesirable increase in concentration and deposition of water-borne silt particles in a body of water.
;SIMT
:System Improvement and Management Transfer
;six step approach
:An approach in six steps to develop Water Management Groups developed by the previous IPSWAM project
;sluice
:A vertical gate to control the flow of water; also referred to as 'regulator'
;small farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 0.5 acres and 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1.0 ha)
;SO
:Section Officer (BWDB)
;SRP
:Systems Rehabilitation Project
;SSSFCDI
:Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project
;SSWMI
:Small-scale water management structure: an initiative to improve in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions in Blue Gold polders which was started in 2018. The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes, a pilot fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision from government or TA staff.
;SSWRDSP
:Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
;STW
:shallow tube wells
;sub-catchment
:Part of the catchment which is not directly connected to the regulator, and is hydrologically independent from other parts of the catchment.
;sustainable water resources management
:management actions required to address the changing demands on water resource systems both in the present and the long-term future so as to avoid system degradation
;SVC
:Strengthened Value Chain
;SW
:South-West hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 26,226 km2 including the Garai, Kumar and Bhairab-Kapatakhya rivers
;SWAIWRPMP
:Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project
;T Aman
:transplanted aman; a rice crop, with nurseries for seedlings started in June/July, for transplanting in July/August in areas liable to a maximum flood depth of about 50cm. Harvested in November/December. Local varieties are sensitive to daylength whereas modern varieties are insensitive or only slightly sensitive.
;T Aus
:transplanted aus; The distinction between a late-planted boro and early transplanted aus is academic since the same varieties may be used. Insensitive to daylength.
;T&C
:Training & Communications
;TA
:Technical Assistance
;tertiary infrastructure
:smaller channels connecting fields to secondary infrastructure, sometimes with associated small scale structures (gated pipe or box culverts) which regulate flow between secondary channels and tertiary channels. Tertiary channels may also be called sakha-khals or branch-khals.
;tidal flooding
:tidal flooding is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas during high tide events.
;tidal rivers
:river whose flow and level are influenced by tides
;TL
:Team Leader
;TNA
:Training Needs Assessment
;ToC
:Theory of Change, planning tool
;Tola
:unit of weight 11.7 g
;ToR
:Terms of Reference
;ToT
:Training of trainers
;TR
:Technical Report
;TSP
:Triple Supper Phosphate
;TTAP
:Technology Transfer for Agricultural Production (DAE)
;UAEO
:Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer (DAE)
;UAO
:Upazila Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;UMIC
:Upper Middle Income Country
;unified approach
:The Blue Gold approach which integrated the earlier 'four components' (ie social empowerment, water management infrastructure, agricultural technologies and farming-as-a-business) into a single work process
;Union
:Lowest tier of local government
;Union Parishad
:Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman
;UNO
:Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Upazila Executive Officer. Appointed head of the civil administration at Upazila level
;Unpaid care work (UCW) or Domestic work and care
:Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, and includes caring for children, elderly and sick people and domestic tasks as washing, cooking, shopping, cleaning and helping other families with their chores. Unpaid care work is reproductive work.
;UP
:Union Parishad
;Upazila Parishad chairman
:Elected official assigned as Chief Executive of the Upazila Parishad.
;Upazila
:Middle tier of local government, between Union and District
;Upazila Parishad
:Upazila Council, chaired by an elected Upazila Chairman. The civil administration at this level is headed by the UNO
;ustad
:An ustad is a village-level technological entrepeneur who runs a local business providing services and/or goods eg electrical, mechanical repairs; cast iron foundry etc)
;UZP
:Upazila Parishad
;value chain
:the set of activities that need to be performed in a specific production sector in order to deliver the end product to the consumer. Agricultural value chains typically include input supply, growing/production, processing and marketing/distribution.
;VC
:Value Chain
;VCA
:Value Chain Analysis
;VCD
:Value Chain Development
;VCS
:Value Chain Selection
;very lowland
:>300cm seasonal or perennial flooding, does not permit growing of B Aman in the monsoon season
;WAP
;WAPs
:Water Management Group Action Plan
;ward
:Union sub-unit. Each Union comprises of 9 wards. Union Parishad members are elected to represent their ward
;ward sobha
:Ward-level public meeting to consult the ward inhabitants in the planning process of the Union
;WARPO
:Water Resources Plan Organisation
;WASH
:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
;waterlogging
:Soil is regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted and anaerobic conditions prevail. In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser depth in the soil. Waterlogging of the soil stops air getting in. How near the water table must be to the surface for the ground to be classed as waterlogged, varies with the purpose in view. A crop's demand for freedom from waterlogging may vary between seasons of the year.
;water management
:human intervention in the capture, conveyance, utilisation and drainage of surface and/or ground water in a certain area: a process of social interaction between stakeholders around the issue of water control.
;Water Management Association
:In Blue Gold, the polder-level representative of WMGs, and signatory to an O&M Agreement with BWDB
;Water Management Cooperative Association
:The legal entity for a Water Management Organisation under registry by the Department of Cooperatives
;Water Management Federation
:The organization of local stakeholders at the apex level of the water resource project/sub-project/scheme
;water management for development
:The strapline of the Blue Gold Program for a transformative approach to smallholder agriculture which combines water infrastructure and locally-led initiatives for better water management, using modern agricultural technology and a business-orientation.
;Water Management Group
:The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.
;Water Management Group Action Plan
:A plan drafted by water management groups; initially as a formal requirement for registration; later on as a building block for a sluice catchment management plan
;Water Management Organizations
:The common name of organizations of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/sub-project/scheme. The concept WMO typically refers to WMGs and WMAs (and/or WMFs) together
;Water management partnership
:Regular cooperation between Water Management Organisations and partner organisations, such as Local Government Institutions, BWDB, DAE, community-based organisations and private sector organisations
;water management stakeholders
:Individuals (both men and women) whose livelihood is directly affected by a water management system, be it positively or negatively.
;water productivity
:the amount of output (such as crops) produced per unit water
;WB
:World Bank
;WBC
:Women’s Business Centre
;WEE
:Women’s Economic Empowerment
;WF
:WorldFish (CGIAR)
;WMA
;WMAs
:Water Management Association
;WMCA
:Water Management Cooperative Association
;WMF
:Water Management Federation
;WMG
;WMGs
:Water Management Group
;WMIP
:Water Management Improvement Project (WB-funded)
;WMKIP
:Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program - starting in December 2017 and led by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) with the aim of contributing to the long term development goals for the Southern Coastal Region as well as to objectives of the Blue Gold Program through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research. https://www.deltares.nl/en/news/developing-water-management-innovations-local-communities-bangladesh/
;WMO
;WMOs
:Water Management Organisation
;women's economic empowerment (WEE)
:Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Women's economic empowerment increases women's access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
;women's empowerment
:The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.
;women's physical empowerment
:The right of women to safety and security, to access to proper health care and reproductive health services, and the ability to resist violence. This also includes access to adequate nutrition and WASH facilities and the absence of physical overburdening.
;women's political empowerment
:The capacity of women to organize one self and others, to take part in society and its democratic processes, to make one's voice heard and have the opportunity to influence decision-making. This applies to all levels, from local level (such as WMOs) to national level.
;women's socio-cultural empowerment
:The capacity of women to have their own independent identity, a positive self-image and social status as an individual and as a group.
;WMPS
:Water Management Problem Score
;WRM
:Water Resource Management
;WUR
:Wageningen University and Research Centre
;XEN
:Executive Engineer (BWDB)
;ZSE
:Zonal Socio-Economist - a social scientist working in the technical assistance (TA) team responsible for supervising activities in a group of polders.

Glossary and acronyms

2021-12-19T06:07:09Z

Bigblue:

;access to markets
:Generally refers to how many and/or in which way people are able to buy or sell, and reach, a reliable supplier or buyer in a market
;ADG
:Additional Director General
;ADP
:Annual Development Plan
;AEO
:Agricultural Extension Officer
;AGEP
:Agricultural Growth and Employment Program
;ail
:a shallow earth bund on plot boundaries which allows the ponding of water for basin irrigation
;AIS
:Agricultural Information Systems
;aman
:a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;ARM
:Annual Review Mission, the broad objective of which was to secure and where possible further enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. ARM members were individuals who were appointed by, and reported directly to, EKN and BWDB/DAE
;arotdar
:service provider to bepari and paikers in wholesale markets. Facilitates the buying/selling process, and may provide negotiation assistance with purchases, storage space, selling space, short term and seasonal credit, and arrange truck transport of goods purchased by bepari to market
;aus
:a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;B Aman
:broadcast aman; a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;B Aus
:broadcast aus; a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;BADC
:Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
;bagda
:brackish-water shrimp species
;baor
:oxbow lake
;bari
:a homestead in which one or more households (chula) of the same kinship group share facilities within an enclosed or semi-enclosed compound
;BARI
:Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
;basok leaves
:basok leaves are the leaves of a medicinal shrub found along road roadside, often used as fencing of houses in our polders (especially in Satkhira and Khulna) that are dried and then sold to pharmaceutical companies for medicine preparation, in particular to prepare cough syrup.
;BAU
:Bangladesh Agricultural University
;BBS
:Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
;BCIC
:Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
;BDP
:Bangladesh Delta Plan
;BDS
:Business Development Services
;BDT
:Bangladesh Taka
;beel
:wetland inundated for at least one season per year, formed by the inundation of a low-lying natural depression
;beneficiary
:Any individual or group who, in one way or another is favourably influenced by the project.
;bepari
:key wholesaler in the supply chain, moves goods between markets by buying in source markets and selling in destination markets, and exerts the main influence on price earned by farmers.
;BGIF
:Blue Gold Innovation Fund
;BGP
:Blue Gold Program
;BHWDB
:Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board
;bigha
:area varies between localities - range 30-40 decimals (0.12-0.16 ha)
;BINA
:Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
;borgadar
:share-cropper
;boro
:A rice crop planted under irrigation during the dry season from December to March and harvested between April and June. Local boro varieties are more tolerant of cool temperatures and are usually planted in areas which are subject to early flooding. Improved varieties, less tolerant of cool conditions, are usually transplanted from February onwards. All varieties are insensitive to daylength.
;BRAC
:Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (an NGO)
;branch khal
:Secondary or tertiary drainage channel (in Bangla sakha khal)
;brinjal
:eggplant, aubergine
;bundh
:small earthen embankment or dam
;BWDB
:Bangladesh Water Development Board, government agency which is responsible for surface water and groundwater management in Bangladesh, and lead implementing agency for the Blue Gold Program
;BWFMS
:Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy
;cage fishing
:cage culture is an aquaculture production system in which the fish are held in floating net pens using existing water resources (riverss and ponds) with water passing freely between the fish and the surrounding water body for water circulation and waste removal into the surrounding water.
;catchment
:an idealised hydrologically independent drainage unit within a polder - comprising a network of inter-connected khals draining to a regulator from where water is discharged to a peripheral river. Because the land levels in a polder vary within a small range (typically up to a maximum of 1.5 m), water flows can be affected by downstream water conditions and eventually drain through more than one regulator at diffferent times of year. .
;catchment planning
:Identification and planning of both interventions and operations & maintenance within the catchment, resulting in an action plan for the catchment.
;CAWM
;Community-led Agricultural Water Management
:Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;CDF
;CDFs
;Community Development Facilitator
:Community Development Facilitator - a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, and provided the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;CDMP
:Comprehensive Disaster Management Program
;CDSP
:Char Development and Settlement Project
;CEGIS
:Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services
;CEIP
:Coastal Embankment Improvement Project
;CFWM
:Community-led Fisheries and Water Management
;CGIAR
:Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
;chal
:husked rice
;char
:accreted sediment in a river course or estuary, including both lateral (point-bars) and medial (braid-bars). Chars (or sand bars) emerge as islands within the river channel (island chars) or as attached land to the riverbanks (attached chars), create new opportunities for temporary settlements and agriculture.
;chula
:Literally a traditional cooking stove. Used here to identify a household - an independent economic family unit - which shares kitchen facilities and eats together
;CI
;cropping intensity
:The number of crop harvest per unit land per year. The average cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as the total area of all crops per year divided by the area of cultivable land. In its CI calculations BGP treats fish ghers as another crop; the DAE method excludes fish ghers in its CI calculations. Hence the CI calculated by BGP is higher than as calculated by DAE.
;CII
;Cropping Intensity Initiative
:Cropping Intensity Initiative: Year-long demonstrations with farmers on increasing cropping intensity related to improved water management, also involving market actors, and by organising demand driven sessions and workshops
;CIMMYT
:International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
;CLF
:Community-led Fisheries
;CO
;COs
:Community Organiser
;CA
;collective action
;collective actions
:Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce
;commercial agriculture
:agricultural production aimed at meeting market-demands. It is based on establishing a profitable farming unit and involves a multitude of business relations with other actors in the market system. Used in contrast to subsistence farming which focuses mostly on home consumption.
;CAHW
;Community Animal Health Workers
:Community Animal Health Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their animals
;CLW
;Community Livestock Workers
:Community Livestock Workers: members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their livestock
;community mobilization
:Community mobilization is a process that brings together different societal factions to undertake development activities. Within BGP this especially refers to organizing the community members into Water Management Groups
;control structure
:A permanent structure placed in a farm canal, ditch, or subsurface drainage conduit, which provides control of the discharge of surface and/or subsurface drainage by menas of flashboards, gates, valves, risers, or pipes.
;CPP-FAP-20
:Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20
;CPW
;Community Poultry Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their poultry
;CPWF
:Challenge Programme on Water and Food
;cross-dam
:Earthen embankment placed across a khal or river to prevent water flow.
;CSISA
:Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
;culvert
:A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow beneath a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
;CWM
:Chief of Water Management (BWDB)
;CYSs
:courtyard sessions
;DAE
:Department of Agricultural Extension, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for disseminating scientific research and new knowledge on agricultural practices through communication and learning activities for farmers in agriculture, agricultural marketing, nutrition and business studies.
;DAM
:Department of Agricultural Marketing
;DANIDA
:Danish International Development Agency
;decimal
:one hundredth of an acre (0.004 ha)
;DFID
:Department for International Development (UK government's development department); since September 2020, known as Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office - FCDO - after a merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office - FCO
;DG
:Director General
;dhan
:unhusked rice (paddy)
;dheki
:manually operated rice husking machine
;Disaster Risk Reduction
:The Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) has been given the mandate to lead disaster preparedness, mitigation, emergency response and post disaster rehabilitation, by informing local people, empowering them to take practical measures to reduce risk at household and community levels and to disseminate success stories of reducing disaster risks widely among local people.
;diversification of agriculture
:Movement of resources from (few) low value commodities to more higher value ones, increasing the total production value and reducing risks
;DLS
:Department of Livestock Services, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for the livestock industry in Bangladesh
;DoC
:Department of Cooperatives
;DoF
:Department of Fisheries, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for regulating the fisheries industry in Bangladesh
;DoE
:Department of Environment
;DP III
:Department of Planning III, one of three planning departments in BWDB headed by a Superintending Engineer which reports to the Chief Engineer (Civil) Planning to the Assistant Director General (Planning)
;DPP
;DPPs
;Development Project Proforma
:Development Project Proforma: a formal document which sets out the intention of a GoB organisation to invest in a development project, seeking approval for the investment and, if successful, a budget allocation. The DPP follows a prescribed format, including the project’s financial and physical scope, benefits, and proposals for monitoring and internal and external audits. The approval of a development project proposal follows a number of stages: formation with preliminary studies, formulation to develop greater detail and with additional information to make the economic case for the project, scrutiny by the executing agencies and concerned ministries, appraisal by the Planning Commission, recommendation for approval by Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), Minister/ECNEC approval, and inclusion of a budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
;drainage congestion
:the south-western coastal zone is characterised by broad tidal flats and fluvio-tidal plains, lying approximately 1 metre above sea level, with drainage provided by numerous tidal creeks and channels a some major rivers. Empolderisation now protects the intrusion of sea water to agricultural areas but restricts the deposition of sediments to within the channels, thus reducing the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels, causing drainage congestion.
;DRR
:Disaster Risk Reduction
;DTL
:Deputy Team Leader
;DTW
:deep tube wells
;EC
:Executive Committee
;EC members
:Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules
;ECC
:Environmental Clearance Certificate
;economic growth
:Increase in the capacity of a country or an economic region to produce goods and services. It also refers to the increase in market value of the goods and services produced by an economy. It is usually calculated using inflation adjusted figures, in order to discount the effect of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced
;EDP
:Estuary Development Program
;EIA
;EIAs
:Environmental Impact Assessment
;EIP
:Early Implementation Project
;EKN
:Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the contractual representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and signatory to the agreement for the Blue Gold Program with the External Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance as the signatory for the Government of Bangladesh
;embankment
:Earthen dyke or bundh raised above surrounding ground level, for example so that roads or railway lines are above highest flood levels, or so that an area is empoldered to protect it from external floods and saline waters.
;EMM
:Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
;empolder
:to surround an area of low-lying land by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;empowerment
:empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.
;enabling environment
:an environment of policies, regulations, norms, institutions, and overall economic governance which allows market systems to function and perform well
;EO
:Earth Observation
;EOI
:Expression of Interest
;EPWAPDA
:East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority
;EWM
:Equitable Water Management
;fall boards
:boards temporarily placed in slots or grooves in the pier walls of regulators or sluices to prevent the flow of water during maintenance of the structure or gates.
;FAO
:Food and Agriculture Organization
;FAP
:Flood Action Plan
;fariahs
:small traders
;Farmer Field Day
;Farmer Field Days
:Exchange events organized at the end of each Farmer Field School to share the FFS learnings with other community members
;Farmer Field School
;Farmer Field Schools
:A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.
;Farmer Trainer
;Farmer Trainers
:Well-performing and capable farmers, previously trained in Farmer Field Schools, who became FFS facilitator themselves after ToT training
;FCD
:Flood Control and Drainage
;FCDI
:Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
;feasibility study
;feasibility studies
:A feasibility study is an analysis that takes all of a project's relevant factors into account—including economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations—to ascertain the likelihood of completing the project successfully.
;feminization of agriculture
:Feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector. This can be due to men taking up non-farm employment locally, male out-migration from rural areas to urban areas or abroad, poverty (need for women to raise income), and/or women's empowerment (women taking own initiatives to engage in agricultural production). The increase in agricultural productivity requiring more labour input (be it family or wage labour) can also contribute to a larger role of women in agriculture.
;FFD
:Farmer Field Day
;FFS
;FFSs
:Farmer Field School
;FGD
;FGDs
:Focus Group Discussions - in which a group of participants from similar backgrounds or experiences gather to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a group facilitator who introduces the topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves
;flap gate
:Hinged gate on the river-side of a regulator vent which automatically closes when water rises above the country-side water level.
;flushing
:The practice of admitting (fresh or saline) water for irrigation (or shrimp production) through regulators or inlets.
;FO
;FOs
:FFS Organiser in the technical assistance (TA) team
;FRERMIP
:Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program - A program financed by ADB and EKN with consultancy services provided by Northwest Hydraulic Consutants and Mott MacDonald, which provided structural and non-structural flood and riverbank erosion risk management measures in three high priority subproject areas, with the aim in subsequent projects of extending the protected reaches using designs adjusted to current riverbank erosion conditions and considering the possibilities of reclaiming lost floodplain land.
;FT
;FTs
:Farmer Trainer
;FY
:Financial Year
;GAP
:Gender Action Plan
;GDP
:gross domestic product
;GED
:General Economics Division, one of six divisions in the Planning Commission, with responsibility for the preparation of mid- and long-term plans; M&E of plans; and the determination of macroeconomic scenarios

;gender
:Refers to socially constructed and therefore learned roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and women, girls and boys based on their sex. Gender is not the same as sex, the physical and biological attributes that make someone female, male or both. Gender comprises the expectations, roles, attitudes and behaviours of women and men. Gender roles change over time and vary within and between cultures, societies and classes.
;gender blindness
:Gender-blindness refers to the failure to identify or acknowledge differences on the basis of gender where it is significant. Projects, programs, policies and attitudes which are gender blind do not take into account the different roles and needs of men and women. They maintain or reinforce the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations.
;gender equality
:Gender equality exists when men and women, boys and girls are attributed equal social value, equal rights and equal responsibilities; and men and women have equal access to the means (resources, opportunities) to exercise those rights and responsibilities. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but rather that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether someone is born male or female.
;gender equity
:Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings.
;gender indicators
:Gender indicators are performance indicators that help assess or measure the effects of a policy, programme or project on changes in gender relations and the status of men and women, and hence the extent of advancement of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. Gender indicators can be quantitative and qualitative.
;gender issues
:Any issue where relations, differences, connections and/or inequalities between men and women have either a positive or negative effect or influence
;gender mainstreaming
:This is the process of systematically recognizing and taking into account gender issues (such as differences between the conditions, roles and needs of women and men) within core activities of projects and programmes and covering design, implementation and M&E. Gender mainstreaming also takes into account the likely implications for men and women of planned interventions.
;gender relations
:Gender relations are the specific sub-set of social relations uniting men and women as social groups in a particular community, including how power and access to and control over resources are distributed between the sexes. Gender relations intersect with all other influences on social relations - age, ethnicity, race, religion - to determine the position and identity of people in a social group. Since gender relations are a social construct, they can be transformed over time to become more equitable.
;gender-sensitive approach
:Refers to recognizing and taking into account gender issues, aiming to promote gender equality
;GESAP
:Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (of BWDB)
;gher
;ghers
:An area enclosed by low embankments to store either freshwater or brackish water for the production of fish, shrimps or prawns.
;GIS
:Geographic Information Systems
;GLD
:Gender and Leadership Development (training)
;GoB
:Government of Bangladesh; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;golda
:freshwater prawn species
;GoN
:Government of the Netherlands; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;GPWM
:Guidelines for Participatory Water Management
;gusthi
:kinship group which traces its origins to a common male ancestor - an important element of social identity in a village
;ha
:hectare
;hajol
;hajols
:A hajol is an unfired earthenware nesting vessel for egg hatching, with small receptacles for water and seed to provide the immediate needs. The hajol saves the hen effort and time for searching food, thus ensuring proper hatching in less time, thereby reducing egg waste.
;hat
:small rural market, held weekly or bi-weekly
;HBB
:herringbone bond - a brickwork pattern used as the wearing course for rural roads with a low traffic volume
;HH
;HHs
:Household
;highland
:0-30 cm: intermittent flooding, land suited to HYV T Aman in monsoon season
;HL
:Horizontal Learning
;Horizontal Learning
:Learning from peers; and in the context of Blue Gold, farmer-to-farmer learning in which a host WMG invites representatives from visiting WMGs to witness an event - such as the harvesting of a new variety of rice - to pass on the knowledge and lessons gained from their experience
;HR
:Human Resources
;HVC
:high value crop(s)
;High Yielding Variety
:Introduced varieties developed through formal breeding programs. HYVs have a higher yield potential than local varieties but require correspondingly high inputs of fertiliser and irrigation to achieve high yields.
;HYV
:High Yielding Variety
;IBRD
:International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
;ICM
:Integrated Crop Management
;ICRD
:Integrated Coastal Resources Database
;ICT
:Information Communication Technology
;ICZM
:Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Programme Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (PDO-ICZM)
;IF
:Innovation Fund
;IFI
:International Financing Institution eg World Bank, Asian Development Bank
;IFMC
:Integrated Farm Management Component (DANIDA-funded program)
;IGA
:Income Generating Activity
;IMIP
:Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)
;IMRC
:Inter-Ministerial Review Committee
;in-polder water management
:term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which primarily aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for eventual discharge through the sluice/regulator to a peripheral river
;inclusiveness
:The inclusion of the (interests of) different types of people and treating them fairly and equally, considering their different roles and interests in water management
;INGO
:International NGO
;inlet
:Structure designed to only admit (fresh or saline) water across an embankment.
;Integrated Water Resources Management
:Internationally-accepted approach for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of water resources especially applicable where there are multiple stakeholder interests with conflicting demands.
;intensification of agriculture
:Increasing agricultural production per unit of inputs, such as per unit of land
;interventions
:A defined set of temporary activities through which facilitators seek to effect change
;IOB
:The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) is the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which researches and prepares reports on the outcomes of Dutch foreign policy for reasons of accountability and so that the findings can be used in adjusting future policymaking
;IP
:Input Providers
;IPM
:Integrated Pest Management
;IPSWAM
:Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management
;IPSWARM
:(Guidelines for) Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Resources Management
;IPWM
:In-polder water management; term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for evacuation through the sluice/regulator
;IRRI
:International Rice Research Institute
;ISPM
:Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
;IWM
:Institute of Water Modelling
;IWMI
:International Water Management Institute
;IWRM
:Integrated Water Resources Management
;JBIC
:Japanese Bank for International Cooperation
;katcha
:impermanent, unofficial; an unimproved version, eg earthen road, earth-walled house
;keshari
:Local pulse crop
;khal
:drainage channel or canal
;kharif
:The wet season - typically mid-March to mid-October - characterised by rain and high temperatures
;kharif-1
:The first part of the kharif season (mid-March to mid-June). Rainfall is variable and temperatures are high. The main crops are aus, summer vegetables and pulses. Broadcast aman and jute are planted.
;kharif-2
:The second part of the kharif season (mid-June to mid-October) characterised by heavy rain and floods. T Aman is the major crop grown in this season. Jute is harvested.
;khas
:Land owned by the state, including recently accreted land
;KJDRP
:Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project
;KSS
:Krishi Samabay Samity - farmer cooperative
;kup
:Protected dug well
;Labour Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;landless
:assumed in this report to operate up to 0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
;Landless Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. Term including 'landless' is generally used by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) whereas BWDB's PWMR 2014 uses 'Labour' Contracting Societies.
;large farmer
:assumed in this report to operate more than 5.5 acres (2.23 ha)
;LCG
:Local Consultative Group
;LCS
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LCS
:Labour Contracting Societies
;LG
:Local Government
;LGED
:Local Government Engineering Department
;LGI
;LGIs
:Local Government Institutions - Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad etc
;lift gate
:vertical gate typically raised and lowered by operating a handwheel up and down a vertical screw, with the gate kept in position by means of steel channels set in the walls of a regulator.
;livelihood
;livelihoods
:A livelihood is a way of making a living. It comprises capabilities, skills, assets (including material and social resources), and activities that households put together to produce food, meet basic needs, earn income, or establish a means of living in any other way.
;livelihood strategies
:The strategies that people employ in order to utilize and transfer assets to produce income today and deal with problems tomorrow. These strategies change and adapt in response to various shocks, external influences, institutional norms and rules, and other factors.
;local varieties
:Varieties developed by farmers, sometimes referred to as local improved varieties (LIVs)
;lowland
:Prone to seasonal (<9 months) or perennial flooding (>9 months), land on which B aman can be grown in the monsoon season. Flood depth 180-300 cm or more
;LRP
:Land Reclamation Project
;LV
:low value crop(s)
;M/F
:Male / Female
;M&E
:Monitoring and Evaluation
;maintenance
:actions taken to prevent or repair the deterioration of water management infrastructure and to keep the physical components of a water management system in such a state that they can serve their intended function.
;market
:Any formal or informal structure (not necessarily a physical place) in which buyers and sellers exchange goods, labour, or services for cash or other goods. The word 'market' can simply mean the place in which goods or services are exchanged. Essentially, markets are defined by forces of supply and demand, rather than geographical location
;market linkages
:Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.
;market orientation
:Within BGP this refers to enhancing insights of especially FFS participants in how markets work, how to collect market information, facilitating linkages with market actors and increasing negotiation capacities
;Market-oriented Farmer Field School
:Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.
;maund
:unit of weight 37.3 kg, equal to 40 seer
;medium farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 2.5 acres and 5.5 acres (1.0 to 2.23 ha)
;medium highland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to local varieties of aus and T aman in the monsoon season. Flood depth: 30-90 cm
;medium lowland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to B Aman in monsoon season. Flood depth: 90-180 cm
;MFI
;MFIs
:Micro Finance Institute
;MFS
:Market-oriented Farmer Field School
;MIS
:Management Information System
;MLGRDC
:Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
;MoA
:Ministry of Agriculture
;mohajon
:village money lender
;MoU
;MoUs
:Memorandum of Understanding
;mouza
:an administrative unit chiefly used for cadastral land registration

;MoWR
:Ministry of Water Resources
;mPower
:mPower is the social enterprise which is dedicated to information technology solutions and strategies that maximize impact on people’s lives.
;MRL
:Monitoring, Reflection & Learning
;MT
:metric ton (tonne)
;MTR
:Mid – Term Review Mission
;NAEP
:New Agriculture Extension Policy
;natok
:popular theatre, a living tradition especially in rural areas of Bangladesh, and a powerful and accepted instrument which can be used to raise discussion on sensitive issues
;NEC
:National Economic Council
;NGO
:Non-Governmental Organisation
;NSB
:National Seed Board
;NWMP
:National Water Management Plan
;NWPo
:National Water Policy
;NWRC
:National Water Resources Commission
;NWRD
:National Water Resources Database
;O&M
:Operation and Maintenance
;O&M Sub-Committee
:A sub-committee of a Water Management Association (WMA) responsible for the planning operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in a specific catchment.
;OCWM
:Office of the Chief of Water Management (in BWDB) responsible for the 'establishment of water user organizations, their training and participation, in project planning, implementation, operation and maintenance and cost recovery'

;ODK
:Open Data Kit
;OFRD
:On‐Farm Research Division
;OMPI
:O&M Performance Improvement
;OMS
:Open Market Sale
;operation
:the adjustment of gates in water management infrastructure to control hydraulic conditions (water levels and discharges) in a water management system.
;outlet structure
:gated structure (typically with only a flap gate on the river-side) designed to drain water through the polder embankment to an external tidal river channel
;owner-operator
:a person who farms or otherwise operates his own land
;paiker
:buys produce directly from individual farmers and sells bulk produce to arotdar or to destination market. Exerts a main influence on price earned by farmers.
;participation
:A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.
;participatory water management
;Participatory Water Management
:A process by which the local stakeholders are directly and actively involved in identification, planning, design, implementation, operation & maintenance and evaluation of a water management project.
;PBDP 2100
:Preparation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;PCD
:Program Coordinating Director
;PD
:Project Director
;PDP
:Polder Development Plan - presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB Development Project Proforma (DPP). PDPs for all 22 polders are available through the File Library.
;peripheral rivers
:In the coastal zone, the river or rivers surrounding a polder which carry the outflow from the regulators or sluices to the sea
;PF
;PFs
:Producer Group Facilitator
;plot
:contiguous area of land operated as a single unit by a farmer - average area of 27 decimals (0.11 ha), with a normal range between 10 and 70 decimals (0.04 to 0.28 ha)
;PM
:Participatory Monitoring
;PM
:Progress Marker
;PMC
:Project Management Committee
;polder
:An area of low-lying land surrounded by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;Polder Development Plan
:A plan which presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB DPP.
;PPP
:Public Private Partnership
;primary infrastructure
:The main channels or khals within a polder through which excess rain or flood water is discharged to an external tidal river channel and thence to the sea via a regulator, sluice or outlet in the polder embankment.
;productive work
:Labour that results in goods or services that have monetary value in the capitalist system and are thus compensated by the producers in the form of a paid wage, or otherwise results into (monetary) income. Productive work includes subsistence agriculture and homestead production.
;PS
:Private Sector
;PSC
:Program Steering Committee
;PSD
:Private Sector Development
;PSSWRSP
:Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project
;PSTU
:Patuakhali Science and Technology University
;pucca
:permanent, official, an improved version: brick-paved road as opposed to an earthen road; brick-built house as opposed to earth-walled house
;PWM
:Participatory Water Management
;PWMR
:Participatory Water Management Rules (2014)
;rabi
:The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.
;RAC
:Regional Accounts Committee (BWDB) is inter alia responsible for the administration of payments for construction contracts
;RDPP
:Revised Development Project Proforma
;regulator
:the principal function of a regulator or drainage sluice is to allow the drainage of water from the polder into a peripheral river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry from the river channel into the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season), thus allowing freshwater to be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.
;reproductive work
:Labour that is associated with the private sphere and involves anything that people have to do for themselves that is not for the purposes of receiving a wage or producing goods. It includes cleaning and repairs, cooking, care, and fetching water and fuel. Reproductive work is also referred to as unpaid care work (UCW) or domestic work and care.
;Resource Farmers
:Resource Farmers (RF) are members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs). They are selected from the FFS groups to lead other members in organizing different useful collective actions and to maintain networks on behalf of the members. These RFs are given additional capacity building training to enhance their knowlege on simple record keeping and business skills.
;responsible development
:In BGP's context this refers to inclusive and sustainable development as transversal elements within BGP's approach, with inclusiveness meaning that also women and poor household benefit from BGP
;retention structure
:a structure that provides for the storage of runoff and is designed to maintain a permanent pool of water.
;RF
:Resource Farmers are farmer leaders whose specialist skills and experience which have been augmented through training funded by Blue Gold
;riverbank erosion
:the removal of materials in the river bank by water flowing in the river channel; also termed bank scour. In coastal polders, riverbank erosion - if unchecked - can result in breaches to polder embankments - where they are aligned close to rivers - and consequent loss of human and animal life as well as damage to farmland, crops, housing, and other infrastructure.
;RMG
:Ready Made Garments
;ROI
:Return on Investment
;RRI
:River Research Institute - a national public organisation under the Ministry of Water Resources, headquartered at Harukandi in Faridpur, with two technical directorates for hydraulic research and geotechnical research
;rural transformation
:A process of change in rural areas strengthening the local economies
;SAAO
;SAAOs
:Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;SAE
:Sub-Assistant Engineer (BWDB)
;saline intrusion
:The influx of sea water into an area that is not normally exposed to high salinity levels - for example, the inflow of seawater into a fresh water wetland or a fresh water aquifer.
;salinisation
:An increase in salt content within soils due to (a) 'primary salinity' in which natural processes cause fluctuations in soil salt content; or (b) 'secondary salinity' - which is of greater concern - where man-made or climate change affect natural soil salinity levels
;samity
;samities
:association or society
;SC
:South-Central hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 15,436 km2 including the Arial Khan river
;SDE
:Sub-Divisional Engineer (BWDB)
;SE
:Superintending Engineer (BWDB)
;secondary infrastructure
:Smaller channels connecting sub-catchments to main channels, sometimes with associated minor structures (e.g. small one vent sluice) which regulate flow between primary and secondary infrastructure. Secondary channels may also be called sakha-khal or branch-khals.
;sedimentation
:Sedimentation is the process by which fine particles of silt and clay suspended in river water settle out, for example when there is a drop in velocity.
;sediment transport
:sediment transport is the general term used for transport of silt, sand, gravel, boulders in rivers
;Seer
:unit of weight 0.93 kg, equal to 80 tola
;sharecropper
:a person who operates land owned by others under an agreed output and input sharing arrangement
;SIBDP 2100
:Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;siltation
:Typically undesirable increase in concentration and deposition of water-borne silt particles in a body of water.
;SIMT
:System Improvement and Management Transfer
;six step approach
:An approach in six steps to develop Water Management Groups developed by the previous IPSWAM project
;sluice
:A vertical gate to control the flow of water; also referred to as 'regulator'
;small farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 0.5 acres and 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1.0 ha)
;SO
:Section Officer (BWDB)
;SRP
:Systems Rehabilitation Project
;SSSFCDI
:Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project
;SSWMI
:Small-scale water management structure: an initiative to improve in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions in Blue Gold polders which was started in 2018. The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes, a pilot fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision from government or TA staff.
;SSWRDSP
:Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
;STW
:shallow tube wells
;sub-catchment
:Part of the catchment which is not directly connected to the regulator, and is hydrologically independent from other parts of the catchment.
;sustainable water resources management
:management actions required to address the changing demands on water resource systems both in the present and the long-term future so as to avoid system degradation
;SVC
:Strengthened Value Chain
;SW
:South-West hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 26,226 km2 including the Garai, Kumar and Bhairab-Kapatakhya rivers
;SWAIWRPMP
:Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project
;T Aman
:transplanted aman; a rice crop, with nurseries for seedlings started in June/July, for transplanting in July/August in areas liable to a maximum flood depth of about 50cm. Harvested in November/December. Local varieties are sensitive to daylength whereas modern varieties are insensitive or only slightly sensitive.
;T Aus
:transplanted aus; The distinction between a late-planted boro and early transplanted aus is academic since the same varieties may be used. Insensitive to daylength.
;T&C
:Training & Communications
;TA
:Technical Assistance
;tertiary infrastructure
:smaller channels connecting fields to secondary infrastructure, sometimes with associated small scale structures (gated pipe or box culverts) which regulate flow between secondary channels and tertiary channels. Tertiary channels may also be called sakha-khals or branch-khals.
;tidal flooding
:tidal flooding is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas during high tide events.
;tidal rivers
:river whose flow and level are influenced by tides
;TL
:Team Leader
;TNA
:Training Needs Assessment
;ToC
:Theory of Change, planning tool
;Tola
:unit of weight 11.7 g
;ToR
:Terms of Reference
;ToT
:Training of trainers
;TR
:Technical Report
;TSP
:Triple Supper Phosphate
;TTAP
:Technology Transfer for Agricultural Production (DAE)
;UAEO
:Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer (DAE)
;UAO
:Upazila Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;UMIC
:Upper Middle Income Country
;unified approach
:The Blue Gold approach which integrated the earlier 'four components' (ie social empowerment, water management infrastructure, agricultural technologies and farming-as-a-business) into a single work process
;Union
:Lowest tier of local government
;Union Parishad
:Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman
;UNO
:Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Upazila Executive Officer. Appointed head of the civil administration at Upazila level
;Unpaid care work (UCW) or Domestic work and care
:Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, and includes caring for children, elderly and sick people and domestic tasks as washing, cooking, shopping, cleaning and helping other families with their chores. Unpaid care work is reproductive work.
;UP
:Union Parishad
;Upazila Parishad chairman
:Elected official assigned as Chief Executive of the Upazila Parishad.
;Upazila
:Middle tier of local government, between Union and District
;Upazila Parishad
:Upazila Council, chaired by an elected Upazila Chairman. The civil administration at this level is headed by the UNO
;ustad
:An ustad is a village-level technological entrepeneur who runs a local business providing services and/or goods eg electrical, mechanical repairs; cast iron foundry etc)
;UZP
:Upazila Parishad
;value chain
:the set of activities that need to be performed in a specific production sector in order to deliver the end product to the consumer. Agricultural value chains typically include input supply, growing/production, processing and marketing/distribution.
;VC
:Value Chain
;VCA
:Value Chain Analysis
;VCD
:Value Chain Development
;VCS
:Value Chain Selection
;very lowland
:>300cm seasonal or perennial flooding, does not permit growing of B Aman in the monsoon season
;WAP
;WAPs
:Water Management Group Action Plan
;ward
:Union sub-unit. Each Union comprises of 9 wards. Union Parishad members are elected to represent their ward
;ward sobha
:Ward-level public meeting to consult the ward inhabitants in the planning process of the Union
;WARPO
:Water Resources Plan Organisation
;WASH
:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
;waterlogging
:Soil is regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted and anaerobic conditions prevail. In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser depth in the soil. Waterlogging of the soil stops air getting in. How near the water table must be to the surface for the ground to be classed as waterlogged, varies with the purpose in view. A crop's demand for freedom from waterlogging may vary between seasons of the year.
;water management
:human intervention in the capture, conveyance, utilisation and drainage of surface and/or ground water in a certain area: a process of social interaction between stakeholders around the issue of water control.
;Water Management Association
:In Blue Gold, the polder-level representative of WMGs, and signatory to an O&M Agreement with BWDB
;Water Management Cooperative Association
:The legal entity for a Water Management Organisation under registry by the Department of Cooperatives
;Water Management Federation
:The organization of local stakeholders at the apex level of the water resource project/sub-project/scheme
;water management for development
:The strapline of the Blue Gold Program for a transformative approach to smallholder agriculture which combines water infrastructure and locally-led initiatives for better water management, using modern agricultural technology and a business-orientation.
;Water Management Group
:The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.
;Water Management Group Action Plan
:A plan drafted by water management groups; initially as a formal requirement for registration; later on as a building block for a sluice catchment management plan
;Water Management Organizations
:The common name of organizations of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/sub-project/scheme. The concept WMO typically refers to WMGs and WMAs (and/or WMFs) together
;Water management partnership
:Regular cooperation between Water Management Organisations and partner organisations, such as Local Government Institutions, BWDB, DAE, community-based organisations and private sector organisations
;water management stakeholders
:Individuals (both men and women) whose livelihood is directly affected by a water management system, be it positively or negatively.
;water productivity
:the amount of output (such as crops) produced per unit water
;WB
:World Bank
;WBC
:Women’s Business Centre
;WEE
:Women’s Economic Empowerment
;WF
:WorldFish (CGIAR)
;WMA
;WMAs
:Water Management Association
;WMCA
:Water Management Cooperative Association
;WMF
:Water Management Federation
;WMG
;WMGs
:Water Management Group
;WMIP
:Water Management Improvement Project (WB-funded)
;WMKIP
:Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program - starting in December 2017 and led by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) with the aim of contributing to the long term development goals for the Southern Coastal Region as well as to objectives of the Blue Gold Program through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research. https://www.deltares.nl/en/news/developing-water-management-innovations-local-communities-bangladesh/
;WMO
;WMOs
:Water Management Organisation
;women's economic empowerment (WEE)
:Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Women's economic empowerment increases women's access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
;women's empowerment
:The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.
;women's physical empowerment
:The right of women to safety and security, to access to proper health care and reproductive health services, and the ability to resist violence. This also includes access to adequate nutrition and WASH facilities and the absence of physical overburdening.
;women's political empowerment
:The capacity of women to organize one self and others, to take part in society and its democratic processes, to make one's voice heard and have the opportunity to influence decision-making. This applies to all levels, from local level (such as WMOs) to national level.
;women's socio-cultural empowerment
:The capacity of women to have their own independent identity, a positive self-image and social status as an individual and as a group.
;WMPS
:Water Management Problem Score
;WRM
:Water Resource Management
;WUR
:Wageningen University and Research Centre
;XEN
:Executive Engineer (BWDB)
;ZSE
:Zonal Socio-Economist - a social scientist working in the technical assistance (TA) team responsible for supervising activities in a group of polders.

13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt

2021-12-19T06:00:20Z

Bigblue: /* Nature of Works */

This chapter describes the [[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt#Analysis of Progress|progress of construction]] over the eight construction seasons from 2013/14 to 2020/21, analyses the [[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt#Nature of Works|nature of the works]] and the [[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt#Contractors|contractors,]] the contracting modalities, makes some general observations on [[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt#Construction quality|construction quality]], and draws the lessons learnt.

Six BWDB divisions in three Circles are responsible for tendering, the award of contracts and the day-to-day monitoring and quality control of the works:
{| class="wikitable"
!Zone
!Circle
!Division
|-
!South-West
|Khulna O&M
|Satkhira O&M-2
|-
!
|Jashore O&M
|Khulna O&M-1
|-
!
|Khulna O&M
|Khulna O&M-2
|-
!South
|Patuakhali WD
|Patuakhali O&M
|-
!
|
|Barguna O&M
|-
!
|
|Kalapara
|}

A map of the Circles and Divisions is provided [[:File:BWDB Circles, Divisions, BGP polders, Roads.pdf|here]].

The role of the Technical Assistance (TA) team during construction is to assist in occasional monitoring and quality control of implementation works, to carry out site checks and surveys prior to certifying payments, and to process all bills submitted by BWDB field offices for reimbursement by EKN.

== Analysis of Progress ==
Table 13.1 sets out the quantity and value of certified works for each of the construction seasons against each of the RDPP budget heads.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 13.1 Expenditure by construction season against RDPP Budget Heads
! colspan="1" rowspan="3" |SI. No
! colspan="1" rowspan="3" |Work Items
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2013/14
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2014/15
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2015/16
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2016/17
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2017/18
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2018/19
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2019/20
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |FY 2020/21
! colspan="4" |FY 2021/22
to end-Sep 2021
!
!
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |TOTALcost adj RDPP
(as revised September 2020)
|-
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! rowspan="2" |Qty
(Full)
! rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! rowspan="2" |Total Cost
!
!
!
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |%age
|-
!
!Cum Total
!
|-
!1
!Re-sectioning of Embankment (km)
|2.80
|63.42
|220.88
|68.93
|82.98
|947.49
|89.31
|27.25
|781.83
|45.80
|44.35
|804.39
|57.86
|30.61
|778.8
|51.82
|13.76
|565.11
|8.48
|
|79.83
|5.12
|
|12.37
|
|
|
|
|4,190.70
|
|330.12
|4,232.67
|99%
|-
!2
!Retired Embankment (km)
|
|0.60
|0.99
|0.60
|2.24
|190.97
|2.24
|1.47
|123.90
|
|1.08
|24.57
|1.71
|
|168.95
|0.40
|1.31
|70.32
|9.86
|
|305.04
|5.21
|
|170.01
|0.33
|
|19.47
|
|1,074.22
|
|20.34
|1,252.01
|86%
|-
!3
!Re-excavation of khals (km)
|6.63
|0.55
|47.27
|21.36
|17.42
|365.30
|21.59
|33.35
|267.33
|50.14
|33.04
|798.57
|78.30
|30.10
|924.37
|152.13
|47.25
|2,692.27
|82.07
|24.02
|1,237.74
|106.98
|2.29
|1,156.72
|2.29
|
|7.94
|
|7,497.51
|
|521.48
|8,675.96
|86%
|-
!4
!Repair of Regulator/Sluice with gate (nos.)
|
|
| -
|2
|5
|27.98
|19
|27
|664.81
|27
|12
|610.02
|27
|3
|610.69
|26
|24
|605.70
|55
|5
|1,336.47
|14
|
|551.19
|6
|
|235.10
|
|4,641.96
|
|176
|5,025.24
|92%
|-
!5
!Repair of Inlets/Outlets (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|4
|20.42
|139
|49
|207.12
|72
|
|41.70
|5
| -
|4.91
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| -
|2
|
|4.61
|
|
|
|
|278.76
|
|218
|276.03
|101%
|-
!6
!Construction of Drainage Regulator/ Sluice (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|2
|88.29
|
|7
|464.99
|3
|5
|480.74
|3
|12
|1,476.63
|6
|13
|3,279.51
|11
|6
|1,104.53
|6
|
|116.01
|
|7,010.71
|
|29
|7,220.47
|97%
|-
!7
!Construction of Drainage Outlet (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
|
|
| -
| -
|
| 7
| 286.08
| 5
| 11
| 782.25
|10
|2
|207.97
|2
|
|160.65
|
|1,436.95
|
|17
|1,480
|97%
|-
!8
!Construction of Irrigation Inlet (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|2
|
| 54.59
|
| -
| -
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|54.59
|
|8
|192
|28%
|-
!9
!Construction of culvert (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| 3.42
|6
|
|126.13
| -
|1
|12.86
|2
|
|34.02
|
|
|7.56
|
|183.99
|
|4
|302
|61%
|-
!10
!Pump shed (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
|
| -
| -
|3
|8.49
|3
|1
|26.24
|1
|
|3.00
|
|
|
|
|37.73
|
|6
|48.43
|78%
|-
!11
!Low cost Bank Protection work (km)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
|
|19.21
|0.74
|0.51
|119.81
|0.80
|0.09
|159.49
|0.61
|
|87.02
|
|
|
|
|385.53
|
|LS
|620
|62%
|-
!12
!Rehabilitation of Interior Dike (km)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
|0.60
| -
|32.03
|3.95
|12.25
|213.75
|17.69
|
|124.37
|
|
|
|
|370.15
|
|21
|419.36
|88%
|-
!13
!Closure/ Cross-bundh (km)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
| -
| -
| -
| 0.14
|20.58
| -
| -
| -
|
|
|
|0.14
|
|0.53
|
|21.11
|
|LS
|20
|106%
|-
!14
!Supply of Drain pipe (m)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| -
|4,168
|1,314
|139.62
|4,609.34
|
|87.86
|198
|
|5.17
|
|232.65
|
|9,000
|256
|91%
|-
!15
!Flood damage repair / Breach Closing
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
|0.72
|0.12
|104.35
|13.58
|8.59
|482.22
|10.78
|
|161.09
|0.40
|
|0.22
|
|747.88
|
|LS
|800
|93%
|-
!16
!GoB O&M
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|1.19
|2.18
|173.28
|10.27
|0.03
|265.59
|0.44
|
|28.98
|
|
|35.44
|
|
|18.35
|
|521.64
|
|LS
|600
|87%
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="1" |Total
!
!
!269.14
!
!
!1,552.16
!
!
!2,133.28
!
!
!2,798.82
!
!
!3,164.38
!
!
!6,373.09
!
!
!8,084.00
!
!
!3,740.20
!
!
!571.00
!
!28,686.08
!
!
!31,420
!91%
|}
In 2019/20, the most active construction season (as judged by the value of certified payments), there were a total of 332 active contracts: comprising 167 new contracts which started in the season and 165 contracts for carried-over works. Within the total of 332, there were 64 contracts for miscellaneous works (ie low cost bank protection, rehabilitation of interior dykes, flood damage repair, etc). The 167 new contracts included 87 for earthworks (or 11% of the total number of earthworks contracts awarded), 30 for the rehabilitation of structures (25% of the total number of the contracts awarded for the rehabilitation of structures) and 9 for the construction of new structures (15% of the total number of the contracts awarded for new structures).

Table 13.2 sets out the cumulative quantity and value of certified works for each of the construction seasons against each of the RDPP budget heads.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 13.2 Cumulative Expenditure against RDPP Budget Heads
! colspan="1" rowspan="3" |SI. No
! colspan="1" rowspan="3" |Work Items
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2014
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2015
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2016
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2017
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2018
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2019
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2020
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |Comulative progress
upto June 2021
! colspan="3" |Cumulative Progress
to end-Sep 2021
!
! colspan="3" rowspan="1" |TOTAL cost adj RDPP
(as revised September 2020)
|-
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty

(Full)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Total Cost
! rowspan="2" |Qty
(Full)
! rowspan="2" |Qty (Part)
! rowspan="2" |Total Cost
!
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Qty
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |Cost
! colspan="1" rowspan="2" |%age
|-
!
|-
!1
!Re-sectioning of Embankment (km)
|2.80
|63.42
|220.88
|71.73
|82.98
|1,168.37
|161.04
|27.25
|1,950.20
|206.84
|44.35
|2,754.59
|264.70
|30.61
|3,533.39
|316.52
|13.76
|4,098.50
|325.00
|
|4,178.33
|330.12
|
|4,190.70
|330.12
|
|4,190.70
|
|330
|4,233
|99%
|-
!2
!Retired Embankment (km)
|
|0.60
|0.99
|0.60
|2.24
|191.96
|2.84
|1.47
|315.86
|2.84
|1.08
|340.43
|4.55
|
|509.38
|4.95
|1.31
|579.70
|14.81
|
|884.74
|20.01
|
|1,054.75
|20.34
|
|1,074.22
|
|21
|1,252
|86%
|-
!3
!Re-excavation of khals (km)
|6.63
|0.55
|47.27
|27.98
|17.42
|412.57
|49.57
|33.35
|679.90
|99.71
|33.04
|1,478.47
|178.01
|30.10
|2,402.84
|330.14
|47.25
|5,095.11
|412.21
|24.02
|6,332.85
|519.19
|2.29
|7,489.57
|521.48
|
|7,497.51
|
|545
|8,676
|86%
|-
!4
!Repair of Regulator/Sluice with gate (nos.)
|
|
| -
|2
|5
|27.98
|21
|27
|692.79
|48
|12
|1,302.81
|75
|3
|1,913.50
|101
|24
|2,519.20
|156
|5
|3,855.67
|170
|
|4,406.86
|176
|
|4,641.96
|
|186
|5,025
|92%
|-
!5
!Repair of Inlets/Outlets (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|4
|20.42
|139
|49
|227.54
|211
|
|269.24
|216
| -
|274.15
|216
| -
|274.15
|216
|
|274.15
|218
|
|278.56
|218
|
|278.76
|
|235
|276
|101%
|-
!6
!Construction of Drainage Regulator/ Sluice (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|2
|88.29
|
|7
|553.28
|3
|5
|1,034.02
|6
|12
|2,510.65
|12
|13
|5,790.17
|23
|6
|6,894.70
|29
|
|7,010.71
|
|31
|7,220
|97%
|-
!7
!Construction of Drainage Outlet (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
|
|
| -
|
|
| 7
|286.08
|5
| 11
|1,068.33
|15
|2
|1,276.30
|17
|
|1,436.95
|
|8
|192
|97%
|-
!8
!Construction of Irrigation Inlet (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|2
|
| 54.59
| 2
| -
| 54.59
| 2
|
|54.59
|2
|
|54.59
|2
|
|54.59
|2
|
|54.59
|
|17
|1,480
|28%
|-
!9
!Construction of culvert (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| 3.42
|6
|
|129.55
|6
|1
|142.41
|8
|
|176.43
|8
|
|183.99
|
|32
|302
|61%
|-
!10
!Pump shed (nos.)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
|
| -
| -
|3
|8.49
|3
|1
|34.73
|4
|
|37.73
|4
|
|37.73
|
|6
|48
|78%
|-
!11
!Low cost Bank Protection work (km)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
|
|19.21
|0.74
|0.51
|139.02
|1.54
|0.09
|298.51
|2.15
|
|385.53
|2.15
|
|385.53
|
|LS
|620
|62%
|-
!12
!Rehabilitation of Interior Dike (km)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
|0.60
| -
|32.03
|4.55
|12.25
|245.78
|22.23
|
|370.15
|22.23
|
|370.15
|
|21
|419
|88%
|-
!13
!Closure/ Cross-budh (km)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
| -
| -
|
| 0.14
|20.58
|
| -
|20.58
|
|
|20.58
|0.14
|
|21.11
|
|LS
|20
|106%
|-
!14
!Supply of Drain pipe (m)
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| -
|4,168
|1,314
|139.62
|8,777
|
|227.48
|8,975
|
|232.65
|
|9,000
|256
|91%
|-
!15
!Flood damage repair / Breach Closing
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
|0.720
|0.12
|104.35
|14.30
|8.59
|586.57
|25.09
|
|747.66
|25.49
|
|747.88
|
|LS
|800
|93%
|-
!16
!GoB O&M
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|
|
| -
|1.19
|2.18
|173.28
|11.46
|0.03
|438.87
|11.89
|
|467.85
|11.89
|
|503.29
|11.89
|
|521.64
|
|LS
|600
|87%
|-
!
!Re-excavation of ponds
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="1" |Total
!
!
!269.14
!
!
!1,821.30
!
!
!3,954.58
!
!
!6,753.40
!
!
!9,917.78
!
!
!16,290.87
!
!
!24,374.87
!
!
!28,115.08
!
!
!28,686.08
!
!
!31,420
!91%
|}
The tables show the relatively slow start to the construction effort. The five-year duration assumed in the original DPP would have meant an average rate of implementation of BDT 5,350 lakh per annum (ie BDT 21,390 lakh over an effective four-year period<ref group="Notes">The ‘effective four-year period’ is recognition that a project start date in March 2013 does not allow the development of contracts for award in the first construction season (from January to June 2013).</ref>). By the end of the construction season in FY 2015/16 – just over half-way through the original 69 month project period – only 18% (a cumulative value of BDT 3,954 lakh against a total provision of BDT 21,390 lakh in the DPP of May 2013) had been disbursed, and Blue Gold was classified by MoWR/BWDB as a “sick project”.

To compensate for the numerous vacancies within the BWDB Division and Design Offices, the 2016 Annual Review Mission (Recommendation 1.1) allocated a € 500,000 budget for additional resources to BWDB. The fund was channelled through the TA team and used for additional junior professional staff in the BWDB Design Circles, field and technical support staff in Khulna and Patuakhali, and the appointment of survey firms to carry out surveys and design data collection under contract to the Executive Engineer of the responsible BWDB Division.

'''Design staff:''' Four junior design engineers were identified and selected by BWDB and subsequently contracted through the TA Team in April 2017 and appointed to Design Circles 2 and 5 in BWDB’s Green Road complex – and provided with computers and office furniture. In October 2017, a junior mechanical engineer for ME Khulna was appointed. These staff were recruited through the TA team but were accountable to BWDB line managers.

'''Survey and design data collection (SDDC):''' After appreciating the range of support likely to be required by BWDB if survey teams were recruited locally (ie recruitment of trained staff, provision of survey equipment, transport, field allowances etc), and the complexity of managing and obtaining transparent financing procedures, preference was instead given to contracting local survey firms to conduct survey and design data collection. Survey contracts were therefore outsourced to local service companies instead of hiring additional staff.

'''Procurement and quality control staff:''' Additional staff have yet to be appointed in field offices in field offices for the preparation of estimates and tendering, and quality control. With respect to estimates and tendering, there was understandable reluctance within BWDB about providing confidential and sensitive information on prices and tendering procedures to part-time staff – for fear of collusion with contractors.

These measures and the efforts of the incoming BWDB Program Coordinating Director (who started in March 2016) resulted in a steady increase in the construction during FY 2017/18 followed by significant year-on-year increases in both FY 2018/19 and FY 2019/20.<ref group="Notes">The Increase in FY 2018/19 over FY 2017/18 was 100%+ (BDT 6,373 lakh cf BDT 3,164 lakh) followed by a 25% increase from FY 2019/20 over FY 2018/19 (BDT 8,084 lakh cf BDT 6,373 lakh).</ref>

== Nature of Works ==
Blue Gold infrastructure works comprise simple, relatively low-value, but scattered construction activities for which expertise in earthworks and reinforced concrete structures is required, as well as experience in working in, and alongside, tidal rivers.

Over the eight-year lifetime of Blue Gold (2013 to 2021), some 1,157 contracts have been awarded (excluding those awarded for GoB O&M works) for the fifteen main work items defined in RDPP in Table 12.1 as well as to BWDB's Mechanical Engineering (ME) Division.

For each of the fifteen main RDPP work items, Table 13.3 presents the numbers and values of contracts awarded to Labour Contracting Societies (LCSs) and to general contractors.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 13.3 Number and Values of Infrastructure Contracts Awarded under Blue Gold
! rowspan="3" |SI. No
! rowspan="3" |Work Items
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Re- Adjustment (approved 1 September 2020)
! colspan="3" |No. of Contracts
! colspan="6" |Contract Value (BDT lakh)
|-
! rowspan="2" |LCS
! rowspan="2" |Contractor
! rowspan="2" |TOTAL
! colspan="3" |LCS
! colspan="3" |Contractor
|-
!Quantity
!Cost (BDT lakh)
!Min
!Max
!Avg
!Min
!Max
!Avg
|-
!1
!Re-sectioning of Embankment (km)
|330.13
|4,233
|228
|104
|332
|3.0
|13.7
|7.7
|4.8
|132.3
|28.2
|-
!2
!Retired Embankment (km)
|20.58
|1,252
|14
|33
|47
|7.3
|9.9
|8.9
|2.8
|259.5
|35.1
|-
!3
!Re-excavation of khals (km)
|545.0
|8,676
|218
|228
|446
|4.2
|14.0
|7.6
|3.4
|332.3
|29.8
|-
!4
!Repair of Regulator/Sluice with gate (nos.)
|186
|5,025
|
|108
|108
|
|
|
|1.7
|95.9
|24.2
|-
!5
!Repair of Inlets/Outlets (nos.)
|235
|276
|
|13
|13
|
|
|
|1.6
|43.8
|15.8
|-
!6
!Construction of Drainage Regulator/ Sluice (nos.)
|31
|7,220
|
|29
|29
|
|
|
|101.9
|515.8
|241.7
|-
!7
!Construction Irrigation inlet (nos.)
|8
|192
|
|2
|2
|
|
|
|26.7
|28.8
|27.7
|-
!8
!Construction of Drainage Outlet (nos.)
|17
|1,480
|
|17
|17
|
|
|
|52.6
|139.6
|86.1
|-
!9
!Construction of culvert (nos.)
|32
|302
|
|8
|8
|
|
|
|14.3
|28.6
|23.0
|-
!10
!Pump shed (nos.)
|6
|48
|
|4
|4
|
|
|
|9.3
|9.7
|9.5
|-
!11
!Low cost Bank Protection work (km)
|LS
|620
|
|24
|24
|
|
|
|2.3
|40.5
|16.7
|-
!12
!Rehabilitation of Interior Dike (km)
|21.02
|419
|
|17
|17
|
|
|
|2.3
|63.9
|24.5
|-
!13
!Closure/ Cross-budh (km)
|LS
|20
|
|1
|1
|
|
|
|21.4
|21.4
|21.4
|-
!14
!Supply of Drain pipe (m)
|9,000
|256
|
|13
|13
|
|
|
|7.8
|37.2
|16.7
|-
!15
!Flood damage repair / Breach Closing
|LS
|800
|
|49
|49
|
|
|
|0.8
|76.5
|16.7
|-
!
!ME Works
|
|
|
|47
|47
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
!
!31,420
!460
!697
!1,157
!
!
!
!
!
!
|}
A summary of the information in Table 13.3 is provided below in Table 13.4.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table 13.4 Summary of Contracts Awarded'''
!Grouping
!Work Items

(Ref Table 12.1)
!No. of contracts
|-
!Earthworks
|1,2, 3,
|825: 460 LCSs, 365 contractors
|-
!Rehabilitation of structures
|4, 5
|121
|-
!New structures
|6, 7, 8, 9, 10
|60
|-
!Others
|11, 12, 13, 14, 15
|151 (including ME works)
|-
!TOTAL
|
|1,157
|}

=== Earthworks ===
The scope of earthworks contracts includes the re-sectioning of embankments (Item 1), the construction of retired embankments (Item 2) and the re-excavation of khals (Item 3).

For earthworks, the value of contract varies depending on whether it is awarded to a contractor or a Labour Contracting Society (LCS). The value of earthworks contracts awarded to a contractor varied between BDT 2.8 lakh (for a retired embankment) and BDT 332.3 lakh (for re-excavation of khals). The value of an earthworks contract awarded to an LCS varied from BDT 3.0 lakh (for re-sectioning of an embankment) to BDT 14.0 lakh (for re-excavation of a khal).

The total value of the 460 earthworks contracts awarded to LCSs amounted to BDT 3,532 lakh, which was just under 25% of the total value of 825 earthworks contracts of BDT 14,447 lakh.

=== Structures – Rehabilitation ===
The description ‘rehabilitation of structures’ covers contracts for the repair of regulators (Item 4), and the repair of outlets and inlets (Item 5). The analysis of 120 repair contracts is provided in Table 13.5.

Table 13.5 Analysis of Contracts for Repair of Structures
{| class="wikitable"
|
|
|
| colspan="3" |Contract Value (BDT lakh)
|-
|Item
|No. of contracts
|No of structures
|Max
|Min
|Avg
|-
|4. Repair of regulator
|108
|148
|95.91
|1.70
|24.95
|-
|5(a) Repair of outlet
|5
|20
|36.74
|1.61
|23.26
|-
|5(b) Repair of inlet
|8
|172
|43.78
|3.08
|20.93
|-
|
|121
|340
|
|
|24.13
|}
Table 13.5 shows that the value of contracts for the rehabilitation of existing structures varies from an average of BDT 24.95 lakh for the repair of a regulator or sluice structure (based on 108 contracts for 148 structures) to an average of BDT 23.26 lakh for the repair of an outlet (based on 5 contracts for 20 structures) and an average of BDT 20.93 lakh for the repair of an outlet (based on 8 contracts for 172 structures).

=== Structures - New ===
The description ‘new structures’ covers contracts for the construction of regulators (Item 6), irrigation inlets (Item 7) and drainage outlets (Item 8), construction of culverts (Item 9), as well as the erection of pump sheds (Item 10).

The purpose of a regulator or drainage sluice is principally to allow the drainage of water from the polder into the tidal river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry to the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season) so that water can be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.

An irrigation inlet or flushing sluice is a single barrelled 0.6m diameter piped structure provided with a lift gate on the country-side and a flap gate on the river-side. The purpose of the inlet is to allow freshwater to enter the polder during the monsoon period when there is freshwater in the tidal river, for storage for irrigation purposes during the dry season. Only two inlets were constructed under Blue Gold.

A drainage outlet comprises a single barrelled box culvert of one of three dimensions (0.6 x 0.9, 0.9 x 1.2, and 1.2 x 1.2m) and provided with lift gate on the country-side and a flap gate on the river-side. There is no provision for a frame to allow the flap gate to be raised to admit freshwater from the river.

A typical contract for the construction of a new regulator involves the closure of the area of works from tidal river/khal and arrangements for the pumping out of water, excavation for the structural foundation, sand piling across the foundation, construction of the reinforced concrete structure, and – after the installation of gates and associated equipment by a nominated contractor – the removal of the cross-bundhs and the commissioning and handing over of the completed structure to the BWDB Executive Engineer. The installation of gates is the responsibility of the BWDB’s Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department (see below).

Because a contract for a new regulator (for example) is in one location, it can be readily managed. But there are many technical complexities to be managed – the variable nature of ground conditions during excavation, and whilst excavations remain open, the presence of unrecorded abandoned structures below original ground level, heavy inflows into the excavation due to monsoonal rainfall, tidal river conditions as well as the threat of breaches to the cross-bundhs due to river erosion or cyclonic storms.

From an analysis of the 29 contracts awarded for new sluices, Table 13.6 presents the contract values against the number of vents. The first contracts were awarded in 2015/16 and the most recent in 2020/21, so the comparison is indicative as no account is taken of annual increases in the BWDB schedule of rates.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table 13.6 Contract Values for Regulators'''
|-
!
!
! colspan="3" |Contract Value

(BDT lakh)
|-
!Size
!No
!Max
!Min
!Avg
|-
!4-V
|1
|515.83
|515.83
|515.83
|-
!3-V
|6
|430.09
|225.21
|332.58
|-
!2-V
|6
|285.83
|159.64
|245.10
|-
!1-V
|16
|299.00
|101.89
|191.9
|}
From an analysis of 17 contracts awarded for drainage outlets (as of end-November 2020), Table 13.7 presents the contract values against the size of the box culvert. The first contracts were awarded in 2018/19 and the most recent in 2019/20, so the comparison is indicative as no account is taken of annual increases in the BWDB schedule of rates.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table 13.7 Contract Values for Drainage Outlets'''
|-
|
|
! colspan="3" |Contract Value

(BDT lakh)
|-
!Size (m)
!No
!Max
!Min
!Avg
|-
|0.6 x 0.9
|5
|60.73
|52.59
|54.77
|-
|0.9 x 1.2
|9
|139.55
|65.93
|106.70
|-
|1.2 x 1.2
|3
|92.22
|61.81
|76.56
|}
For the smaller structures:
* Average value of the 2 contracts awarded for 0.6m diameter flushing inlets was BDT 27.7 lakh
* Average value of the 8 contracts awarded for the construction of culverts was BDT 23 lakh
* Average value of the 4 contracts awarded for the construction of pump sheds was BDT 9.5 lakh.

=== Gates ===
The manufacture and installation of gates is contracted separately to BWDB’s Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department.

For all new structures, the installation of gates requires close coordination with the civil engineering contractor since gates are installed in dry conditions ie when earth bundhs are in position. Gates can only be manufactured when measurements have been taken after the construction of the regulator. There is therefore a limited window for the ME Department to survey, design, manufacture and instal the gates after the completion of the reinforced concrete regulator structure and before the contractor finalises the works for handover to BWDB/WMA.

== Contractors ==

=== General Contractors ===
BWDB adheres to the Public Procurement Act 2006 and Public Procurement Rules 2008 in identifying contractors, preparing tenders and awarding contracts. For Blue Gold contracts, the Open Tendering Method (OTM) is the preferred modality and this specifically excludes the process of pre-qualification. Tenders are therefore invited from all eligible Tenderers through public advertisement. The eligibility criteria from a typical tender data sheet (TDS) are as follows:

'''''15 Experience Criteria:''' Tenderers shall have the following minimum level of construction experience to qualify for the performance of the Works under the Contract:''

''(a) a minimum number of years of general experience in the construction of works as Prime Contractor or Subcontractor or Management Contractor as specified in the TDS; and''

''(b) specific experience as a Prime Contractor or Subcontractor or Management Contractor in construction works of a nature, complexity and methods/construction technology similar to the proposed Works in at least a number of contract(s) and of a minimum value over the period, as specified in the TDS.''

''(c) The minimum number of years of general experience of the Tenderer in the construction works as Prime Contractor or Subcontractor or Management Contractor shall be 3 (three) years.''

''(d) The minimum specific experience as a Prime Contractor or Subcontractor or Management Contractor in construction works of at least 1 (one) contract(s) of similar nature (repair/re-sectioning/construction of embankment), complexity and methods/construction technology successfully completed within the last 3 (three) years, each with the value specified in the TDS [years counting backward from the date of publication of IFT in the e-gp website/newspaper]''

'''''16. Financial Criteria:''' Tenderers shall have the following minimum level of financial capacity to qualify for the performance of the Works under the Contract:''

''(a) Average annual construction turnover i.e total certified payments received for contracts in progress or completed under public sector for a period as stated under ITT Sub Clause 16.1(a), substantiated by Statement(s) of Receipts, from any scheduled Bank of Bangladesh, issued not earlier than twenty-eight (28) days prior to the day of the original deadline for submission of Tenders;''

''(b) Availability of minimum liquid assets i.e. working capital or credit line(s) from any Scheduled Bank, net of other contractual commitments of the amount specified in the TDS;''

''(c) Satisfactory resolution of all claims, arbitrations or other litigation cases and shall not have serious negative impact on the financial capacity of Tenderer.''

''(d) The required average annual construction turnover shall be greater than the amount specified in the TDS over the last 3 (three) years. [years counting backward from the date of publication of IFT in the e-gp website/newspaper]''

''(e) The minimum amount of liquid assets or working capital or credit facilities of the Tenderer shall be as specified in the TDS. Note: The tenderer shall be submitted liquid asset by bank credit facilities as STD prescribed form is provided in Section 7 (General Specifications).''

''(f) Satisfactory resolution of all claims, arbitrations or other litigation cases and shall not have serious negative impact on the financial capacity of Tenderer.''

'''''17. Personnel Capacity:''' Tenderers shall have the minimum level of personnel capacity to qualify for the performance of the Works under the Contract consisting of a Construction Project Manager, Engineers, and other key staff with qualifications and experience as specified in the TDS:''

# ''Project Manager (B.Sc. in Civil Eng) 5 years’ total experience, 3 years’ experience with similar works''
# ''Site Engineer (Diploma in Civil Eng) 10 years’ total experience, 5 years’ experience with similar works''
# ''Site Supervisor (Diploma in Civil Eng) 5 years’ total experience, 3 years’ experience with similar works''

'''''18. Equipment Capacity:''' Tenderers shall own suitable equipment and other physical facilities or have proven access through contractual arrangement to hire or lease such equipment or facilities for the desired period, where necessary or have assured access through lease, hire, or other such method, of the essential equipment, in full working order, as specified in the TDS. Tenderer shall own or have proven access to hire or lease of the major construction equipment, in full working order as follows:''

''1 Levelling Machine with Staff 1 nos''

''2 Tape (30m) 2 nos''

=== Labour Contracting Societies<ref group="Notes">Refer to the Blue Gold Program report,”Impact of LCS Work on Poverty Reduction and Women’s Empowerment” by Dr Sharmind Neelormi (May 2020) and to LLR Section F Chapter 24.2 for a thorough presentation of the role of LCSs. </ref> ===
A Labour Contracting Society (LCS) is a group of disadvantaged rural people who are organised to carry out small-scale earthworks. Since the early-1980s, LCS construction activities have provided an important source of income for large numbers of rural poor men and women in Bangladesh. The inclusion of LCSs in development projects has aimed to provide some of the poorest households, particularly women from these households, with an income that could set them on a pathway out of poverty.

Recent legislation has formalised contracting arrangements for LCSs. To stimulate the engagement of the local poor in the construction and maintenance of small-scale earthworks, the Public Procurement Act 2006, and Public Procurement Rules 2008, endorsed ‘Direct Contracts’ with Labour Contracting Societies (LCSs) consisting of a group of landless men and/or women from the local community ‘under Direct Procurement Method’. The aim is to bypass traditional modes of contracting so that poorer members of the community can directly benefit from development projects.

BWDB’s Participatory Water Management Rules of 2014 (PWMR 2014)<ref group="Notes">Refer to Chapter Six, Clauses 43 and 44 PWMR 2014</ref> set out the mechanisms for the formation of LCSs by WMGs and the contractual arrangements. PWMR 2014 Clause 44.1 stipulates that ‘at least 25 percent of the earthwork of a project should be given to related WMGs which will implement the earthwork through LCSs’. In Blue Gold, this was increased to 50%.<ref group="Notes">Part B Clause 26 DPP (May 2013) </ref>

Under PWMR 2014 Clause 44, BWDB contracts a WMG to execute the earthwork, and the WMG in turn enters into a contract with an LCS. However, the WMG is responsible to BWDB for the proper execution of the earthworks. Payments for the earthwork are made in three equal instalments to the bank account of the WMG, each with a 10% deduction for the security deposit: first instalment, after the start of work; second, on completion of 50% of the work; and the third and final instalment, after completion of all works. The WMG is entitled to deduct 5% from the bills as a management fee. The security deposit is disbursed six months after the completion of work if any defects have been made good. Because of the transient nature of the LCSs, there is often some uncertainty as to whether this payment reaches individual LCS members.

Under the PWMR 2014 processes, BWDB has no direct dealings with the LCSs. Prior to PWMR 2014, LCSs were directly contracted by BWDB.

=== BWDB Mechanical Engineering Department ===
For Blue Gold, all gates and ancillary items are fabricated and installed by BWDB’s Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department. ME workshops in Tejgaon (for Patuakhali O&M, Barguna O&M and Kalapara) and in Khulna (for Khulna O&M-1, Khulna O&M-2 and Satkhira O&M-2) are assigned to carry out the manufacture and installation of the gates.

== Construction quality ==
This section comments on the quality of construction of earthworks, repair of structures, new structures and the gates installed in repaired and new structures.

=== Earthworks ===
Earthworks constructed in the coastal zone are generally of poor quality, and particularly vulnerable to settlement and gullying by rain before the turfing, and river erosion immediately after construction especially if there has been no compaction.

For Blue Gold earthworks, BWDB initially adopted an arrangement in which an allowance of 10% surcharge above crest design level was made to allow for consolidation settlement. Thus, an additional quantity of earthwork was provided in lieu of compaction. This arrangement was withdrawn in 2017 by the BWDB Task Force and replaced by BWDB’s Schedule of Rates Item Code 16-140 which included for placing earth in layers, breaking down of clods and manual ramming of earthwork with a 7kg hammer.<ref group="Notes">Item Code 16-140 Earth work by manual labour in re-sectioning of embankment manually compacted by 7kg iron rammer to avoid any air pockets in clayey soil and all lifts including throwing the spoils to profile in layers not exceeding 150mm thickness with clod breaking to a max size of 100mm</ref> This method has been found to be ineffective in coastal areas where the fill material has a high moisture content and is almost impossible to compact if it hasn’t been first laid out to dry. The increasing use of mechanical excavators for earthworks has resulted in large clods of earth placed in layers which are many more times the 150mm thickness of layers specified in Item Code 16-140, and this results – conversely – in embankments constructed using mechanical equipment being of even lower density than those prepared by manual labour.

If there is no compaction during construction, the resultant embankments are particularly susceptible to rainfall and erosion damage until “natural consolidation” takes place. Because there is no compaction, the settlement is non-uniform, and a certain amount of compensatory filling should be expected along embankment sections which settle below the design level. Embankments constructed without compaction should be subject to repair by contractors before final survey to check that the design crest level has been achieved along its full length before acceptance by BWDB and the WMG.

=== Earthworks – Alternative Modalities ===
In order to address the concerns about earthwork compaction, consideration could be given to including:

(a) Multi-year earthworks contracts so that consolidation settlement of earthworks during monsoon is made up to design levels in the subsequent construction season before final payment is made. However, Field XENs consider that there is no clear provision in the Public Procurement Rules 2008 (PPR 2008) for such multi-year contracts specifying yearly progress for earthwork, and therefore, is difficult to enforce in the field. In practice, however, most Blue Gold earthwork contracts are not completed in a single season and are inevitably extended – so they are in fact “unofficial multi-year contracts”.

(b) “Build, operate and transfer“ (BOT) contracts in which the contractor would be responsible for all works completed under the contract - for maintenance, and for any breach or damage to the embankment or structures – for a period of (say) five years.

=== Structures - Rehabilitation ===
The rehabilitation of structures can include repairs to the reinforced concrete structure, the railing and posts, head wall and abutment pier, to the concrete block revetment and to the gates (see below). For repairs to the concrete structure, the durability of the repair can be affected by the quality of the original concrete work to which the new work is bonded.

The successful replacement of gates in an existing structure requires careful investigation and measurement, ensuring that all silt is removed from the bed slab before the dimensions of the gates are determined, and that the installed gates are checked for full and complete closure. Where gates are to be replaced by ME Department without a civil contractor, experience has shown that detailed investigations required by the contractor before manufacture of the gate can reveal complexities which require assistance from a civil engineering contractor - for instance, the construction of cross-bundhs so that work on the sluice or regulator can be done in the dry, to remove silt from the invert base slab to ensure an effective gate seal, and to fix the gate frame securely into the concrete structure (for more on this, see below under ‘Gates’.)

=== Structures - New ===
New structures discussed below are regulators/drainage sluices, flushing inlets and drainage outlets.

===== ''New Regulators/Sluices (Item 6)'' =====
An analysis of construction records for new regulators shows that the length of construction is not related to size of structure (ie number of vents). The length of contract (in construction seasons) for 29 regulators is presented in Table 13.8 below. As can be seen from the table, it is possible for the largest 4-V regulator (P55/2A Dharandi) to be completed in two seasons, and conversely the construction of a 1-V regulator can take 3 seasons (P26 Boro Beeler Khal, P43/2D Keshobpur and P47/4 Tulatali). Thus, the quality of the contractor can have a considerable influence.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 13.8 Contract Period for New Regulators
!Size
!Nos.
!Average Length

(Seasons)
!Range of Seasons
|-
|4V
|1
|2.0
|2
|-
|3V
|6
|2.7
|2 to 4
|-
|2V
|6
|1.8
|1 to 3
|-
|1V
|16
|1.9
|1 to 3
|}
Lessons learnt from construction experiences are: (a) To avoid differential settlement, ground treatments should not be mixed ie don’t use bored piles and sand piles together as foundation treatment; and (b) ensure that checks are made on filter materials behind wing walls since piping failure can very quickly result in differential settlement and failure of the structure.

===== ''New Flushing Inlets (Item 7)'' =====
Only two flushing inlets were provided (P31-part and P22), so few general conclusions can be drawn from such a small sample. Both were completed in one season.

===== New Drainage Outlets (Item 8) =====
An analysis of construction records for new outlets shows that the length of construction is not related to size of structure. The length of contract (in construction seasons) for 17 outlets is presented in Table 13.9 below. As can be seen from the table, the average length of construction varies from 1.6 to 2.3 seasons with a range of 1 to 3 seasons. Thus, the construction of a relatively simply structure, such as a box culvert, can be affected by its proximity to a tidal river which, for example, can require cross bundhs or coffer dams and pumping to allow working in the dry below (tidal) river level, installing upstream and downstream sheet piling, dealing with complex ground conditions, and providing temporary drainage from khals within the polder during the construction period. Nevertheless, the capability and experience of the contractor – and the range of equipment he has available for construction activities – can influence the length of construction.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 13.9 Contract Period for New Outlets
!Size
!Nos.
!Average Length

(Seasons)
!Range of Seasons
|-
|0.6 x 0.9
|5
|1.6
|1 to 3
|-
|0.9 x 1.2
|9
|1.9
|1 to 2
|-
|1.2 x 1.2
|3
|2.3
|2 to 3
|}

=== Gates ===
Given the critical importance of gates for water management (and that the sole function of the reinforced concrete structure is to provide support for the gates), insufficient emphasis has been given to the functionality and durability of gates.

There have been many examples in Blue Gold where installation work has been repeated because the fixing of the gates to the structure was insufficient, or because the gates never achieved full closure. Some examples are provided: (a) In P55/2C, the flap gates were installed on the country-side and the vertical gates on the river-side; (b) the gap between the vertical lift gate and the channels for the fall board provides insufficient workspace for any maintenance activity; and (c) rubber seals are often missing.

Most of the work on regulators and inlets/outlets is carried out by a civil works contractor. The BWDB ME (Mechanical Engineering) is responsible for the fabrication and installation of gates, and ancillary fixings. The timing of commissioning needs to be carefully coordinated between the civil contractor and ME – for example, the closure bundhs which have to be removed by the civil contractor before he receives a final payment.

For durability, the gate frame needs to be firmly fixed to the concrete structure. This involves cutting back the concrete work and welding lugs attached to the frame to reinforcing bars in the concrete structure before replacing the concrete using a dry mix to minimise shrinkage. If this process is not carried out (perhaps because a civil contractor has not been contracted), then the durability of the gate is severely compromised, and its operational lifetime can be limited – especially if the operators use excessive force to close the gates.

There is a historical justification for the role of ME - when relatively few private sector operators had access to raw materials, and the facilities for fabrication, sandblasting and painting to meet the specifications for gates to regulating structures. However, with the increasing number of private sector workshops, the justification for ME’s continued monopoly of BWDB gates work is questionable.

For simplicity, it would be preferable to allow the civil contractor to select a firm, from an approved list, to manufacture and install the gates, so that the responsibility for coordination between the civil and mechanical contractor is given under a single contract – rather than relying on ME, a semi-autonomous organisation coming under the BWDB umbrella, and whose payments are only occasionally withheld.

The importance of taking life cycle costing approach to the design of gates, fixings and ancillary structures and the potential value of a fundamental design review has been emphasised elsewhere.<ref group="Notes">Section C Chapter 12</ref>

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== See more ==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[12 Survey, Design and Procurement|Chapter 12: Survey, Design and Procurement]]|Curr_sect=Section C: Water Infrastructure|Next_chap=[[14 Consultation and participation in planning|Chapter 14: Consultation and participation in planning]]}}

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Summary of Section G: Project Management

2021-12-19T05:57:36Z

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Earlier sections in BGP’s lessons learnt report have consistently demonstrated how the project concept evolved from complementary interventions in community organisation, water security, agriculture and markets into an integrated approach aimed to drive local economic development, inclusiveness and sustainability in the 22 coastal polders where the project operates. The evolution of the approach required the project management to adapt and refine the organisational structure of the team to meet the changing priorities, and a willingness of team members to operate in multi-disciplinary teams and to refocus on delivering tools for community leadership in agricultural water management with relevant information and access to resources. Mechanisms for project coordination were employed and augmented. Planning evolved from a one-off effort at the project’s onset to a recurrent field of attention. Monitoring and evaluation moved towards a position of analysing and reflecting on project survey data to inform project management on implementation progress and impact, with lessons on ‘what works’ and ‘what doesn’t work’. And finally, the project’s fresh outlook on local economic development changed its communications with beneficiaries and stakeholder; a change that is reflected in training and extension approaches.

== Project coordination – a point of attention ==
The design of Blue Gold, as set down in the GoN Program Document and the BWDB and DAE Development Project Proformas (DPPs), sets out arrangements for Implementation through complementary interventions by BWDB, DAE and the TA team, with mechanisms for coordination to ensure coherence. In addition to dedicated management teams for each implementation unit, a program coordinating director was assigned; steering committees for the BWDB and DAE activities were put in place; and the project performance was externally reviewed each year. Recognising the benefits of working-level coordination of activities, regular meetings were instituted between the BWDB Project Coordinating Director, the DAE Project Director, the TA management team and the Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Mechanisms were proposed for coordination at zonal and polder levels, but in practice, this continued largely through ad hoc meetings.

Future project interventions in the coastal zone would be well-advised to incorporate arrangements for strong cross-sectoral coordination. This would include a close association with existing coordination structures – especially with government line agencies, Union and Upazila Parishads and local private sector and NGO representatives – complemented by agile structures for strategic coordination at national level.

== Planning – sustainability from the start ==
The two separate Development Project Proforma (DPPs) – one with BWDB for investments in flood control and drainage infrastructure, and the other with DAE for the transfer of agricultural technology – were complemented by a substantial Technical Assistance (TA) team with workplan and budget.

The TA team had a budget and organisation structure that could adapt with more flexibility to the changes in the project concept. While the two separate plans for the main implementing agencies existed throughout the project duration; the TA team was able to do away with its component structure and to plan its work in a more integrated way.

A future integrated ‘water management for development’-project should seek to maximise the flexibility of the DPPs of the line agencies (e.g. through block allocations) and should explicitly use technical assistance resources to strengthen coherence between local ambitions expressed by WMOs and LGIs; and line agency plans.

== Monitoring & Evaluation – An evolving Theory of Change ==
The M&E system derives from the project plan, and more specifically from its Logical Framework. The indicators of the M&E system had to be adjusted in keeping with the changing project approach. While output indicators were largely unchanged and reported in a monthly Tracker Report, outcome indicators had to be adjusted to the changed view on WMG performance. More emphasis was given to self-monitoring by the WMGs, complemented with in-depth surveys on their performance. Triangulation between data sources provides a deeper understanding of processes – and weaknesses – and helped move the M&E function from ‘recording’ to ‘reflection’.

The impacts of some changes in the project concept can only be partially reviewed, as no baseline is available for these changes. Thus, impacts on inclusiveness and sustainability – which are seen as important by-products of the integrated approach to local economic development – could not be fully captured by BGP’s M&E products.

Future projects are advised to use M&E from the onset as a key management tool for reflection by using diverse data and information sources and by a focussed and strongly independent analytical function.

== Communication – new perspectives on training and extension ==
The change in project concept pursued local initiatives with respect to water management and agricultural change. Rather than having a central message and disseminating this as efficiently as possible; the project stimulates its intended beneficiaries to use opportunities in water and agriculture in ways appropriate to their specific locality.

Centrally purchased capacity building courses (for leadership, gender and accounting) were replaced by facilitated local planning processes for water management. Such plans develop from an initial replication of a standard WMG plan, to a cascading planning process from sub-catchment, to catchment to polder with particular emphasis on mobilising own resources and obtaining additional support through association with local governments, departments and private sector.

The approach for agricultural extension broadened: in addition to farmer field schools for field crops and for homestead production; use was made of horizontal learning between communities and local resource farmers were mobilised and trained. The field crops FFSs were reviewed to include attention to opportunities in the year-round cropping cycle, to the potential of improved water management in sub-catchments and to farming as a business. Homestead FFSs were split into short and specific courses.

To support a change from dependency on external project-support to local initiative for economic development; future projects must employ a diverse set of communication interventions, which help people take action; rather than simply telling them to take action.

== See more ==
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2021-12-19T05:56:31Z

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Summary of Section F - Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability

2021-12-19T05:54:15Z

Bigblue: /* Poverty Focus: Labour Contracting Societies */

In the context of the Blue Gold Program (BGP) Responsible Development refers to the two elements in BGP’s Theory of Change presented as transversal aspects in figure F.1 to contribute to more sustainable and fair results.

The first element is ‘inclusiveness’, meaning that all inhabitants in the BGP polders, including women and poor people, should have access to opportunities and benefits created by BGP.
[[File:BGP ToC v9.png|thumb|539x539px|'''Figure F.1''' Simplified Blue Gold Program Theory of Change]]
The second element is ‘sustainability’, which reflects Blue Gold efforts to create conditions so that its achievements would be sustained after the program’s completion.

== Inclusiveness ==
In practice, inclusiveness meant that landless and smallholder farmers as well as women were also targeted by BGP interventions. This is in line with the central premise of the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals: “leave no one behind”. As the majority of the inhabitants in BGP polders are smallholder and landless farmers, BGP was already a poverty-targeted project at its core. While all households in the BGP polders benefitted from improved flood protection, households without crop land benefitted to a lesser degree from the infrastructural and institutional water management interventions than farming households with access to crop land. To broaden BGP’s beneficiary base and deepen its outreach to the poor and marginalized, three additional strategies were implemented.

# A gender strategy to improve the inclusion of women in BGP’s interventions, aiming at women’s empowerment and increasing gender equality ([[24 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment|chapter 24]])
# Poverty reduction by inclusion of the poorest households in enhancing homestead production ([[25 Poverty Focus: development of homestead production|chapter 25]])
# Poverty reduction by engaging local labour - both men and women - from landless households in construction works through the deployment of Labour Contracting Societies ([[26 Poverty focus: Labour Contracting Societies|chapter 26]]).

== Gender equality and women’s empowerment ==
Gender equality means that women and men have equal chances and opportunities; women’s empowerment means that women gain more control over their own lives, for example, by increased access to resources and increased participation in decision-making, leading to improved well-being. Within BGP, attention to gender was materialized by gender mainstreaming, complemented with selected specific gender activities, as represented in figure F.2.
[[File:Figure 23.1.png|none|thumb|865x865px|'''Figure F.2''' Gender at a glance – within the Blue Gold Program]]
The gender approach developed by BGP in the inception phased focused on enhancing the participation of women in BGP activities -next to men-, mostly with quantitative output targets. Over time, there was a shift towards more qualitative and transformative results, for example, by better promoting changes in gender norms.

Gender mainstreaming included:

* '''Involving both women and men in Water Management Organisations (WMGs and WMAs):''' enhancing women’s membership of WMGs (43% achieved); women as members of executive committees of WMGs and WMAs (over 33%); and promoting active participation and influence of women by increasing the proportion of women in important positions (presidents, secretaries and treasurers). Women’s leadership and decision-making capacities improved over time.
* '''Ensuring women and men acquired and apply skills, knowledge and improved technology,''' by including a high proportion of women in all Farmer Fields Schools (62%), especially in homestead FFS (88% women), but also in other FFS categories; gender messages became gradually integrated in every FFS.
* '''Encouraging both women and men to develop market linkages and to take collective actions:''' Targeting women with market information met a previously unrecognised need of women farmers; integrating market orientation in (homestead) FFS was very successful.

Examples of specific gender activities:

* Gender courtyard sessions (CYS) raised awareness among men and women about gender equality, and emphasised that WMG membership was open to men and women.
* Gender and leadership development training (GLD) encouraged equal participation in work, decision-making and leadership.
* Various specific activities for women, such as specific training on market linkages and women’s empowerment.

=== Results of gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment ===

* Participatory water management benefitted from the involvement of both men and women, with women becoming valued as WMO leaders, engaging in decision-making for the benefit of the entire community.
* Women contribute to increased agricultural production, not only at homesteads, but also in field crops, taking up tasks previously only done by men; in particular, women often provide all labour for rabi crops.
* Women thus contribute to poverty reduction, improved livelihoods and increased resilience.
* Increased economic and social empowerment of women, as women’s access to information, skills and resources increased, their decision-making within the households (and WMOs) improved, and more women became entrepreneur. Women receive more respect, enjoy improved mobility and have wider social networks; they more often engage in leadership roles.
* A gradual change in gender norms was observed, such as less rigid labour divisions, men better accepting women as leaders, and husbands taking their wives opinions more seriously, including some first evidence of men taking up a share of domestic work.

Various challenges remain, such as the need for agricultural extension to refocus on actual women’s needs, especially in the light of feminization of agriculture; the heavy and unequal total workload of women; the remaining gap in agricultural wages; and the relatively lower level of women’s participation, especially at higher level institutions as WMAs.

An important lesson learnt is that gender mainstreaming and quota worked, especially when accompanied by gender specific activities. This contributed both to greater gender equality and women’s empowerment, and to better achieving BGP’s overall objectives.

== Poverty Focus: Development of homestead production ==
The Blue Gold Program distinguished three categories of households in its polders: (1) households with access to farmland, thus potentially benefiting from improved water management and BGP’s interventions to promote commercialisation of agriculture; (2) households without access to farmland, but having other means, skills and/or assets, and thus involved in non-farm economic activities; and (3) households without access to farmland, but without means, skills and assets for income generation or employment. About half of the latter category of households – or about 15% of all households in the BGP polders - have some homestead land. These households were targeted by BGP’s homestead Farmer Field Schools (FFSs)<ref group="Notes">A Farmer Field School (FFS) is a group-based adult learning approach through which farmers learn how to experiment and solve problems independently. The activities take place in the field during one full production cycle with a facilitator, with groups of 25 farmers, who observe from the trials, discuss, ask questions, and learn together.</ref>, enhancing the production of homestead vegetables, fruit trees, poultry (chicken and ducks), livestock and fish (in small ponds).

In the first four years of BGP, the so-called ‘bundled’ approach was followed, adopted from DAE. This meant that in one FFS cycle several modules were bundled. The two most common combinations were (1) homestead gardening (vegetables), poultry rearing and nutrition; and (2) fish culture, beef fattening and nutrition. Each FFS of the ‘bundled’ approach covered 25 sessions, with a BGP field staff member as facilitator. Until March 2018, a total of 634 bundled FFS had been implemented from cycle 1 to cycle 10, with 15,850 participants (84% women farmers).

After a recommendation of the 2017 Annual Review Mission, the FFS approach was revised to increase the number of beneficiaries. The two major changes were: (1) FFS would only cover one module, reducing the number of sessions per FFS and (2) Farmer Trainers were recruited and trained to facilitate the FFS, instead of (only) TA field staff. This also lead to capacity building of resource persons residing in the polders. Under the new approach many more FFS were implemented per cycle, especially in cycle 11 to 13; however, due to COVID-19 only a relatively few FFS could be conducted in cycles 14 and 15 (2020/2021). In total, 544 single-module FFSs were implemented, with 13,600 participants, of whom 92% were women farmers.

=== Results of the homestead FFS ===

==== Numbers of FFS and outreach ====
In the 15 FFS cycles, a total of 1,178 homestead FFSs were conducted, delivering 1,806 modules<ref group="Notes">Due to the multi-modal approach adopted for cycles 1-10</ref>. Of the total number of modules, 41% were on poultry rearing, 25% on homestead gardening / vegetable cultivation, 17% on beef fattening and 16% on fish culture. The total number of participants was 29,450, of whom 25,856 were women (88%). Assuming an estimated 10% multiple participation, a net 26,505 households were assumed to have benefited directly from the FFS training. It is estimated that twice this number (53,010 households) were indirectly reached: by learning from their neighbours and/or by learning from Farmer Field Day demonstrations.

In total, 77% of all homestead FFS participants were from households with less than 50 decimals or 0.5 acres of land, i.e. considered as landless. From cycle 11 onwards, a proxy criterion for poverty was used to define the poorest households, consisting of three sub-criteria: land ownership, participation in wage labour and house structure (single structure thatch house). On this stricter basis an estimated 42% of all homestead FFS participants belonged to the poorest households; extrapolation showed that over 33,000 poorest households in the BGP area benefited directly and indirectly from these FFS.

==== Increases in homestead production ====
Overall, the uptake of improved technologies demonstrated during the FFS was high. As a result, there was a significant production increase, as summarized in Table F.1.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; width:75%;"
|+Table F.1 Average production increase as measured by the FFS baseline and endline surveys among all FFS participants
!'''Product promoted by FFS'''
!'''Before FFS'''
!'''After FFS'''
|-
|Egg production per farmer per month (in numbers)
|46
|86
|-
|Birds (chicken/ducks) sold per farmer/month (in numbers)
|1.5
|4.5
|-
|Meat production per animal (cow) (in kg)
|172
|236
|-
|Fish production per farmer per cycle (in kg)
|40.6
|135.8
|-
|Average # of vegetables cultivated on homestead per farmer
|3.3
|7.2
|-
|Average consumption of vegetables per person (in grams/week)
|941
|1,625
|}
Other changes resulting from the FFSs included: an increase in the use of mobile phones to contact market actors (by both men and women farmers); an increase in collective actions for buying inputs or selling produce; and more joint decision-making by husbands and wives.

==== Cost-benefit analyses ====
The direct costs of all 15 FFS cycles amounted to BDT 55,389,035 in total, or BDT 47,020 on average per FFS, excluding indirect costs, such as salaries of TA staff, costs of monitoring visits and office costs. The direct costs correspond with BDT 1,881 per FFS participant and BDT 697 per household reached directly and indirectly. When comparing the value of the increased production, either per year (poultry) or per season (fish and beef fattening) with the direct costs of the FFS, it can be concluded that the increased production value well outweighs the FFS costs, hence, the return on investments was high.

==== Main lessons learnt ====

* The households of greatest need – but with access to a homestead garden - are best reached by poultry FFS, followed by homestead vegetable and fruit cultivation FFS.
* Women’s participation in FFSs contributes to their empowerment. Apart from gaining more knowledge and skills and increasing production and income, they increased in confidence, and expanded their social networks and contacts with market actors. The inclusion of a small percentage of men as FFS participants was found to enhance women’s empowerment.
* A remaining challenge is to better focus the content of FFS modules on real needs and feasible innovations.

== Poverty Focus: Labour Contracting Societies ==
Labour Contracting Societies (LCSs) are defined as groups of usually landless people who engage into a contract with an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earth work within a given time. Deployment of LCS groups is seen as a poverty reduction measure for LCS members for two reasons: higher expected daily incomes than as daily labourers and using savings from LCS income to invest in productive resources in order to generate income after the LCS work has been completed. BGP’s annual review missions emphasized the importance of LCS work for poverty reduction.

It was foreseen that at least 50% of the earthwork in the Blue Gold Program would be by LCS groups, in particular the re-excavation of khals and re-sectioning of embankments. Initially the contracts were directly between BWDB and the LCS groups. After PWMR 2014 became effective, the contracts were between BWDB and concerned WMGs, with LCSs as subcontractors to WMGs. Through this arrangement, WMGs were provided with a management fee of 5% of the contract amount.

As of June 2019, 502 LCS groups had worked on Blue Gold contracts, with 31,437 members, of whom 10,766 were women (34%). Some 25% of the total value of earthwork (BDT 3,662 lakh) had been allocated to LCS groups, providing temporary income to its members, usually during one construction season of several months. From the start of BGP, the experiences with the LCS modality were mixed. Procedures were delayed, practical problems occurred and saving income for productive investments was not always feasible as LCS income was needed for daily subsistence and repaying debts. Moreover, the transaction costs involved in setting up and operating LCS groups were high and LCS members, especially women, were inexperienced at earthworks, whereas their performance was often compared against that of contractors. However, there were also successful groups or individuals, who ensured reasonable temporary incomes and invested in productive resources.

Due to the mixed experiences, a study on the impact of LCS work was commissioned, with an added focus on the impact for women LCS workers. The main findings of the study were:

* Consequences of the new LCS modality as per PWMR, 2014, were the reduced contract sum for LCS groups and less responsibility and ownership of the LCS group for the work now that WMGs became responsible. The intermediate role of WMGs may have caused some further delays in work orders. Anecdotal evidence suggested that LCS workers preferred direct contracts with BWDB, rather than with the WMGs.
* Late work orders often resulted in the LCS work not being completed by the monsoon. When heavy rains damaged the unfinished earthwork, workers had to put in extra unpaid hours.
* Some WMGs subcontracted all or part of the work to sardars (skilled foremen who may use machinery), taking away income sources from LCS members.
* Late work orders also resulted in LCS work coinciding with the peak agricultural season; hence the LCS work conflicted with higher paid opportunities for harvesting.
* Disagreements would sometime arise on how much work was done, and the subsequent payment received, whereas payment procedures could be slow.
* In many cases, LCS members were unaware of VAT, taxes and the service charge to WMGs, even though this was announced in the LCS information session. As a consequence, LCS members were often disappointed by the amount of payments for their work.
* There was no established mechanism to address grievances for LCS groups.
* Poverty alleviation was often only temporary. However, the provision of skill training (mainly through homestead FFS) to LCS workers seemed to have motivated their investment in productive resources, such as in poultry.
* Women’s groups were often more affected by problems then men’s groups. For example, they often had to carry over work until after the monsoon, because many women could only devote half-days to LCS work due to domestic responsibilities. LCS work is harsh, lacks dignity, and has a low social status. But earning income and increasing social networks empowered women to some extent. However, LCS work did not automatically enhance women’s voices and leadership, often because male WMG members took charge of managing the female LCS groups.

Considering the many challenges and the limited impact on longer-term poverty reduction, the future of LCS work needs to be reconsidered. LCS work should only be considered in more poverty-stricken areas, and when the modalities are improved, such as an earlier start of the work, better training and explanations, and easing the payment process (e.g. by bank transfers). Using a given budget for infrastructure improvements only by contractors increases the volume of work that can be realized, hence leading to more benefits for the broader population in a project area. An exception is turfing, a task that cannot be done by machines, and can be done during the slack season for agricultural work, in particular by the poorest community members, without other employment options.

== Sustainability ==
----The Blue Gold Program Document of 2012 implicitly assumed that organizing community members into Water Management Organizations would be adequate enough to ensure that the Blue Gold outcomes would be sustained after the closing of the program. This turned out to be overoptimistic, as demonstrated by the large proportion of Water Management Groups, which had been established and supported under the IPSWAM program (2003-2008), and had become inactive by the time BGP was starting up in 2013. Over time the understanding of sustainability within BGP evolved: from sustaining the WMGs and WMAs to sustaining the productive use of the improved water management system. [[27 Sustainability|Chapter 27]] discusses sustainability in five areas: the physical environment, coping capability, the capability to maintain and improve water management, network services and risk management, also addressing the impact of disasters and resilience.

* '''Physical environment''': By the end of BGP the physical status of the 22 polders has been substantially improved through rehabilitation of major infrastructure along the periphery (embankments and sluices) and an improved drainage network for internal polder water management. Whether the present status can be preserved and even expanded upon, depends on the capacity to organise water management and maintain water management infrastructure.
* '''Coping capability''': Many households achieved a better income base due to increased agricultural production of field crops and/or increased homestead production. The more robust role of women in productive activities increased the resilience of their families.
* '''Capability to maintain and improve water management:''' The structure of WMGs and WMAs as community-based organisations enhances the voice of people in decision-making on water management, including small holder producers and women farmers. BGP made efforts to create better conditions for sustaining improved water management by:
** More emphasis on WMAs, also in their role of keeping WMGs active
** Strengthening the relationship between WMOs and Local Government Institutions, relevant departments and agencies as well as relevant private sector actors
** Strengthening the relationship between WMOs and BWDB, e.g. by O&M agreements.
* Some of the linkages mentioned above depend on the success of relations between the WMOs and other organisations. And these relations are sometimes determined by events outside the control of the concerned individuals – for example, the relationship with BWDB, including OCWM, was adversely affected by BWDB’s manpower and budgetary limitations. Such concerns are not specific to the Blue Gold area alone: they are to be addressed through the Bangladesh Delta Plan.

* '''Network of services''': Good services from local government institutions, departments as DAE, DoF and DoL and the private sector (input suppliers and traders) enhance sustainability. In its last years BGP gave more prominence to networking with such institutions and market actors. The capacity of especially DAE field officers (250 SAAOs) was strengthened; farmer trainers and resources farmers were promoted as a local cadre of trained resource persons for agricultural extension.
* '''Risk management''': ''' '''WMOs and LGIs have started to cooperate in addressing pressing risks, as illustrated by instances of joint prevention of embankment breaches during the recent cyclone Amphan in May 2020. However, a more structural approach to support disaster preparedness and climate change risks was not part of BGP’s interventions and mandate.
* '''Impact of and resilience to disasters''': The COVID-19 pandemic and the Amphan cyclone caused a negative impact on the Blue Gold area, undoing achievements of the earlier years: infrastructure was damaged and production and/or income levels dropped. Apart from flooding, reasons included the drop in farm gate prices and transport problems due to the lockdown measures. Migrants returned to their home villages, increasing the supply of wage labour, thus decreasing the wages, especially for women, who also experienced more domestic violence and were often more affected by shortages. But also signs of resilience were observed, such as joint awareness actions of WMGs and LGIs on COVID-19 measures, whereas increased relations with LGIs and department staff as well as the diversified (homestead) production also turned out to be helpful.

Available evidence showed that conditions for long-term sustainability of the polders and of the ‘water management for development’ practice improved, though it may not be enough. A future project in the coastal area therefore should from the start:

# Support improvements in the overall water sector governance
# Promote local action for better water management and climate smart agricultural transformation
# Link BGP’s ‘water management for development’ experience with the development of policies for better water sector governance, under the aegis of the Bangladesh Delta Plan.

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== See more==
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Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development

2021-12-19T05:52:17Z

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The Theory of Change for the Blue Gold Program (BGP) describes the three main sets of interventions -infrastructure, institutional and agricultural development- as the core elements of Blue Gold’s approach.
[[File:BGP ToC v9.png|thumb]]
This section E focuses on BGP’s agricultural development interventions which sought to enhance the commercialisation of agriculture. These interventions would work in synergy with the rehabilitation of infrastructure and the development of water management partnerships. By enhancing both the productivity and profitability of agriculture and fisheries, polder agricultural growth brings additional incomes and job opportunities.

== Original intentions and evolving approach ==
The [[:File:GoN Program Document BGP 28Aug12.pdf|Program Document]] for the Blue Gold Program presented different approaches with distinct responsibilities to improve agricultural production, separating value chain or business development from agricultural development. At the start of Blue Gold, Water Management Groups (WMGs) were required to register as cooperatives, which meant that requirements of the Department of Cooperatives (DoC) had to be met, which to some extent diverged attention from water management. With progressive insight, facilitated by the change in registration of WMGs under BWDB instead of DoC in 2014, the approach towards WMGs evolved, more emphasizing water management as the focus of functional WMGs. Another insight resulted in market orientation becoming integrated as a crucial element in the curricula of Farmer Field Schools, which formed Blue Gold’s main agricultural extension approach. Thus agricultural extension and development became integrated in a Value Chain Development approach involving various market system actors along with producer groups. As households are heterogeneous and benefit unequally from infrastructural and institutional water management interventions, the approach to enhance agricultural production was differentiated as well. The interventions promoting commercialisation of agriculture focused upon those households which see their future in farming, and more particularly in cropping, meaning they have access to land. The focus of this section E is on those households with access to land, either own land or leased land.

BGP’s interventions on increasing homestead production focused on landless households. However, also in this intervention, more attention to market opportunities was given from 2018 onwards, including promotion of “farming as a business”. This is described in [[25 Poverty Focus: development of homestead production|chapter 25]].

== Content of agricultural extension in coastal zones ==
The relation between water resources management (WRM) and agricultural extension in the coastal zone is rather particular. WRM in the polders is primarily about drainage of hydrological units, which goes beyond the fields of an individual farmer and thus beyond his/her individual control. Farmers producing in a same hydrological unit are destined to synchronise their production to a great degree, especially in the monsoon season. During the dry season, farmers can more easily differentiate production from one another as they can irrigate individually from available fresh water resources.

Insight in water resources and the extent to which these can be managed across the year is a key boundary condition for agricultural extension, in order to define and advice on improved cropping systems benefiting from aligning the opportunities of WRM to the crops’ needs. But extension should also weigh the farmers’ commitment to water resources management. Extension can enhance the farmers’ motivation to operate the WRM infrastructure by an improved understanding of crop requirements for drainage and/or irrigation.

Water resources management and agricultural extension affect each other at four levels: a) an understanding of the local water conditions to define production potential, be it agriculture or aquaculture; b) taking production to higher levels by infrastructure improvements enabling better water management; c) an enhancement of infrastructure operation in relation to crop requirements to optimise production; and d) enhancing the understanding that the benefits from risk reduction and production improvement outweigh the investments in maintenance, operation and modification of the water management infrastructure.

== Lessons for agricultural extension in coastal zones ==
'''Differentiated extension approaches''' – better targeted attention to those with access to land, and to those with limited access to land. The latter are better served by homestead-focused approaches .

'''Working with producer groups''' – cooperation of farmers in groups is required to improve drainage, but working in groups also facilitates collective actions, such as joint input purchase.

'''Demand driven''' – leave out what farmers already know, focus on key technologies and skills, and be locally adaptive.

'''Demonstrations''' - well defined demonstrations, providing links to other relevant issues through smaller sessions e.g. about the use of market information, improved technology, and the role of backward-forward actors. Thus no blanket approach trying to cover everything, but enabling discussion to identify and subsequently address farmers’ practical problems.

'''Local resource network''' – lead farmers and Resource Farmers are ahead in their access to markets; they can help other farmers by facilitating market linkages. Since WMGs are established organisations, they should form part of the local resource networks through which farmers can access available resources and skills.

'''Sources of information''' – many information sources are available, but not really accessible to farmers, hence they need to become more ‘farmer-friendly’.

'''Better use Horizontal Learning events''' – promote learning through events and exchanges where farmers can learn from each other within peer groups or communities.

'''Involving private sector actors and companies''' - for example, through actively linking farmers to market actors, demonstrations by companies, and/or training of input suppliers by the agro-input retailers network.

== Outreach and Cost of Commercialisation interventions ==
Blue Gold’s household-based [[:File:TR14 Phase 1 Baseline Survey Report.pdf|Phase I Baseline Survey]] of 2014 in eight polders found a considerable variation in access to land and reliance on farming across all households. The proportion of households with access to crop land and with basic assets to cultivate this land was between 45% and 65% of all the households in the various polders. On this basis Blue Gold estimated that 55% of the total 185.000 households in all 22 BGP polders (which amounts to just over 100.000 households) own or lease crop land and are directly affected by water management interventions for crop production. Blue Gold’s main interventions to commercialize agricultural production were the implementation of 1,358 Farmer Field Schools on field crops, 67 large and 628 small demonstrations, and many Horizontal Learning events, including FFS-related Farmer Field Days, Demonstrations, Melas and Exchange visits.

The combined outreach for commercialization of agriculture, in terms of households reached directly through program interventions and indirectly through Horizontal Learning events, is calculated to be 78,257, based on various assumptions and adjustments for multiple participation as well as for applying the learnings. This means that nearly 80,000 households have been reached, while the potential target group was determined as about 100,000 households. In fact, Blue Gold reached 42% of the all households in the polders with the commercialisation interventions, which compares quite well with the 55% of the households which were estimated to have access to land and as such potentially able to benefit from BGP’s water management and commercialisation interventions.

The total cost of the commercialisation programme amounted to Euro 1,410,000, which covered the actual cost of all individual programme interventions related to the commercialization of agriculture. The average cost of FFS interventions was 40 Euro for each household that was directly reached. Considering the additional households reached through Horizontal Learning, the average cost dropped to 17 Euro per household. In contrast, the less resource intensive Cropping Intensity (CII) demonstrations cost 11 Euro per participant, which is just over a quarter of the FFS costs per directly reached household, and only 3 Euro per household directly and indirectly reached. The CII costs are lower per household than the FFS costs because there are less sessions in the CII approach, whereas the impact appeared similar to FFS.

== Outcomes of Commercialisation interventions ==
The outcomes of commercialisation can be captured in three ways: changes in land use and crop types, increase in cropping intensity and increase of yields per unit land. The below findings are based on the 2019 WMG survey as presented in Blue Gold’s [[:File:TR26 outcomes report WMG survey 2019 final 18nov 19.pdf|Technical Report 26]].

=== Changes in land use and crop types ===
Since the start of BGP there have been significant changes in land use and cropping. In Khulna the biggest expansion has been an increase in the area under fish ghers; the area of paddy went up with more boro paddy being grown in the rabi season. In Satkhira there has been an even bigger increase in area of fish ghers (the area has doubled), and there has also been an increase in boro paddy. There are virtually no fish ghers in Patuakhali and there was little change in the area of paddy, however, there was a significant increase in area of non-rice crops in the rabi season, primarily mung bean.

In all three zones together there were increases in the total area of both paddy and non-rice crops, but the increase in area under fish ghers was greater than the combined increase in paddy and non-rice crops.

In all areas there has been a move towards more productive types of paddy: most boro is now of the more productive hybrid type, whereas there was a switch from local aman and aus varieties to HYV varieties. In non-rice crops there was a shift towards more profitable crops, for example water melon; in Patuakhali mung bean replaced ''keshari'', a local pulse crop.

=== Increase in cropping intensity ===
Overall cropping intensity has increased by 41 percentage points, from 187% before BGP to 228% in 2019, with a larger increase in Satkhira of 76 percentage points - largely due to expansion of fish ghers in polder 2. Increases in cropping intensity were reported for 80% of the surveyed WMGs and for all polders, apart from polder 28/2, which recorded a fall of 34 percentage points due to land being absorbed by urban expansion of Khulna city. In the Khulna polders that were also included in the 2018 survey, a further increase in cropping intensity was reported in 2019, but there was little change in cropping intensity in the Patuakhali polders between 2018 and 2019.

On average WMGs with a greater improvement in water management (i.e. more reduction in water management problems) also demonstrated a larger increase in cropping intensity and a bigger increase in area under high yielding and high value crops. However, there is considerable variability in this trend so the relationship is not strong.

=== Yield increase ===
There has been a substantial increase in the productivity of paddy. Apart from the significant switch to more productive HYV and hybrid varieties, average yields of each type of paddy have increased by around 10% to 25%. There is a more mixed picture regarding the yields of non-rice crops, with significant falls in yields of some of the key crops in 2019, including mung bean and sesame, whereas the 2018 survey found an average increase of about 35% in mung bean yields. Farmers say that unpredictable weather conditions during the 2019 growing season, both excessive droughts and unexpected and heavy rainfall, adversely affected the yields of non-irrigated rabi crops. Some non-rice crops, however, demonstrated a good increase in yields as per 2019, such as sunflower and chilli.

== Polder Economic Growth Impact ==
The Blue Gold interventions contributed to growth of agricultural production through increases in yields, cropping intensity and diversification. Along with farm production, incomes and labour requirements have increased, the latter also providing more income to landless households depending on wage labour for their livelihoods. In turn, the increased incomes boosted the demand for goods and services as well as trader volumes, and resulted in more jobs and higher non-farm incomes.

=== Increase in farm income ===
The improved cropping patterns and increased yields resulted in increased farm income. Based on model crop budgets for the main crops, net incomes for each crop were calculated for the ‘before project’ and the 2019 situation, demonstrating a net income increase of 89%, with more increase coming from aquaculture than from crops; though the relative increase was higher for crops.

To assess the payback period, the overall increase in net farm income was compared with the total BGP costs, including TA. For almost all Khulna polders the payback period was less than two years, and for many even less than one year. For polder 2 in Satkhira the payback period was calculated as less than two years. For Patuakhali the payback periods per polder were in excess of 5 years, with the exception of 3 polders that had a payback period of 1 – 3 years.

=== Demand for labour and role of women ===
The expansion of cropping meant more farm work, both for family labour and for wage labourers. Because much of the available male labour has been absorbed in the non-farm sector, women are now hired more often. Women are undertaking an increasing amount of work in almost all farm operations, including transplanting and weeding paddy and preparation of fish ghers, replacing male labour.

=== Other benefits and impacts ===
For the households with access to land, the increased paddy production has greatly reduced or eliminated food insecurity, while high value and other rabi crops provide a cash income. Improvements in agriculture have meant an increased focus on this sector and more income for landless wage labourers. Apart from spending more on food, additional farm income is also spent on children’s education, improved housing and sanitation, as well as on investments in farming – including land leases, livestock and high value crops. People are also saving more.

== Qualitative outcomes of commercialization interventions ==

* New extension curricula take a cropping system perspective, consider water management conditions and include market orientation topics.
* Cost-effective extension methods, based on demonstrations and Horizontal Learning, are more often undertaken by lead farmers and private extension agents.
* A growing number of farmers, men and women, consider farming as a business and use simplified gross margins, weigh up risks, and involve their spouses in joint decision making.
* Mobile phones provide a virtual access to markets, especially enhancing market linkage opportunities for women farmers.
* Positive and timely response by other market actors to new demands for goods, services and labour, resulting from alternative and/or more intensified cropping systems.
* Reduced transaction costs to both parties evolving from collective actions.
* Along with farm production, incomes and labour requirements have increased. In turn, increased labour demand increased wage incomes for landless households. And increased incomes from agriculture boost the demand for goods and services, increasing trader volumes, which results in more jobs and higher non-farm incomes.
* Cost benefit analyses show that overall returns to cropping system improvements justify large-scale infrastructure investment, and clearly justifies spending on maintenance as a production cost that results in more than enough income from selling the resulting additional produce.
==See more==
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Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management

2021-12-19T05:50:46Z

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[[File:BGP ToC v0.9 PWM Highlighted.png|thumb|600x600px|'''Figure D.1:''' Participatory Water Management and it's components, highlighted on the ToC.|alt=]]
Participatory Water Management (PWM) in BGP comprises a set of activities that aims to utilise water infrastructure for transforming agriculture in the coastal polders; and which thereby forms the central driver for intensified local economic development in the project area. The PWM activities includes: '''consultation''' of communities; '''capacity building''' of water management organisations; addressing '''gender dimensions''' of water management; physical '''in-polder water management''' interventions); and development of a '''water management partnership'''.

Under Blue Gold, a unified approach towards Participatory Water Management was developed. This approach was documented in February 2017 in the form of a PWM Field Manual (in ''[[:File:TM Field Manual BGP PWM Eng 1feb 17.pdf|English]]'' and ''[[:File:TM Field Manual BGP PWM Bangla 28feb 17.pdf|Bangla]]''). Alongside the distribution of the manual, dedicated training in the unified approach was provided to all Community Development Facilitators (CDFs) in December 2016 and January 2017. A vivid testimony on the implementation of this approach in Polder 47/4 in Kalapara is presented in a ''[[:File:27feb 21 WMO unified development of WMOs.pdf|paper]]'' prepared on behalf of the CDFs by colleagues at zonal level.

Through Blue Gold, O&M Agreements (in [[:File:O&M Agreement P47 3 Bangla version.pdf|Bangla]] and an unofficial [[:File:O&M Agreement approved Eng ver recd 6aug 18.pdf|English translation]]) have been used to set out the respective responsibilities of BWDB and WMAs for routine, periodic and emergency maintenance. The main purpose of the agreements is to sustain the benefits arising from bringing land into cultivation – to protect the land from further waterlogging and to bring new land into cultivation. O&M agreements have been signed by the BWDB Executive Engineer with representatives of the Executive Councils for the 36 WMAs in the Blue Gold Program area.

To encourage good practice in water management, two versions of a manual for WMO executive members and BWDB field staff were prepared: a [[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual text based-reduced.pdf|‘text-based’ manual]] (in Bangla) for a more literate audience; and a [[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual picture based-reduced.pdf|‘picture-based’ manual]] (again in Bangla) for an audience that is less familiar with text-based advice. During preparation of the manuals, Blue Gold worked closely with field staff, WMO executives and other WMO members and incorporated their feedback to ensure that the manuals serve the needs and interests of farmers and fishermen. Feedback sessions with BWDB zonal staff have been used to establish that all required material is covered. Copies of the manuals were distributed to WMOs during the first quarter of 2021.

The key message of this section is that presently, Bangladesh does not use the full potential of participatory water management for engendering local economic development. Infrastructure development and agricultural development are generally undertaken as separate interventions, often under a strong central coordination; while the capability of local stakeholders to utilise water resources and associate infrastructure for a dynamic development of agriculture goes largely ignored. In addition to reviewing the PWM activities listed above, this section also looks at how BGP operationalised the '''PWM concept''' and it concludes with a section on a '''way forward''' for participatory water management to become the glue that welds water resources infrastructure and local agricultural-based development together.

== Consultation and participation in planning ==
BGP, at its inception, addressed community consultation and participation in planning through a Polder Development Plan and local-level WMG Action Plans. Several lessons are drawn:

* Consultation of communities and their representatives is more meaningful if it starts well before the definition of infrastructure investments in implementation budgets
* Local governments and representatives of decentralised departments are relevant and constructive partners in local water resources planning
* Facilitated community planning should be complemented with coaching of community actions, e.g. for better agricultural production. A little encouragement helps people undertake the actions that they have planned for.
* Periodic review and adjustment is required to arrive at realistic ambitions, possibly in terms of higher productivity or profitability, and coherent and do-able actions.

Using these insights, BGP in the second half of its implementation period, linked local water management plans to catchment plans and subsequently to polder-level WMA plans. The ensuing plans focus on water management actions at different levels of the polder water system (see: [[17 In-polder water management|In-Polder Water Management]]).

== WMO capacity building ==
BGP helped activate 511 water management groups and 36 water management associations in 22 polders. In order to help these organisations to work for better water management, BGP applied the following principles in building their capacity:

* Build capacities of groups and teams
* Support both planning and implementation
* Let WMOs take the lead in implementing actions
* Promote WMOs to use their local network for achieving their aspirations.
[[File:Structure of water management organisations.png|center|thumb|800x800px|'''Figure D.2:''' Structure of water management organisations in a polder]]

== Women’s participation in water management ==
While the regulatory framework sets quota for women’s participation in WMOs, BGP explicitly pursued that women in and above this quota would participate in an active and significant way. This resulted in women taking part with voice and vote in WMO meetings; in a significant number of women being executives in the WMOs; and in experienced female office bearers becoming successful contestants in local government elections.

== In-Polder Water Management ==
Community participation helps shape actions that make better combinations of production practices and water management, at different levels of scale:

* Small-scale infrastructure and synchronised cropping at sub-catchments help bring forward the harvest of T Aman and creates the possibility to grow an additional winter season crop, often of high commercial value. Other combinations of improved production and better water management are possible.
* Operation of a sluice combined with keeping the khal functional ensures better water levels for production within the catchment.

Sound plans for catchment management together with active water management associations, helps local communities exercise control over the sluices that serve their areas.
[[File:IPWM interventions.png|center|thumb|800x800px|'''Figure D.3:''' In-polder water management – interventions at different levels of scale]]

== Water Management Partnership ==
Water Management Groups and Associations achieve more when working with other people and entities:

* Having an ‘orbit’ of capable resource persons, helps WMOs undertake actions for better production.
* Good relations with local governments ensures WMOs are backed in a practical sense when (i) taking control over sluices; (ii) pursuing open drainage connections, and: (iii) mobilising resources for investment in small-scale infrastructure.
* Being known to staff of government departments enables WMOs to access their expertise and support. Given the special relation between WMAs and the BWDB, for each polder O&M Agreements ([[:File:O&M Agreement P47 3 Bangla version.pdf|Bangla]] and [[:File:O&M Agreement approved Eng ver recd 6aug 18.pdf|English]] version) have been entered into by these parties.
* Entering into a formal O&M agreement with BWDB makes it easier to face future challenges to the sustainability of main infrastructure.
* Representing their members to market partners (private sector) creates win-win opportunities in input procurement, production and marketing.

A strong WMO ensures it is supported by good and close friends.

== Evolution of the PWM concept ==
BGP has built on the national regulations, rules and practices of participatory water management. It helped clarify the WMO’s relation to commercial activities; it enhanced the WMOs’ focus on water management; it defined WMOs as entities with their own mandate; and it established a functional relationship between WMA and WMGs. In doing so, BGP – while being true to the spirit of the national policies – went beyond their letter. The regulatory framework now should consider the innovations that were tested in practice.

== Way Forward ==
In realising that its take on Participatory Water Management has moved beyond how PWM is defined; BGP is presenting its experiences for review and consideration by the sector. To this end, it facilitated an independent expert panel to review how participatory water management can be improved as part of the overall governance of water resources in Bangladesh. This expert panel is to present its recommendations to the Bangladesh Delta Plan and its community of professionals.

== See more ==
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Summary and Introduction of Section B: Development Outcomes

2021-12-19T05:48:53Z

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Bangladesh has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades and classifies as a lower middle-income economy. The incidence of poverty has declined but is still 24.3% overall and 26.4% in rural areas (BBS 2016). Before the start of the Blue Gold Program, the incidence of poverty was 31.5% overall and 35.5% in rural areas (BBS, 2010). One-fifth of the country’s GDP comes from agriculture and two-thirds of the workforce is directly or indirectly engaged in agricultural activities. Hence the country’s economy is highly vulnerable to the degradation of natural resources and to variability and trends in climate. To eliminate poverty, Bangladesh has a long way to go. The incidence and severity of poverty is even more pressing in the predominantly rural coastal region of Bangladesh (see chapter 3). Alleviating this, requires high and inclusive growth of the rural agricultural economy in a sustainable manner.

To address this situation, the Blue Gold Program (BGP) became operational in March 2013 and extended over an 8+-year period (until end 2021) to improve agricultural water management in 22 polders of four districts: Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali, and Barguna (see chapter 1). This project aimed to reduce poverty and improve food security through participatory water management and agricultural development resulting in improved livelihoods for communities. This section presents the outcomes and impacts of the BGP interventions based on independently collected survey data. In other words, this section assesses the effectiveness of BGP’s interventions and judges the significance of changes in the livelihoods of BGP beneficiaries. Here, outcomes and impacts are seen as the contribution of the BGP interventions to the overall goal of the program.

Below, we summarise the surveys which have been used in reporting on the impact of the Blue Gold Program; in particular in preparing this section B.

== Baseline and Endline Surveys ==
The impact of Blue Gold interventions was intended to be measured by a comparison of baseline and endline surveys. Because Blue Gold implemented the interventions in 22 polders in two rounds two baseline surveys were conducted using sample surveys:

* Phase I: 2015 [[:File:TR14 Phase 1 Baseline Survey Report.pdf|TR14 Baseline Survey]] (fieldwork Apr/May 2014: 1,401 households in 9 polders)
* Phase II: 2018 [[:File:TR23 Phase II Socio-Economic Baseline Survey 31may 18.pdf|TR23 Baseline Survey]] (fieldwork Apr-Jun 2017: 3,651 households in 7 polders selected as representative of the 13 Phase II polders)
* Endline survey 2020 [[:File:TR27 Impact of Blue Gold Program draft final 24apr 21.pdf|TR27 – Impact of the Blue Gold Program]], April 2021 (field work in last part of 2020; 3,969 households in 9 polders) as a follow-up of the baseline surveys of 2014 and 2017.

The majority of the first round of polders aimed to have relatively a low level of investment (termed ‘fine-tuning’ in the BWDB DPP) – so nine IPSWAM polders were included. The second round covered a wider spread of polders, the selection for which was finalised in 2015/16.

The endline survey was conducted in 2020. Fieldwork was delayed by COVID-19 and eventually conducted in September 2020, comprising 3,969 households in 9 polders. The results were published in April 2020, in Technical Report 27 ([[:File:TR27 Impact of Blue Gold Program draft final 24apr 21.pdf|TR27]]) Impact of the Blue Gold Program. There was a wealth of evidence that BGP has achieved its expected outputs in terms of improved water management leading to better conditions for crop production, and farmers gaining knowledge and skill through training and extension activities. However, the impact in terms of increased farm production and income was less apparent for a number of reasons. Firstly, the period between the collection of Phase II baseline data in 2017 and endline data in 2020 was relatively short, and secondly, 2019 and 2020 were both unfavourable years for farming. In 2019 low crop prices would have discouraged planting and then excessive rain and severe pest attacks virtually destroyed much of the paddy crop. In 2020, cyclone Amphan caused much damage, and COVID-19 disrupted input supplies and markets. Survey data shows that between 2017 and 2019, the area grown has declined significantly for aman, mung bean and a number of other crops, and there was a small decline in the area of boro. From follow-on surveys, we established that 2019 was a poor year for crop production, and did not provide a good basis for assessing gains attributable to BGP over the two year period since 2017 (when the Phase II baseline survey was carried out). For this reason, crop data on aman 2020 and rabi/boro 2021 was collected during the 2021 WMG Survey, fieldwork for which was carried out from June to August 2021.

== WMG Surveys ==
In September 2017, the Annual Review Mission recommended that greater attention should be paid to the collection and analysis of data to provide: evidence of economic changes for use by Annual Review Missions; increased knowledge and understanding of beneficiaries’ responses to project interventions and adaptations; and quality-assured data for the Dutch Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) with material to carry out a post-project review of Blue Gold. A series of studies was initiated to document the outcomes and impact of the Blue Gold Program, especially the economic changes and significant income increases within the area of the Blue Gold Program, including the changes in profitability over earlier agricultural choices, and the increase in incomes to the various categories of households (landless, small landowner, large landowner, crop producer, fish producer etc). These studies were:

* [[:File:TR25 Outcomes report WMG survey 2018 29oct 18.pdf|2018 WMG Survey (TR25)]]: fieldwork May 2018 (pilot in 2 polders) and Sep 2018: 266 WMGs in 12 polders;
* [[:File:TR26 outcomes report WMG survey 2019 final 18nov 19 edited.pdf|2019 WMG Survey (TR26)]]: fieldwork in Jun/Jul 2019: 510 WMGs in 22 polders plus FGDs with 25 WMGs;
* [[:File:TR29 outcomes report 2021 11nov 21.pdf|2021 WMG Survey (TR29)]]: fieldwork in Jul/Aug 2021: 506 WMGs in 22 polders plus interviews with 1,012 households.

== Final Report Section B<ref group="Notes">'''Advisory Note:''' Section B presents the latest available data, mostly collected end 2020 and in 2021. However, other sections of this Final Report (especially Sections D, E and F) were prepared during 2020 and early-2021 using data available at that time. This means that occasionally there may be some discrepancies in values between Sections B and Sections D, E and F.</ref> ==
Data on the outcomes and impact of the Blue Gold Program used here in Section B are mostly derived from the following surveys:

* The '''[[:File:TR27 Impact of Blue Gold Program draft final 24apr 21.pdf|endline survey 2020]]''';
* The '''[[:File:TR29 outcomes report 2021 11nov 21.pdf|WMG survey 2021]]''', and also using data for comparison from the '''[[:File:TR26 outcomes report WMG survey 2019 final 18nov 19 edited.pdf|WMG survey 2019]];''' and
* The '''household survey 2021.''' This household survey was undertaken as complementary to the WMG survey 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected all Blue Gold communities as well as creating difficulties for those who conducted the field survey work. Chapter 27 includes a section (Impact of disasters and resilience to face them) further elaborating the impact of COVID-19 on the Blue Gold beneficiaries and their livelihoods. The impact of COVID-19 on the endline and WMG surveys is summarised below:

* The COVID-19 pandemic, with measures including lockdowns and transport restrictions, contributed to an unfavourable level of agricultural production and incomes in 2020.<ref group="Notes">A main reason for conducting a 2021 WMG survey in the last half of 2020 and the first half of 2021 was to obtain a more representative assessment of agricultural production for the ‘endline’. In addition, the restrictions to travel imposed during 2020 made the field survey more difficult and contributed to a decision to conduct the WMG survey in 2021.</ref>
* In 2020, it was not possible to conduct a WMG survey due to COVID-19, because of travel restrictions.
* The data collection for the endline survey of 2020 had to be postponed by several months (from May to September), which in turn affected the recall by respondents of events in aman 2019 and rabi 2020.
* Outcomes of the endline survey in 2020 - and to a lesser degree the WMG survey in 2021 - are likely to be affected to some extent by the impact of COVID-19, for example, because COVID-19 restrictions led to reduced off-farm prices.

==== Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management (see [[05 Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management|Chapter 5]]) ====
Improved water management has reduced losses from poor drainage, salinity and lack of irrigation. WMGs continued to report a reduction in water-related constraints to crop production, with 69% of the WMGs saying the situation is now good or very good, compared with only 13% in the pre-project situation and 56% in the 2019 WMG survey. Overall, 79% of WMGs say there has been an improvement in water management conditions, compared with 68% in 2019. However, there are still some problems, and flooding has become a major problem for 20% of WMGs in the kharif-2 season, especially in Patuakhali. Informal interviews found that in many cases BGP had not met all of their expectations regarding water management. Some khals need still to be excavated and sluice gates fixed.

Coastal communities are now more organized and have taken responsibilities for the sustainability of the improvements in water management. The most widely reported improvement in infrastructure was re-excavation, de-silting of khals, cleaning of khal, sluice repairs, new/repaired culverts, better sluice operation and repaired embankments. Most of these works were undertaken by BWDB-BGP with WMG support, with WMG themselves mainly being responsible for khal cleaning and better sluice operation. Local Government Institutions had an important role in culvert improvements together with WMGs. WMGs reported that sluice gates are now under the control of WMGs or catchment committees (made up of WMGs); but it is apparent from FGDs that, in some locations, control is, at best, partial, and sluices may not always be operated in the best interests of farmers. In addition, drainage khals may be leased to, or otherwise occupied, by influential individuals who can obstruct their use for drainage. There are also worries that WMG control of infrastructure will not continue after the end of BGP.

BGP had a strong focus on institutional development of coastal communities. In two-thirds (67%) of households someone is member of at least one type of community organization. In 54% of the sample households someone is member of a WMG, compared to 21% in 2017. BGP delivered its field activities via WMGs, inspiring community / WMG members to attend different types trainings and to adopt new technologies. Most (63%) of sample households reported that members of their households have attended BGP Farmer Field Schools (FFS) organised by DAE and by the Technical Assistance (TA) Team. A similar proportion reported attending Blue Gold Farmer Field Days, while over one third (38%) have attended other BGP training. In between 77% and 93% of the households from which someone attended training at least something from what they learned had been adopted.

=== Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development (see [[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development|Chapter 6]]) ===
Since the start of BGP there have been significant changes in land use and cropping. Fish ghers now make up 60% of the cultivable land in Khulna and 70% in Satkhira. In Satkhira the area under ghers has more than doubled since the start of BGP. There are three main categories of land use in the BGP area – paddy, non-rice crops and fish produced in ghers. Farmers’ preferences for these land uses have changed over the BGP period.

The 2018 WMG survey found that small farmers preferred to grow rice rather than fish, as they got food for their families and straw to feed animals. At that time paddy prices were high and there was little difference in the profitability of paddy versus fish/shrimp. In 2019 the situation had changed, with paddy prices falling and fish becoming more profitable than paddy. The areas of fish ghers in Khulna and, especially, in Satkhira, had increased substantially, with a smaller increase in the area under crops. The 2021 WMG survey found further increases in the areas under fish ghers and non-rice crops, with the area under paddy stabilising. However, discussions with farmers suggest that the economic pendulum has swung back in favour of paddy and non-rice crops – especially high value crops such as watermelon and vegetables. Crop budgets suggest these two crops now contribute more to net farm income than fish ghers.

Of the total area of all crops, paddy accounts for 45%, fish ghers 29% and non-rice crops 26%. Overall, the area of paddy has increased by 10%, with the area under both fish ghers and non-rice crops increasing by around 50%. There has been a switch from local to more productive high yielding varieties of paddy. At the start of BGP over half of paddy was local varieties, now HYVs and hybrids account for 79% of the area under paddy.

The area under fish ghers has more than doubled in Satkhira, while non-rice crops have increased by 62% in Patuakhali, largely driven by growth in mung bean which has replaced keshari (a local pulse crop) as the main non-rice crop. There has been a modest (25%) expansion of non-rice crops in Khulna, with high value vegetables and watermelon replacing sesame and other non-irrigated crops, which have become vulnerable to increasingly unreliable weather conditions.

Overall cropping intensity has increased by 55 percentage points, from 186% to 241%, with a larger increase in Satkhira of 99 percentage points - largely due to expansion of fish ghers. Increases in cropping intensity was reported for all polders apart from polder 28/2 (being absorbed into Khulna city) and for 89% of the WMGs. There has been an increase of 13 percentage points since the 2019 WMG survey, when overall cropping intensity was 228%, with increases in Khulna and Satkhira, but little change for Patuakhali. On average WMGs with lower Water Management Problem Scores have a higher cropping intensity.

The WMGs reported that yields have increased for almost all crops compared with the pre-BGP situation – typically by around 30% but doubling for paddy where HYVs have replaced local varieties. Yields are also higher for most crops compared with those reported in 2019 – especially for mung bean which had depressed yields in 2019. Calculations based on crop budgets and cropping patterns show that total labour used in agriculture has increased by almost 50%, with the number of women hired more than doubling.

The incomes from crops and fish ghers have been calculated using crop budgets and WMG data on crop areas. These incomes have more than doubled over the BGP period. Calculated total income in the WMG survey 2021 is 19% less than that reported in household interviews 2021 for crops, field vegetables and fish ghers, suggesting that the calculation is not an overestimate.

An economic analysis of the investment in BGP has been carried out in order to calculate the economic internal rate of return. As in preceding calculation of the payback period, this analysis is limited to the impact of BGP interventions in water management and agricultural extension on crop production and aquaculture in ghers. The analysis has adjusted input and output prices to reflect their real value to the economy. The analysis uses the same data that was collected for the 2021 WMG survey. The analysis covers project costs and benefits over a 30 year period, with investment expenditure on BGP taking place over the first eight of these years (2013-14 to 2020-21]).<ref group="Notes">The small amount of BG investment in 2021-22 has been excluded as data on benefits refers to the project prior to this expenditure. No further benefits are assumed beyond those quantified in the 2021 WMG survey.</ref>

EIRR calculations assume that only a proportion of the improvement in cropping patters and crop yields reported in the WMG survey can be attributed to BGP. Interviews for 2021 WMG survey mostly attributed between 40% and 60% of the increase in farm income to BGP interventions. The base case for EIRR calculations assumed that 25% of the increase in net farm income can be attributed to BG interventions. This results in an EIRR of 42%.

The EIRR has also been calculated with smaller proportions of the increase in farm income attributed to BGP. This shows that EIRR remains at an acceptable 15% even if only 10% of the increase in farm income is attributed to BGP. The effect of BGP benefits not being sustained has also been examined. If net benefits were to cease in 2023-24, two years after completion, then the EIRR would be reduced from 42% to 38% in the base case but would still be an acceptable 15% if only 15% of the increase in farm income were attributed to BGP.

=== Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production (see [[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production|Chapter 7]]) ===
For around 30% of the polder households that do not have the necessary access to land or family labour to get benefit from the interventions for crop agriculture, a more inclusive Farmer Field School (FFS) program on homestead production was implemented to improve their food security, nutrition, and their overall living standard. From 2013 to 2021 thirteen cycles of 1,178 FFS were implemented for 25 farmers each. In total 1,758 modules were facilitated covering homestead gardening (vegetable and fruit), poultry rearing, pond aquaculture and beef fattening. Overall, 87.6% participant were women.

Most (around 80% or more) of the surveyed households grow homestead vegetables, have fruit trees and keep poultry. Around two-thirds have cattle and one-third goats. These provide food for the household and produce for sale – with around two-thirds of all households selling eggs and poultry; one third selling cattle, one quarter fruit, vegetables and also milk, and 16% selling goats. Overall, there has been a slight increase in the number of households involved in vegetables, fruit and poultry, and a somewhat larger increase in numbers with goats and cattle. Households now especially keep larger numbers of poultry. Overall, 44% of all households have fishponds. The proportion of pond owners has remained more or less stable and about 40% of pond fish is retained for home consumption. This increase in homestead production has been encouraged by training and support from BGP. Although most households report generating income from homestead-based production, the relatively small amounts they earn mean that these are not very important income sources. However, homestead production is an important source to fulfil the nutritional needs of the households, increasing household resilience.

The main problems in the production of crops, poultry, livestock and fish reported by the sampled households relate to pests and diseases. This applies to crops, vegetables, poultry, fish and livestock. Water and weather-related problems are also significant for paddy and other crops. In discussing problems, the FGDs in the 2019 WMG survey were dominated by economic issues, such as the falling prices of farm products (especially paddy) and the increasing cost of labour and farm inputs. This had changed in 2021, although some of the 2021 FGDs reported that they were not getting fair prices for their crops and that markets could be manipulated by middlemen. Input supply sometimes also was an issue. But farmers in 2021 were much more positive about paddy production, and less enthusiastic about expanding fish ghers.

=== The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihood of Women (see [[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women|Chapter 8]]) ===
BGP ensured that women fully participated in development activities, and women are now undertaking an increased amount of income generating work around the homestead and on their farms. Women are also working more often now outside their home – particularly in wage labour and in other income generating activities. However, most women still see themselves primarily as housewives, and domestic tasks still occupy most of their time, even though their time spent on productive work increased considerably.

Earning an income helps women to take a larger role in household decision-making, women are now more mobile outside of their homes, and they participate more in community events and community organizations. Their social status has improved. But at the same time the workload of women has increased as they are taking on more productive work in addition to their domestic tasks.

=== The Overall Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihood of the Coastal Communities (see [[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders|Chapter 9]]) ===
The livelihoods of the coastal communities of BGP areas has improved significantly. Almost all households own homestead land; very few households in the landless category own any other type of land, while only two-thirds of marginal farm households own cultivated land and 41% have ponds. The proportion of these households owning land has increased very slightly since the start of BGP. The average area owned for all households 133 decimals (0.54 ha). Although land ownership is highly skewed, more households than before, particularly those owning little land, now lease in land, and this means that many landless and marginal households are able to cultivate crops and fish. Increases in leasing of land means that agriculture provides opportunities for poor households. Agriculture remains an appropriate strategy for poverty reduction.

Data shows that 60% of the average total household income comes from agriculture-related sources and 40% from non-agricultural sources. For all land-owning categories, the largest single source of agricultural income is crops, including field vegetables, which contributes 26%. For landless households the combined earnings from farm and non-farm labour are the major sources of income. These households also generate significant income from crops, but wage labour generates considerably more income. Wage labour is also important for marginal land owning households. Income from agriculture in the WMG survey 2021 is double than the income measured by the 2020 endline survey, as farming had recovered from the natural disasters and economic problems in 2019 and 2020, and as further BGP water infrastructure works have been completed. Not only does agriculture generate a large share of income for all land-owning categories, developing agriculture generates opportunities for all income groups – either as producers or through the provision of labour and other services.

Ownership of household assets like agricultural equipment, radio/TV and bicycles/motorbikes is correlated with land ownership, with the number of owners increasing as land ownership rises. Virtually all households own mobile phones, but relatively few own motor vehicles or non-motorised vehicles (such as rickshaws). Ownership of both these types of vehicles is inversely correlated to land ownership, with a higher proportion of households with less land owning these assets. This may be because households who have little land have transport businesses that use these vehicles. Compared to the 2017 baseline survey, there has been a considerable increase in the numbers of households owning agricultural equipment (up from 13% to 70%).

Housing is a useful indicator of well-being. Households that own more land have larger, more valuable houses, constructed with better quality materials. Compared with the 2017 baseline survey, the average number of rooms per house has increased from 2.2 to 2.6 and the average value of a house has more than doubled – from Tk74,694 to Tk155,916. More houses now have brick/concrete walls and roofs, and fewer use grass, bamboo etc. The number of households obtaining domestic water from tubewells has increased from 88% to 94%, and in total 99% of households now get water from sources which should be safe. Almost all (96%) of the households have sanitary toilet facilities. Most households (88%) report washing their hands with soap before meals and after using toilet, compared with only 36% in the 2017 baseline survey; the hygiene campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have contributed to this.

In the 2020 endline survey, a small proportion of households (8.2%) reported food shortages in terms of not being able to have at least two meals per day at some point in the last 12 months. The shortages were highly correlated to land ownership, with over 20% of the landless households reporting shortages. The proportion of households reporting food shortages in the 2017 baseline survey was slightly lower (7.2%). This slightly higher percentage in 2020 may be linked to the poor rice crop in 2019 and, to a lesser extent, in 2020.

Cropping intensity increased significantly over the years of BGP and crop production, in terms of yields per hectare, was very good again in the year 2021. Income from agriculture in 2021 was double the income achieved in 2020; hence it is likely that the extent of food insecurity, reported by some of the households in 2019 and 2020, was reduced in 2021.

Overall, the increased agricultural and fish production as well as homestead-based production have enhanced food security and fulfilled nutritional needs. The high value and other rabi crops, along with fish provide cash incomes for households. Increased crop and homestead-based production also increased employment opportunities, especially for women. Improved agriculture not only increased agricultural production and employment, but also improved the well-being of the entire family. Rural households are investing towards improved quality of life, like better housing and other amenities, and better futures such as investing in new agricultural and non-agricultural endeavours and in their children’s education.

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== See more ==

==See more==
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Glossary and acronyms

2021-12-15T11:59:52Z

Bigblue:

;access to markets
:Generally refers to how many and/or in which way people are able to buy or sell, and reach, a reliable supplier or buyer in a market
;ADG
:Additional Director General
;ADP
:Annual Development Plan
;AEO
:Agricultural Extension Officer
;AGEP
:Agricultural Growth and Employment Program
;ail
:a shallow earth bund on plot boundaries which allows the ponding of water for basin irrigation
;AIS
:Agricultural Information Systems
;aman
:a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;ARM
:Annual Review Mission, the broad objective of which was to secure and where possible further enhance the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of the project. ARM members were individuals who were appointed by, and reported directly to, EKN and BWDB/DAE
;arotdar
:service provider to bepari and paikers in wholesale markets. Facilitates the buying/selling process, and may provide negotiation assistance with purchases, storage space, selling space, short term and seasonal credit, and arrange truck transport of goods purchased by bepari to market
;aus
:a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;B Aman
:broadcast aman; a rice crop usually planted in March/April under dryland conditions, but in areas liable to deep flooding. Also known as deepwater rice. Harvested from October to December. All varieties are highly sensitive to daylength.
;B Aus
:broadcast aus; a rice crop planted in March/April under dryland conditions. Matures during pre-monsoonal showers and is harvested in June/July. Insensitive to daylength.
;BADC
:Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation
;bagda
:brackish-water shrimp species
;baor
:oxbow lake
;bari
:a homestead in which one or more households (chula) of the same kinship group share facilities within an enclosed or semi-enclosed compound
;BARI
:Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute
;basok leaves
:basok leaves are the leaves of a medicinal shrub found along road roadside, often used as fencing of houses in our polders (especially in Satkhira and Khulna) that are dried and then sold to pharmaceutical companies for medicine preparation, in particular to prepare cough syrup.
;BAU
:Bangladesh Agricultural University
;BBS
:Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
;BCIC
:Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation
;BDP
:Bangladesh Delta Plan
;BDS
:Business Development Services
;BDT
:Bangladesh Taka
;beel
:wetland inundated for at least one season per year, formed by the inundation of a low-lying natural depression
;beneficiary
:Any individual or group who, in one way or another is favourably influenced by the project.
;bepari
:key wholesaler in the supply chain, moves goods between markets by buying in source markets and selling in destination markets, and exerts the main influence on price earned by farmers.
;BGIF
:Blue Gold Innovation Fund
;BGP
:Blue Gold Program
;BHWDB
:Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board
;bigha
:area varies between localities - range 30-40 decimals (0.12-0.16 ha)
;BINA
:Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture
;borgadar
:share-cropper
;boro
:A rice crop planted under irrigation during the dry season from December to March and harvested between April and June. Local boro varieties are more tolerant of cool temperatures and are usually planted in areas which are subject to early flooding. Improved varieties, less tolerant of cool conditions, are usually transplanted from February onwards. All varieties are insensitive to daylength.
;BRAC
:Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (an NGO)
;branch khal
:Secondary or tertiary drainage channel (in Bangla sakha khal)
;brinjal
:eggplant, aubergine
;bundh
:small earthen embankment or dam
;BWDB
:Bangladesh Water Development Board, government agency which is responsible for surface water and groundwater management in Bangladesh, and lead implementing agency for the Blue Gold Program
;BWFMS
:Bangladesh Water and Flood Management Strategy
;cage fishing
:cage culture is an aquaculture production system in which the fish are held in floating net pens using existing water resources (riverss and ponds) with water passing freely between the fish and the surrounding water body for water circulation and waste removal into the surrounding water.
;CAHW
:Community Animal Health Workers
;catchment
:an idealised hydrologically independent drainage unit within a polder - comprising a network of inter-connected khals draining to a regulator from where water is discharged to a peripheral river. Because the land levels in a polder vary within a small range (typically up to a maximum of 1.5 m), water flows can be affected by downstream water conditions and eventually drain through more than one regulator at diffferent times of year. .
;catchment planning
:Identification and planning of both interventions and operations & maintenance within the catchment, resulting in an action plan for the catchment.
;CAWM
:Community-led Agricultural Water Management - with DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;CDF
;CDFs
:Community Development Facilitator - a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, and provided the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;CDMP
:Comprehensive Disaster Management Program
;CDSP
:Char Development and Settlement Project
;CEGIS
:Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services
;CEIP
:Coastal Embankment Improvement Project
;CFWM
:Community-led Fisheries and Water Management
;CGIAR
:Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
;chal
:husked rice
;char
:accreted sediment in a river course or estuary, including both lateral (point-bars) and medial (braid-bars). Chars (or sand bars) emerge as islands within the river channel (island chars) or as attached land to the riverbanks (attached chars), create new opportunities for temporary settlements and agriculture.
;chula
:Literally a traditional cooking stove. Used here to identify a household - an independent economic family unit - which shares kitchen facilities and eats together
;CI
:Cropping Intensity
;CII
:Cropping Intensity Initiative
;CIMMYT
:International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
;CLF
:Community-led Fisheries
;CLW
:Community Livestock Worker
;CO
;COs
:Community Organiser
;CA
;collective action
;collective actions
:Collective action - by a producer group is one way to partially overcome constraints such as in weak markets, where inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective action is working in group instead of individually in order to gain economic or social benefit. Through collective action, farmers can address constraints in their market linkages, organise their activities jointly and use their collective bargaining power to reduce input costs through bulk purchase, or to obtain services from buyers such as farm-level collection of produce
;commercial agriculture
:agricultural production aimed at meeting market-demands. It is based on establishing a profitable farming unit and involves a multitude of business relations with other actors in the market system. Used in contrast to subsistence farming which focuses mostly on home consumption.
;Community Animal Health Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their animals
;Community Development Facilitator
:a member of the Blue Gold technical assistance team who lived and worked in a specific polder, thus providing the main point of contact between the project and the polder communities
;Community Livestock Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their livestock
;community mobilization
:Community mobilization is a process that brings together different societal factions to undertake development activities. Within BGP this especially refers to organizing the community members into Water Management Groups
;Community Poultry Workers
:Members of the community who are trained to provide farmers with basic health and production support for their poultry
;Community-led Agricultural Water Management
:With DAE, Blue Gold established a network of schemes for demonstration purposes where locally-applicable annual cropping patterns are introduced along with water level control facilitated by small-scale water infrastructure, and the development of value chain skills in farmers
;control structure
:A permanent structure placed in a farm canal, ditch, or subsurface drainage conduit, which provides control of the discharge of surface and/or subsurface drainage by menas of flashboards, gates, valves, risers, or pipes.
;CPP-FAP-20
:Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20
;CPW
:Community Poultry Worker
;CPWF
:Challenge Programme on Water and Food
;Cropping Intensity Initiative
:Year-long demonstrations with farmers on increasing cropping intensity related to improved water management, also involving market actors, and by organising demand driven sessions and workshops
;cropping intensity
:The number of crop harvest per unit land per year. The average cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as the total area of all crops per year divided by the area of cultivable land. In its CI calculations BGP treats fish ghers as another crop; the DAE method excludes fish ghers in its CI calculations. Hence the CI calculated by BGP is higher than as calculated by DAE.
;cross-dam
:Earthen embankment placed across a khal or river to prevent water flow.
;CSISA
:Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
;culvert
:A culvert is a structure that allows water to flow beneath a road, railroad, trail, or similar obstruction from one side to the other.
;CWM
:Chief of Water Management (BWDB)
;CYSs
:courtyard sessions
;DAE
:Department of Agricultural Extension, a department of the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for disseminating scientific research and new knowledge on agricultural practices through communication and learning activities for farmers in agriculture, agricultural marketing, nutrition and business studies.
;DAM
:Department of Agricultural Marketing
;DANIDA
:Danish International Development Agency
;decimal
:one hundredth of an acre (0.004 ha)
;Development Project Proforma
:a formal document which sets out the intention of a GoB organisation to invest in a development project, seeking approval for the investment and, if successful, a budget allocation. The DPP follows a prescribed format, including the project’s financial and physical scope, benefits, and proposals for monitoring and internal and external audits. The approval of a development project proposal follows a number of stages: formation with preliminary studies, formulation to develop greater detail and with additional information to make the economic case for the project, scrutiny by the executing agencies and concerned ministries, appraisal by the Planning Commission, recommendation for approval by Project Evaluation Committee (PEC), Minister/ECNEC approval, and inclusion of a budgetary allocation in the Annual Development Plan (ADP).
;DFID
:Department for International Development (UK government's development department); since September 2020, known as Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office - FCDO - after a merger with Foreign and Commonwealth Office - FCO
;DG
:Director General
;dhan
:unhusked rice (paddy)
;dheki
:manually operated rice husking machine
;Disaster Risk Reduction
:The Union Disaster Management Committee (UDMC) has been given the mandate to lead disaster preparedness, mitigation, emergency response and post disaster rehabilitation, by informing local people, empowering them to take practical measures to reduce risk at household and community levels and to disseminate success stories of reducing disaster risks widely among local people.
;diversification of agriculture
:Movement of resources from (few) low value commodities to more higher value ones, increasing the total production value and reducing risks
;DLS
:Department of Livestock Services, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for the livestock industry in Bangladesh
;DoC
:Department of Cooperatives
;DoF
:Department of Fisheries, a government department under the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock responsible for regulating the fisheries industry in Bangladesh
;DP III
:Department of Planning III, one of three planning departments in BWDB headed by a Superintending Engineer which reports to the Chief Engineer (Civil) Planning to the Assistant Director General (Planning)
;DPP
;DPPs
:Development Project Proforma
;drainage congestion
:the south-western coastal zone is characterised by broad tidal flats and fluvio-tidal plains, lying approximately 1 metre above sea level, with drainage provided by numerous tidal creeks and channels a some major rivers. Empolderisation now protects the intrusion of sea water to agricultural areas but restricts the deposition of sediments to within the channels, thus reducing the drainage capacity of the rivers and channels, causing drainage congestion.
;DRR
:Disaster Risk Reduction
;DTL
:Deputy Team Leader
;EC
:Executive Committee
;EC members
:Members of the Executive Committees of Water Management Organisations, i.e. of Water Management Groups or Water Management Associations. Each Executive Committee consists of 12 members, of whom at least 30% should be women as per government rules
;economic growth
:Increase in the capacity of a country or an economic region to produce goods and services. It also refers to the increase in market value of the goods and services produced by an economy. It is usually calculated using inflation adjusted figures, in order to discount the effect of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced
;EDP
:Estuary Development Program
;EIA
;EIAs
:Environmental Impact Assessment
;EIP
:Early Implementation Project
;EKN
:Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the contractual representative of the Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and signatory to the agreement for the Blue Gold Program with the External Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance as the signatory for the Government of Bangladesh
;embankment
:Earthen dyke or bundh raised above surrounding ground level, for example so that roads or railway lines are above highest flood levels, or so that an area is empoldered to protect it from external floods and saline waters.
;EMM
:Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
;empolder
:to surround an area of low-lying land by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;empowerment
:empowerment is a process, enabling people to make choices and convert these into desired actions and results. In doing so, people take control of their own lives, improve their own position, set their own agenda, gain skills, develop self-confidence, solve problems, and develop self-sufficiency. Empowerment leads to genuine participation of all actors as it is a process of gaining self-confidence for individual development as well as to contribute towards development of others.
;enabling environment
:an environment of policies, regulations, norms, institutions, and overall economic governance which allows market systems to function and perform well
;EO
:Earth Observation
;EOI
:Expression of Interest
;EPWAPDA
:East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority
;EWM
:Equitable Water Management
;fall boards
:boards temporarily placed in slots or grooves in the pier walls of regulators or sluices to prevent the flow of water during maintenance of the structure or gates.
;FAO
:Food and Agriculture Organization
;FAP
:Flood Action Plan
;fariahs
:small traders
;Farmer Field Day
;Farmer Field Days
:Exchange events organized at the end of each Farmer Field School to share the FFS learnings with other community members
;Farmer Field School
;Farmer Field Schools
:A group-based learning process through which farmers carry out experiential learning activities that help them to understand the ecology of their fields, based on simple experiments, regular field observations and group analysis. The knowledge gained from these activities enables participants to make their own locally specific decisions about crop management practices. This approach represents a radical departure from earlier agricultural extension programmes, in which farmers were expected to adopt generalized recommendations that are formulated by specialists from outside the community.
;Farmer Trainer
;Farmer Trainers
:Well-performing and capable farmers, previously trained in Farmer Field Schools, who became FFS facilitator themselves after ToT training
;FCD
:Flood Control and Drainage
;FCDI
:Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation
;feasibility study
;feasibility studies
:A feasibility study is an analysis that takes all of a project's relevant factors into account—including economic, technical, legal, and scheduling considerations—to ascertain the likelihood of completing the project successfully.
;feminization of agriculture
:Feminization of agriculture refers to the measurable increase of women's participation in the agricultural sector. This can be due to men taking up non-farm employment locally, male out-migration from rural areas to urban areas or abroad, poverty (need for women to raise income), and/or women's empowerment (women taking own initiatives to engage in agricultural production). The increase in agricultural productivity requiring more labour input (be it family or wage labour) can also contribute to a larger role of women in agriculture.
;FFD
:Farmer Field Day
;FFS
;FFSs
:Farmer Field School
;FGD
;FGDs
:Focus Group Discussions - in which a group of participants from similar backgrounds or experiences gather to discuss a specific topic of interest, guided by a group facilitator who introduces the topics for discussion and helps the group to participate in a lively and natural discussion amongst themselves
;flap gate
:Hinged gate on the river-side of a regulator vent which automatically closes when water rises above the country-side water level.
;flushing
:The practice of admitting (fresh or saline) water for irrigation (or shrimp production) through regulators or inlets.
;FO
;FOs
:FFS Organiser in the technical assistance (TA) team
;FRERMIP
:Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Program - A program financed by ADB and EKN with consultancy services provided by Northwest Hydraulic Consutants and Mott MacDonald, which provided structural and non-structural flood and riverbank erosion risk management measures in three high priority subproject areas, with the aim in subsequent projects of extending the protected reaches using designs adjusted to current riverbank erosion conditions and considering the possibilities of reclaiming lost floodplain land.
;FT
;FTs
:Farmer Trainer
;FY
:Financial Year
;GAP
:Gender Action Plan
;GDP
:gross domestic product
;GED
:General Economics Division, one of six divisions in the Planning Commission, with responsibility for the preparation of mid- and long-term plans; M&E of plans; and the determination of macroeconomic scenarios

;gender
:Refers to socially constructed and therefore learned roles and responsibilities ascribed to men and women, girls and boys based on their sex. Gender is not the same as sex, the physical and biological attributes that make someone female, male or both. Gender comprises the expectations, roles, attitudes and behaviours of women and men. Gender roles change over time and vary within and between cultures, societies and classes.
;gender blindness
:Gender-blindness refers to the failure to identify or acknowledge differences on the basis of gender where it is significant. Projects, programs, policies and attitudes which are gender blind do not take into account the different roles and needs of men and women. They maintain or reinforce the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations.
;gender equality
:Gender equality exists when men and women, boys and girls are attributed equal social value, equal rights and equal responsibilities; and men and women have equal access to the means (resources, opportunities) to exercise those rights and responsibilities. This does not mean that women and men will become the same, but rather that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether someone is born male or female.
;gender equity
:Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings.
;gender indicators
:Gender indicators are performance indicators that help assess or measure the effects of a policy, programme or project on changes in gender relations and the status of men and women, and hence the extent of advancement of gender equality and/or women's empowerment. Gender indicators can be quantitative and qualitative.
;gender issues
:Any issue where relations, differences, connections and/or inequalities between men and women have either a positive or negative effect or influence
;gender mainstreaming
:This is the process of systematically recognizing and taking into account gender issues (such as differences between the conditions, roles and needs of women and men) within core activities of projects and programmes and covering design, implementation and M&E. Gender mainstreaming also takes into account the likely implications for men and women of planned interventions.
;gender relations
:Gender relations are the specific sub-set of social relations uniting men and women as social groups in a particular community, including how power and access to and control over resources are distributed between the sexes. Gender relations intersect with all other influences on social relations - age, ethnicity, race, religion - to determine the position and identity of people in a social group. Since gender relations are a social construct, they can be transformed over time to become more equitable.
;gender-sensitive approach
:Refers to recognizing and taking into account gender issues, aiming to promote gender equality
;GESAP
:Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (of BWDB)
;gher
;ghers
:An area enclosed by low embankments to store either freshwater or brackish water for the production of fish, shrimps or prawns.
;GIS
:Geographic Information Systems
;GLD
:Gender and Leadership Development (training)
;GoB
:Government of Bangladesh; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;golda
:freshwater prawn species
;GoN
:Government of the Netherlands; a donor to the Blue Gold Program
;GPWM
:Guidelines for Participatory Water Management
;gusthi
:kinship group which traces its origins to a common male ancestor - an important element of social identity in a village
;ha
:hectare
;hajol
;hajols
:A hajol is an unfired earthenware nesting vessel for egg hatching, with small receptacles for water and seed to provide the immediate needs. The hajol saves the hen effort and time for searching food, thus ensuring proper hatching in less time, thereby reducing egg waste.
;hat
:small rural market, held weekly or bi-weekly
;HBB
:herringbone bond - a brickwork pattern used as the wearing course for rural roads with a low traffic volume
;HH
;HHs
:Household
;highland
:0-30 cm: intermittent flooding, land suited to HYV T Aman in monsoon season
;HL
:Horizontal Learning
;Horizontal Learning
:Learning from peers; and in the context of Blue Gold, farmer-to-farmer learning in which a host WMG invites representatives from visiting WMGs to witness an event - such as the harvesting of a new variety of rice - to pass on the knowledge and lessons gained from their experience
;HR
:Human Resources
;HVC
;high value crop(s)
;High Yielding Variety
:Introduced varieties developed through formal breeding programs. HYVs have a higher yield potential than local varieties but require correspondingly high inputs of fertiliser and irrigation to achieve high yields.
;HYV
:High Yielding Variety
;IBRD
:International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
;ICM
:Integrated Crop Management
;ICRD
:Integrated Coastal Resources Database
;ICT
:Information Communication Technology
;ICZM
:Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Programme Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Programme (PDO-ICZM)
;IF
:Innovation Fund
;IFI
:International Financing Institution eg World Bank, Asian Development Bank
;IFMC
:Integrated Farm Management Component (DANIDA-funded program)
;IGA
:Income Generating Activity
;IMIP
:Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)
;IMRC
:Inter-Ministerial Review Committee
;in-polder water management
:term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which primarily aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for eventual discharge through the sluice/regulator to a peripheral river
;inclusiveness
:The inclusion of the (interests of) different types of people and treating them fairly and equally, considering their different roles and interests in water management
;INGO
:International NGO
;inlet
:Structure designed to only admit (fresh or saline) water across an embankment.
;Integrated Water Resources Management
:Internationally-accepted approach for efficient, equitable and sustainable development and management of water resources especially applicable where there are multiple stakeholder interests with conflicting demands.
;intensification of agriculture
:Increasing agricultural production per unit of inputs, such as per unit of land
;interventions
:A defined set of temporary activities through which facilitators seek to effect change
;IOB
:The Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) is the independent evaluation service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands which researches and prepares reports on the outcomes of Dutch foreign policy for reasons of accountability and so that the findings can be used in adjusting future policymaking
;IP
:Input Providers
;IPM
:Integrated Pest Management
;IPSWAM
:Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management
;IPSWARM
:(Guidelines for) Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Resources Management
;IPWM
:In-polder water management; term used in Blue Gold to describe water management interventions which aim to deliver excess water from the field through field drains to secondary khals and thence to primary khals for evacuation through the sluice/regulator
;IRRI
:International Rice Research Institute
;ISPM
:Institutional Strengthening and Project Management
;IWM
:Institute of Water Modelling
;IWMI
:International Water Management Institute
;IWRM
:Integrated Water Resources Management
;JBIC
:Japanese Bank for International Cooperation
;katcha
:impermanent, unofficial; an unimproved version, eg earthen road, earth-walled house
;keshari
:Local pulse crop
;khal
:drainage channel or canal
;kharif
:The wet season - typically mid-March to mid-October - characterised by rain and high temperatures
;kharif-1
:The first part of the kharif season (mid-March to mid-June). Rainfall is variable and temperatures are high. The main crops are aus, summer vegetables and pulses. Broadcast aman and jute are planted.
;kharif-2
:The second part of the kharif season (mid-June to mid-October) characterised by heavy rain and floods. T Aman is the major crop grown in this season. Jute is harvested.
;khas
:Land owned by the state, including recently accreted land
;KJDRP
:Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project
;KSS
:Krishi Samabay Samity - farmer cooperative
;kup
:Protected dug well
;Labour Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;landless
:assumed in this report to operate up to 0.5 acres (0.2 ha)
;Landless Contracting Societies
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. Term including 'landless' is generally used by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) whereas BWDB's PWMR 2014 uses 'Labour' Contracting Societies.
;large farmer
:assumed in this report to operate more than 5.5 acres (2.23 ha)
;LCG
:Local Consultative Group
;LCS
:Groups of usually landless people who are contracted by an agency to carry out a certain type and volume of earthwork within a given time period. For BWDB, the rules for engagement of an LCS are set down in PWMR 2014 Chapter 6
;LCS
:Labour Contracting Societies
;LG
:Local Government
;LGED
:Local Government Engineering Department
;LGI
;LGIs
:Local Government Institutions - Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad etc
;lift gate
:vertical gate typically raised and lowered by operating a handwheel up and down a vertical screw, with the gate kept in position by means of steel channels set in the walls of a regulator.
;livelihood
;livelihoods
:A livelihood is a way of making a living. It comprises capabilities, skills, assets (including material and social resources), and activities that households put together to produce food, meet basic needs, earn income, or establish a means of living in any other way.
;livelihood strategies
:The strategies that people employ in order to utilize and transfer assets to produce income today and deal with problems tomorrow. These strategies change and adapt in response to various shocks, external influences, institutional norms and rules, and other factors.
;local varieties
:Varieties developed by farmers, sometimes referred to as local improved varieties (LIVs)
;lowland
:Prone to seasonal (<9 months) or perennial flooding (>9 months), land on which B aman can be grown in the monsoon season. Flood depth 180-300 cm or more
;LRP
:Land Reclamation Project
;M/F
:Male / Female
;M&E
:Monitoring and Evaluation
;maintenance
:actions taken to prevent or repair the deterioration of water management infrastructure and to keep the physical components of a water management system in such a state that they can serve their intended function.
;market
:Any formal or informal structure (not necessarily a physical place) in which buyers and sellers exchange goods, labour, or services for cash or other goods. The word 'market' can simply mean the place in which goods or services are exchanged. Essentially, markets are defined by forces of supply and demand, rather than geographical location
;market linkages
:Also known as 'business linkages'. Linkages refer to the trading relationships between and among producers, input providers and traders, and other enterprises in a supply chain or value chain. We refer to Backward linkages on the input side and Forward linkages on the output side of the producer.
;market orientation
:Within BGP this refers to enhancing insights of especially FFS participants in how markets work, how to collect market information, facilitating linkages with market actors and increasing negotiation capacities
;Market-oriented Farmer Field School
:Farmer Field Schools dealing with cash crops or other commercial production, such as aquaculture, integrating market orientation. Specific MFS were conducted in the first years of BGP; later all FFS included market orientation.
;maund
:unit of weight 37.3 kg, equal to 40 seer
;medium farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 2.5 acres and 5.5 acres (1.0 to 2.23 ha)
;medium highland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to local varieties of aus and T aman in the monsoon season. Flood depth: 30-90 cm
;medium lowland
:Prone to seasonal flooding, land suited to B Aman in monsoon season. Flood depth: 90-180 cm
;MFI
;MFIs
:Micro Finance Institute
;MFS
:Market-oriented Farmer Field School
;MIS
:Management Information System
;MLGRDC
:Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives
;MoA
:Ministry of Agriculture
;mohajon
:village money lender
;MoU
;MoUs
:Memorandum of Understanding
;mouza
:an administrative unit chiefly used for cadastral land registration

;MoWR
:Ministry of Water Resources
;mPower
:mPower is the social enterprise which is dedicated to information technology solutions and strategies that maximize impact on people’s lives.
;MRL
:Monitoring, Reflection & Learning
;MT
:metric ton (tonne)
;MTR
:Mid – Term Review Mission
;NAEP
:New Agriculture Extension Policy
;natok
:popular theatre, a living tradition especially in rural areas of Bangladesh, and a powerful and accepted instrument which can be used to raise discussion on sensitive issues
;NEC
:National Economic Council
;NGO
:Non-Governmental Organisation
;NSB
:National Seed Board
;NWMP
:National Water Management Plan
;NWPo
:National Water Policy
;NWRC
:National Water Resources Commission
;NWRD
:National Water Resources Database
;O&M
:Operation and Maintenance
;O&M Sub-Committee
:A sub-committee of a Water Management Association (WMA) responsible for the planning operation and maintenance of water infrastructure in a specific catchment.
;OCWM
:Office of the Chief of Water Management (in BWDB) responsible for the 'establishment of water user organizations, their training and participation, in project planning, implementation, operation and maintenance and cost recovery'

;ODK
:Open Data Kit
;OFRD
:On‐Farm Research Division
;OMPI
:O&M Performance Improvement
;OMS
:Open Market Sale
;operation
:the adjustment of gates in water management infrastructure to control hydraulic conditions (water levels and discharges) in a water management system.
;outlet structure
:gated structure (typically with only a flap gate on the river-side) designed to drain water through the polder embankment to an external tidal river channel
;owner-operator
:a person who farms or otherwise operates his own land
;paiker
:buys produce directly from individual farmers and sells bulk produce to arotdar or to destination market. Exerts a main influence on price earned by farmers.
;participation
:A process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them.
;participatory water management
;Participatory Water Management
:A process by which the local stakeholders are directly and actively involved in identification, planning, design, implementation, operation & maintenance and evaluation of a water management project.
;PBDP 2100
:Preparation of Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;PCD
:Program Coordinating Director
;PD
:Project Director
;PDP
:Polder Development Plan - presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB Development Project Proforma (DPP). PDPs for all 22 polders are available through the File Library.
;peripheral rivers
:In the coastal zone, the river or rivers surrounding a polder which carry the outflow from the regulators or sluices to the sea
;PF
;PFs
:Producer Group Facilitator
;plot
:contiguous area of land operated as a single unit by a farmer - average area of 27 decimals (0.11 ha), with a normal range between 10 and 70 decimals (0.04 to 0.28 ha)
;PM
:Participatory Monitoring
;PM
:Progress Marker
;PMC
:Project Management Committee
;polder
:An area of low-lying land surrounded by an earthen embankment to prevent flooding by river or seawater, with associated structures which are provided to either drain excess rainwater within the polder or to admit freshwater to be stored in a khal for subsequent use for irrigation.
;Polder Development Plan
:A plan which presents an integrated analysis and planning for a specific polder covering community mobilization, water management, agriculture, business development, environment, gender, and institutions. A deliverable product under the BWDB DPP.
;PPP
:Public Private Partnership
;primary infrastructure
:The main channels or khals within a polder through which excess rain or flood water is discharged to an external tidal river channel and thence to the sea via a regulator, sluice or outlet in the polder embankment.
;productive work
:Labour that results in goods or services that have monetary value in the capitalist system and are thus compensated by the producers in the form of a paid wage, or otherwise results into (monetary) income. Productive work includes subsistence agriculture and homestead production.
;PS
:Private Sector
;PSC
:Program Steering Committee
;PSD
:Private Sector Development
;PSSWRSP
:Participatory Small Scale Water Resources Sector Project
;PSTU
:Patuakhali Science and Technology University
;pucca
:permanent, official, an improved version: brick-paved road as opposed to an earthen road; brick-built house as opposed to earth-walled house
;PWM
:Participatory Water Management
;PWMR
:Participatory Water Management Rules (2014)
;rabi
:The dry season (typically mid-October to mid-March) with low or minimal rainfall, high evapotranspiration rates, low temperatures and clear skies with bright sunshine. Crops grown are boro, pulses, sunflower, sesame and mungbean.
;RAC
:Regional Accounts Committee (BWDB) is inter alia responsible for the administration of payments for construction contracts
;RDPP
:Revised Development Project Proforma
;regulator
:the principal function of a regulator or drainage sluice is to allow the drainage of water from the polder into a peripheral river when there is a differential head across the regulator (ie when the polder or country-side water level exceeds the level in the tidal river). The regulator is provided with a lift gate on the country-side (to allow freshwater to be held in the khal for irrigation during the dry season) and a flap gate on the river-side (to prevent water entry from the river channel into the polder during high tide conditions). A frame is provided on the river-side so that the flap gate can be lifted when there is freshwater in the river (during the monsoon flood season), thus allowing freshwater to be stored in the khal within the polder and used for irrigation during the dry season. The size of the culvert is determined from the drainage area served by the structure.
;reproductive work
:Labour that is associated with the private sphere and involves anything that people have to do for themselves that is not for the purposes of receiving a wage or producing goods. It includes cleaning and repairs, cooking, care, and fetching water and fuel. Reproductive work is also referred to as unpaid care work (UCW) or domestic work and care.
;Resource Farmers
:Resource Farmers (RF) are members of Farmer Field Schools (FFSs). They are selected from the FFS groups to lead other members in organizing different useful collective actions and to maintain networks on behalf of the members. These RFs are given additional capacity building training to enhance their knowlege on simple record keeping and business skills.
;responsible development
:In BGP's context this refers to inclusive and sustainable development as transversal elements within BGP's approach, with inclusiveness meaning that also women and poor household benefit from BGP
;retention structure
:a structure that provides for the storage of runoff and is designed to maintain a permanent pool of water.
;RF
:Resource Farmers are farmer leaders whose specialist skills and experience which have been augmented through training funded by Blue Gold
;riverbank erosion
:the removal of materials in the river bank by water flowing in the river channel; also termed bank scour. In coastal polders, riverbank erosion - if unchecked - can result in breaches to polder embankments - where they are aligned close to rivers - and consequent loss of human and animal life as well as damage to farmland, crops, housing, and other infrastructure.
;RMG
:Ready Made Garments
;ROI
:Return on Investment
;RRI
:River Research Institute - a national public organisation under the Ministry of Water Resources, headquartered at Harukandi in Faridpur, with two technical directorates for hydraulic research and geotechnical research
;rural transformation
:A process of change in rural areas strengthening the local economies
;SAAO
;SAAOs
:Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;SAE
:Sub-Assistant Engineer (BWDB)
;saline intrusion
:The influx of sea water into an area that is not normally exposed to high salinity levels - for example, the inflow of seawater into a fresh water wetland or a fresh water aquifer.
;salinisation
:An increase in salt content within soils due to (a) 'primary salinity' in which natural processes cause fluctuations in soil salt content; or (b) 'secondary salinity' - which is of greater concern - where man-made or climate change affect natural soil salinity levels
;samity
;samities
:association or society
;SC
:South-Central hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 15,436 km2 including the Arial Khan river
;SDE
:Sub-Divisional Engineer (BWDB)
;SE
:Superintending Engineer (BWDB)
;secondary infrastructure
:Smaller channels connecting sub-catchments to main channels, sometimes with associated minor structures (e.g. small one vent sluice) which regulate flow between primary and secondary infrastructure. Secondary channels may also be called sakha-khal or branch-khals.
;sedimentation
:Sedimentation is the process by which fine particles of silt and clay suspended in river water settle out, for example when there is a drop in velocity.
;sediment transport
:sediment transport is the general term used for transport of silt, sand, gravel, boulders in rivers
;Seer
:unit of weight 0.93 kg, equal to 80 tola
;sharecropper
:a person who operates land owned by others under an agreed output and input sharing arrangement
;SIBDP 2100
:Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
;siltation
:Typically undesirable increase in concentration and deposition of water-borne silt particles in a body of water.
;SIMT
:System Improvement and Management Transfer
;six step approach
:An approach in six steps to develop Water Management Groups developed by the previous IPSWAM project
;sluice
:A vertical gate to control the flow of water; also referred to as 'regulator'
;small farmer
:assumed in this report to operate between 0.5 acres and 2.5 acres (0.2 to 1.0 ha)
;SO
:Section Officer (BWDB)
;SRP
:Systems Rehabilitation Project
;SSSFCDI
:Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project
;SSWMI
:Small-scale water management structure: an initiative to improve in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions in Blue Gold polders which was started in 2018. The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes, a pilot fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision from government or TA staff.
;SSWRDSP
:Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
;sub-catchment
:Part of the catchment which is not directly connected to the regulator, and is hydrologically independent from other parts of the catchment.
;sustainable water resources management
:management actions required to address the changing demands on water resource systems both in the present and the long-term future so as to avoid system degradation
;SVC
:Strengthened Value Chain
;SW
:South-West hydrological region, one of the eight hydrological regions covering Bangladesh, with an area of 26,226 km2 including the Garai, Kumar and Bhairab-Kapatakhya rivers
;SWAIWRPMP
:Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project
;T Aman
:transplanted aman; a rice crop, with nurseries for seedlings started in June/July, for transplanting in July/August in areas liable to a maximum flood depth of about 50cm. Harvested in November/December. Local varieties are sensitive to daylength whereas modern varieties are insensitive or only slightly sensitive.
;T Aus
:transplanted aus; The distinction between a late-planted boro and early transplanted aus is academic since the same varieties may be used. Insensitive to daylength.
;T&C
:Training & Communications
;TA
:Technical Assistance
;tertiary infrastructure
:smaller channels connecting fields to secondary infrastructure, sometimes with associated small scale structures (gated pipe or box culverts) which regulate flow between secondary channels and tertiary channels. Tertiary channels may also be called sakha-khals or branch-khals.
;tidal flooding
:tidal flooding is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas during high tide events.
;tidal rivers
:river whose flow and level are influenced by tides
;TL
:Team Leader
;TNA
:Training Needs Assessment
;ToC
:Theory of Change, planning tool
;Tola
:unit of weight 11.7 g
;ToR
:Terms of Reference
;ToT
:Training of trainers
;TR
:Technical Report
;TSP
:Triple Supper Phosphate
;TTAP
:Technology Transfer for Agricultural Production (DAE)
;UAEO
:Upazila Agricultural Extension Officer (DAE)
;UAO
:Upazila Agricultural Officer (DAE)
;UMIC
:Upper Middle Income Country
;unified approach
:The Blue Gold approach which integrated the earlier 'four components' (ie social empowerment, water management infrastructure, agricultural technologies and farming-as-a-business) into a single work process
;Union
:Lowest tier of local government
;Union Parishad
:Union Council chaired by an elected Union Chairman
;UNO
:Upazila Nirbahi Officer or Upazila Executive Officer. Appointed head of the civil administration at Upazila level
;Unpaid care work (UCW) or Domestic work and care
:Unpaid care work refers to all unpaid services provided within a household for its members, and includes caring for children, elderly and sick people and domestic tasks as washing, cooking, shopping, cleaning and helping other families with their chores. Unpaid care work is reproductive work.
;UP
:Union Parishad
;Upazila Parishad chairman
:Elected official assigned as Chief Executive of the Upazila Parishad.
;Upazila
:Middle tier of local government, between Union and District
;Upazila Parishad
:Upazila Council, chaired by an elected Upazila Chairman. The civil administration at this level is headed by the UNO
;ustad
:An ustad is a village-level technological entrepeneur who runs a local business providing services and/or goods eg electrical, mechanical repairs; cast iron foundry etc)
;UZP
:Upazila Parishad
;value chain
:the set of activities that need to be performed in a specific production sector in order to deliver the end product to the consumer. Agricultural value chains typically include input supply, growing/production, processing and marketing/distribution.
;VC
:Value Chain
;VCA
:Value Chain Analysis
;VCD
:Value Chain Development
;VCS
:Value Chain Selection
;very lowland
:>300cm seasonal or perennial flooding, does not permit growing of B Aman in the monsoon season
;WAP
;WAPs
:Water Management Group Action Plan
;ward
:Union sub-unit. Each Union comprises of 9 wards. Union Parishad members are elected to represent their ward
;ward sobha
:Ward-level public meeting to consult the ward inhabitants in the planning process of the Union
;WARPO
:Water Resources Plan Organisation
;WASH
:Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
;waterlogging
:Soil is regarded as waterlogged when it is nearly saturated with water much of the time such that its air phase is restricted and anaerobic conditions prevail. In agriculture, various crops need air (specifically, oxygen) to a greater or lesser depth in the soil. Waterlogging of the soil stops air getting in. How near the water table must be to the surface for the ground to be classed as waterlogged, varies with the purpose in view. A crop's demand for freedom from waterlogging may vary between seasons of the year.
;water management
:human intervention in the capture, conveyance, utilisation and drainage of surface and/or ground water in a certain area: a process of social interaction between stakeholders around the issue of water control.
;Water Management Association
:In Blue Gold, the polder-level representative of WMGs, and signatory to an O&M Agreement with BWDB
;Water Management Cooperative Association
:The legal entity for a Water Management Organisation under registry by the Department of Cooperatives
;Water Management Federation
:The organization of local stakeholders at the apex level of the water resource project/sub-project/scheme
;water management for development
:The strapline of the Blue Gold Program for a transformative approach to smallholder agriculture which combines water infrastructure and locally-led initiatives for better water management, using modern agricultural technology and a business-orientation.
;Water Management Group
:The basic organizational unit in Blue Gold representing local stakeholders from a hydrological or social unit (para/village). Through Blue Gold, 511 WMGs have been formed and registered. The average WMG covers an area of around 230 ha has 365 households or a population of just over 1,500.
;Water Management Group Action Plan
:A plan drafted by water management groups; initially as a formal requirement for registration; later on as a building block for a sluice catchment management plan
;Water Management Organizations
:The common name of organizations of the local stakeholders of a water resource project/sub-project/scheme. The concept WMO typically refers to WMGs and WMAs (and/or WMFs) together
;Water management partnership
:Regular cooperation between Water Management Organisations and partner organisations, such as Local Government Institutions, BWDB, DAE, community-based organisations and private sector organisations
;water management stakeholders
:Individuals (both men and women) whose livelihood is directly affected by a water management system, be it positively or negatively.
;water productivity
:the amount of output (such as crops) produced per unit water
;WB
:World Bank
;WBC
:Women’s Business Centre
;WEE
:Women’s Economic Empowerment
;WF
:WorldFish (CGIAR)
;WMA
;WMAs
:Water Management Association
;WMCA
:Water Management Cooperative Association
;WMF
:Water Management Federation
;WMG
;WMGs
:Water Management Group
;WMIP
:Water Management Improvement Project (WB-funded)
;WMKIP
:Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program - starting in December 2017 and led by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) with the aim of contributing to the long term development goals for the Southern Coastal Region as well as to objectives of the Blue Gold Program through tested and sustainable water management innovations, knowledge development and participatory action research. https://www.deltares.nl/en/news/developing-water-management-innovations-local-communities-bangladesh/
;WMO
;WMOs
:Water Management Organisation
;women's economic empowerment (WEE)
:Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognise the value of their contributions, respect their dignity and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Women's economic empowerment increases women's access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
;women's empowerment
:The process that women get more control over their own life. The following three dimensions are commonly distinguished: (1) Access to resources, including productive, human and social resources; such as inputs, assets, credit, skills, knowledge and social networks; (2) Increased participation and influence in decision-making, including about strategic life choices; (3) Improvements in well-being resulting from the above. Commonly four dimensions of women's empowerment are distinguished: economic empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment and physical empowerment.
;women's physical empowerment
:The right of women to safety and security, to access to proper health care and reproductive health services, and the ability to resist violence. This also includes access to adequate nutrition and WASH facilities and the absence of physical overburdening.
;women's political empowerment
:The capacity of women to organize one self and others, to take part in society and its democratic processes, to make one's voice heard and have the opportunity to influence decision-making. This applies to all levels, from local level (such as WMOs) to national level.
;women's socio-cultural empowerment
:The capacity of women to have their own independent identity, a positive self-image and social status as an individual and as a group.
;WRM
:Water Resource Management
;WUR
:Wageningen University and Research Centre
;XEN
:Executive Engineer (BWDB)
;ZSE
:Zonal Socio-Economist - a social scientist working in the technical assistance (TA) team responsible for supervising activities in a group of polders.

10 Coastal Infrastructure

2021-12-14T08:57:42Z

Bigblue: /* See more */

== Coastal Zone ==
{{Briefing materials TV|decks=No slide decks for the current chapter.|brochures=*[[:File:Bgp-4-pager-wrm-v1.1.pdf|Improved water distribution and drainage through rehabilitation of water management infrastructure]]|studies=No case studies for the current chapter.|videos=*[[:Category:Videos#Participatory Water Management: An integrated approach|PWM: an integrated approach - animation (Bangla with English subtitles)]]|manuals=No manuals for the current chapter.|flipchart=No flipcharts for the current chapter.}}
The coastal zone in Bangladesh has a complex agro-ecology, with low lying land and huge tidal rivers. To provide protection to agricultural land from tidal and monsoonal flooding and saline water intrusion, around 1.2 million hectares are now enclosed in 139 polders, whose construction started from the 1960s and 1970s. Now, the polders are home to about ten million people.

The tidal rivers draining the coastal zone carry flood flows during the monsoon season but are highly saline during the dry season when outflows in the tidal rivers are at their lowest. The rivers cause greatest damage to polder infrastructure during times of flood and cyclonic storms – compounded during high water spring tides - when the erosive power of the rivers can damage and even breach the polder embankments. The consequence of a breach can have enormous social and economic impact, resulting in loss of life in severe cases; immediate loss of economic production - crops, fish, livestock, and businesses; damage to infrastructure – roads, utilities, homes, shops, schools; and longer term impacts on the productivity of agricultural lands. These problems will be increasingly exacerbated by climate change and sea-level rise over time.

During the monsoon, polder farmers are keen to capture and store the non-saline floodwaters in the khals or drainage channels. For this purpose, the new regulators constructed under Blue Gold are provided with a lifting frame (also known as ‘goal posts’) with a pulley and chain so that the flap gates on the river-side of the regulators can be lifted at high tide to admit freshwater (within BWDB these regulators are known as ‘flushing sluices’).

This chapter provides background to the development of infrastructure in the coastal zone as a result of Dutch/Bangladesh cooperation.

== Background to Dutch-Bangladesh cooperation in the coastal region<ref group="Notes">This section supplements the discussion under ‘Previous History’ in Section A Chapter 4</ref> ==
During the 1950s and 1960s, two Dutch water engineers contributed to the mitigation of the impact of flooding in Bangladesh: Professor J.Th. Thijsse and Professor Willem Johan van Blommestein.

From 1951 to 1959, the Dutch water engineer, Professor Willem Johan van Blommestein, was posted to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). During this time, he prepared a series of plans to protect the country from storms, cyclones and floods: including a plan for the Brahmaputra-Ganges delta which consisted of a moveable weir in the Brahmaputra with horizontal hydropower turbines, a channel between the Brahmaputra and Ganges, sea dykes with weirs and locks, pumping stations, polders and large-scale irrigation systems.

Research by Professor J.Th. Thijsse from Delft resulted in “Report on hydrology of East Pakistan” (published in 1964) which concluded that the regulation of large and unstable rivers with massive discharges, such as the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, was impossible. The Thijsse report advised the government against the construction of embankments alongside these rivers before adequate knowledge had been gathered. A main concern was that sedimentation between embankments would lead to the rising of river-beds and flood levels, but he was also apprehensive about the potentially catastrophic consequences of embankment failure, given the deceptive sense of security felt by those living inside the ‘protected’ areas.

After the large-scale flooding of Bangladesh in 1954/55, a United Nations’ mission (the Krug Mission) mobilised in 1956-1957 to advise the government about water and flood dynamics in East Pakistan. The Krug Mission Report of 1957 recommended ''Inter alia the'' setting up of a Department of Waterways (modelled after Rijkswaterstaat: the Dutch agency for public works and water management) – which resulted in the establishment of the East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (EPWAPDA).<ref group="Notes">The present Bangladesh Water Development Board was established in 1972 under presidential order no. 59 of 1972, when the former EPWAPDA was split into two organisations: BWDB dealing with water and the Power Development Board (PDB) dealing with power.</ref>

In December 1964, a Master Plan prepared by EPWAPDA, assisted by the International Engineering Company (IECO) of San Francisco, California USA, recommended large-scale flood control, drainage and irrigation projects.

Starting from the early-1960s, many polders and embankments were constructed in coastal areas, to protect coastal communities from salinity intrusion, daily tidal movement and occasional surges, and to support the population engaged in farming and aquaculture activities. The Coastal Embankment Project (CEP) was the first comprehensive plan for providing protection against flood and saline water intrusion in the coastal area. CEP constructed more than 4,000 km of embankment and 1,039 drainage sluices in fourteen coastal Districts between 1961 and 1978 in two phases: Phase I included 92 polders and provided protection to one million ha of land; and Phase II consisted of 16 polders covering another 0.40 million ha.

Throughout the 1970s, Dutch-Bangladesh cooperation focused on transport, water management and industry, reflecting the need to reboot the economy of a war-ravaged country. In 1972, an agreement was signed between the Netherlands and Bangladesh to carry out dredging activities in Bangladesh. [[List of water resources management projects#The Early Implementation Project (1975 – 1997)|The Early Implementation Project (EIP 1975-1997)]] introduced people’s participation into the project development cycles through sub-project identification, feasibility, planning, design and implementation.

The construction of two cross-dams over branches of the river Meghna on the coast of the Noakhali District during 1957 and 1963 showed the positive potential of settling accreted land. During 1976, encouraged by the tremendous accretion, the Government of Bangladesh requested the Netherlands Government for technical assistance in land reclamation. Based on the Identification Mission Report, the [[List of water resources management projects#Land Reclamation Project (LRP) (1977 – 1991)|Land Reclamation Project (LRP)]] began to function in late 1977 and continued to 1991.

Building on the earlier success of the Early Implementation Project (EIP), the Netherlands supported the participatory water management (PWM) approach and, with IFAD, jointly funded the Local Government Engineering Department’s (LGED) [[List of water resources management projects#Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector projects (1996-2019)|Small-Scale Project Water Resources Management Project]] (<1,000ha) from 1996 to 2002. SSWRMP successfully demonstrated people’s active participation in taking responsibility for operation (100%) and routine maintenance of small-scale water infrastructure works.

Based on the positive outcome of the [[List of water resources management projects#Land Reclamation Project (LRP) (1977 – 1991)|Land Reclamation Project]] (LRP), the [[List of water resources management projects#Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP) (1994 – 2022)|Char Development and Settlement Project]][6] (CDSP 1994-2022) was designed to facilitate settlement of government ''(khash)'' lands by the landless in Noakhali District; integrated development of reclaimed ''(khash)'' lands settled by the landless, including the construction of climate resilient infrastructure; poverty alleviation through livelihood improvement for the new land ''(char)'' dwellers; and a contribution to the accumulation and dissemination of data and knowledge on the coastal areas, including Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM). In order to address all these aspects, a multi-sectoral and multi-institutional approach was employed.

[[List of water resources management projects#Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management (IPSWAM) (2002-2011)|Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management (IPSWAM 2002-2011)]] led to the rehabilitation of nine polders in the coastal zone and improved the lives of many thousands. [[:File:GoB MoWR GPWM April 2001.pdf|The Guidelines on Participatory Water Management (GPWM)]] was published in in April 2001, bringing together and harmonising a number of project-level approaches. IPSWAM was the first project to adopt GPWM and put the principles into practice. Between 2006 and 2015 a renewed, a more practical and sustainable model of participatory water management was implemented with Dutch support through the [[List of water resources management projects#South-west Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project (SAIWRPMP) (2006-2022)|South West Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project (SWAIWRPMP 2006-2022)]]. The Blue Gold Program (2013-2021) was then designed on the back of this cumulative experience to empower rural communities to be the driving force for change.
----

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== See more ==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders|Chapter 09: The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders]]|Curr_sect=Section C: Water Infrastructure|Next_chap=[[11 Investments for Polder Safety and Water Management|Chapter 11: Investments for Polder Safety and Water Management]]}}{{SeeMoreSectionC}}

Summary of Section C: Water Infrastructure

2021-12-14T08:56:42Z

Bigblue: /* See more */

The Theory of Change for the Blue Gold Program (BGP) describes the three main sets of interventions -infrastructure, institutional and agricultural development- as the core elements of Blue Gold’s approach.

Section C focuses on the improvements made through Blue Gold to the water infrastructure, specifically the polder embankments and associated structures, and the re-excavation of some of the primary drainage khals within the polder. Later sections cover water management partnerships ([[Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management|Section D]]), commercialisation of agriculture (Section E) and sustainability and inclusiveness ([[Summary of Section F - Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability|Section F]]).[[File:BGP ToC v9.png|thumb|539x539px|'''Figure C.1''' Simplified Blue Gold Program Theory of Change|alt=]]

== Context ==
The coastal zone in Bangladesh has a complex agro-ecology, with low lying land and huge tidal rivers. To provide protection to agricultural land from tidal and monsoonal flooding and saline water intrusion, around 1.2 million hectares are now enclosed in 139 polders, whose construction started from the 1960s and 1970s. Now, the polders are home to about ten million people.

The tidal rivers draining the coastal zone carry flood flows during the monsoon season but are highly saline during the dry season when outflows in the tidal rivers are at their lowest. The rivers cause greatest damage to polder infrastructure during times of flood and cyclonic storms – compounded during high water spring tides - when the erosive power of the rivers can damage and even breach the polder embankments.

A breach can result in loss of life in severe cases; immediate loss of economic production - crops, fish, livestock, and businesses; damage to infrastructure – roads, utilities, homes, shops, schools; and longer-term impacts on the productivity of agricultural lands. These problems will be increasingly exacerbated by climate change and sea-level rise.

== Purpose of Polder Infrastructure ==

=== Safety ===
One of the primary functions of the polder embankment is to protect the vulnerable communities who live and work in the polders from tidal floods, storm surges, river erosion and salinity through embankment strengthening, breach closing and erosion protection measures. In combination with the infrastructure improvements, disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities involving local community organisations and the concerned government departments has increased the state of preparedness of polder inhabitants to prospects of embankment breaches and overtopping and encouraged consideration of pre-emptive actions.

=== Water Management ===
Within the polders, the re-excavation of primary canals and some major secondary canals, and rehabilitation of water management structures (sluices, outlets etc) aims to improve the overall water management and to create scope for in-polder water management (IPWM) and community-led agricultural water management (CAWM) – which is discussed in Section D Chapter 17. Where infrastructure works are complete, unobstructed flow of water is possible through the cleared main ''khals'', and the rehabilitated sluices/outlets allow improved water regulation. Previously, many areas were either unable to be drained and remained inundated or suffered water shortages as their main outlets or inlets were obstructed or poorly functioning.

''Photo C.1'' shows one of the 186 regulators which was rehabilitated under Blue Gold. Note the agricultural area to the left of the tree-lined embankment which protects the polder area (P31-part) from high river levels, and the scale of the tidal river – the Kazibacha River. The regulator drains water into a tidal river – it is low tide so there is drainage from the polder. The high tide mark is fringed by trees and bushes.

[[File:Photo 3.1.jpg|none|thumb|863x863px|'''Photo C.1''' A regulator draining excess water from Polder 31-part into the Kazibacha River]]

== Infrastructure Investments ==
A budget of BDT 31,420 lakh (equivalent to Euro 31.20 million) was allocated for infrastructure, in the amounts and proportions indicated in Table C.1 below.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table C.1 Budget Allocation
!'''Item'''
! colspan="2" |'''Allocation'''

(September 2020)
|-
|
|BDT lakh
|%age
|-
|Embankments (1, 2, 11, 12, 13)
|6,544
|21%
|-
|Drainage improvements (3, 14)
|8,932
|28%
|-
|Structures (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
|14,544
|46%
|-
|O&M (15,16)
|1,400
|4%
|-
!'''TOTAL'''
!'''31,420'''
|
|-
| colspan="3" |'''Note:''' See Table 11.1 for explanation of item numbers
|}

== Emergency Repairs ==
In the coastal zone, water infrastructure serving polder communities is expected to provide protection and facilitate water management in a particularly aggressive environment - where floods, cyclones, river erosion and accretion, salinity, tidal flows etc can cause devastating damage to embankments with the associated adverse economic consequences of large-scale flooding, or result in structures falling into disuse and unable to regulate the flow of water in and out of the polder. The resultant heavy repair and maintenance costs required to ensure the continued serviceability of the infrastructure are currently not met in full - because O&M budgets with government organisations such as BWDB are – inevitably – thinly stretched and never sufficient, local government is not mandated for this role, and community contributions fall far short of the huge sums required. This conundrum is well understood but remains unresolved, and because of these gaps, the coastal zone remains locked in a project-driven cycle where infrastructure deterioration both precedes and follows rehabilitation.

Adequate funds for unforeseen emergencies should be made available. Under BWDB rules, funds for “emergency works” are allocated only after a breach is imminent or has occurred. At this stage, costs for repair are much more expensive because land in the vicinity of a breach is flooded, so:

* borrow pits with soils suitable for use in embankments are generally not available close to the site of a breach, so there is a cost of haulage – delivering materials to the site of the breach
* It is difficult to get machinery, equipment and materials to the site of a breach, and required labour gangs and boats
* Access by land to the site of a breach is restricted, along narrow embankments especially constructed to gain access to the breach site
* Soil from borrow pits is often saturated, and achieving acceptable level of soil compaction at high moisture content is impossible

Pre-emptive action to strengthen vulnerable embankments before they fail is justified because costs of repair of threatened infrastructure (embankments, sluices etc) are much reduced if work is done before embankment failure; and costs in terms of human lives, and damage to crops, livestock, businesses and households can be prevented.

Emergency maintenance is a major role of BWDB in the O&M Agreement between BWDB and the polder-level WMA, and should be extended to include investments for pre-emptive works – with BWDB and WMA together agreeing a prioritized list of actions.

== Design Issues ==

=== Embankments: Climate Change ===
Some of the direct effects of climate change on water infrastructure in the coastal zone includes:

* A rise in sea level resulting in drainage congestion and prolonged waterlogging within the polders
* More frequent cyclones and tidal surges damaging water infrastructure, properties and livelihoods as well as endangering polder communities
* Increased siltation in tidal rivers resulting in reduced drainage capacity, that impedes drainage flows from the polders.

To account for climate change effects in design, consideration was given by BWDB to harmonising Blue Gold design criteria - for raised embankment crest levels, and replacing sluices/outlets compatible with the raised embankment crest heights and with increased numbers of vents - with other projects (including WMIP, ECRRP and CEIP).

It was quickly realised that the direct costs of raising embankment crest levels and replacing regulators exceeded the Blue Gold budget allocation by many orders of magnitude. And this would be compounded by the requirement for significant land acquisition (of a strip of land 4 to 5 times the height increase for marginal and interior bunds, and significantly more for sea dykes) and compensation (eg for the relocation of assets and loss of crops).

During the first years of the project, Blue Gold intended to adopt climate change design levels including a benchmark (BM) correction partly for Polders 26, 31-part and 2. However, due to budget constraints, the 2015 Annual Review Mission recommended that the established design levels should be adopted for the rehabilitation of all Blue Gold polders.

The limited available budget for infrastructure has meant that: (a) the choice of polders for Blue Gold has avoided those requiring high levels of investment; and (b) it has not been possible to achieve embankment crest levels which can meet the 25 year return period maximum surge height (used by CEIP-1), or to upgrade existing structures or construct new structures to suit this higher crest level, or indeed to construct the wider structures (requiring longer culvert barrels) for the higher levels of traffic on roads along the embankments.

=== Structures ===

==== Life Cycle Costing ====
After compiling all costs for an element of water infrastructure over its lifespan – including construction, operation, repair, maintenance and rehabilitation – the total can be reduced to a present value with expected return on investment (ROI). The application of life cycle costing in BWDB could achieve a balance between performance (serviceability requirements), risks and overall life cycle cost.

==== Gates ====
For sluices and regulators to be functional, the gates must act to prevent saline river water from entering the polder (the purpose of the flap gates on the river side), to allow excess water to be drained (by opening the vertical gates on the country side), or to allow freshwater in the rivers - during the monsoon months - to be stored in khals for subsequent use for irrigation (ie operating as a “flushing sluice” when flap gates are raised using a pulley system mounted on a lifting frame).

If the gates are of poor quality or are not properly fitted, then they quickly become inoperable, and thus the major investment in the overall structure becomes quickly un-useable. Although the cost of manufacturing and installing gates on a new regulator varies from 3.3% (1-V) to 6.5% (4-V) of the total cost of the regulator, the functionality of the structure depends on the operability of the gates. Whilst many gated structures in the coastal zone date from the 1960s, gates have a much shorter lifetime especially when they are manufactured from materials such as steel which corrode in a marine environment. There is a strong case for reviewing the design, manufacture and installation of gates to maximise their operating lifetime – taking account of the experience with life cycle costing approaches and the use of composite materials.

==== Siting of Regulators ====
The siltation of a river channel into which a regulator discharges, is likely to result in the regulator falling into disuse and the loss of a considerable capital investment (of up to €500k for a 4-vent structure), as well as the loss of agricultural benefits within the catchment drained by the regulator. The siting of new regulators on a river channel that will remain active for the 50+ year life of a regulator is a difficult task and relies on expertise in tidal river morphology and historical records.

In cases where regulators become blocked by sediment, internal drainage systems within the polder are re-routed to discharge water to regulators on active rivers. This is assisted by the relatively flat terrain within a polder, and the cross-linking of drainage khals. The drainage capacity of a regulator (ie the number of vents) is determined from the sluice catchment area. By including additional drainage capacity (ie more vents in a regulator) during the design process, it would be possible to reroute and dispose of drainage water from an adjacent regulator which falls into disuse because of sedimentation.

== See more ==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders|Chapter 09: The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders]]|Curr_sect=[[Summary of Section C: Water Infrastructure|Section C: Water Infrastructure]]|Next_chap=[[10 Coastal Infrastructure|Chapter 10: Coastal Infrastructure]]}}{{SeeMoreSectionC}}

06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development

2021-12-14T08:48:16Z

Bigblue: /* Notes */

Coastal areas have a large number of people, who mainly depend on agriculture and aquaculture for their livelihoods and who are likely to be vulnerable to the climate variability. With a high dependency on natural resources (land and water) as well as exposure to extreme weather events, the people of the coastal region of Bangladesh are particularly vulnerable. The Blue Gold Program (BGP) aimed to improve food security and reduce poverty of coastal households living in the area of selected 22 coastal polders through participatory water management and agricultural development. This chapter explore the changes in agricultural land use, improvement in agricultural production, employment generation in agriculture and economic return of agricultural development.<ref group="Notes">Section E (chapters 21, 22 and 23) of this Final Report provides more information on Blue Gold’s approaches, interventions and results on agricultural development.</ref>

== Changes in crop agricultural production ==

=== Changes in agriculture land use ===
The total size of the cultivable areas of BGP is divided up into the following categories of land: (i) highland; (ii) lowland; (iii) fresh water gher; and (iv) salt water gher. WMGs reported about the total size of their command areas and highland and lowland as defined subjectively by each of the WMGs. Cultivable land that is used as perennial gher or as seasonally gher is both identified as gher. Seasonal gher is used for fish production in one and two seasons (most likely in kharif-1 and kharif-2) as well as used for crops (in boro/rabi), whereas also vegetables may be grown on the banks of ghers.

Data in Table 6.1 for each zone shows that in both Khulna and Satkhira land (mainly lowland) has been converted into ghers – but much more of this has taken place in Satkhira than Khulna. In Khulna 60% of the land is now gher and in Satkhira 70%. Only a small area of saline gher was reported – almost all in Satkhira, but there is also a very small amount in Khulna in polder 30. There has been a small increase in the area of saline gher. Although people say that land has been converted from saline to fresh water ghers (especially in Khulna), this conversion seems to have taken place before the start of BGP. There has been a small fall in the total command area as land has been converted into non-agricultural uses or lost to river erosion.

'''Table 6.1: Land types'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
!
!'''Khulna'''
!'''Satkhira'''
!'''Patuakhali'''
!'''Total BG'''
|-
! rowspan="9" |Share of land area
! rowspan="2" |Highland
|2013-14
|19%
|17%
|49%
|31%
|-
|2020-21
|18%
|15%
|49%
|30%
|-
! rowspan="2" |Lowland
|2013-14
|26%
|55%
|51%
|39%
|-
|2020-21
|22%
|14%
|51%
|32%
|-
! rowspan="2" |Fresh gher
|2013-14
|55%
|22%
|0%
|29%
|-
|2020-21
|60%
|62%
|0%
|37%
|-
! rowspan="2" |Salt gher
|2013-14
|0.1%
|6.4%
|0%
|0.8%
|-
|2020-21
|0.1%
|8.5%
|0%
|1.1%
|-
!Total
|
|100%
|100%
|100%
|100%
|-
! rowspan="2" |Area (acres)
! rowspan="2" |Total area
|2013-14
|112,208
|7,450
|90,377
|230,035
|-
|2020-21
|111,090
|27,418
|90,162
|228,670
|-
! colspan="7" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

=== Changes in use of different types of land ===
Changes in land use is illustrated below for the high land, low land, fresh water gher and saline gher. Use of cultivated land has been divided for each season into three categories: (i) paddy; (ii) other crops; and (iii) fish/shrimps.

==== (a) Highland ====
Changes in the use of highland are shown in Table 6.2. In the rabi season, there has been a modest increase in the area under boro paddy, but this increase largely comes from polders in the Khulna zone. Boro is more widely grown in Satkhira, but its share of land is unchanged, and little is grown in Patuakhali. There has been a more significant increase in non-rice crops with increases in all three zones, especially in Patuakhali.

Overall in the kharif-1 season there has been a modest decline in amount of paddy (aus) and a modest increase in non-rice crops. There is little change in the amount of land being used by crops, which at around one third is much lower than in the rabi or kharif-2 seasons. The potential to increase cropping in the kharif-1 season is constrained by land being still occupied by some rabi crops (especially boro paddy) as well as the uncertain start of the monsoon.

'''Table 6.2: Use of highland'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
|
|
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Patuakhali'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
!
|-
|
|
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
! colspan="2" |'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="4" |Rabi
!paddy
|36%
|60%
|74%
|80%
|0%
|3%
|24%
| colspan="2" |40%
|-
!other crops
|18%
|13%
|2%
|3%
|54%
|87%
|33%
| colspan="2" |45%
|-
!Fish
|10%
|8%
|10%
|17%
|0%
|0%
|7%
| colspan="2" |8%
|-
!Total
|64%
|81%
|85%
|100%
|54%
|90%
|64%
| colspan="2" |93%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-1
!paddy
|2%
|2%
|1%
|6%
|22%
|15%
|10%
| colspan="2" |8%
|-
!other crops
|10%
|22%
|6%
|8%
|0%
|1%
|6%
| colspan="2" |12%
|-
!Fish
|32%
|47%
|24%
|68%
|0%
|0%
|19%
| colspan="2" |31%
|-
!Total
|44%
|70%
|31%
|82%
|22%
|16%
|34%
| colspan="2" |50%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-2
!paddy
|50%
|40%
|32%
|22%
|94%
|100%
|65%
| colspan="2" |62%
|-
!other crops
|8%
|10%
|0%
|3%
|0%
|0%
|4%
| colspan="2" |5%
|-
!Fish
|32%
|49%
|26%
|66%
|0%
|0%
|19%
| colspan="2" |32%
|-
!Total
|90%
|99%
|58%
|91%
|94%
|100%
|88%
| colspan="2" |98%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Total
!paddy
|88%
|102%
|108%
|109%
|116%
|118%
|99%
| colspan="2" |109%
|-
!other crops
|36%
|45%
|8%
|14%
|54%
|88%
|42%
| colspan="2" |62%
|-
!Fish
|74%
|104%
|59%
|150%
|0%
|0%
|45%
| colspan="2" |70%
|-
!Total
|198%
|250%
|174%
|273%
|171%
|206%
|186%
| colspan="2" |241%
|-
! colspan="11" |Percentage of cultivable land Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
In the kharif-2 season most land is occupied by aman paddy. There have been increased areas of aman in all three zones, especially in Satkhira where less was grown before BFP. There have also been increases in non-rice crops in Khulna and Satkhira.

==== (b) Lowland ====
In the rabi season there has been an overall small increase in the area of boro paddy – with this mainly coming from the Khulna zone. The area under non-rice crops has doubled, with a very large increase in Patuakhali, where this increase was larger than that in highland – suggesting that improved drainage of low land may have contributed. In Khulna there has been a fall in the area of other crops – in contrast with the increase on highland. It may be that on highland these ‘other crops’ are high value crops such as watermelon and vegetables, while on lowland they are pulses and oilseeds which have been discouraged by changing weather patterns.

In the kharif-1 season most land is still fallow, although there has been a significant increase in non-rice crops in Khulna and in aus paddy in Satkhira. In the kharif-2 season most land is used for aman, and there has been an increase in the area of this crop, especially in Satkhira- although here most lowland is now converted into ghers.

'''Table 6.3: Use of lowland'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Patuakhali'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="3" |Rabi
!Paddy
|12%
|54%
|82%
|98%
|0%
|3%
|18%
|25%
|-
!other crops
|41%
|31%
|1%
|0%
|32%
|81%
|30%
|60%
|-
!Total
|53%
|85%
|83%
|98%
|32%
|84%
|47%
|85%
|-
! rowspan="3" |Kharif-1
!Paddy
|2%
|2%
|2%
|19%
|5%
|2%
|4%
|3%
|-
!other crops
|6%
|27%
|6%
|8%
|0%
|0%
|3%
|9%
|-
!Total
|9%
|29%
|8%
|28%
|6%
|2%
|7%
|12%
|-
! rowspan="3" |Kharif-2
!Paddy
|88%
|94%
|43%
|64%
|92%
|100%
|82%
|96%
|-
!other crops
|4%
|4%
|0%
|0%
|0%
|0%
|1%
|1%
|-
!Total
|92%
|98%
|43%
|65%
|92%
|100%
|84%
|97%
|-
! rowspan="3" |Total
!Paddy
|103%
|150%
|126%
|182%
|98%
|106%
|104%
|124%
|-
!other crops
|51%
|62%
|7%
|9%
|32%
|81%
|34%
|71%
|-
!Total
|154%
|211%
|133%
|191%
|130%
|187%
|138%
|195%
|-
! colspan="10" |Percentage of cultivable land; WMG survey 2021
|}

==== (c) Fresh water ghers ====
Fresh water ghers are mainly reported by WMGs in Satkhira and Khulna (Table 6.4); there are only a few such ghers in Patuakhali. In the rabi season more fresh water gher land in both zones is now being used for boro – suggesting an improvement in water management. In the khairif-1 season most fresh water gher land is used for fish, although non-rice crops (such as vegetables on the banks of ghers) have also increased. In kharif-2, as in kharif-1, most land is used for fish – the area of fish in both these seasons has increased and less land is fallow – which may have been enabled by better water management. The area of aman paddy has also decreased in kharif-2.

'''Table 6.4: Use of fresh water gher land'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="4" |Rabi

!Paddy
|41%
|68%
|63%
|83%
|43%
|71%
|-
!other crops
|9%
|10%
|1%
|1%
|9%
|8%
|-
!fish ghers
|22%
|20%
|17%
|16%
|22%
|19%
|-
!Total
|73%
|97%
|80%
|100%
|74%
|98%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-1

!Paddy
|1%
|2%
|0%
|0%
|1%
|1%
|-
!other crops
|9%
|13%
|0%
|3%
|8%
|11%
|-
!fish ghers
|59%
|77%
|86%
|96%
|61%
|81%
|-
!Total
|69%
|92%
|86%
|99%
|70%
|93%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-2

!Paddy
|23%
|10%
|6%
|5%
|22%
|9%
|-
!other crops
|7%
|10%
|0%
|2%
|7%
|8%
|-
!fish ghers
|59%
|80%
|90%
|93%
|62%
|83%
|-
!Total
|90%
|99%
|96%
|100%
|90%
|100%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Total

!Paddy
|65%
|79%
|69%
|88%
|66%
|81%
|-
!other crops
|26%
|33%
|1%
|6%
|23%
|27%
|-
!fish ghers
|140%
|177%
|193%
|205%
|145%
|183%
|-
!Total
|232%
|289%
|262%
|299%
|234%
|291%
|-
! colspan="8" |Percentage of cultivable land; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

==== (d) Saline water ghers ====
Saline water ghers are only found in a limited part of polder 30 (Khulna) and polder 2&2E (Satkhira) (Table 6.5). In the rabi season there has been a modest increase in the use of saline water gher land for boro paddy cultivation and decline in area under fish in Satkhira, but an increase in polder 30. In kharif-1 there has been an increase in the amount of land used for fish. In kharif-2 most saline water gher land in polder 30 was being used for aman, but it is all now fish. It is possible that this land used to be non-saline in the monsoon season and so was used for paddy but has now become saline all year round. This saline water gher land is unable to be used at other times of year for crops which are intolerant to high levels of salinity.

'''Table 6.5: Use of saline water gher land'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="4" |Rabi

!paddy
|0%
|16%
|7%
|16%
|7%
|16%
|-
!other crops
|0%
|8%
|0%
|1%
|0%
|2%
|-
!fish
|29%
|47%
|92%
|83%
|89%
|81%
|-
!total
|29%
|72%
|99%
|100%
|96%
|98%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-1

!paddy
|0%
|0%
|0%
|0%
|0%
|0%
|-
!other crops
|0%
|0%
|0%
|1%
|0%
|1%
|-
!fish
|34%
|51%
|83%
|99%
|81%
|96%
|-
!total
|34%
|51%
|83%
|100%
|81%
|97%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-2

!paddy
|74%
|0%
|0%
|0%
|3%
|0%
|-
!other crops
|0%
|0%
|0%
|1%
|0%
|1%
|-
!fish
|26%
|100%
|92%
|99%
|89%
|99%
|-
!total
|100%
|100%
|92%
|100%
|92%
|100%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Total

!paddy
|74%
|16%
|7%
|16%
|10%
|16%
|-
!other crops
|0%
|8%
|0%
|4%
|0%
|4%
|-
!fish
|89%
|198%
|267%
|280%
|259%
|275%
|-
!total
|163%
|222%
|274%
|300%
|269%
|295%
|-
! colspan="8" |Percentage of cultivable land; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

=== Changes in overall land use ===
The overall land use in three seasons for each of the three zones is shown in Table 6.6. For the Khulna zone boro paddy and other crops were of almost equal importance in the rabi/boro (winter/dry) season before the project, followed by fish ghers, with over one third of land fallow. There has now been considerable expansion in boro, and some decline in other crops and fish, with significantly less fallow land.

'''Table 6.6: Seasonal land use'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Patuakhali'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="4" |Rabi
!paddy
|36%
|60%
|74%
|80%
|0%
|3%
|24%
|40%
|-
!other crops
|18%
|13%
|2%
|3%
|54%
|87%
|33%
|45%
|-
!fish ghers
|10%
|8%
|10%
|17%
|0%
|0%
|7%
|8%
|-
!Total
|64%
|81%
|85%
|100%
|54%
|90%
|64%
|93%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-1
!paddy
|2%
|2%
|1%
|6%
|22%
|15%
|10%
|8%
|-
!other crops
|10%
|22%
|6%
|8%
|0%
|1%
|6%
|12%
|-
!fish ghers
|32%
|47%
|24%
|68%
|0%
|0%
|19%
|31%
|-
!Total
|44%
|70%
|31%
|82%
|22%
|16%
|34%
|50%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Kharif-2
!paddy
|50%
|40%
|32%
|22%
|94%
|100%
|65%
|62%
|-
!other crops
|8%
|10%
|0%
|3%
|0%
|0%
|4%
|5%
|-
!fish ghers
|32%
|49%
|26%
|66%
|0%
|0%
|19%
|32%
|-
!Total
|90%
|99%
|58%
|91%
|94%
|100%
|88%
|98%
|-
! rowspan="4" |Total
!paddy
|88%
|102%
|108%
|109%
|116%
|118%
|99%
|109%
|-
!other crops
|36%
|45%
|8%
|14%
|54%
|88%
|42%
|62%
|-
!fish ghers
|74%
|104%
|59%
|150%
|0%
|0%
|45%
|70%
|-
!Total
|198%
|250%
|174%
|273%
|171%
|206%
|186%
|241%
|-
! colspan="10" |Percentage of cultivable land; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
In the kharif-1 (early monsoon) season fish ghers were, and still are, the main land use in Khulna, with the area now significantly increased. This, along with some growth in other crops, means that 70% of the cultivable land is now cultivated in this season. In the kharif-2 (late monsoon) season, half the land was used to grow aman paddy. This has now fallen to 40%, with a significant increase in the area under fish ghers. Overall cropping intensity in this zone has increased from 198% to 250%.

In Satkhira, land use in the rabi-boro season is predominantly boro paddy, and the area of this crop has increased. Along with a small increase in area of fish, overall land use in this season is now 100%. The main land use in kharif-1 is fish ghers, which has more than doubled as before BGP, when over two thirds of land was left fallow. An increasing area under fish, along with small areas of paddy and other crops mean that almost two-thirds of land is now utilized in this season. In kharif-2, prior to BGP, one third of land was growing aman paddy, and just over one quarter used for fish ghers. The area under fish ghers has now more than doubled, with a decline in aman paddy – but with an overall increase in land utilization in this season. Annual cropping intensity has increased from 174% to 273%.

In Patuakhali, there is virtually no land used for fish ghers. In the rabi/boro season almost all land is used for other (non-rice) crops, which have expanded considerably during BGP. In the kharif-1 season almost one quarter of land was used for aus paddy, but this has now declined, with an increase in the area of fallow land. In kharif-2 almost all land is (and was) used for aman paddy. Overall cropping intensity has increased from 171% to 206%.

== Change in cropping pattern and crop types ==
For paddy there has been a move from traditional local varieties to modern HYVs and hybrids (Tables 6.7 and 6.8). There are no reports of cultivation of local varieties of boro (these seem to have disappeared in Bangladesh), but there is a move from conventional HYVs to hybrid seeds for this crop. This is particularly apparent in the Khulna zone, where two-thirds of boro is now hybrid, up from 30% since 2019. Only in Patuakhali is a significant area of aus grown, and there has been a dramatic switch from local varieties to HYVs, with almost no local varieties now grown. There has also been a switch from local to HYV in the aman season – less so in Khulna where almost half of this crop is still local variety (LV). In Satkhira HYV aman predominated before BGP but has continued to increase.

'''Table 6.7: Land under different types of paddy'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Patuakhali'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="2" |Boro
!HYV
|24%
|20%
|63%
|51%
|0%
|2%
|19%
|17%
|-
!Hybrid
|6%
|40%
|11%
|29%
|0%
|1%
|4%
|23%
|-
! rowspan="2" |Aus
!Local
|1%
|0%
|1%
|1%
|17%
|0%
|7%
|0%
|-
!HYV
|1%
|2%
|1%
|5%
|5%
|14%
|2%
|7%
|-
! rowspan="2" |Aman
!Local
|36%
|19%
|10%
|3%
|75%
|35%
|48%
|23%
|-
!HYV
|14%
|22%
|22%
|20%
|19%
|65%
|17%
|39%
|-
! rowspan="2" |All paddy
!Local
|37%
|19%
|11%
|4%
|92%
|35%
|55%
|23%
|-
!HY/hybrid
|45%
|84%
|97%
|105%
|25%
|83%
|43%
|86%
|-
!
!Total
|82%
|102%
|108%
|109%
|116%
|118%
|99%
|109%
|-
! colspan="10" |Percentage of cultivable land; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
'''Table 6.8: Share of improved varieties for boro and aman'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
! colspan="2" |'''Boro – 2013-14'''
! colspan="2" |'''Boro – 2020-21'''
! colspan="2" |'''Aman – 2013-14'''
! colspan="2" |'''Aman – 2020-21'''
|-
!
!'''HYV'''
!'''hybrid'''
!'''HYV'''
!'''hybrid'''
!'''LV'''
!'''HYV'''
!'''LV'''
!'''HYV'''
|-
!Khulna
|80%
|20%
|33%
|67%
|71%
|29%
|46%
|54%
|-
!Satkhira
|85%
|15%
|63%
|37%
|32%
|68%
|13%
|87%
|-
!Patuakhali
|100%
|0%
|74%
|26%
|79%
|21%
|35%
|65%
|-
!Total
|82%
|18%
|42%
|58%
|74%
|26%
|37%
|63%
|-
! colspan="9" |Percentage of total area of each crop Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
The proportion of cultivable land occupied by other crops is shown in Table 6.9. In the Khulna zone, sesame was an important crop, but this and a number of other more minor crops (such as mung bean) have declined in importance due to unfavourable growing conditions – with more emphasis being placed on more reliable irrigated boro and on more profitable fish ghers. However, the area of two non-rice crops have greatly expanded – vegetables and watermelons. As a result, the total area occupied by non-rice crops in all three seasons has increased from 41% to 53% of the cultivable land, with most of this increase taking place since 2019 when non-rice crops still accounted for 43% of the cultivable land.

In Satkhira there is only a small area of non-rice crops – mainly vegetables and a little jute. The area of vegetables has been increasing. Non-rice crops are most important in Patuakhali. Mung bean is by far the most important of these crops, and its area has increased by over four times. Prior to BGP, keshari (grass pea, a local pulse crop) was the principal non-rice crop, but this has now virtually disappeared, farmers saying that it is now unprofitable and difficult to grow with uncertain weather conditions. Areas under sesame, felon (cow pea) and sweet potato have also declined, while more groundnut, chili, sunflower, vegetables and watermelon are being grown. Compared to the 2019 WMG survey, more land in Patuakhali is now under mung bean and vegetables, and less under keshari, sesame, watermelon and groundnut.

'''Table 6.9: Land under non-rice crops'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
! colspan="2" |'''Khulna'''
! colspan="2" |'''Satkhira'''
! colspan="2" |'''Patuakhali'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
!mung bean
|2.6%
|0.7%
|0.0%
|0.0%
|15.3%
|62.9%
|7.3%
|25.1%
|-
!keshari
|0.0%
|0.0%
|0.0%
|0.0%
|18.8%
|0.5%
|7.4%
|0.2%
|-
!sesame
|11.8%
|1.5%
|0.1%
|0.0%
|2.7%
|0.1%
|6.8%
|0.8%
|-
!groundnut
|0.0%
|0.0%
|0.0%
|0.0%
|4.6%
|7.9%
|1.8%
|3.1%
|-
!watermelon
|0.2%
|7.3%
|0.0%
|0.0%
|1.9%
|3.8%
|0.8%
|5.1%
|-
!vegetable
|19.0%
|34.3%
|2.8%
|7.8%
|0.7%
|1.8%
|9.9%
|18.3%
|-
!other
|7.9%
|9.1%
|4.7%
|6.0%
|10.1%
|10.6%
|8.4%
|9.3%
|-
!Total
|41.4%
|52.9%
|7.6%
|13.8%
|54.1%
|87.5%
|42.4%
|61.8%
|-
! colspan="9" |Percentage of cultivable land; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

The FGDs in Khulna explained that improved water management had enabled increased areas of crops to be grown with a move from one crop per year to two or three. Reduced waterlogging has enabled high value vegetables to be grown. Even where there has not been much improvement in water management (polder 28/1), some farmers have been able to adopt improved methods. Farmers are now more aware of new technologies and BGP’s “farming as a business” theme has been appreciated. There has been widespread adoption of HYVs and new varieties, displacing local varieties along with mung bean and sesame which have become harder to cultivate due to changing weather patterns.

In Satkhira there was one FGD in an area of fresh water ghers, and another in the (more limited) area of saline water ghers. In the latter area, salinity means little cropping is possible. In the fresh water area, improved water management, along with training, means farmers can now plant the right variety at the right time. Both paddy and fish production have increased, and there is much interest in growing mangos on higher land. FGDs in Patuakhali emphasized the switch from local to high yielding varieties as well as the introduction of multiple cropping. Increased yields have resulted in higher farm income. Farmers now have better contact with DAE which can help in solving problems.

== Increase in Cropping intensity ==
Data show a significant increase in cropping intensity in three zones of BGP. Cropping intensity has been calculated as the sum of crops and fish ghers in each season divided by the sum of crops, ghers and fallow land. This definition treats fish ghers as another crop in each season and takes no account of the frequency of fish harvests – so land used as a perennial (year-round) gher would have a 300% cropping intensity. With this approach overall cropping intensity has increased from 186% to 241%, with a larger increase in Satkhira of 99 percentage points - largely due to expansion of fish ghers in polder 2&2E and their more intensive use, together with an increase in the area of paddy (Table 6.10). Overall cropping intensity as recorded by the 2019 WMG survey was 228%, so there has been an increase of 13 percentage points in the last two years.

'''Table 6.10: Cropping intensity'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
! rowspan="2" |Zone
! colspan="2" |'''Rabi /boro season'''
! colspan="2" |'''Kharif-1 season'''
! colspan="2" |'''Kharif-2 season'''
! colspan="3" |'''Cropping intensity'''
|-
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''change'''
|-
!Khulna<ref group="Notes">Only one polder (28/2) in Khulna recorded a fall of 6 percentage points, going from 199% to 193% (but there has been some recovery since 2019 when cropping intensity was only 162%). Polder 28/2 is close to Khulna city and is being absorbed into the expanding urban area.</ref>
|64
|81
|44
|70
|90
|99
|198
|250
|52
|-
!Satkhira
|85
|100
|31
|82
|58
|91
|174
|273
|99
|-
!Patuakhali
|54
|90
|22
|16
|94
|100
|171
|206
|35
|-
!Total
|64
|93
|34
|50
|89
|96
|186
|241
|55
|-
! colspan="10" |Percentage of cultivable area used in each season; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
----Changes in cropping intensity vary considerably between WMGs. Overall, 89% of WMGs report an increase in cropping intensity, 4% no change and 7% a decrease (Table 6.11) – compared with the 2019 survey when 80% of WMGs reported increased cropping intensity. The proportion of WMGs with an increase in cropping intensity was highest in Satkhira at 95%, with the other two zones equal at 88%, although the average change was lowest in Patuakhali.

'''Table 6.11: Change in cropping intensity'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
| rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |'''Average'''

'''change per WMG'''
! colspan="3" |'''Percentage of WMGs'''
|-
!'''Decrease'''
!'''same'''
!'''increase'''
|-
!Khulna
|58%
|5%
|7%
|88%
|-
!Satkhira
|97%
|2%
|3%
|95%
|-
!Patuakhali
|37%
|10%
|2%
|88%
|-
!Total
|55%
|7%
|4%
|89%
|-
! colspan="5" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
DAE calculates cropping intensity as the area of crops divided by the sum of the areas of crops, fish ghers and fallow land. Cropping intensity calculated in this way is lower in Khulna and Satkhira (as land under ghers is excluded), with a smaller increase (Table 6.12). However, it does show that, even leaving aside the fish ghers, the area of farm crops has expanded. The 2019 WMG survey showed a larger increase of 14 percentage points in Satkhira. This is now only 8 points due to the expansion of area used for fish production.

'''Table 6.12: Cropping intensity (DAE method)'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''change'''
|-
!Khulna
|124
|155
|32
|-
!Satkhira
|115
|123
|8
|-
!Patuakhali
|171
|206
|35
|-
!Total
|141
|171
|30
|-
! colspan="4" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

=== Link between water management and cropping intensity ===
There could be a link between water management problem scores (WMPS) and cropping intensity. It would not be unreasonable to expect that WMGs with less water management problems (i.e. lower WMPS score) are able to use their land more intensively. It may also be possible that WMGs reporting a larger improvement in water management (decrease in WMPS) have been able to increase cropping intensity by more than WMGs where water management has not improved so much.

'''Table 6.13: Water Management Problem Score (WMPS) and cropping intensity'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
! rowspan="2" |'''WMPS'''
! colspan="2" |'''Number of WMG'''
! colspan="2" |'''Cropping intensity'''
|-
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
!under 2
|5
|108
|242%
|250%
|-
!2 to 2.5
|22
|261
|238%
|244%
|-
!2.5 to 3
|42
|67
|208%
|233%
|-
!3 to 3.5
|139
|58
|196%
|239%
|-
!3.5 to 4
|78
|10
|167%
|201%
|-
!4 to 4.5
|187
|2
|185%
|214%
|-
!4.5 and above
|33
|0
|137%
|
|-
!total
|506
|506
|
|
|-
! colspan="5" |Score: 1 = very good, 2=good (i.e. no problem), 3-=average, 4=bad, 5=very bad; Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
Table 6.13 shows the number of WMGs in each of seven bands of WMPS. It can be seen that there are many more WMGs in the lower WMPS bands at present than before the project – showing how water management has improved with lower WMPS being reported by WMGs. Table 6.13 also shows that the cropping intensity tends to be higher in bands with lower WMPS, suggesting that lower WMPS (less water management problems) is linked with higher cropping intensity. This applies both in the before BGP and current situations, but it can also be seen that cropping intensity is now higher within each WMPS band than it was before the project. This implies that cropping intensity would increase without improved water management – but not to the same extent as it would with improved water management.

It is also possible that WMGs with a greater improvement in their WMPS have a larger increase in cropping intensity. Table 6.14 shows that this applies for those WMGs where the WMPS has improved by more than 1.5 points. Similar analysis in the 2019 WMG survey found a similar link between change in WMPS and change in cropping intensity (CI).

'''Table 6.14: Improvement in WMPS and change in cropping intensity'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!'''Change in'''

'''WPMS'''
!'''Number of'''

'''WMG'''
!'''Change in'''

'''CI'''
|-
!more than -1
|2
|4%
|-
!-1 to 0
|13
|51%
|-
!0 to 0.5
|55
|43%
|-
!0.5 to 1
|52
|44%
|-
!1 to 1.5
|151
|47%
|-
!1.5 to 2
|80
|57%
|-
!2 to 3
|137
|70%
|-
!3 to 4
|16
|84%
|-
!Total
|506
|0%
|-
! colspan="3" |Change in cropping intensity in percentage points Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
Although average cropping intensity may improve for each group of WMGs grouped according to WMPS, there is great variation within each group and the overall correlation between WMPS and cropping intensity is weak, the correlation coefficient for before project data being -0.35, current data being -0.20 and the coefficient for change in WMPS and cropping intensity is 0.22. As perfect correlation is a coefficient of +/- 1.0, none of these relationships is very strong.

== Increase in Crop yields ==
There has been a substantial increase in the productivity of paddy (Table 6.15). Apart from a switch to more productive HYV and hybrid varieties, average yields of each type of paddy has increased by between 13% to 54% with widely grown HYV boro and aman increasing by about 30%. Yields of non-rice crops have mostly also increased, with the exception of chilli and watermelon. The table also shows yield data from the 2019 WMG survey, and for most crops yields have also increased over the last two years – exceptions being sunflower, chilli and watermelon. The increase in yield of mung bean<ref group="Notes">Many farmers have adopted modern, high yielding types of mung bean, especially BARI-6. However, these improved types inter-breed with older local types, so much mung bean is of a semi-improved type. For this reason, this report has not tried to differentiate between modern and local varieties of mung bean.</ref> is notable. This is a key crop in Patuakhali, and in 2019 yields were below the pre-project level due to unfavourable weather (excessive drought, unexpected and heavy rainfall). Mung yield has now recovered to over double the 2019 level and is 71% above the pre-project average. Data on aquaculture (gher fish) yields needs to be used with caution as seasonal yield data may not reflect the annual productivity of ghers.

'''Table 6.15: Average crop yields'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!
! colspan="3" |'''Yield kg/ha'''
! colspan="2" |'''HH reporting (n)'''
!'''Yield kg/ha'''
|-
!
!
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''change'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2019 survey'''
|-
! rowspan="6" |Paddy

!boro HYV
|4,983
|6,370
|28%
|443
|711
|5,649
|-
!boro hybrid
|6,849
|7,754
|13%
|262
|665
|7,692
|-
!aman local
|2,682
|3,677
|37%
|797
|504
|3,102
|-
!aman HYV
|3,841
|4,991
|30%
|542
|606
|4,878
|-
!aus local
|2,252
|3,460
|54%
|166
|59
|2,757
|-
!aus HYV
|3,657
|4,711
|29%
|87
|233
|4,313
|-
! rowspan="11" |Other crops

!Maize
|2,430
|4,230
|74%
|10
|11
|2,991
|-
!Mung bean
|913
|1,558
|71%
|304
|263
|714
|-
!Keshari
|1,142
|1,456
|28%
|225
|27
|1,062
|-
!Felon
|1,210
|1,492
|23%
|37
|66
|1,097
|-
!Sesame
|1,137
|1,475
|30%
|255
|90
|835
|-
!Groundnut
|2,020
|2,234
|11%
|170
|176
|2,211
|-
!Sunflower
|1,708
|2,068
|21%
|14
|15
|2,606
|-
!Sweet potato
|3,427
|8,698
|39%
|103
|104
|13,153
|-
!Jute
|2,263
|2,290
|1%
|11
|103
|2,485
|-
!Chilli
|1,331
|1,264
|<nowiki>-5%</nowiki>
|185
|174
|2,139
|-
!Watermelon
|5,499
|2,011
|<nowiki>-8%</nowiki>
|39
|187
|49,084
|-
! rowspan="3" |Aquaculture
!rabi
|676
|672
|<nowiki>-1%</nowiki>
|146
|175
|699
|-
!kharif-2
|830
|1,664
|100%
|230
|310
|1,099
|-
!kharif-1
|530
|802
|52%
|164
|201
|637
|-
! colspan="8" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

== Increase in employment through agricultural development ==
Changes in labour use in crop and fish production have been calculated based on the crop budgets for each zone and crop areas in each polder. Pre-project labour use has been estimated, taking into account that lower yields meant that less labour was needed for harvest and post-harvest work.

Table 6.16 shows the total labour used in crop production and gher aquaculture in each of the three zones. The total labour requirement is now estimated to be 18.7 million person-days, an increase of around 50% on the pre-project situation. Paddy production absorbs over half of this labour, followed non-rice crops and then by fish / shrimp aquaculture. The table also shows how much labour is hired (men and women) and how much comes from men and women members of the farm households.

'''Table 6.16: Labour inputs for crops and aquaculture'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |'''Paddy'''
! colspan="2" |'''other crops'''
! colspan="2" |'''fish / shrimp'''
! colspan="2" |'''Total'''
|-
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
!'''2013-14'''
!'''2020-21'''
|-
! rowspan="4" |Khulna

!hired men
|2,664
|4,145
|403
|913
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|3,068
|5,058
|-
!hired women
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|896
|1,675
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|896
|1,675
|-
!HH men
|635
|782
|633
|1,322
|755
|1,043
|2,022
|3,146
|-
!HH women
|116
|290
|223
|400
|252
|348
|591
|1,037
|-
! rowspan="4" |Satkhira

!hired men
|1,074
|1,154
|11
|32
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|1,085
|1,186
|-
!hired women
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|32
|96
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|32
|96
|-
!HH men
|256
|253
|36
|93
|175
|446
|468
|792
|-
!HH women
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|9
|25
|47
|120
|56
|145
|-
! rowspan="4" |Patuakhali

!hired men
|2,511
|2,624
|219
|457
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|2,730
|3,082
|-
!hired women
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|173
|511
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|173
|511
|-
!HH men
|864
|927
|292
|482
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|1,156
|1,409
|-
!HH women
|256
|309
|134
|279
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|390
|587
|-
! rowspan="5" |total

!hired men
|6,249
|7,923
|633
|1,403
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|6,883
|9,326
|-
!hired women
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|1,101
|2,281
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-</nowiki>
|1,101
|2,281
|-
!HH men
|1,755
|1,963
|961
|1,896
|930
|1,488
|3,646
|5,347
|-
!HH women
|372
|598
|366
|703
|299
|468
|1,036
|1,770
|-
!Total
|8,376
|10,484
|3,061
|6,284
|1,229
|1,956
|12,666
|18,723
|-
! colspan="10" |''Thousand person-days;'' Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
----

== Economic return of improved agriculture production ==

=== Increase in farm income ===
An increased cropping area, improved cropping patterns and increased yields have resulted in increased farm incomes. This increase in income has been calculated based on budgets for the main crops in each zone and using cropping patterns and yields derived from WMG survey data (for details on yield assumptions and crop budgets, see Annex 6.1).

Table 6.17 shows that net farm income has more than doubled (131% increase), and more than half of total net income comes from non-rice crops – especially vegetables. However, in relative terms the increase has been highest for paddy. The relative increase has also been higher in the Patuakhali and Satkhira zones, and lower in Khulna – but in absolute terms the value of the increase is higher in Khulna. High value crops play a major role in this increase. Watermelon and vegetables contribute to almost half (49%) of the total net farm income in Khulna zone, compared with only 26% for fish. While fish contributes much more in Satkhira (61% compared with 12% for vegetables), overall vegetables and watermelon provide 37% of the net income compared with 22% from fish.

'''Table 6.17: Total net farm income'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
| rowspan="2" |
! colspan="4" |'''2013-14 BGP - BDT million'''
! colspan="4" |'''2020-21 – BDT million'''
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |'''Change'''
|-
!'''paddy'''
!'''other crops'''
!'''fish'''
!'''total'''
!'''paddy'''
!'''other crops'''
!'''fish'''
!'''total'''
|-
!Khulna
|676
|1,987
|1,214
|3,878
|1,515
|4,321
|2,003
|7,840
|3,962
|102%
|-
!Satkhira
|174
|73
|304
|551
|361
|257
|949
|1,567
|1,016
|184%
|-
!Patuakhali
|462
|1,065
|0
|1,527
|1,512
|2,809
|0
|4,321
|2,794
|183%
|-
!total
|1,312
|3,125
|1,518
|5,955
|3,389
|7,387
|2,952
|13,728
|7,773
|131%
|-
!Increase
|
|
|
|
|158%
|136%
|94%
|131%
|
|
|-
!Share in total income
|22%
|52%
|25%
|100%
|25%
|54%
|22%
|100%
|
|
|-
! colspan="10" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|
|}
Table 6.18 shows that there is no obvious correlation between increase in net income and increased cropping intensity (CI), reduction in water management problem scores (WMPS), and increase in area of high value crops (HVC - vegetables and water melon).

However, farmers in the FGDs repeatedly said that improved water management had allowed them to crop more intensively, grow more valuable crops and get improved crop yields. There may be too much variation between WMGs within polders for this to show up when comparing the averages for different polders.

'''Table 6.18: Increase in farm income and performance indicators'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
! rowspan="2" |'''Increase in'''

'''net income'''
! rowspan="2" |'''Number'''

'''of polder'''
! colspan="4" |'''Average change in'''
|-
!'''CI*'''
!'''WMPS'''
!'''HVC area*'''
!
|-
!<40%
|2
|19%
|0.83
|<nowiki>-10%</nowiki>
|
|-
!40-100%
|5
|54%
|1.50
|10%
|
|-
!100-150%
|2
|63%
|1.53
|23%
|
|-
!150-200%
|7
|58%
|1.33
|16%
|
|-
!>200%
|6
|44%
|1.63
|10%
|
|-
! colspan="6" |''* change in percentage points;'' Source: WMG survey 2021
|}

=== Return to the investment in BGP ===
The increase in net farm income can be compared with expenditure of project funds to see if benefits (in terms of increased farm income) are sufficient to justify the investment in BGP. Cumulative expenditure of BGP funds up to June 2021 is shown in Table 6.19. The BWDB and DAE expenditure includes GoB contributions to BGP costs.

'''Table 6.19: Cumulative expenditure'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
! colspan="4" |'''Million BDT'''
!'''Total per WMG'''
|-
!zone
!BWDB
!DAE
!TA
!Total
!Million BDT
|-
!Khulna
|1090.44
|29.16
|1259.11
|2378.71
|9.15
|-
!Satkhira
|263.38
|13.79
|311.71
|588.88
|9.20
|-
!Patuakhali
|1457.52
|44.85
|1689.58
|3191.95
|17.54
|-
!total
|2811.34
|87.80
|3260.41
|6159.55
|12.17
|-
! colspan="6" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
Table 6.20 shows the payback period required for the increase in annual net farm income to equal the cumulative project expenditure. As annual benefits of BDT 7,773 million exceed cumulative expenditure of BDT 6,160 million, the payback period is only 0.79 of a year (about 41 weeks). But this varies considerably between polders. Net farm income has declined in polder 28/2 so there is no payback period here. For other polders it ranges from 0.22 years in polder 25 to 3.12 years in polder 47/3.

Table 6.20 also shows the expenditure and benefits per WMG per polder. Average BGP expenditure per WMG is BDT 12.17 million and average benefit is BDT 15.36 million. Average benefit is fairly similar between the three zones, but there is considerable variation between polders in Khulna and Patuakhali. Average expenditure per WMG also varies greatly between polders, but on average this is higher in Patuakhali than in the other two zones – so the average payback period for Patuakhali is longer (1.14 years).

'''Table 6.20: Payback period for project investment'''
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+
!
!'''Expenditure'''
!'''Benefit'''
!'''Payback'''
! colspan="2" |'''Per WMG (BDT m)'''
|-
!'''polder'''
!'''BDT m.'''
!'''BDT m.'''
!'''years'''
!'''Expenditure'''
!'''Benefit'''
|-
!'''Khulna'''
!
!
!
!
!
|-
!22
|108.97
|156.58
|0.70
|9.08
|13.05
|-
!25
|294.23
|1324.27
|0.22
|4.82
|21.71
|-
!26
|260.74
|267.63
|0.97
|17.38
|17.84
|-
!27/1
|102.20
|227.35
|0.45
|6.81
|15.16
|-
!27/2
|36.99
|53.71
|0.69
|6.17
|8.95
|-
!28/1
|84.50
|29.18
|2.90
|7.04
|2.43
|-
!28/2
|236.86
|<nowiki>-36.59</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-6.47</nowiki>
|19.74
|<nowiki>-3.05</nowiki>
|-
!29
|386.22
|1015.26
|0.38
|6.90
|18.13
|-
!30
|272.15
|426.07
|0.64
|6.80
|10.65
|-
!31P
|280.22
|363.58
|0.77
|23.35
|30.30
|-
!34/2P
|315.65
|135.03
|2.34
|16.61
|7.11
|-
!sub-total
|2378.71
|3962.09
|0.60
|9.15
|15.24
|-
! colspan="6" |'''Satkhira'''
|-
!2&2E
|588.88
|1016.23
|0.58
|9.20
|15.88
|-
! colspan="6" |'''Patuakhali'''
|-
!43/1A
|120.85
|161.14
|0.75
|9.30
|12.40
|-
!43/2A
|415.28
|257.26
|1.61
|20.76
|12.86
|-
!43/2B
|455.62
|580.70
|0.78
|16.27
|20.74
|-
!43/2D
|333.34
|289.37
|1.15
|12.35
|10.72
|-
!43/2E
|37.16
|100.48
|0.37
|3.10
|8.37
|-
!43/2F
|310.74
|300.40
|1.03
|11.51
|11.13
|-
!47/3
|207.33
|66.46
|3.12
|25.92
|8.31
|-
!47/4
|693.65
|300.66
|2.31
|38.54
|16.70
|-
!55/2A
|346.67
|359.64
|0.96
|26.67
|27.66
|-
!55/2C
|271.30
|378.37
|0.72
|16.96
|23.65
|-
!sub-total
|3191.95
|2794.47
|1.14
|17.54
|15.35
|-
!Total
|6159.55
|7772.79
|0.79
|12.17
|15.36
|-
! colspan="6" |Source: WMG survey 2021
|}
The four polders with very fast payback (under 0.5 years) have an average benefit of BDT 15.84 million – only a little more than the average for all polders, but their average expenditure is only BDT 5.14 million, under half of the average for all polders of BDT 12.17 million. It may be that the physical circumstances of these polders made water management improvement less costly than in other polders. The five polders (excluding 28/2) with a payback period of over 1.5 years, have average benefits of BDT 9.48 million per WMG, well below the average of 15.36, as well as above average expenditure of BDT 21.77 million. Polder 28/1 is in this group. Although its expenditure is well below average, it has lower benefits for any polder apart from 28/2. Polders 47/3 and 47/4 are also in this group. BG activities started later in these polders, but benefits per WMG in 47/4 are above average – but it has the highest expenditure per WMG of any polder.

An economic analysis of the investment in BGP has been carried out in order to calculate the economic internal rate of return. As in preceding calculation of the payback period, this analysis is limited to the impact of BGP interventions in water management and agricultural extension on crop production and aquaculture in ghers. The analysis has adjusted input and output prices to reflect their real value to the economy. The analysis uses the same data that was collected for the 2021 WMG survey. The analysis covers project costs and benefits over a 30 year period, with investment expenditure on BGP taking place over the first eight of these years (2013-14 to 2020-21).<ref group="Notes">The small amount of BG investment in 2021-22 has been excluded as data on benefits refers to the project prior to this expenditure. No further benefits are assumed beyond those quantified in the 2021 WMG survey.</ref>

EIRR calculations assume that only a proportion of the improvement in cropping patters and crop yields reported in the WMG survey can be attributed to BGP. Interviews for 2021 WMG survey mostly attributed between 40% and 60% of the increase in farm income to BGP interventions. The base case for EIRR calculations assume that 25% of the increase in net farm income can be attributed to BG interventions. This results in an EIRR of 42%.

The EIRR has also been calculated with smaller proportions of the increase in farm income attributed to BGP. This shows that EIRR remains at an acceptable 15% even if only 10% of the increase in farm income is attributed to BGP. The effect of BGP benefits not being sustained has also been examined. If net benefits were to cease in 2023-24, two years after completion, then the EIRR would be reduced from 42% to 38% in the base case but would still be an acceptable 15% if only 15% of the increase in farm income were attributed to BGP. It is not surprising that investment in BGP has generated rapid returns and the resulting increase in farm income very quickly equals the investment cost. Improvements in water management infrastructure have removed bottlenecks in an existing system. No account has been taken of the original investment in building the system in the first place as this is a sunk cost. Removing bottlenecks gets the whole system, including the original investments, to work better. Similarly, extension training enables farmers to get their own production systems to work better. Training does not cost much, while increasing productivity generates more income for very little extra cost, mainly harvesting and marketing the increased volume of production.
----

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />
==See more==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[05 Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management|Chapter 05: Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management]]|Curr_sect=[[Summary and Introduction of Section B: Development Outcomes|Section B: Development Outcomes]]|Next_chap=[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production|Chapter 07: Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production]]}}{{SeeMoreSectionB}}

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|{{ToC Section B}}
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|{{Full ToC}}
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Blue Gold Lessons Learnt Wiki

2021-12-14T08:41:26Z

Bigblue: /* Section B: Development Outcomes */

The wiki version of the Lessons Learnt Report of the Blue Gold program, documents the experiences of a technical assistance (TA) team working in a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over an eight+ year period from March 2013 to December 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies and the importance of crop selection, collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce to maximise profitability.

The wiki lessons learnt report (LLR) is intended to complement the BWDB and DAE project completion reports (PCRs), by recording lessons learnt for use in the design and implementation of future interventions in the coastal zone. The aim of this report is to review and analyse approaches and methodologies used in the delivery of Blue Gold, how and why they evolved over the lifetime of Blue Gold with reasons for the adaptations and adjustments that were introduced and an explanation for the timing of the intervention.

Whilst Blue Gold will end in December 2021, much of the lessons learnt report will have been written in 2020 and early 2021 while the principal contributors in the TA team remained in place. But the completion of some sections of the report will only be possible when, for example, final payments have been made for water infrastructure contracts at end-June 2021, and findings are available from impact surveys conducted in 2021. DAE’s involvement as an implementation partner finished at end-December 2020, whilst BWDB’s involvement continued to end-December 2021.

Meanwhile, in order to pass on the knowledge and experience gained from the implementation of Blue Gold to planners and policy makers working towards the realisation of the Delta Plan, and to those responsible for the design and implementation of future projects in the coastal zone, the report is published in June 2021 in a partially-complete form. Those sections of the report which are either incomplete or missing will be marked accordingly in the draft report, and then finalized before end-December 2021.

In particular, this wiki provides digital versions of documents prepared by the project team, by other organisations through the Innovation Fund and the many valuable references (policy documents, legislation etc) that have provided direction to Blue Gold. Guidance on how to locate a specific document is given in the section [[File library|File Library]]. Although the wiki report is in English, many documents were prepared in Bangla for use in training of Blue Gold communities and are also available in the File Library.

Aimed at first-time users, the [[Frequently Asked Questions|frequently asked questions]] (FAQ) page provides answers about the wiki, browsing, files and downloads and points of contact for further information.

==Table of Contents: overview==
To aid navigation through the report, this wiki has been organised into multiple sections and chapters. Within the table (bottom right hand corner), there is a [[file library]] to explore the hundreds of files generated or used as references during the 8+year period of Blue Gold. Below you will see multiple navigation boxes, divided and organised for easier use - so that you can browse through the wiki and find the subject matter which is of greatest relevance to you.

{{Full ToC}}

== Table of contents: detailed view ==
This section of table of contents provides a more detailed view of the contents of each chapter, allowing the reader to navigate directly to a specific subsection.

=== Executive summary: Call for Action ===
{{main|Executive summary: a call for action}}
===Section A: Background and context===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section A: Background and context}}{{ToC Section A}}

===Section B: Development Outcomes===
{{For|summary and introduction of this section|Summary and Introduction of Section B: Development Outcomes}}{{ToC Section B}}

===Section C: Water Infrastructure===
{{For|summary of this section|Summary of Section C: Water Infrastructure}}{{ToC Section C}}

===Section D: Participatory Water Management===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management}}{{ToC Section D}}
===Section E: Agricultural Development===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development}}{{ToC Section E}}
===Section F: Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section F - Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability}}{{ToC Section F}}

===Section G: Project Management===
{{For|a summary of this section|Summary of Section G: Project Management}}{{ToC Section G}}

===Section H: Innovation Fund===
{{For|summary of this section|Summary of Section H: Innovation Fund}}{{ToC Section H}}

===Files and others===
{| width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;" border="0" cellpadding="3px" cellspacing="2px"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[File library]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Glossary and acronyms]]'''
|}__NOINDEX__
__NONEWSECTIONLINK__
__FORCETOC__

Template:ToC Section B

2021-12-14T08:40:06Z

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{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[05 Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management|Chapter 05: Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development|Chapter 06: Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production|Chapter 07: Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production]]'''
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|
#[[05 Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management#Increased resilience against climatic variability: outcomes and impact of rehabilitation work on water management|Increased resilience against climatic variability: outcomes and impact of rehabilitation work on water management]]
#[[05 Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management#Organised coastal communities: outcomes and impact of institutional development|Organised coastal communities: outcomes and impact of institutional development]]
|
#[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development#Changes in crop agricultural production|Changes in crop agricultural production]]
#[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development#Change in cropping pattern and crop types|Change in cropping pattern and crop types]]
#[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development#Increase in Cropping intensity|Increase in Cropping intensity]]
#[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development#Increase in Crop yields|Increase in Crop yields]]
#[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development#Increase in employment through agricultural development|Increase in employment through agricultural development]]
#[[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development#Economic return of improved agriculture production|Economic return of improved agriculture production]]
|
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Homestead vegetables production|Homestead vegetables production]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Homestead fruit production|Homestead fruit production]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Commercial fruit production|Commercial fruit production]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Poultry rearing|Poultry rearing]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Goats|Goats]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Cattle and buffalo|Cattle and buffalo]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Pond fisheries|Pond fisheries]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Feedback from FGDs on homestead production|Feedback from FGDs on homestead production]]
#[[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production#Problems of agricultural and homestead production|Problems of agricultural and homestead production]]
|}
{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="50%" |'''[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women|Chapter 08: The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women]]'''
! width="50%" |'''[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders|Chapter 09: The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders]]'''
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|
#[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women#Women’s role in economic activities|Women’s role in economic activities]]
#[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women#Main Occupation of women|Main Occupation of women]]
#[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women#Equality in food consumption|Equality in food consumption]]
#[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women#Decision making regarding assets and land|Decision making regarding assets and land]]
#[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women#Mobility and participation|Mobility and participation]]
#[[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women#Overall empowerment of women|Overall empowerment of women]]
|
#[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders#General features of coastal households|General features of coastal households]]
#[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders#Land ownership and land tenure|Land ownership and land tenure]]
#[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders#Improvement in household income and asset|Improvement in household income and asset]]
#[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders#Enterprise development|Enterprise development]]
#[[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders#Improvements in Living Standards|Improvements in Living Standards]]
|}

Template:Full ToC

2021-12-14T08:24:37Z

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{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[Executive summary: a call for action|Executive summary: A Call for Action]]'''
|}

{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section A: Background and context|Section A: Background and context]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary and Introduction of Section B: Development Outcomes|Section B: Development Outcomes]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section C: Water Infrastructure|Section C: Water Infrastructure]]'''
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|

'''[[Summary of Section A: Background and context|Summary]]'''

* [[01 Overview, Purpose and Structure of Report|Chapter 01: Overview, Purpose and Structure of Report]]
* [[02 Institutional Setting|Chapter 02: Institutional Setting]]
* [[03 Social, Physical and Environmental Context|Chapter 03: Social, Physical and Environmental Context]]
* [[04 Policy framework, history of interventions and project definition|Chapter 04: Policy framework, history of interventions and project definition]]
|

'''[[Summary and Introduction of Section B: Development Outcomes|Summary and Introduction]]'''

* [[05 Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management|Chapter 05: Outcomes and Impact from Participatory Water Management]]
* [[06 Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development|Chapter 06: Outcomes and Impact from Agricultural Development]]
* [[07 Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production|Chapter 07: Inclusive Development Approach: Outcomes and Impacts from Homestead Based Production]]
* [[08 The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women|Chapter 08: The Outcomes and Impact on the Livelihoods of Women]]
* [[09 The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders|Chapter 09: The Overall Outcomes and Impacts on the Livelihoods of Coastal Communities in Blue Gold Polders]]
|

'''[[Summary of Section C: Water Infrastructure|Summary]]'''

* [[10 Coastal Infrastructure|Chapter 10: Coastal Infrastructure]]
* [[11 Investments for Polder Safety and Water Management|Chapter 11: Investments for Polder Safety and Water Management]]
* [[12 Survey, Design and Procurement|Chapter 12: Survey, Design and Procurement]]
* [[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt|Chapter 13: Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt]]
|}
{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management|Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development|Section E: Agricultural Development]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section F - Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability|Section F: Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability]]'''
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|

'''[[Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management|Summary]]'''

* [[14 Consultation and participation in planning|Chapter 14: Consultation and participation in planning]]
* [[15 WMO capacity building|Chapter 15: WMO capacity building]]
* [[16 Women’s participation in water management|Chapter 16: Women's participation in Water Management]]
* [[17 In-polder water management|Chapter 17: In-polder water management]]
* [[18 The Water Management Partnership|Chapter 18: Water Management Partnership]]
* [[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept|Chapter 19: Operationalisation of the PWM concept]]
* [[20 Way forward|Chapter 20: Way Forward]]

|

'''[[Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development|Summary]]'''

* [[21 The Evolving Approach to the Commercialization of Agriculture|Chapter 21: The Evolving Approach to the Commercialization of Agriculture]]
* [[22 Lessons for Agricultural Extension in the Coastal Zone|Chapter 22: Lessons for Agricultural Extension in the Coastal Zone]]
* [[23 Outreach and Outcomes of Commercialisation Interventions|Chapter 23: Outreach and Outcomes of Commercialisation Interventions]]
|

'''[[Summary of Section F - Responsible Development: Inclusion and Sustainability|Summary]]'''

* [[24 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment|Chapter 24: Gender equality and women's empowerment]]
* [[25 Poverty Focus: development of homestead production|Chapter 25: Poverty Focus: development of homestead production]]
* [[26 Poverty focus: Labour Contracting Societies|Chapter 26: Poverty focus: Labour Contracting Societies]]
* [[27 Sustainability|Chapter 27: Sustainability]]

|}
{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section G: Project Management|Section G: Project Management]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[Summary of Section H: Innovation Fund|Section H: Innovation Fund]]'''
! width="25%" |Files and others
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|

'''[[Summary of Section G: Project Management|Summary]]'''

* [[28 Project Management Arrangements|Chapter 28: Project Management Arrangements]]
* [[29 Technical Assistance: Context, Scope, Contractual Arrangements and External Service Contracts|Chapter 29: Technical Assistance: Context, Scope, Contractual Arrangements and External Service Contracts]]
* [[30 Evolution of TA Organisational Arrangements|Chapter 30: Evolution of TA Organisational Arrangements]]
* [[31 Capacity Building|Chapter 31: Capacity Building]]
* [[32 Agricultural Extension Methods and Communication|Chapter 32: Agricultural Extension Methods and Communication]]
* [[33 Horizontal learning|Chapter 33: Horizontal Learning]]
* [[34 Monitoring and evaluation|Chapter 34: Monitoring and evaluation]]
* [[35 Management Information System|Chapter 35: Management Information System]]
* [[36 Environmental Due Diligence|Chapter 36: Environmental Due Diligence]]
|

'''[[Summary of Section H: Innovation Fund|Summary]]'''

* [[37 Purpose, fund evolution and management|Chapter 37: Purpose, fund evolution and management]]
* [[38 Overview of BGIF Projects|Chapter 38: Overview of BGIF Projects]]
* [[39 BGIF Lessons Learnt|Chapter 39: BGIF Lessons Learnt]]
|
*[[File library|'''File Library''']]
*'''[[Glossary and acronyms|Glossary and acronyms]]'''
*[[Frequently Asked Questions|'''Frequently Asked Questions''']]
|}

04 Policy framework, history of interventions and project definition

2021-12-14T08:22:50Z

Bigblue: /* See also */

== Policy and regulatory framework for Participatory Water Management ==
BGP combines a substantial investment in water infrastructure with a strong focus on the establishment of Participatory Water Management (PWM). Given this distinguishing feature of the program – a feature which it shares with several other donor-funded water sector projects – this section provides an overview of the policy, legal and regulatory provisions, which establish the bandwidth within which PWM can be implemented.

{{Briefing materials STV|decks=*[[:#|Lessons learnt (no notes)]]
*[[:File:BGP slide deck WMO v4.pdf|WMOs: building sustainable partnerships for participatory water management]]|brochures=*[[:File:BGP 4 pager lessons learnt v7.pdf|Lessons learnt for scaling out: how participatory water management contributes to inclusive development]]
*[[:File:Bgp-4-pager-outcomes-v9.pdf|Improving the productivity of land in coastal Bangladesh: outcomes of interventions 2013-2019]]
*[[:#|Improving the productivity of land in coastal Bangladesh: outcomes of interventions 2013-2020]]|studies=No case studies for the current chapter.|videos=*[[:Category:Videos#Participatory Water Management: An integrated approach|PWM: an integrated approach - animation (Bangla with English subtitles)]]|manuals=No manuals for the current chapter.|flipchart=No flipcharts for the current chapter.}}

While communities in Bangladesh, as elsewhere, have always taken initiatives towards managing water resources for their own benefit, Participatory Water Management – i.e. an explicit approach by Government whereby water management actions by water users organised on a scheme or catchment basis, or on the basis of sub-units thereof – complements or replaces centrally organised water management actions – is relatively new. Farmer groups for water management were notably formed for irrigation management purposes in the 1960s and 1970s; both for pump irrigation and in major irrigation schemes. Participatory Water Management, however, only became a Government policy applicable for all water management in flood control, drainage and irrigation schemes by the end of the 20th century. The 1999 National Water Policy sounded the starter’s gun for promulgating legal provisions for PWM: several guidelines, regulations and acts that – taken together – provide the regulatory framework for Participatory Water Management.

The table provides an overview of the prevailing policy, legislation and regulation for PWM. Short discussions of each element are available through hyperlinks and/or attachments. After the overview, this concludes with a section that zooms-out again to reflect on today’s context for Participatory Water Management.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
|+Table 1: Overview of policy and regulatory framework
!'''Title'''
!'''Formal publication / approval'''
!'''Status'''
|-
|[[:File:GoB MoWR National Water Policy January 1999.pdf|National Water Policy]]
|January 1999
|Policy
|-
|[[:File:GoB MoWR GPWM April 2001.pdf|Guidelines for Participatory Water Management]]
|April 2001
|Guidelines
|-
|[[:File:GoB BWDB Act 2000 (english translation).pdf|Bangladesh Water Development Board Act]]
|July 2000
|Act
|-
|[[List of policy and regulatory framework for Participatory Water Management#National Water Management Plan (2001)|National Water Management Plan]]
|March 2004
|Plan
|-
|[[:File:GoB BWDB PWMR 2014 (english) 11feb 14.pdf|BWDB Participatory Water Management Rules]]
|February 2014
|Rules under the BWDB Act 2000
|-
|[[:File:GoB WARPO Bangladesh Water Act 2013 (English).pdf|Bangladesh Water Act]]
|2013
|Act
|-
|[[:File:GoB WARPO Water Rules Bidhimala aug 18 (Bangla).pdf|Water Rules]] (Bangla only)
|August 2018, with guidelines for [[:File:GoB WARPO Water Rules District Guideline 2019.pdf|District]], [[:File:GoB WARPO Water Rules Upazila Parishad Guidelines 2019 bangla.pdf|Upazila]] and [[:File:GoB WARPO Water Rules - Union Parishad Guideline 2019 bangla.pdf|Union]] level published in 2019
|Rules under the Bangladesh Water Act 2014
|-
|[http://www.plancomm.gov.bd/site/files/0adcee77-2db8-41bf-b36b-657b5ee1efb9/Bangladesh-Delta-Plan-2100 Bangladesh Delta Plan]
|September 2018
|Plan
|}
In addition to the above documents that shape present-day Participatory Water Management, several other policies influence water management practices. We mention here the [http://nda.erd.gov.bd/en/c/publication/bangladesh-climate-change-strategy-action-plan-bccsap-2009 Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009], the [https://mowca.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/mowca.portal.gov.bd/policies/64238d39_0ecd_4a56_b00c_b834cc54f88d/National-Women-Policy-2011English.pdf National Women in Development Policy 2011].

== History of interventions ==
Water resources management in Bangladesh faces immense challenges in order to resolve diverse problems and issues. The most critical of these are floods in the wet season and the scarcity of water in the dry season; the expanding water needs of a growing economy and population; the supply of safe drinking water and sanitation; arsenic problem; water pollution and massive river sedimentation and riverbank erosion. Furthermore, there is a growing need for maintaining the eco-systems, particularly the fish resources and wetlands and there is the issue of competitive demand of various water uses. The water management is increasingly facing challenges of exogenous developments of a global nature, such as climate change and sea level rise, as well as of upstream river basin developments in neighbouring countries. Climate changes will influence both food security and water availability in the following ways: extreme weather events will lead to more cyclones and floods with consequent drainage congestion and water logging; salinity and salt water intrusion; higher glacial melt leading to higher river discharge, river and soil erosion; more droughts leading to increased irrigation demands.

Based on the above, the goals and objectives for the development and utilization of water resources in Bangladesh may, in short, be stated as follows:

==== Goals ====

* Make efficient use of water resources to optimise the growth of agriculture, including fisheries, forestry and livestock.

* Provide navigational facilities for the growth of commerce, industry and transportation.
* Prevent land, water and environmental degradation.
* Accommodate land reclamation and accretion.
* Minimize the adverse effect of flood and drought on rural and urban communities.
* Adaptation to climate change

==== Objectives ====

* Irrigation objectives, including major surface water irrigation and minor irrigation to meet agricultural demand.
* Flood management objectives, including climate change resilience and adaptation through the protection of critical urban and rural areas and control of land erosion from river actions
* Energy and power generation objectives, specifying the use of dams and other control structures.
* Navigation objectives, specifying the use of water for inland navigation.
* Land reclamation and accretion objectives, specifying the use of reclaimed land.
* Poverty alleviation objectives.

The erstwhile East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (EPWAPDA), an autonomous organisation, was created in 1959 to fulfil some of these goals and objectives, as a consequence of the United Nations’ funded Krug Mission under the East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority Ordinance of 1959 (EP order No.1 of 1959). The mission concluded that water resources development would be essential to the increase of agricultural production. It therefore recommended the creation of coastal polders to protect the rice crops from tidal floods and salinity. Consequently, the Coastal Embankment Project constructed 37 polders in the period 1960-1972, with a view to cultivating High Yielding Varieties (HYV) of rice. Simultaneous the EPWAPDA Master plan focusing on flood control and drainage was prepared in 1964. Activities created under the Master plan yielded immediate results. However, after a few years, an evaluation showed that the increase in agricultural production was not up to the required level. The present Bangladesh Water Development Board was established in 1972 under presidential order no. 59 of 1972, when the former EPWAPDA was split into two organisations: BWDB dealing with water and PDB dealing with power. BWDB is a body corporate under the administrative control of the Ministry of Water Resources.

A mission funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 1972 recommended a strategy for the implementation of small, low cost quick generation Flood Control and Drainage (FCD) and Flood Control, Drainage and Irrigation (FCDI) projects.

In 1974, another devastating flood occurred. This generated a renewed interest in the area of flood control and prevention. A policy was adopted for the quick implementation of flood control and drainage improvement projects. The Early Implementation Project was the first project implemented in line with this new established policy. Thereafter many other projects followed as can be seen below in Table 2, which includes brief descriptions of many of the projects.

===Review of Water Resources Projects in the Coastal Zone ===
Table 2 below lists the 21 projects which have contributed to water resources development in the coastal zone over the last 45 years. Summaries of these projects can be found by following the hyperlinks. Of note is the considerable influence of the Government of the Netherlands (GoN) – which has been the main or co-funder of 14 of the 21 projects.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
|+Table 2: '''Overview of water resources management projects'''
!No.
!Name of the Project
! Implementation period
!Donor
|-
|1
|[[List of water resources management projects#The Early Implementation Project (1975 – 1997)|Early Implementation Project (EIP)]]
|1975-1997
|GoN
|-
|2
| [[List of water resources management projects#Delta Development Project (DDP) (1976 – 1988)|Delta Development Project (DDP)]]
|1976-1988
|GoN
|-
| 3
|[[List of water resources management projects#Land Reclamation Project (LRP) (1977 – 1991)|Land Reclamation Project (LRP)]]
|1977-1991
|GoN
|-
|4
|[[List of water resources management projects#Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project (1988-1994)|Second Small Scale Flood Control Drainage and Irrigation Project (SSSFCDI)]]
|1988-1994
| WB & CIDA
|-
|5
|[[List of water resources management projects#System Rehabilitation Project (SRP) (1990 – 1997)|Systems Rehabilitation Project (SRP)]]
|1990-1997
|WB
|-
|6
|[[List of water resources management projects#Flood Action Plan (FAP) (1990-1995)|Flood Action Plan (FAP)]]
|1990-1995
|multiple incl GoN
|-
|7
|[[List of water resources management projects#Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20 (1991 - 2000)|Compartmentalization Pilot Project (CPP)-FAP-20]]
|1991-2000
|GoN & KfW
|-
|8
|[[List of water resources management projects#Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project (KJDRP) (1993-2002)|Khulna Jessore Drainage Rehabilitation Project (KJDRP)]]
|1993-2002
|ADB
|-
|9
| colspan="3" |[[List of water resources management projects#Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP) (1994 – 2022)|Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP)]]
|-
| 9a
|Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP I)
|1994-1999
|GoN
|-
|9b
|Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP II)
|2000-2005
|GoN
|-
|9c
| Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP III)
|2005-2011
|GoN
|-
|9d
|Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP IV)
|2011-2018
|GoN & IFAD
|-
|9e
|Char Development and Settlement Project Bridging (CDSP- B)
|2019-2022
|GoN & IFAD
|-
|10
| colspan="3" |[[List of water resources management projects#Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector projects (1996-2019)|Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector projects]]
|-
|10a
|Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project
|1996-2002
|ADB & GoN
|-
|10b
|Second Small Scale Water Resources Development Sector Project (SSWRDSP)
|2002-2009
| ADB & GoN
|-
|10c
|Participatory Small-Scale Water Resources Sector Project
|2010-2019
|ADB & GoN
|-
|11
|[[List of water resources management projects#Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) (2002-2006)|Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) - Assistance to the Program Development Office of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Program (PDO-ICZM)]]
|2002-2006
|GoN
|-
|12
|[[List of water resources management projects#Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management (IPSWAM) (2002-2011)|Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management (IPSWAM)]]
|2003-2011
|GoN
|-
|13
|[[List of water resources management projects#South-west Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project (SAIWRPMP) (2006-2022)|South-west Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project]]
|
|
|-
|13a
|Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project (SAIWRPMP)
|2006- 2015
|ADB & GoN
|-
|13b
|Southwest Area Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management Project - Additional Financing (SAIWRPMP -AF)
|2015-2022
|ADB & GoN
|-
|14
|[[List of water resources management projects#Estuary Development Programme (EDP) (2007-2011)|Estuary Development Program (EDP)]]
|2007-2011
|GoN
|-
|15
|[[List of water resources management projects#Small Scale Water Resources Development Project (SSWRDP) 2007-2014|Small Scale Water Resources Development Project (SSWRDP)]]
| 2007-2014
|JBIC
|-
|16
|[[List of water resources management projects#Water Management Improvement Project (WMIP) (2008-2016)|Water Management Improvement Project (WMIP)]]
|2008-2015
|WB
|-
|17
|[[List of water resources management projects#Coastal Embankment Improvement Project Phase I (CEIP-I) (2013-2020)|Coastal Embankment Improvement Project Phase 1 (CEIP)]]
|2013-2020
|WB
|-
|18
|[[Blue Gold Knowledge Portal|Blue Gold Program]]
|2013-2020
| GoN
|-
|19
| colspan="3" |[[List of water resources management projects#Bangladesh Delta Plan|Bangladesh Delta Plan]]
|-
|19a
|Preparation Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 (BDP 2100)
|2014-2017
|GoN
|-
|19b
|Support to the Implementation of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 (SIBDP 2100)
| 2018-2022
|GoN
|-
|20
| [[List of water resources management projects#Irrigation management Improvement Project (IMIP) (2018-2022)|Irrigation Management Improvement project (IMIP)]]
|2015-2020
|ADB
|-
|21
|[[List of water resources management projects#Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP) (2019-2025)|Smallholder Agricultural Competitiveness Project (SACP)]]
|2019-2025
|IFAD
|}__FORCETOC__

== Project definition ==
The Blue Gold Program has been defined on the basis of accumulated insights on how best to pursue Participatory Water Management. In the course of its implementation, it has itself become an arena for refining the approach for Participatory Water Management.

The definition of the Blue Gold Program has been set out in various key project documents, which have been revised and amended over the eight+ year life of the Program:

* The '''Administrative Arrangement''' signed on 20th February 2013 between the Minster for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Economic Relations Division (ERD) for the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) sets out the broad arrangements for the implementation of the Blue Gold Program, including the contributions of both parties, arrangements for the delegation of responsibilities, obligations concerning customs duties and taxes, reporting requirements, arrangements for evaluation and the settlement of disputes. Under this Arrangement, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) represents the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
* The '''Contribution Arrangement''' signed on 4th December 2013 between the Minster for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation for the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Economic Relations Division (ERD) for the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) expands on the Administrative Arrangement setting out details of payments by instalments, reporting requirements for progress and financial reports, final reports, and annual audit reports.
* The '''[[:File:GoN Program Document BGP 28Aug12.pdf|Program Document]]'''<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:GoN_Program_Document_BGP_28Aug12.pdf|title=Program for Integrated Sustainable Economic Development by improving the Water and Productive Sectors in selected Polders, Program Document|publisher=GoB, GoN, BLUE GOLD|year=August 2012|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref> of August 2012 prepared for the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) sets out the rationale for the Blue Gold Program 'taking account the lessons learnt over the past ten years, the new insights into how to deal with the challenges of created by the very dynamic rivers of Bangladesh and the new communication technologies.' Development of market linkages and the promotion of innovation were included in the project design. During project implementation, project design changes were incorporated by the development partners, and confirmed during Annual Review Missions.
*'''Development Project Proforma''' (DPP) are the official Government of Bangladesh (GoB) formats for project planning and budget allocation. When approved, allocations against the Project can be made into the departmental annual work plans and budgets (Annual Development Programs). For a department to receive allocations it must have its own DPP. BWDB and DAE each have separate DPPs for the Blue Gold Program, both of which were revised during project implementation, in keeping with Government procedures.
* Separate '''Memoranda of Agreement''' have been signed between BWDB and the Department for Livestock Services (DLS) and the Department of Fisheries (DoF) since the scope of their activities in Blue Gold did not warrant the formulation of separate DPPs. Funds for the agreed activities of DLS and DoF were provided through the budget of the technical assistance (TA) team on behalf of EKN.
* A '''Technical Assistance (TA) Contract''' defines the broad scope of activities for the technical assistance team commissioned by EKN to support implementation of the Blue Gold Program. Extensions to the end-date of the Program, and adjustments to the scope of services formalised through a number of amendments to the TA Contract.

Further information on these key documents is presented in Section G [[28 Project Management Arrangements|Chapter 28]] 'Project management Arrangements'.

== References ==
<references />
== See also ==
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03 Social, Physical and Environmental Context

2021-12-08T13:23:08Z

Bigblue: Reverted edits by Bigblue (talk) to last revision by Geerte

To provide background and context to the design of the Blue Gold Program, the following information is provided in this chapter:

* '''Environmental context''': using four groupings (ie Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali north and Patuakhali south) for the 22 Blue Gold polders, an analysis is provided of the hydrological, biological, bio-ecological, agricultural and environmental characteristics.
* '''Social context''': provides information on project demographics, educational status, type of construction and facilities at household level, relative poverty levels and the outreach target population for poverty-focused activities (such as homestead FFSs).
* '''Physical context:''' purpose of polder infrastructure (safety and water management), vulnerability to threats, and a summary of for each polder of the dates of construction, investments by earlier projects, location, the responsible BWDB Division and Upazila administration, and characteristics of the infrastructure - length of embankment, numbers of structures and length of primary drainage channels or khals.
{{Briefing materials|decks=No slide decks for the current chapter.|brochures=No thematic brochures for the current chapter|studies=No case studies for the current chapter.|videos=*[[:#|Farming-as-a-business (Bangla with English subtitles)]]|manuals=No manuals for the current chapter.|flipchart=No flipcharts for the current chapter.}}

==Environmental context==

The coastal zone has a complex agroecology, with low-lying lands between huge tidal rivers.

Waterlogging is a problem in large parts of the coastal zone, but especially in the southwest (Satkhira, Jessore, Khulna and Bagerhat). This is caused by the reduction of dry season flow resulting from water abstractions at Farakka barrage on the Ganges just upstream from the border with India. This has contributed to increased salinity and greater sedimentation in the tidal rivers that drain the polders. The construction of polders during the 1960s and 1970s reduced the tidal prism of the rivers by preventing flooding across the tidal plain and contributed to accelerated river siltation. Because of the reduced drainage capacity caused by siltation, these tidal rivers are unable to drain adjacent lands and polders, and this causes the waterlogging. More information on the decision to form coastal polders, together with a review of the water resources projects in the coastal zone - both historical and current is provided in [[04 Policy framework, history of interventions and project definition#History of interventions|Chapter 4]].

The physical and environmental context for all twenty-two Blue Gold polders is provided below, using four groupings (ie Khulna, Satkhira, Patuakhali north and Patuakhali south), and including an analysis of the hydrological, biological, bio-ecological, agricultural and environmental characteristics. The data and information are mostly obtained from Polder Development Plans (PDPs), Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 Baseline Study Report on Coastal and Polder Issues.

===Khulna===
Blue Gold includes eleven polders<ref group="Notes">Polder 22, 30, 31 Part, 34/2 Part, 29, 25, 26, 27/1, 27/2, 28/1 and 28/2.</ref> within the Upazilas of Dumuria, Batiaghata, Fultola and Dhighulia, all in Khulna District. The polders are located in the South-West hydrological region of Bangladesh, with BWDB's responsibilities discharged by Khulna-1 and Khulna-2 O&M Divisions from Khulna<ref group="Notes">O&M Division 1 with polder 25, 26, 27/1, 27/2, 28/1, 28/2 and 29; O&M Division 2 with polder 22, 30, 31 Part and 34/2 Part</ref>. It is surrounded by a network of tidal rivers: Bhairab, Rupsha and Kazibacha river to the east; Teligati, upper Vodra and Gangrail rivers to the west; Hari, Sree Hari and upper Bhairab rivers to the north, and Pashur and Sibsa rivers to the south.

[[File:Map - Khulna.jpg|alt=|center|thumb|800x800px|Map of Khulna]]

The rivers and drainage channels around these eleven polders are fed by tidal flows through Sibsa and Pashur rivers. During the monsoon months, when the sluice gates are opened, freshwater flow takes place both in and out of the polder. The polder situated most southern, P22, is in a straight-line distance of 75 km from the shores of the Bay of Bengal. The distance from buffer radius of the Sundarbans mangrove forest (under Nolian range) ranges from about 28 km for P34/2-part to about 49 km for P25. Due to the distance from the Sundarbans and the nature of rehabilitation works, there are no negative influences on the Sundarbans Ecological Critical Area resulting from Blue Gold interventions.
{| class="wikitable" style="width:30%; float:right; margin: 10px;"
|'''South-West hydrological region with Ganges Tidal Flood Plain (AEZ-13) zone, Sibsa and Pashur river at the south are the main distributaries are connected with Bay of Bengal'''
|}
The area encompasses two bio-ecological zones, namely the Ganges Floodplain (which comprises of a smooth landscape of ridges, basins and old channels) and the Saline Tidal Floodplain (which has a low ridge and basin relief, crossed by innumerable tidal rivers and creeks). The greater part of the area in this grouping lies in the Saline Tidal Floodplain, which is characterised by smooth relief and large areas of saline land of varying degrees of salinity.

The eleven polders have a gross area of 60,200 ha of which 49,400 ha is used for agricultural purposes, 10,800 ha for fisheries (with white fish ''gher''s of 9,500 ha and shrimp ''ghers'' of 1,300 ha). The highland in the polders under Dumuria Upazila is around 16% which are mostly used for homestead vegetable, the medium high land is around 44% which is mostly used for rice, vegetable and seasonal white fish farming in monsoon and the low land which is around 40% area is mostly used for fish with one rice crop in the dry months. Around 13% of the area under Dumuria Upazila is prone to salinity. In Batiaghata Upazila, the highland area of around 8% of the agricultural area is mainly used for homestead vegetables, with the medium high land of around 75% used for rice, vegetables and seasonal white fish farming in monsoon, and the low land of around 15% used for fish with one rice crop in the dry months. Around 38% of Batiaghata Upazila is prone to salinity.

The internal road communication facilities are good. In the polders, there are 55% ''pucca'', 20% herringbone (brick-made) and 25% ''kacha'' (earthen) roads. The business communications and market facilities are good within the District and for access to Upazila headquarters. The demand for vegetables in Khulna and adjacent cities is served by Dumuria and Batiaghta Upazilas. The condition of the embankments is reasonable but there are a number of reaches which are especially prone to erosion: in Chandghar and Baroaria (P29); Koria, Bujbunia and Shealidanga (P34/2-part); Barobhuiyan (P31-part); Kismotfultola, Kathamari, Boronpara and Hogalbunia (P30); Kalinagar, Darunmollik, Durgapur, Bigordana and Telikhali (P22); Khornia bazar to Mery Bricks reach (P25); Zialtola (P26) and Kachubunia (P28/2).

The issues that affect the sustainability of agricultural production and fisheries – and thereby the livelihoods of local inhabitants – include:

#'''Salinity intrusion, especially in the dry period.''' Such salinity intrusion causes severe scarcity of drinking water sources in particular in Char Charia, Dighalia, Ratankhali, Jaliakhali, Akra, Chandgarh and Sundar Mahal.
#'''Drainage congestion.''' Around 40% of the khals inside the polder suffer from severe drainage congestion, mainly caused by: (i) silting of khals which are connected to outfall rivers; (ii) illegal use of the ''khals'' for fisheries either on lease through the local administration or relying on local influence; and (iii) congestion of ''khals'' by water hyacinth
#'''Sediment congestion.''' During tidal flood flows (i.e. tidal phase during which the tidal current is flowing inland), sediment is deposited in the outfall rivers resulting in congestion and a reduced drainage capacity. This mostly occurs during the dry months when the inflow from rivers is negligible.
#'''Congestion of water hyacinth.''' Most of the internal khals, field channels, low current rivers are congested by water hyacinth.
#'''Conversion of agricultural land into settlements''' is occurring in peri-urban areas around Khulna city, such as P25, P28/1 and P28/2.

===Satkhira===
Blue Gold targeted one polder in Satkhira District, Polder 2 (P2), which is surrounded by the Betna River on the east and Morichap River on the south-west. The upstream reaches of Betna River are silted, with the result that there is no water flow in the dry season. The Morichap River is now fully silted with almost no drainage capacity, and is being used for rice-''gher'' cultivation. The drainage system has been declining since Farakha barrage was commissioned in 1974 but particularly severe effects have been felt by P2 communities in the last 10 to 15 years when the Betna and Morichap river have been significantly silted. Satkhira khal is poorly connected with outfall Morichap river. Therefore some water drains out in Kolikata khal and Tiket khal from Morichap river and finally fall in the Ichamoti river.
{| class="wikitable" style="width:30%; float:right; margin: 10px;"
|'''South-West hydrological region with High Ganges River Floodplain (AEZ-11) and Ganges Tidal Flood Plain (AEZ-13) zone, Kholpetua and Kanksiali river at the south are the main distributaries are connected with the Bay of Bengal'''
|}
P2 is around 85 km away from the Bay of Bengal and is affected by tidal influences. The polder is of an elongated north-south orientation. The south-east corner of the polder is located within 12 km of the buffer area of the Sundarbans. The polder is situated in the south-west hydrological regions of the country with BWDB responsibilities being discharged by Satkhira-2 O&M Division, in Satkhira. The area is represented by two agro-ecological zones (AEZs): High Ganges River Floodplain (AEZ-11) and Ganges Tidal Flood Plain (AEZ-13). During high tide, water flows from the Bay of Bengal to the Kabodak river system, which feeds in turn the peripheral Betna and Morichap rivers.

P2 has a gross area of 12,600 ha land, with 11,000 ha used for agricultural, 1,600 ha for fisheries (400 ha for white fish ''ghers'' and 1,200 ha for shrimp ''ghers)''. The highland which is around 10% area, is mostly used for rice and vegetable, the medium land which is around 50% area is mostly used for rice and seasonal white fish farming in monsoon and the low land which is around 40% area is mostly used for fish with one rice crop in the dry months. About 10% area is saline prone, which is likely to expand northward due to the effect of climate change if no adequate mitigation measures are taken.

[[File:Map - Satkhira.jpg|alt=|center|thumb|800x800px|Map of Satkhira]]

The internal road communication facilities are good. In the polder there are 60 km pacca road, 25 km herringbone bound (brick made) and 20 km kaacha (earth made) road. The business communication and market facilities are good with the District and Upazila headquarters. The existing condition of the embankment is good with the exception of one erosion vulnerable spot at Chapra area.

The embankment at the north-eastern part has been turned into a rural herringbone road which now allows heavy vehicular movements during all seasons. A huge number of brickfield have been established at north-eastern part (at Benarpota, Machkhola, Shalley and Beradangi village area) along the bank of Betna river which required movement of trucks and heavy vehicle for carrying bricks and materials which previously caused damage to the embankment.

The issues that affect the sustainability of agricultural production and fisheries – and thereby the livelihoods of local inhabitants – are the following: '''-'''

#'''Drainage congestion.''' During monsoon and post-monsoon, most of the khals running through the polder area cannot cope with the increased rainfall occurrences, leading to moderate to severe drainage congestion in about 60% of the polder area. The siltation of the Betna and Morichap river is the main reason for such drainage congestion. Water logging at the north and middle and brackish water shrimp farming at the south are causing a problem of unemployment in the area, since labor requirements are reduced as a consequence of a reduction in crop cultivation. This causes migration of local labor to the nearby Khulna and Jashore District.
#'''Sediment congestion.''' During the high tide the sediment comes through the outfall rivers with the tidal water and congests the connected canals/river side of the gates. This mainly takes place during the dry months when the upstream flow is low. The sediment congestion contributes to morphological changes (i.e. formation of new lands, river course shifting) and may thus be affect the peripheral rivers and be the cause of other anthropogenic development (i.e. conversion into shrimp farming, settlement etc.)

===Patuakhali North (Patuakhali and Barguna)===
Blue Gold includes eight polders within the Upazilas of Patuakhali Sadar, Galachipa, Dashmina and Bauphal under Patuakhali District<ref group="Notes">Polder 43/2A, 43/2B, 43/2D, 43/2E, 55/2A and 55/2C</ref> and Amtoli under Barguna District<ref group="Notes">Polder 43/1A and 43/2F</ref>. The polders are located in the South hydrological zone of the country, with BWDB's responsibilities discharged by the Patuakhali O&M Division, Patuakhali and Barguna O&M Division, Barguna. These polders are surrounded by various tidal rivers: Tetulia river to the east; Pyra river to the west; Lohalia river to the north, and Galachipa and Patua rivers to the south.
{| class="wikitable" style="width:30%; float:right; margin: 10px;"
|'''South-Central hydrological region at Ganges Tidal Flood Plain (AEZ-13) zone, Rabnabad and Patua river at the south are main distributaries are connected with Bay of Bengal'''
|}
This region occupies an extensive area of Ganges tidal floodplain (AEZ-13) with the greater part of the region influenced by upstream flows from the Meghna system. Deep, rapidly permeable sandy loams and sandy clay loam soils are dominant in the region. The aerial distance from the coast of the Bay of Bengal ranges from 45 km (from P43/2E) to 30 km (P43/2F). All the peripheral rivers and drainage channels around these eight polders are tidal with inflow from the Bay of Bengal entering the peripheral rivers including Galachipa, Lohalia, Pyra and Tetulia rivers through the Rabnabad and Patua rivers.

[[File:Map - Patuakhali North.jpg|center|thumb|800x800px|Map of Patuakhali North]]

The eight polders have a gross area of 40,400 ha, of which agricultural land is approximately 33,000 ha. Among the cultivable land single, double and triple cropping is practiced at a scale of 22%, 66% and 12% respectively. The highland in the polders is about 15% while the medium high land is around 75% and low land is 10%. 88% of the populations are engaged in the agriculture sector including farming, agricultural labour, fishing, day labour etc. About 5% of the population is engaged in the salaried service sector, including employees in government and the private sector. The industrial sector employs only 7% of the population implying that industrialization is still underdeveloped. Farmers are mainly owner-operators, preferring to cultivate their own land rather than using sharecropping arrangements.

Salinity levels in these eight polders are low. No surface water salinity exists in the area in monsoon and post monsoon seasons, even though very minor surface water salinity is found along the peripheral rivers i.e. the Payra and the Gulishakhali during dry season. The reason for this low salinity level is the freshwater discharge from the upstream Meghna River system towards the rivers of the South Central hydrological region. The soils of the polder area become very slightly saline in the dry season (Jan-May). According to the DAE, the soil and water salinity gradually increases with dryness from January and reached maximum level in the month of March-April and then decreases due to the onset of the monsoon rainfall.

Rain-fed agriculture is practised during the kharif-I and kharif-II seasons for Lt. Aus, HYV Aman, and Lt. Aman crops; whereas surface water irrigation is provided to around 95% area of watermelon and groundnut crops during Rabi season. Irrigation is not required in some areas for groundnut since only areas of high soil moisture are used, and for watermelon which is grown by the sides of rivers or khals. Water is also required for other rabi season crops (sunflower, sesame, khesari etc.) but no supplementary irrigation is needed for these crops as sufficient soil moisture is available during the season.

The greatest part of the internal road network is ''kacha'' (earth made). During monsoon, it is difficult to communicate through the earthen roads inside the polder due to heavy mud formation. The business communication and market facilities is not very good with the District and Upazila headquarters.

The issues that affect sustainability of agricultural production and fisheries – and thereby the livelihoods of local inhabitants – include:

#'''Lack of irrigation facilities''' which results in large areas remaining fallow from March to June. About 5 to 10% of agricultural land has been brought under irrigation, apart from P55/2A and P55/2C where irrigation covers 8 to 12% of agricultural land. Some 728 Low Lift Pumps (LLPs) are used for surface water irrigation across the eight polders<ref group="Notes">In Polder 43/2A there are 115 LLPs, 43/2B-130 LLPs, 43/2D-110 LLPs, 43/2E-60 LLPs, 55/2A-95 LLPs, 55/2C-78 LLPs, 43/1A-75 LLPs and 43/2F-65 LLPs. </ref>.
#'''River bank erosion and tidal flooding''' include erosion hotspots near Angulkata, Gulishakhali, Dalachara and Naiapara in P43/2F; Balaikati & Sonakhali in P43/2B; Bhajna, Matibhanga, Banshtala, Kazirhat bazar and Kewabunia in P43/2A; Morichbunia in P43/2D and Modhupura, Sutabaria, Ronuabazar and Alipura sluice area in P55/2C.
#'''Congestion of water hyacinth and duck weed.''' Due to siltation, many khals only function for part of the year, and become blocked with duck weed and water-hyacinth. Water-hyacinth prevents sun light to penetrate through the water which hampers photosynthesis of other aquatic vegetation. The decomposition of water-hyacinth reduces the water quality and has a negative impact on the fisheries and other aquatic life.

===Patuakhali South (Kalapara)===
Two polders<ref group="Notes">Polder 47/3 and 47/4</ref> in Kalapara Upazila in Patuakhali District are included in the Blue Gold Program. The polders are located in the South region, with BWDB's responsibilities discharged by the Patuakhali Water Development Division based in Kalapara. It is surrounded by Patua and Rabnabad rivers to the east; Andharmanik river to the west; Hauder Bharani river to the north, and connected to the Bay of Bengal at the south through Rabnabad river.
{| class="wikitable" style="width:30%; float:right; margin: 10px;"
|'''South-Central hydrological region at Ganges Tidal Flood Plain (AEZ-13) zone, Rabnabad and Patua river at the south are main distributaries are connected with Bay of Bengal'''
|}
This region occupies an extensive area of the Ganges tidal floodplain (AEZ-13) with the largest part of this region of smooth relief with extensive saline areas. Deep, rapidly permeable sandy loams and sandy clay loams are dominant in this region. The aerial distance from the coast of the Bay of Bengal ranges between 3 km (from Mithagonj Union of Polder 47/3) and 2 km (from Dhulasar Union of Polder 47/4). The peripheral and internal rivers and canals are subject to the diurnal tidal cycles. During high tide, water flows from the Bay of Bengal comes in to the peripheral rivers through the Rabnabad and Patua river.

P47/3 and P47/4 are to some extent saline prone areas. There are two erosion affected areas at P47/3, one is located from Tegachia Bazar to Joy Bangla Bazar in the bank of Hauder Bharani khal/river and another one is near Dakshin Charpara bridge and five erosion prone zones at P47/4 which are Banglabazar (near Mithaganj), Katakhali (near Monoshatali village), Paschim Dhulasar School Ghat, Char Dhularsar and Char Baliatali.

[[File:Map - Patuakhali South.jpg|center|thumb|800x800px|Map of Patuakhali South]]

The polders are about 8,600 ha in size, of which 7,000 ha (82%) is agricultural land. In both polders, the irrigation facilities are poor, in P47/3 approximately 3% and in P47/4 approximate 2% of the land is irrigated, especially for the cultivation boro rice and vegetables in rabi season. Surface water (reserved canal and pond water) is generally used for irrigation. Around 80-90% of the population depend on deep tube-wells as a source of drinking water and the remaining 10% depend on pond water, ''kup'' (protected dug well) water etc.

The internal road communication facilities are poor. Internal polder roads consist of about 37 km of bituminous roads, 12 km of brick-soled roads and 80 km of earthen roads. The poor business communications and market facilities result in additional costs for farmers to deliver and sell their rice and vegetables to Upazila or District level markets. However, for fish such as ''Hilsha'' the business communication is good because of a ''Hilsha'' landing centre in Kalapara, and - after packaging - ''Hilsha'' can be readily transported to outside markets.

The issues that affect sustainability of agricultural production and fisheries – and therefore, the livelihoods of local inhabitants – are:

#'''Drainage congestion,''' which is the major problem in P47/3 and P47/4. It is most severe from mid-July to mid-November because of siltation and man-made causes, including artificial blockages made to serve fisheries interests in the rivers and ''khals'' and damage to regulators at the outfall of ''khals''. In these polders the Tulatola beel, Choto Baliatoli, Pokhiyapara beel, Boga Khalir beel and Charbaliatoli beel under Baliatali Union; Baultali and Tarikatar beel under Dhulasar Union; Tegachhiar beel under Mithaganj Union and Kortaliar beel under Dalbuganj Union are particularly prone to drainage congestion.
#'''Lack of irrigation facilities.''' Irrigation facilities are poor with very small areas in both P47/3 and P47/4 being served by irrigation facilities.

==Social context==
This section describes the social context of the livelihood of coastal Bangladesh. To explore the social contexts and poverty situation of coastal communities, the data of three Districts and its Upazilas under Blue Gold Program areas are included from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2010-11 (BBS). Besides this, polder level data is included from the Baseline survey-phase I, 2017. It is noteworthy that limited data on polders versus national units. First section of this chapter includes some social indicators like demographic features, educational status, household structure and other facilities of the households (electricity, sanitation and electricity) of three Districts, Upazilas and polders. The next section the chapter includes the poverty data of the three Districts, and Upazilas, land-based household categories in polder level and their income from different sources. At the end this section tried to draw a link between land ownership and incidence of poverty and targeting households for BGP interventions.

=== Demographic features ===
In term of area and population, Khulna District has the highest number among the three Districts of BGP area and the areas and population of different Upazilas of these three Districts varY significantly. Population densities in Khulna (528/km2) and Satkhira (520/km2) are similar, but lower in Patuakhali District (477/km2). The population density varies significantly among the different Upazilas within the same District. The highest population density is considered as most vulnerable. The population density is more than double in the Upazilas which are near to zila center like Phultala Upazila (1,476/km2) of Khulna District and Sadar Upazila of Satkhira(1,156/km2) compared to Paikgacha Upazila (603/ km2) of Khulna District and Asasuni Upazila (717/ km2) of Satkhira District. Population growth rate varies among the Districts and Upazila. Some Upazilas have negative growth rate due to migration related to climate change and rapid urbanization. The national average family size is 4.4, this size is not significantly varying among the Districts and Upazila with the highest (4.6) in Patuakhali Sadar and the lowest 4.1 in Paikgacha, Kalapara and Satkhira Sadar.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.1: Demographic features of Khulna District and its Upazilas
! rowspan="2" |Demographic features (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Khulna District
! colspan="4" |Upazilas under Khulna District within BGP areas
|-
!Batiaghata
!Dumuria
!Paikgacha
!Phultala
|-
!Area (sq. km)
|4,394
|248
|454
|411
|57
|-
!Population
|2,318,527
|171,691
|305,675
|247,983
|83,881
|-
!Density per sq. km.
|528
|691
|673
|603
|1,416
|-
!Annual population growth rate (%)
|(-)0.25
|1.99
|0.87
|(-)0.1*
|0.85
|-
!Households (no)
|547,347
|40,779
|71,909
|59,873
|19,555
|-
!Average HH size (no)
|4.2
|4.2
|4.2
|4.1
|4.3
|-
| colspan="6" |*Negative growth rate of population due to migration of population to other places
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.2: Demographic features of Patuakhali District and its Upazilas
! rowspan="2" |Demographic features (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Patuakhali District
! colspan="5" |Patuakhali District and Upazilas within BGP areas
!Barguna
|-
!Bauphal
!Dashmina
!Galchipa
!Kalapara
!Patuakhali Sadar
!Amtali
|-
!Area (sq. km)
|3,221
|487
|352
|1,268
|492
|362
|721
|-
!Population
|1,535,854
|304,284
|123,388
|361,518
|237,831
|316,462
|270,802
|-
!Density per sq. km.
|477
|625
|351
|285
|484
|873
|720.8
|-
!Annual population growth rate (%)
|0.49
|(-)0.02
|0.52
|1.05
|1.62
|(-)0.19
|0.41
|-
!Households (no)
|346,462
|67,833
|28,490
|80,054
|57,525
|68,813
|63,212
|-
!Average HH size (persons)
|4.4
|4.5
|4.3
|4.5
|4.1
|4.6
|4.3
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.3: Demographic features of Satkhira District and its Upazilas
! rowspan="2" |Demographic features (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Satkhira District
! colspan="2" |Upazilas under Satkhira District within BGP areas
|-
!Assasuni
!Satkhira Sadar
|-
!Area (sq. km)
|3,817
|374
|398
|-
!Population
|1,985,959
|268,754
|460,892
|-
!Density per sq. km.
|520
|717
|1,156
|-
!Households (no)
|469,890
|62,037
|109,105
|-
!Average HH size (no)
|4.2
|4.3
|4.1
|-
!Population growth rate (annual) (%)
|0.62
|0.74
|1.15
|}

Table 3.4 below provides information for each polder including:

* Previous project interventions: IPSWAM, KJDRP or WMIP
* Location by District, BWBD Division and Upazila
* Gross and cultivable area (ha)
* Numbers of households per polder and per WMG. with estimates of the population based on the average household size provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS)
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Table 3.4<ref group="Notes">Average household size in Khulna & Satkhira is 4.22 and in Patuakhali is 4.41 (based on Population Census 2011).</ref> Information on Blue Gold Polders
! colspan="1" |Sl. No.
! colspan="1" |Polder
!
! colspan="1" |Previous History
! colspan="1" |District
! colspan="1" |BWDB Division
! colspan="1" |Upazila
! colspan="1" |Gross

Area (hectare)
! colspan="1" |CultivableArea (hectare)
! colspan="1" |No. of households of local stakeholders
! colspan="1" |No. of households

enrolled in WMGs
! colspan="1" |People per Polder
! colspan="1" |Members enrolled in WMGs
! colspan="1" |No. of WMAs
! colspan="1" |No. of WMGs
! colspan="1" |HHs per WMG
! colspan="1" |HHs per WMA
! colspan="1" |People per WMG
! colspan="1" |People per WMA
|-
! colspan="17" rowspan="1" |Khulna
|4.22
|
|-
|1
|22
|
|IPSWAM
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Paikgachha
|1,630
|1,417
|2,145
|1,684
|9,052
|2,132
|1
|12
|179
|2,145
|754
|9,052
|-
|2
|26
|
|none
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria
|2,696
|2,100
|3,962
|3,051
|16,720
|5,072
|1
|15
|264
|3,962
|1,115
|16,720
|-
|3
|29
|
|IPSWAM
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria, Batiaghata
|8,218
|6,570
|12,232
|7,476
|51,619
|7,896
|2
|56
|218
|6,116
|922
|25,810
|-
|4
|30
|
|IPSWAM
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Batiaghata
|6,396
|4,048
|8,187
|4,875
|34,549
|5,385
|1
|40
|205
|8,187
|864
|34,549
|-
|5
|31 Part
|
|none
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Batiaghata
|4,848
|4,048
|4,196
|3,224
|17,707
|4,584
|1
|12
|350
|4,196
|1,476
|17,707
|-
|6
|25
|
|KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria, Fultala
|17,400
|14,379
|30,323
|17,759
|127,963
|18,292
|2
|61
|497
|15,162
|2,098
|63,982
|-
|7
|27/1
|
|KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria
|3,765
|3,000
|5,292
|3,102
|22,332
|3,221
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |1
|15
|353
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |7,181
|1,489
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |30,304
|-
|8
|27/2
|
|KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria
|495
|400
|1,889
|1,142
|7,972
|1,236
|6
|315
|1,329
|-
|9
|28/1
|
|KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria, Batiaghata
|5,600
|4,500
|2,393
|1,419
|10,098
|1,431
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |1
|12
|199
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |5,382
|842
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |22,712
|-
|10
|28/2
|
|KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Batiaghata
|2,590
|2,000
|2,989
|1,766
|12,614
|1,817
|12
|249
|1,051
|-
|11
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" |34/2 part
|none
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Batiaghata
|4,900
|4,030
|9,617
|6,334
|40,584
|7,724
|1
|20
|481
|9,617
|2,029
|40,584
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
!Sub-Total: Khulna
|'''58,538'''
|'''46,492'''
|'''83,225'''
|'''51,832'''
|'''351,210'''
|'''58,790'''
|'''11'''
|'''261'''
|'''319'''
|'''7,566'''
|'''1,346'''
|'''31,928'''
|-
! colspan="17" |Patuakhali
|4.41
|4.12
|-
|12
|43/1A
|
|IPSWAM
|Barguna
|Barguna O&M
|Amtali
|2,675
|2,200
|5,129
|3,571
|21,131
|3,936
|2
|14
|366
|2,565
|1,616
|11,309
|-
|13
|43/2A
|
|IPSWAM
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar, Amtali
|5,182
|3,887
|8,434
|5,700
|37,194
|7,465
|2
|22
|383
|4,217
|1,691
|18,597
|-
|14
|43/2B
|
|IPSWAM
|Barguna & Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Galachipa, Patuakhali Sadar, Amtali
|5,460
|4,000
|8,885
|5,817
|39,183
|7,210
|3
|28
|317
|2,962
|1,399
|13,061
|-
|15
|43/2D
|
|IPSWAM
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar, Galachipa
|6,500
|4,875
|9,988
|6,472
|44,047
|7,364
|5
|28
|357
|1,998
|1,573
|8,809
|-
|16
|43/2E
|
|IPSWAM
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar
|1,650
|1,300
|2,317
|1,761
|10,218
|1,962
|2
|12
|193
|1,159
|851
|5,109
|-
|17
|43/2F
|
|IPSWAM
|Barguna
|Barguna O&M
|Amtali
|4,453
|3,500
|6,639
|4,602
|27,353
|6,459
|3
|27
|246
|2,213
|1,084
|9,759
|-
|18
|55/2A
|
|WMIP
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar, Bauphal, Dashmina, Galachipa
|7,166
|5,000
|13,966
|7,838
|61,590
|7,838
|1
|14
|998
|13,966
|4,399
|61,590
|-
|19
|55/2C
|
|none
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Dashmina, Galachipa
|6,275
|5,020
|10,173
|6,468
|44,863
|7,600
|2
|16
|636
|5,087
|2,804
|22,431
|-
|20
|47/3
|
|none
|Patuakhali
|Kalapara
|Kalapara
|2,025
|1,660
|2,313
|1,668
|10,200
|2,326
|1
|7
|330
|2,313
|1,457
|10,200
|-
|21
|47/4
|
|none
|Patuakhali
|Kalapara
|Kalapara
|6,600
|5,600
|7,453
|5,105
|32,868
|6,847
|1
|18
|414
|7,453
|1,826
|32,868
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
!Sub-Total: Patuakhali
|'''47,986'''
|'''37,042'''
|'''75,297'''
|'''49,002'''
|'''328,647'''
|'''59,007'''
|'''22'''
|'''186'''
|'''405'''
|'''3,423'''
|'''1,767'''
|'''14,939'''
|-
! colspan="17" rowspan="1" |Satkhira
|4.22
|
|-
| colspan="1" rowspan="3" |22
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |2 and 2 ext*
|2
|none
|Satkhira
|Satkhira O&M-2
|Satkhira Sadar and Assasuni
|11,290
|10,122
|25,077
|
|105,825
|
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |3
|58
|432
| colspan="1" rowspan="2" |9,272
|1,825
|39,129
|-
|2 Extension
|none
|Satkhira
|Satkhira O&M-2
|satkhira Sadar
|1,310
|1,174
|2,740
|
|11,563
|
|6
|457
|1,927
| -
|-
|
|
|
|
|
!Sub-Total: Satkhira
|'''12,600'''
|'''11,296'''
|'''27,817'''
|'''17,761'''
|'''117,388'''
|'''19,122'''
|'''3'''
|'''64'''
|'''435'''
|'''9,272'''
|'''1834'''
|'''39,129'''
|-
! colspan="7" rowspan="1" |Total
!119,124
!94,830
!186,339
!118,595
!797,244
!136,919
!36
!511
!365
!5,176
!1,560
!22,146
|}
The table below (Table 3.5) presents averages for the polders, WMAs and WMGs whose details are provided in Table 3.1. Whilst averages are a useful indicator, it is also helpful to appreciate the ranges between upper and lower limits of the data set -which are provided in the table in brackets beneath the average figure.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.5: Average areas and numbers of households and populations per polder, per WMA and per WMG
!
!Area (ha)
!No HHs
!Population
!No. of WMAs
!No. of WMGs
|-
!Average polder (22 no.)
|5,415

(range 1,630 to 17,400)
|8,470

(2,145 to 30,323)
|36,238

(9,052 to 127,963)
|1.6
|23
|-
!Average WMA

(36 no.)
|3,309

(1,485 to 8,700)
|5,176

(1,159 to 15,162)
|22,146

(9,052 to 63,982)
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>
|14
|-
!Average WMG

(511 no.)
|233

(83 to 512)
|365

(179 to 998)
|1,560

(754 to 4,399)
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>
|<nowiki>--</nowiki>
|}
BWDB’s preference was to have one WMA per polder, and therefore one O&M Agreement per polder between the WMA and BWDB’s Executive Engineer - except for the very large polders (such as P25 and P29). For historical reasons, more WMAs per polder were formed in Patuakhali at an early stage in the project, and despite attempts by BWDB in 2019/20 to consolidate these WMAs, this is still the case (22 WMAs for 10 polders). This in contrast with Khulna where each polder has only one WMA (11 WMAs for 11 polders – admittedly through the merger of P27/1 and P27/2 and P28/1 with P28/2).

The potential influence of WMAs and WMGs to act collectively in Union or Upazila elections, or in the purchase of agricultural inputs or sale of agricultural products is evident from the table: a WMA represents nearly 5,200 households and a WMG represents 365 households.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.6: Polder level demographic features from baseline data 2017
!Polder
!Average HH size
!Average male members
!Average female members
!Children (up to 12 yrs)
!Female headed HH (HH %)
|-
!25
|4.6
|2.4
|2.2
|0.9
|2.1
|-
!31 Part
|4.4
|2.2
|2.2
|1.1
|6.5
|-
!28/1
|4.4
|2.2
|2.2
|0.7
|2.9
|-
!34/2 part
|4.7
|2.4
|2.2
|1.1
|4.9
|-
!55/2A
|5.1
|2.6
|2.5
|1.1
|4.7
|-
!47/4
|4.6
|2.4
|2.3
|1.1
|3.8
|-
!2 & 2 Ext.
|4.3
|2.2
|2.1
|0.8
|3.3
|-
!Khulna zone
|4.6
|2.4
|2.2
|0.9
|3.5
|-
!Patuakhali zone
|4.3
|2.2
|2.1
|0.8
|3.3
|-
!Satkhira zone
|4.9
|2.5
|2.4
|1.1
|4.3
|-
!Total (N=3,651)
|4.6
|2.4
|2.2
|0.9
|3.6
|}
2017 Baseline data shows that average family size is higher in Khulna and Patuakhali zone compared to the national average. This data also reveals that there is a significant difference in the average size of household among the different types of holding households. The average number of male and female members within the households is very similar while all the polders have a slightly higher average number of male members. The average number of children is around 1. The data shows as well-being improve from the landless to the large farmer, household sizes become significantly larger from 4 to 6. Overall, 3.6% households are headed by the female with highest in Patuakhali 4.3. Female-headed households are more prevalent (6.6%) in the landless household category while none of the large farm households is the female headed household. Female headed households are one example of relatively poorer households (they are over-represented in LCS groups). However, the incidence of households with a male head who is unable to work (due to disability, chronic illness, etc) or migrated to other places for work seems quite substantial. Informal interviews find that husbands of many women of the poor group in the rural areas work and reside outside their villages at least for a certain period within a year.

=== Educational status ===
BBS 2011 shows that more than 50% population are literate. However, females are significantly behind than their counterpart in three Districts and in all the Upazila. Although country has achieved positive improvement in education but still illiteracy is the one of the main problems of coastal areas as well as the country. School attendance among 7-24 years people is highest in Khulna District with 58% people. So, around 40% school going age people are not enrolled in school. Female are also less enrolled than male in these age group. To reduce the gender gap in education, some initiatives has been taken by the government and various NGO’s but still a long way to go.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.7: Educational status in Khulna
! rowspan="2" |Educational status (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Khulna District
! colspan="4" |Upazilas under Khulna District within BGP areas
|-
!Batiaghata
!Dumuria
!Paikgacha
!Phultala
|-
! colspan="2" |Literacy Rate (7 years & above) (%)
!
!
!
!
|-
!Both sex
|60.1
|54.9
|52.6
|52.8
|58.0
|-
!Male
|64.3
|59.0
|57.4
|58.6
|62.8
|-
!Female
|55.9
|50.7
|47.7
|47.1
|55.3
|-
! colspan="6" |School attendance (5 to 24 years)(%)
|-
!Both sex
|58.1
|54.2
|58.1
|55.3
|48.3
|-
!Male
|61.4
|58.3
|62.9
|59.0
|50.6
|-
!Female
|54.8
|50.1
|53.4
|51.8
|45.8
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.8: Educational status in Patuakhali
! rowspan="2" |Educational status (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Patuakhali District
! colspan="5" |Patuakhali District and Upazilas within BGP areas
!Barguna
|-
!Bauphal
!Dashmina
!Galachipa
!Kalapara
!Patuakhali Sadar
!Amtali
|-
! colspan="8" |Literacy Rate (7 years & above) (%)
|-
!Both Sex
|54.1
|57.1
|48.7
|45.4
|52.0
|59.5
|45,9
|-
!Male
|56.2
|59.5
|52.6
|47.2
|52.6
|62.7
|54.9
|-
!Female
|52.0
|55.1
|45.1
|43.7
|51.5
|56.5
|50.8
|-
! colspan="8" |School attendance (5 to 24 years) (%)
|-
!Both Sex
|56.8
|60.1
|54.0
|50.6
|51.7
|60.0
|39.3
|-
!Male
|59.8
|63.5
|57.8
|52.7
|53.5
|64.9
|42.4
|-
!Female
|53.8
|57.0
|50.3
|48.5
|49.8
|56.1
|36.2
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.9: Educational status in Satkhira
! rowspan="2" |Educational status (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Satkhira District
! colspan="2" |Upazilas under Satkhira District within BGP areas
|-
!Assasuni
!Satkhira Sadar
|-
! colspan="4" |Literacy Rate (7 years & above)
|-
!Both sex
|52.1
|49.8
|56.5
|-
!Male
|56.1
|54.9
|59.8
|-
!Female
|48.2
|44.8
|53.2
|-
! colspan="4" |School attendance (5 to 24 years) (%)
|-
!Both sex
|56.1
|56.3
|56.5
|-
!Male
|59.6
|59.8
|60.0
|-
!Female
|52.8
|53.0
|53.0
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.10: Level (%) of education of HH head the school enrolment in different polders
! rowspan="2" |Level of education (Baseline 2017)
! colspan="8" |Polder
|-
!25
!31 Part
!28/1
!34/2 part
!55/2A
!47/4
!2 &2 ext.
!Total
|-
!Illiterate
|8.9
|12.4
|10.5
|10.5
|7.9
|5.7
|11.6
|9.2
|-
!Can sign only
|21.5
|32.5
|25.0
|25.0
|24.0
|28.3
|26.7
|25.1
|-
!Primary
|25.8
|24.3
|27.9
|27.9
|33.7
|34.6
|26.7
|28.1
|-
!Secondary
|24.6
|21.3
|21.2
|21.2
|21.0
|18.4
|20.7
|21.5
|-
!SSC
|7.9
|4.7
|5.4
|5.4
|6.6
|4.9
|5.5
|6.5
|-
!HSC
|4.4
|2.4
|4.9
|4.9
|3.6
|3.2
|3.0
|3.9
|-
!Graduate and above
|4.2
|2.4
|3.1
|3.1
|2.7
|3.2
|3.3
|3.7
|-
!Others
|2.7
|0.0
|2.0
|2.0
|0.5
|1.7
|2.5
|2.0
|-
!Total
|100
|100
|100
|100
|100
|100
|100
|100
|-
!School enrollment (6-12yrs)
|97.4
|90.8
|92.6
|92.6
|94.0
|90.2
|95.6
|93.8
|}
The educational status of the household heads in polder level shows that there is considerable variation in the level of education of the HH heads across the polders. In the polder areas, the rate of no schooling (Illiterate and can sign only) of the household heads is highest in the polder 31 Part. Overall, 9.2% are illiterate and 28% of the household heads completed primary level education. In total 21.5% household heads have a secondary level education while only 6.5% completed SSC level. However, proportions of the household heads having completion of HSC or graduate and above level are quite low (3.9% and 3.7% respectively). Across polders, the proportion of school-age children who do not go to school is lowest in polder 25 (2.6 %) that is the closest polder near to Khulna city and highest in polder 47/4 (9.8 %) in Patuakhali. Overall, a considerable percentage of the school enrolment of children is visible across the zone and all types of households. The trend does not vary significantly among different types of households. The percentage of sending children to school increases rapidly due to the initiatives of government and NGOs.

=== Household structure and other facilities ===
BBS 2011 shows that around 58% household structure are kutcha or jhupri in Khulna and Satkhira while it is significantly high (around 92%) in Patuakhali. household structure significantly varies within the Upazilas. Though a considerable household have access to safe drinking water, still around 15% households in Khulna and Satkhira do not have access to safe drinking water. This problem in Khulna and Satkhira is mainly related to the problem of high salinity level and arsenic contamination in ground water. Around 22% and 29% households in Khulna and Patuakhali do not have access to sanitary latrine. It is significantly high in Satkhira with around 42% households. A significant percentage of households in Khulna (64.3%) has access to electricity while it is less than half (31%) in Patuakhali and 41% in Satkhira.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.11: Household structure and other HH facilitates of Khulna
! rowspan="2" |Household structure and other facilities (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Khulna District
! colspan="4" |Upazilas under Khulna District within BGP areas
|-
!Batiaghata
!Dumuria
!Paikgacha
!Phultala
|-
! colspan="6" |HH Structure (% of HH)
|-
!pucca house
|18.3
|6.2
|11.1
|12.4
|17.9
|-
!semi-pucca house
|23.0
|11.9
|20.0
|18.1
|42.9
|-
!kutcha house
|56.6
|79.3
|67.6
|68.5
|37.4
|-
!Jhupri
|2
|2.6
|1.3
|1.0
|1.8
|-
!Source of drinking water (tube-well & tab) (% of HH)
|85.7
|96.5
|100.0
|64.0
|98.3
|-
! colspan="6" |Sanitation (% of HH)
|-
!Sanitary latrine
|78.0
|87.4
|81.8
|57.6
|78.9
|-
!Non-sanitary latrine
|18.4
|9.7
|13.6
|37.7
|19.9
|-
!no toilet facilities
|3.6
|2.9
|4.6
|4.7
|1.2
|-
!Access to electricity (% of HH)
|64.1
|39.9
|69.8
|43.1
|82.4%
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.12: Household structure and other HH facilitates of Patuakhali
! rowspan="2" |HH structure & other facilities (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Patuakhali District
! colspan="5" |Patuakhali District and Upazilas within BGP areas
|Barguna
|-
!Bauphal
!Dashmina
!Galachipa
!Kalapara
!Patuakhali Sadar
|Amtali
|-
! colspan="8" |HH Structure (% of HH)
|-
!pucca house
|2.6
|2.2
|1.1
|1.1
|1.6
|5.5
|1.2
|-
!semi-pucca house
|5.7
|5.7
|2.8
|3.7
|3.3
|9.3
|4
|-
!kutcha house
|86.6
|91.3
|93.7
|83.6
|85.2
|83.9
|87.4
|-
!jhupri
|5
|0.8
|2.4
|11.6
|9.9
|1.3
|7.4
|-
! colspan="8" |Source of drinking water (tube-well & tab)
|-
!(% of HH)
|97.4
|97.5
|94.2
|97.3
|99.0
|98.1
|98.1
|-
! colspan="8" |Sanitation (HH %)
|-
!Sanitary latrine
|71.4
|70
|76.1
|62.4
|70.9
|76.7
|66.9
|-
!Non-sanitary latrine
|25.3
|36.2
|21.2
|29.9
|24.9
|21.9
|28.7
|-
!no toilet facilities
|3.4
|1.5
|2.7
|7.7
|4.2
|1.4
|4.4
|-
!Access to electricity (HH %)
|31.8
|36.2
|14.1
|22.9
|31.6
|40.4
|21.6
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.13: Household structure and other HH facilitates of Satkhira
! rowspan="2" |Household structure and other facilities (BBS 2011)
! rowspan="2" |Satkhira District
! colspan="2" |Upazilas under Satkhira District within BGP areas
|-
!Assasuni
!Satkhira Sadar
|-
! colspan="4" |HH Structure (% of HH)
|-
!pucca house
|14.3
|11.1
|18.0
|-
!semi-pucca house
|28.5
|14.3
|42.1
|-
!kutcha house
|55.8
|73.9
|38.3
|-
!jhupri
|1.4
|0.7
|1.7
|-
!Source of drinking water (tube-well & tab) (%of HH)
|85.0
|72.8
|94.4
|-
! colspan="4" |Sanitation (% of HH)
|-
!Sanitary latrine
|58.9
|64.1
|54.5
|-
!Non-sanitary latrine
|38.1
|32.4
|41.8
|-
!no toilet facilities
|3.7
|3.4
|3.7
|-
!Access to electricity (% of HH)
|41.8
|30.7
|58.3
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.14: Level (%) of households reporting the numbers of room and the materials of roof and wall
! rowspan="2" |Household structure (Baseline 2017)
! colspan="8" |Polder
|-
!25
!31 Part
!28/1
!34/2 part
!55/2A
!47/4
!2 &2 ext.
!Total
|-
! colspan="9" |Number of rooms
|-
!One room
|86.9
|90.5
|91.3
|88.4
|97.7
|96.8
|94.6
|92.6
|-
!Two rooms
|13.1
|9.5
|8.3
|10.9
|2.3
|3.0
|4.8
|7.1
|-
!Three or more rooms
|0.0
|0.0
|0.4
|0.7
|0.0
|0.2
|0.6
|0.3
|-
! colspan="9" |'''Materials of roof'''
|-
!Tin
|83
|94.7
|78.9
|89.7
|97.7
|96.8
|34.9
|74.9
|-
!Concrete
|13.9
|1.8
|16.9
|6.9
|2.3
|0.8
|14.8
|9.5
|-
!Tiles/hemp/hay/ bamboo/ others
|3.1
|3.6
|4.1
|3.3
|0
|2.3
|50.3
|15.6
|-
| colspan="9" |'''Materials of Wall'''
|-
!Mud brick/CI sheet/ wood
|38.9
|61.5
|59.1
|55.6
|92.7
|95.6
|31.9
|57
|-
!Concrete
|55.2
|16
|33.1
|16.7
|6.6
|1.9
|59.6
|34.1
|-
!Hemp/hay/bamboo/ others
|5.8
|22.5
|7.9
|27.7
|0.7
|2.5
|8.5
|8.9
|}
Polder level data shows that most of the rural households (92.6%) in coastal zones live in the houses that have only one-bedroom. The percentages of one-bedroom households are significantly higher in the polder 55/2A and 47/4 with around 97% in Patuakhali District. On the other hand, the prevalence of two-bedrooms houses is observed in the polders of Khulna District, the percentage is highest in the polder 25 (13.1%) followed by the polder 34/2 Part (10.9%), polder 31 Part (9.5%) and the polder 28/1 (8.3%).

Data also shows that the majority of the households (74.9%) in the polders live in dwelling units roofed with tin with proportions ranging from 34.9% in the polder 2 and 2 Ext. to 97.7% in the polder 55/2A. About 10% of households live in houses that are roofed concrete while around 16% households living in houses roofed with tiles/ hemp/hay/bamboo/others. Data indicates that more than half of the households (57%) live in dwelling units whose outer walls are mainly constructed with either mud brick or CI sheet or wood while around one-third of the households (34.1%) occupy dwelling units with outer walls made of concrete that are considered as pucca house. Overall, 8.9% households having outer wall is made of hemp/hay/bamboo/others, however, this wall material is significantly high in polder 34/2 Part (27.7%) and the polder 31 Part (22.5%).
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.15: Level (%) of households having access to safe water and sanitation in different polders
!Other facilities (Baseline 2017)
!Access to safe drinking water
!Access to hygienic latrine
!Wash hand with soap before meal
|-
!25
|99.1
|97.2
|27.4
|-
!31 Part
|89.3
|98.2
|43.2
|-
!28/1
|97.5
|98.3
|51.7
|-
!34/2 part
|98.9
|97.8
|42.9
|-
!55/2A
|98.9
|98.2
|38.4
|-
!47/4
|96.6
|97.3
|56.5
|-
!2 & 2 Ext.
|61.0
|95.7
|22.2
|-
!Khulna zone
|97.8
|97.6
|37
|-
!Patuakhali zone
|97.8
|97.8
|46.7
|-
!Satkhira zone
|61
|95.7
|22.2
|-
!Total (N=3651)
|87.7
|97.2
|35.7
|}
Polder level data is related to hygiene and health of the people shows that about 88% of households have access to safe drinking water. Polder 25 has the highest proportion of households (99.1%) have access to safe drinking water while the polder 2 and 2Ext. has the least (61%). Data shows that only around one-third households in the polders have the practice of washing hand with soap before a meal. Approximately 97% households have access to some kind of hygienic toilet facilities. Data from zonal level shows that around 98% households of Patuakhali and Khulna zone have access to safe drinking water and hygienic latrine while having access to safe drinking water is significantly lower in Satkhira zone due to the widespread prevalence of arsenic in the groundwater in this region. Moreover, only 22% of households of Satkhira zone have the habit of washing hand before a meal while the percentage is more than double in Patuakhali zone but still more than half of the households do not have this habit.

=== Poverty prevalence in coastal areas ===
Using the upper poverty line as calculated in the Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES, 2010), the nationwide incidence of poverty is estimated at 35.2 percent in rural areas and 21.3 percent in urban areas. Using the lower poverty line, below which people are considered extreme poor, the incidence of poverty is estimated at 21.1 and 7.7 percent in respectively the rural and urban areas. Overall, a large majority can be said to be vulnerable and be determined as poor. HIES 2010 shows that around 39% households are poor in Khulna while it is more than 46% in Satkhira. Though poverty prevalence is lower (25.8%) in Patuakhali compared to these two Districts, it is still higher than national average 17.6%. Between these lines are the moderate poor. In the Sadar Upazila of Patuakhali, 36.6% households are identified as poor. Most of the cases poverty prevalence is more in the Upazilas levels as well as polders under these Upazilas of BGP areas.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.16: Poverty prevalence in Khulna District and its Upazila (HIES, 2010)
!District and poverty rank
!Polders in these Upazila
!% extreme poor (lower poverty line)
!% poor (upper poverty line)
|-
!Khulna (46/64)
|
|21.2
|38.8
|-
! colspan="4" |Upazila
|-
!Batiaghata
|29,30, 31part, 28/1, 28/2, 34/2 part
|22.7
|40.5
|-
!Paikgacha
|22
|23.3
|42.2
|-
!Dumuria
|29, 26, 25, 27/1, 27/2
|19.6
|37.2
|-
!Fultala
|25
|17.0
|33.7
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.17: Poverty prevalence in Satkhira District and its Upazila (HIES, 2010)
!District and poverty rank
!Polders in these Upazila
!% extreme poor (lower poverty line)
!% poor (upper poverty line)
|-
!Satkhira 56/64
|
|29.7
|46.3
|-
! colspan="4" |Upazila
|-
!Satkhira Sadar
|2 ext.
|26
|43.1
|-
!Assasuni
|2
|32.0
|48.4
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.18: Poverty prevalence in Patuakhali District and its Upazila (HIES, 2010)
!District and poverty rank
!Polders in these Upazila
!% extreme poor (lower poverty line)
!% poor (upper poverty line)
|-
! colspan="2" |Patuakhali (20/64)
|14.7
|25.8
|-
! colspan="2" |Barguna (9/64)
|9.8
|19.0
|-
! colspan="4" |Upazila
|-
!Amtali
|43/1A, 43/2A, 43/2B, 43/2F
|12.0
|22.8
|-
!Patuakhali Sadar
|43/2A, 43/2D, 43/2E, 55/2A,
|23.3
|36.9
|-
!Galachipa
|43/2B, 43/2D, 55/2A, 55/2C
|14.4
|26.0
|-
!Bauphal
|55/2A,
|13.9
|24.0
|-
!Dashmina
|55/2A, 55/2C
|11.3
|21.8
|-
!Kalapara
|47/3, 47/3
|9.7
|20.3
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.19: Percentage of the farmer households based on land owning pattern (Baseline 2017)
!Polder
!Landless

< 5 dec
!Marginal

5- 49 dec
!Small

50- 249 dec
!Medium

250-749 dec
!Large

=>750
!Total
|-
!25
|15.5
|42.9
|32.7
|8.7
|0.1
|100.0
|-
!31 Part
|18.3
|52.1
|21.3
|6.5
|1.8
|100.0
|-
!28/1
|7.0
|38.8
|42.1
|10.3
|1.7
|100.0
|-
!34/2 part
|20.8
|49.6
|21.7
|6.3
|1.8
|100.0
|-
!55/2A
|7.0
|44.4
|40.0
|7.2
|1.4
|100.0
|-
!47/4
|13.9
|42.4
|31.2
|9.9
|2.5
|100.0
|-
!2 & 2 Ext.
|28.7
|43.9
|20.2
|5.7
|1.6
|100.0
|-
!Total (n=3651)
|17.8
|44.3
|28.9
|7.5
|1.4
|100.0
|}
Land is a valuable asset that is thinly shared by the majority of the people in the rural areas of Bangladesh, and the situation of the 22 polders of BGP are not an exception. The 2017 Baseline Survey also reveals that about 18% the total HHs of theses polders do not even have any cultivated land. Some of them are residing on embankment slopes and/or residing in somebody else’s land. The survey further reveals that while 44.3% of the total HHs own some land (less than 50 decimal), only about 29 % of the HHs own 50-249 decimal of land, with only 1.4% as large farm HHs having more than 750 decimals of land.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.20: Land holding pattern (average land size in decimal) of different category of farmer households
! rowspan="2" |Baseline Survey 2017
! colspan="2" |Landless
! colspan="2" |Marginal farmer
! colspan="2" |Small farmer
! colspan="2" |Medium farmer
! colspan="2" |large farmer
! colspan="2" |Total
|-
! rowspan="2" |Homestead
! rowspan="2" |Cultivable
! rowspan="2" |Homestead
! rowspan="2" |Cultivable
! rowspan="2" |Homestead
! rowspan="2" |Cultivable
! rowspan="2" |Homestead
! rowspan="2" |Cultivable
! rowspan="2" |Homestead
! rowspan="2" |Cultivable
! rowspan="2" |Homestead
! rowspan="2" |Cultivable
|-
!Polder
|-
!25
|2.0
|0.0
|9.4
|10.0
|19.1
|96.7
|48.1
|326.1
|100.0
|1,055.0
|14.9
|65.8
|-
!31 Part
|2.3
|0.0
|10.9
|4.6
|31.6
|77.1
|59.1
|377.3
|60.0
|816.7
|17.7
|57.9
|-
!28/1
|2.6
|0.0
|11.9
|5.1
|16.6
|91.0
|40.8
|350.5
|106.3
|768.8
|17.8
|89.3
|-
!34/2 part
|1.8
|0.0
|10.1
|3.6
|25.4
|89.2
|77.0
|333.1
|147.6
|1,065.6
|18.3
|61.0
|-
!55/2A
|2.4
|0.0
|12.4
|7.6
|26.9
|97.2
|62.8
|353.5
|72.5
|786.4
|22.0
|78.8
|-
!47/4
|1.7
|0.0
|18.1
|3.3
|37.7
|82.8
|64.2
|318.4
|133.1
|1,348.1
|29.4
|93.0
|-
!2 & 2 Ext.
|2.1
|0.0
|9.9
|7.7
|24.7
|93.1
|60.8
|366.1
|89.0
|1,061.3
|14.8
|59.8
|-
!Total (n=3651)
|2.0
|0.0
|11.4
|6.7
|25.2
|92.3
|58.4
|342.1
|105.5
|1,049.1
|18.6
|70.3
|}
The above table explains the landholding patterns for homestead and cultivable land among the different categories of farmers in the different study polders. The land distribution is highly skewed among different categories of households but is not significantly varied among the polders. There are significant differences among the large and other types of households in terms of the average homestead and agricultural land ownership in each polder. Large farmer households have got larger average homestead and cultivable land compared to the different classes of households. The average of homestead land of all the polders rated 2.0 decimal for landless households. It is noteworthy that households of this category have no cultivable land of their own. For the marginal farmer the average homestead land is more than five times compared to the landless. The average homestead land for small farmer households is 25.2 decimal while it is more than double for medium farmer households and four times more for the large farmer households compared to the small farmer households. In term of cultivable land, the differences are more significant, the average cultivable land for small farm household is around 92 decimals whereas the medium farmer households own three times more and the large farmer households possess more than 10 times compared to them.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.21: The HIES and BGP baselines survey 2017 relate landownership to respectively poverty incidence and sources of income
!
!Land size dec.
!% HHs

<nowiki>**</nowiki>
!Upper

<nowiki>***</nowiki>
!Lower

<nowiki>***</nowiki>
!Non-agric income
!Crop income
!Livestock & fisheries
!Lease-out land income
!Agric labour
|-
!Landless
|< 5
|17.8
|53.1
|35.9
|62.2
|7.5
|15.9
|0.22
|14.1
|-
!Marginal
|5 - 49
|44.3
|38.8
|22.1
|58.3
|11.4
|20
|0.6
|9.7
|-
!Small
|50 - 249
|28.9
|21.7
|11.9
|48.2
|18.8
|26.7
|2.96
|3.4
|-
!Medium
|250 - 749
|7.5
|11.6
|4.3
|39.5
|19.1
|31.2
|9.89
|0.2
|-
!Large
|=> 750
|1.4
|7.1
|4.2
|28.3
|24.7
|26.7
|20.3
|0
|-
!Total
!
!100
!35.2
!21.1
!51.9
!14.9
!23.4
!3.26
!6.6
|-
! colspan="10" |** Data from Baseline Survey Analysis Phase II
<nowiki>***</nowiki> from HIES 2010

<nowiki>****</nowiki> latter four columns from Baseline Survey Analysis Phase II
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Table 3.22: Annual household income (BDT) from agricultural and non-agricultural sector
!Baseline 2017
!Landless
!Marginal
!Small
!Medium
!Large
!Average
|-
!Agricultural Sector (BDT)
|40,924
|58,436
|91,653
|169,370
|312,516
|76,865
|-
!Agri. Sector (% of income)
|37.8
|41.7
|51.8
|60.5
|71.7
|48.1
|-
!Non-Agri. (BDT)
|67,480
|81,776
|85,237
|110,505
|123,192
|82,974
|-
!Non- agri. sector (% of income)
|62.2
|58.3
|48.2
|39.5
|28.3
|51.9
|-
!Total income
|108,404
|140,212
|176,890
|279,875
|435,708
|159,839
|-
!$/Capita/day
|0.77
|1.00
|1.27
|2.01
|3.12
|1.15
|-
|
|< 5 dec
|< 50
|< 250
|< 750
|>750
|
|-
|
|17.8%
|44.3%
|28.9%
|7.5%
|1.4%
|
|}
Above two tables show an important deduction is that while there is a strong negative correlation between land ownership and incidence of poverty<ref group="Notes">That is, as land size increases, the incidence of poverty decreases.</ref> (62% households (landless and marginal) live below or just 1 $/capita/day while another 29% small farmer households having just $1.27/capita/day), not all landless are poor (in fact some 50% are) and that there are also a substantial number of poor with higher landownership<ref group="Notes">Not all land is of similar value either, e.g. depending on the cropping intensity.</ref>. The HIES notes that the poverty incidence amongst some landless households is lower than other landless households mainly due to their involvement in non-agricultural activities which provides them with income enough to escape poverty through engaging in various non-farm economic activities<ref group="Notes">Owning land can also keep the HH away of selling their labour elsewhere, resulting in underemployment. This is corroborated for example by LCS experience where there is also a definite interest by Landless II.</ref> (HIES,2010). The respective sources of income contributions to overall HH income, show some clear correlations but above all they provide a glimpse of how mixed the livelihood strategies are in the polders as a large majority is poor. These indications of poverty incidence and sources of income are of importance to BGP twin strategy (see Chapter 21 and Chapter 25) and for the selection of participants where this applies in Blue Gold approaches.
----

=== Defining targets – satisfying a realistic outreach of HH for TA FFS ===
In summary, HIES national statistics for rural areas put poverty at 35%, while the poverty map puts it for the coastal zones at 44% and above, BBS 2011 also indicates that around 60% people are illiterate, more that 65% people live in ''kacha'' or ''jhupri'' house, and likely to be within the poverty situation. On the other hand, polder level data shows that about 63% household head are either illiterate or having only primary education and around 93% people live in a one-bedroom house that shows it might be as high as this percentage. Those poor are spread over all land ownership categories with some 50% poor amongst landless and with the categories above still having poverty incidence varying from more than 25% to nearly 10%.
----With respect to BGP twin strategy, BGP focuses on the following issue.

# Some 50% of the households are not considered landless and are definitely involved in cropping. Not all necessarily personally or throughout the whole year, as they lease there land out or allow share cropping. A substantial %<ref group="Notes">This baseline survey refers to 8% of income from cropping sources. Subsistence production might bias this figure though.</ref> of the landless in this way join ranks with the landowners to benefit from Blue Gold’s water resource management and production system shift programme<ref group="Notes">This includes DAE FFS, CII, CAWM and other water management focused WMO facilitation.</ref>. Amongst both these landless and landowner participants there are a substantial number of poor. As water resource management is geographically determined, the question to identify and select these poor households does not pose itself. All participants do benefit from the commercialisation programme and it is our experience that, especially the poorer households, are participating in the collective actions.
# The second Blue Gold strategy, the TA FFS programme, along with the LCS approach, is aimed at the 50% landless in the polders. To optimise impact of this programme, there is specific attention needed to identify and select the appropriate participants. A few points can be made.
#* Not all landless are poor (in fact 50% are) and other criteria than landownership have to be considered.
#* Amongst the landless there are households who provide their labour to the agricultural sector in the polder or on a migrant basis, for shorter or longer duration, to sectors beyond the polder<ref group="Notes">Not necessarily all stepping out as some finance their leasing of land by remittances.</ref>. Agricultural labour offers 14% of income amongst the landless.
#* Amongst the landless there are those who are leasing or sharecropping land and probably are benefitting from the WRM/commercialisation programme, be it limited to where infra rehabilitation allows.<ref group="Notes">BGP does not have reliable data on this but at presently estimate it at 5 to 10%. Some of this could be seasonal.</ref>
#* Participating in the FFS modules demand a minimum of specific assets and for most, those with no land at all, are probably not able to benefit from TA FFS.
#* As indicated, there are households at the lower end of the landownership which are already gaining substantial income from other sources (transport, non-agricultural labour, rural services, business, etc).
#* The UP has lists of needy households which they support in a safety net programme. These should be of guidance.

With respect to a target number of households to be reached in the TA FFS program we can state the following. With 50% landless in the total population of 200,000 Blue Gold households, there are 100,000 belonging to the landless category of which again 50% are poor, or 50,000 households. Some of these, involved in leasing land under different forms, will benefit most from increasing the productivity of their land and labour assets in the WRM/commercialization program, while a small percentage do lack the minimum asset requirements to gain from TA FFS participation or are already using their, mainly, labour assets to good results elsewhere and/or in non-agricultural sectors. Without further insights in these percentages a target of 30,000 households to be reached by TA FFS can be considered a fair assessment, while keeping in mind that an additional number will be reached by horizontal learning.

==Physical Context==

===Purpose of Polder Infrastructure===
'''Safety'''

One of BWDB’s primary responsibilities in the coastal region is to ensure the integrity of the polder embankment and to thus protect the vulnerable communities who live and work in the polders. Polder communities are provided with safety against tidal floods, storm surges, river erosion and salinity through embankment strengthening, breach closing and erosion protection measures. In combination with the infrastructure improvements, disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities involving local community organisations and the concerned government departments has increased the state of preparedness of polder inhabitants to prospects of embankment breaches and overtopping, and encouraged consideration of pre-emptive actions.

All of those who live and work in the SW face the consequences of erosion damage to polder embankments. And many BWDB professionals have practical experience of the consequences of breaches to polder embankments. But those who are resident in the polders, and whose families and livelihoods are dependent on the exclusion of flood waters from the polder bear the brunt of the consequences when polder embankments fail. There is enormous social and economic impact.

'''Water Management'''

Within the polders, the re-excavation of primary canals and some major secondary canals, and rehabilitation of water management structures (sluices, outlets etc) aims to improve the overall water management and to create scope for in-polder water management (IPWM) and community-led agricultural water management (CAWM). Where infrastructure works are complete, unobstructed flow of water is possible through the cleared main ''khals'', and the rehabilitated sluices/outlets allow improved water regulation. Previously, many areas were either unable to be drained and remained inundated, or suffered water shortages as their main outlets or inlets were obstructed or poorly functioning.

Photo 3.1 shows one of the 186 regulators which was rehabilitated under Blue Gold. Note the agricultural area to the left of the tree-lined embankment which protects the polder area (P31-part) from high river levels, and the scale of the tidal river – the Kazibacha River. The regulator drains water into a tidal river – it is low tide so there is drainage from the polder. The high tide mark is visible.
[[File:Photo 3.1.jpg|none|thumb|863x863px|'''Photo 3.1''' A regulator draining excess water from Polder 31-part into the Kazibacha River]]

===Vulnerability of Polder Infrastructure===
In the harsh environment of the coastal zone, polder infrastructure is subject to many threats and – sea surges, cyclones, rivers in flood, high salinity tidal flows, sedimentation of river channels, intense rain storms, road traffic, human interventions etc.

There have been more than 40 severe cyclones<ref group="Notes">Source Wikipedia (2020)</ref> in the coastal zone of Bangladesh since 1961. Of recent note are the following seven cyclones:

*15 November 2007: '''[[wikipedia:Cyclone_Sidr|Cyclone Sidr]]''' with wind speeds up to 260 km/hour, made landfall in southern Bangladesh, causing over 3,500 deaths and severe damage.
*27–29 May 2009: A severe '''[[wikipedia:Cyclone_Aila|Cyclone Aila]]''' devastated 15 Districts of south-western part of Bangladesh with wind speeds up to 120 km/hour; about 150 deaths, 200,000 houses and crop losses across 120,000 ha of cultivated land.
*29 July 2015: '''[[wikipedia:Cyclone_Komen|Cyclone Komen]]''' with wind speeds up to 75 km/hour, Komen made landfall near Chittagong. About 510,000 houses in the country were damaged or destroyed, and many residents lost their source of income as 270,000 ha of crop fields were damaged. The floods killed 132 people, of which at least 39 were directly related to Komen.
*4 May 2019: '''[[wikipedia:Cyclone_Fani|Cyclone Fani]]''' moved into Bangladesh after making landfall in Odisha, resulting in the death of 17 people in ten Districts of Bangladesh. It destroyed about 63,000 ha of farmland in 35 Districts of the country, causing agricultural losses estimated at US$4.6 million, and a total damage in Bangladesh amounting to US$64 million.
*9 November 2019: '''[[wikipedia:Cyclone_Bulbul|Cyclone Bulbul]]''' made landfall near West Bengal, and crossed into Bangladesh. It caused severe flooding and storm surge in the country, with the loss of approximately 72,000 metric tonne of crops with an estimated total value of US$31 million.
*20 May 2020: '''[[wikipedia:Cyclone_Amphan|Cyclone Amphan]]''' moved into Bangladesh after making landfall in West Bengal.
*26 May 2021: [[wikipedia:Cyclone_Yaas|'''Cyclone Yaas''']] crossed the northern Odisha coast around 20 km south of Balasore on 26 May at its peak intensity as a very severe cyclonic storm. Despite the distance of Patuakhali from the landfall in Odisha, the high winds associated with the cyclone combined with the occurrence of a spring tide resulted in extensive damage to polder embankments along many of the major rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal.

Because of this exposure to natural and man-made threats, polder infrastructure requires significant repair and maintenance investments – to provide emergency repairs as well as periodic maintenance. And the repairs to cyclone damage can take many years – for example, repairs caused by Cyclone Sidr (in 2007) were still ongoing in 2015.

For the 22 Blue Gold polders, Table 3.3 (below) provides a summary of the dates of construction, the dates of investments by earlier projects, as well as the location, the responsible BWDB Division and Upazila administration, and characteristics of the infrastructure (length of embankment, numbers of structures and length of primary drainage channels or khals).
{{NoticeWLTable}}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+Table 3.3 Blue Gold Polders - Key Data
!Sl. No.
!Polder
!
!Date of Construction
!Previous History
!District
!BWDB Division
!Upazila
!Gross
Area (hectare)
!Cultivable
Area (hectare)
!Embankment (km)
!Regulator
(no)
!Flushing
Inlet (no)
!Drainage
Channel (km)
|-
!1
!2
!
!
!3
!4
!
!5
!6
!
!
!
!
!
|-
! colspan="14" |Khulna
|-
|1
|22
|
|1970-72
DDP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Paikgachha
|1,630
|1,417
|19.5
|7
|12
|45.0
|-
|2
|26
|
|1967-68
CEP
|none
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria
|2,696
|2,100
|28.7
|7
| -
|25.0
|-
|3
|29
|
|1966-71
CEP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
1988 DDP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria, Batiaghata
|8,218
|6,570
|49.3
|14
|43
|156.4
|-
|4
|30
|
|1967-72
CEP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Batiaghata
|6,396
|4,048
|40.3
|21
|3
|39.0
|-
|5
|31 Part
|
|1967-72
CEP
|none
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Batiaghata
|4,848
|4,048
|28.0
|14
|2
|17.5
|-
|6
|25
|
|1963-67
CEP
|1993-2002 KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria, Fultala
|17,400
|14,379
|50.5
|13
| -
|60.0
|-
|7
|27/1
|
|1963-65
CEP
|1993-2002 KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria
|3,765
|3,000
|32.4
|8
| -
|30.0
|-
|8
|27/2
|
|1974-76
CEP
|1993-2002 KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria
|495
|400
|15.3
|3
| -
|15.8
|-
|9
|28/1
|
|1965-70
CEP
|1993-2002 KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Dumuria, Batiaghata
|5,600
|4,500
|23.2
|7
|2
|27.0
|-
|10
|28/2
|
|1973-75
CEP
|1993-2002 KJDRP
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-1
|Batiaghata
|2,590
|2,000
|20.1
|8
| -
|31.0
|-
|11
|34/2 part
|
|1998-2005
GoB
|none
|Khulna
|Khulna O&M-2
|Batiaghata
|4,900
|4,030
|37.0
|38
|14
|43.0
|-
| colspan="7" |
|'''Sub-Total: Khulna'''
|'''58,538'''
|'''46,492'''
|'''344.2'''
|'''140'''
|'''76'''
|'''489.6'''
|-
! colspan="14" |Patuakhali
|-
|12
|43/1A
|
|1989-90
EIP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Barguna
|Barguna O&M
|Amtali
|2,675
|2,200
|27.0
|5
|11
|58.5
|-
|13
|43/2A
|
|1985-87
EIP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar, Amtali
|5,182
|3,887
|40.0
|5
|34
|44.3
|-
|14
|43/2B
|
|1989-98
EIP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Barguna & Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Galachipa,Amtali
|5,460
|4,000
|41.5
|6
|42
|39.5
|-
|15
|43/2D
|
|1989-98
EIP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar, Galachipa
|6,500
|4,875
|43.0
|16
|58
|110.4
|-
|16
|43/2E
|
|1989-90
EIP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar
|1,650
|1,300
|20.3
|7
|40
|42.0
|-
|17
|43/2F
|
|1989-94
CEP
|2003-2011 IPSWAM
|Barguna
|Barguna O&M
|Amtali
|4,453
|3,500
|35.3
|17
|38
|32.8
|-
|18
|55/2A
|
|1988-94
EIP
|2008-2015 WMIP
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Patuakhali Sadar, Bauphal, Dashmina, Galachipa
|7,166
|5,000
|41.0
|12
|6
|35.0
|-
|19
|55/2C
|
|1988-90
EIP
|none
|Patuakhali
|Patuakhali O&M
|Dashmina, Galachipa
|6,275
|5,020
|47.5
|7
|29
|37.5
|-
|20
|47/3
|
|1961-64
CEP
|none
|Patuakhali
|Kalapara
|Kalapara
|2,025
|1,660
|20.0
|8
|10
|25.3
|-
|21
|47/4
|
|1961-64
CEP
|none
|Patuakhali
|Kalapara
|Kalapara
|6,600
|5,600
|61.0
|26
|1
|65.0
|-
| colspan="7" |
|'''Sub-Total: Patuakhali'''
|'''47,986'''
|'''37,042'''
|'''376.6'''
|'''109'''
|'''269'''
|'''490.3'''
|-
! colspan="14" |Satkhira
|-
| rowspan="2" |22
| rowspan="2" |2 and 2 ext*
|2
|1963-65
CEP
|none
|Satkhira
|Satkhira O&M-2
|Satkhira Sadar and Assasuni
|11,290
|10,122
| rowspan="2" |63.0
|17
|
| rowspan="2" |65.2
|-
|2 Extension
|1963-65
CEP
|none
|Satkhira
|Satkhira O&M-2
|Satkhira Sadar
|1,310
|1,174
|4
|
|-
| colspan="7" |
|'''Sub-Total: Satkhira'''
|'''12,600'''
|'''11,296'''
|'''63.0'''
|'''21'''
| '''-'''
|'''65.2'''
|-
! colspan="14" |
|-
| colspan="8" |'''Total'''
|'''119,124'''
|'''94,830'''
|'''783.7'''
|'''270'''
|'''345'''
|'''1,045.2'''
|}

The 22 Blue Gold polders were constructed over a nearly 30 year timeframe, with start dates ranging from 1961 to 1989 (with one outlier, P34/2-part in Batiaghata, Khulna where construction started in 1998). Most of the polders in Khulna and Satkhira were constructed between 1963 and 1975, whilst those in Patuakhali date from 1985 to 1998, with two (P47/4 and P47/4) in Kalapara being constructed between 1961 and 1964. They vary in age from 57 years (P47/3 and P47/4 in Kalapara were built from 1961 to 1964) to 16 years (P34/2-part in Khulna, built from 1998 to 2005) with an average age of 42 years (based on the year of completion of construction, up to the year of Blue Gold’s completion, 2021). The average age of the 12 polders in Khulna and Satkhira is 48 years, and for the 10 polders in Patuakhali is 34 years.

An aggregation of these polder characteristics represents the scale of the problem: 784km of embankments, 615 large structures and 1,045km of primary drainage channels. Earthen embankments are subject to daily attack from river erosion and road traffic, and can be readily breached when conditions combine - spring tides, monsoon floodwaters, augmented by wind erosion or cyclonic storms. Structures provided in the embankment to allow drainage (or to admit freshwater for storage for subsequent use for irrigation) can be damaged by seepage or piping, mal-operation of the gates, erosion of the bank or bed around the structure, and made non-functional if gates don’t close off the flow of water, or if sedimentation in the outfall river obstructs water from discharging from the polder.

==Notes==
<references group="Notes" responsive="0" />

==See more==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[2 - Institutional Setting|Chapter 02: Institutional Setting]]|Curr_sect=[[Summary of Section A: Background and context|Section A: Background and context]]|Next_chap=[[04 Policy framework, history of interventions and project definition|Chapter 04: Policy framework, history of interventions and project definition]]}}

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12 Survey, Design and Procurement

2021-12-08T07:36:08Z

Bigblue: /* Climate Change Effects */

This chapter aims to cover survey, design and data collection, and the steps leading to the award of contracts.

==Survey and design data collection==
{{Briefing materials TM|decks=No slide decks for the current chapter.|brochures=*[[:File:Bgp-4-pager-wrm-v1.1.pdf|Improved water distribution and drainage through rehabilitation of water management infrastructure]]|studies=No case studies for the current chapter.|videos=No videos for the current chapter.|manuals=*[[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual picture based-reduced.pdf|Water Management Manual - pictorial version (Bangla)]]|flipchart=No flipcharts for the current chapter.}}
;Survey
:Topographical surveys are required for design purposes for earthworks and new structures. then for measurement purposes at pre-contract and post-contract stages – during which joint measurements are taken, attended by representatives of BWDB, the contractor and the TA team.
:As part of the crash program recommended by the 2016 Annual Review Mission (see [[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt#Analysis of Progress|Chapter 13]]), a budget was allocated so that local firms could be contracted directly by the BWDB Field Executive Engineer to carry out surveys.

;Design Data
:Design data is collected by the BWDB Divisions and sent to the BWDB Design Circles.

== Design ==
Using the survey and design data provided by the BWDB Divisions, designs are prepared by the BWDB Design Circles.

=== Embankment Design Criteria ===
There are three types of full flood protection embankment aimed to prevent entry into the polder of the highest flood flows, and, in coastal areas, to prevent entry of tidal floods and surges, and saline water:

# '''marginal''' dykes along small rivers/canals
# '''interior''' dykes along big rivers
# '''sea dykes''' along sea faces or large rivers close to the sea.

The embankment crest level is designed either: (a) for a 1 in 20 year flood plus a freeboard allowance to protect agricultural assets; or (b) for a 1 in 100 year flood plus a freeboard allowance to protect against loss of human life, property and installations (especially along Jamuna, Padma and Meghna Rivers). The free board depends on the fetch (the normal distance from windward shore to the embankment affected) and wind characteristics. It allows for wave height, wave run-up height and a factor of safety against overtopping. For BWDB embankments in the coastal region, freeboard usually varies from 0.30m to 1.00m depending on the type of embankment.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table 12.1 Embankment Types, Slope and Crest Width'''
!'''Dyke'''
! colspan="2" |'''Slope'''
!'''Crest width'''

(m)
|-
|Marginal
|country side

river side
|1V:2H

1V:2H
|2.44
|-
|interior
|country side

river side
|1V:2H

1V:3H
|4.30
|-
|sea dyke
|country side

river side
|from 1V:2H to 1V:3H

from 1V:5H to 1V:7H
|by calculation
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+'''Table 12.2 Design Crest Levels and Widths for Blue Gold Polders'''<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Standard Design Criteria|publisher=Standard Design Manual Committee, BWDB Chief Engineer (Design)|year=|isbn=|series=Standard Design Manual|volume=Volume 1|location=|publication-date=June 1995|pages=}}</ref>
!'''Polder'''
!'''Type'''
!'''Crest Level'''

(m PWD)
!'''Crest Width'''

(m)
|-
!'''2'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''22'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''25'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''26'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''27/1'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''27/2'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''28/1'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''28/2'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''29'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''30'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''31-part'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''34/2-part'''
|interior
|4.30
|4.30
|-
!'''43/1A'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''43/2A'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''43/2B'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''43/2D'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''43/2E'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''43/2F'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''55/2A'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''55/2C'''
|marginal

interior
|4.30

4.30
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''47/3'''
|marginal

interior
|4.57

4.88
|2.44

4.30
|-
!'''47/4'''
|marginal

interior

sea dyke
|4.57

4.88

6.10
|2.44

4.30

4.30
|}

=== Climate Change Effects ===
Some of the direct effects of climate change on water infrastructure in the coastal zone includes:

* A rise in sea level resulting in drainage congestion and prolonged waterlogging within the polders
* More frequent cyclones and tidal surges damaging water infrastructure, properties and livelihoods as well as endangering polder communities
* Increased siltation in tidal rivers resulting in reduced drainage capacity, that impedes drainage flows from the polders.

To account for climate change effects in design, consideration was given by BWDB to harmonising Blue Gold design criteria - for raised embankment crest levels, and replacing sluices/outlets compatible with the raised embankment crest heights and with increased numbers of vents - with other projects (including WMIP, ECRRP and CEIP).

It was quickly realised that the direct costs of raising embankment crest levels and replacing regulators exceeded the Blue Gold budget allocation by many orders of magnitude<ref group="Notes">Under Blue Gold, the investment in infrastructure totalled BDT 28,686 lakh (equivalent to €28.7 million). Thus, the average level of investment in the infrastructure to each of the 22 polders is around €1.33 million. By comparison, the investment in 17 CEIP polders is USD 286 million (ref CEIP Project Appraisal Document 29th May 2013) an average of USD 16.8 million per polder (equivalent to €15.3 million - or more than ten times the Blue Gold investment in infrastructure per polder - assuming a USD-€ exchange rate of 0.91.</ref>. And this would be compounded by the requirement for significant land acquisition (of a strip of land 4 to 5 times the height increase for marginal and interior bunds, and significantly more for sea dykes) and compensation (eg for the relocation of assets and loss of crops).

During the first years of the project, Blue Gold intended to adopt climate change design levels including a benchmark (BM) correction partly for Polders 26, 31-part and 2. However, due to budget constraints, the 2015 Annual Review Mission recommended that the established design levels (as shown in Table 11.2) should be adopted for the rehabilitation of all Blue Gold polders.

The limited available budget for infrastructure has meant that: (a) the choice of polders for Blue Gold has avoided those requiring high levels of investment; and (b) it has not been possible to achieve embankment crest levels which can meet the 25 year return period maximum surge height (used by CEIP-1), or to upgrade existing structures or construct new structures to suit this higher crest level, or indeed to construct the wider structures (requiring longer culvert barrels) for the higher levels of traffic on roads along the embankments.
----

=== Mean Sea Level (MSL) Datum Adjustment ===
Corrections were made to Survey of Bangladesh (SoB) levels over the period 1994 to 2008<ref group="Notes">All existing design crest levels of embankment were based on previous SOB (Survey of Bangladesh) levels transferred from Mean Sea Level in India (Arabian Sea). Since these levels were transferred over very long distances, there were considerable uncertainties and sources of errors in these levels, which were confirmed during 1990s (by IWM). In 1993, SOB/JICA initiated a project which set up a new permanent Tidal Observation Station at Rangadia, Chittagong and established a tentative Mean Sea Level (MSL) of the Bay of Bengal. With respect to this new MSL a National Vertical Datum was also established at Gulshan, Dhaka in 1994. With reference to this Vertical Datum a national Control Network was established. SOB carried out 3,800 km of 1st order level survey to determine the MSL height of 849 benchmarks (BMs) from 1994 to 2004. To intensify the number of vertical control points, about 3,500 km of 2nd order level survey was carried out to establish 237 more BMs from 2002 to 2004. From 2004 to 2008, SOB also carried 1,600 km of 2nd order level surveys to establish another set of 150 BMs. The 1st order level surveys were carried out from the Vertical Datum at Gulshan, Dhaka and the 2nd order level surveys were carried out by IWM from the 1st order BMs.</ref>. The Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) was engaged by Blue Gold to establish the new SoB benchmark levels to first 12, then all, polders selected by Blue Gold. From IWM’s report on the first 12 polders, existing design levels of embankments need to be raised by 0.30m to 0.90m to compensate for the MSL/BM correction.
----

=== Design of Structures ===
In many cases, the standard 4m carriageway width over a regulator or inlet/outlet structure or culvert is insufficient for the much higher volumes of traffic now using the roads maintained by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) or Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). RHD is responsible for national and regional highways and District roads, whilst LGED is responsible for Upazila, Union and village roads.

The tables below give recommended road carriageway widths. For future designs, carriageway widths over BWDB structures should be a minimum of 5.5m, and possibly even 6.2m – the width recommended by RHD.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table 12.3 LGED Geometric Design Standards'''
!'''Category'''
!'''Design Type'''
!'''Traffic'''

(DCVs)
!'''Carriageway'''

(m)
!'''Hard Shoulder'''

(m)
!'''Verge'''

(m)
!'''Crest Width'''

(m)
|-
! rowspan="3" |Upazila Roads
|4
|600
|5.5
|
|2.15
|9.8
|-
|5
|300
|3.7
|0.9
|0.9
|7.3
|-
|6
|200
|3.7
|
|1.8
|7.3
|-
! rowspan="2" |Union Roads
|7
|100
|3.7
|
|0.9
|5.5
|-
|8
|50
|3.0
|
|1.25
|5.5
|-
!Village Roads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| colspan="4" |Note: DCVs = daily commercial vehicles
|
|
|
|}
LGED recommends bridge carriageway widths of 5.5m for Union and Upazila roads, except in the case of a Union road with a bridge length of less than 30m where a bridge carriageway width of 3.7 m is accepted.
{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Table 12.4 RHD Carriageway Widths'''
!'''Width''' (m)
!'''Design Type'''
|
|-
!3.7
| colspan="2" |This is the standard single lane carriageway width and is suitable for the more lightly-trafficked Feeder Roads. Vehicles travelling in opposing directions can pass each other by putting their outer wheels on the shoulder.
|-
!5.5
| colspan="2" |This is a minimum width two-lane carriageway. Large vehicles can pass each other at slow speed.
|-
!6.2
| colspan="2" |This is the lowest economic cost option for a very wide range of traffic volumes. It allows most vehicles to pass with sufficient clearance to avoid the need to slow down or move aside.
|-
!7.3
| colspan="2" |This is a high standard two-lane single carriageway.
|-
!11
| colspan="2" |This is a three-lane carriageway as one half of a dual 3-lane road.
|}

=== Design Issues ===

==== Life Cycle Costing ====
After compiling all costs for an element of water infrastructure over its lifespan – including construction, operation, repair, maintenance and rehabilitation – the total can be reduced to a present value with expected return on investment (ROI). The purpose of life cycle costing is to achieve a balance between performance (serviceability requirements), risks and overall life cycle cost. In Europe, asset management is based on life cycle costing.

In January 2015, a Reconnaissance Mission by the Dutch Water Authorities (DWA) prepared a report<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:OT_DWA_Mission_Report_-_Reconnaissance_mission_Bangladesh_-_16-28_January_2015_....pdf|title=Mission Report, Reconnaissance mission Bangladesh - 16-28 January 2015|publisher=Dutch Water Authorities (DWA)|year=2015|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref> for BWDB to consider As a result, senior BWDB officials visited the Netherlands and UK in November 2015 for briefings on policy approaches to asset management.<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:OT_AIWW_and_Water_Management_Policy_Approaches_in_Netherlands_and_UK_1-12nov2015.pdf|title=International Water Week and Netherland/UK Policy Approaches|publisher=Blue Gold Program|year=|isbn=|location=|publication-date=December 2015|pages=}}</ref> In May 2016, DWA submitted a proposal for training in life cycle costing and design<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:OT_int7_Proposal_Training_Life_Cycle_Costing_and_Design_for_Water_Systems.pdf|title=Proposal Training Life Cycle Costing and Design for Water Systems|publisher=Dutch Water Authorities (DWA)|year=2016|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref> from different angles: theory and practice on technical, managerial, institutional and financial aspects and stakeholder interests. In September 2016, twelve mid-level BWDB engineers attended a course on ‘Advanced Level Design and Life Cycle Costing of Sustainable Water Management Infrastructure’<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:OT_DWA_Advanced_Level_Design_and_LCC_syllabus.pdf|title=Advanced Level Design and Life Cycle Costing of Sustainable Water Management Infrastructure|publisher=Dutch Water Authorities (DWA)|year=2016|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref>. And in October 2016, a presentation was made by Poly Das (BWDB Design Circle) to the Mid-Term Review Mission about the outcome of her attendance at the September 2016 course.

==== Gates – importance of fundamental design review ====
For sluices and regulators to be functional, the gates must act to prevent saline river water from entering the polder (the purpose of the flap gates on the river side), to allow excess water to be drained (by opening the vertical gates on the country side), or to allow freshwater in the rivers - during the monsoon months - to be stored in khals for subsequent use for irrigation (ie operating as a “flushing sluice” when flap gates are raised using a pulley system mounted on a lifting frame).

If the gates are of poor quality or are not properly fitted, then they quickly become inoperable, and thus the major investment in the overall structure becomes quickly un-useable. Although the cost of manufacturing and installing gates on a new regulator varies from 3.3% (1-V) to 6.5% (4-V) of the total cost of the regulator, the functionality of the structure depends on the operability of the gates. Whilst many gated structures in the coastal zone date from the 1960s, gates have a much shorter lifetime. There is a strong case for reviewing the design, manufacture and installation of gates to maximise their operating lifetime – taking account of the experience with life cycle costing approaches and the use of composite materials.

Gates in the coastal zone are manufactured from steel, which is subject to corrosion in the aggressive coastal environment. During a visit to the Netherlands in September 2016 for a course in [[:File:OT int7 Proposal Training Life Cycle Costing and Design for Water Systems.pdf|Life Cycle Costing and Design]], BWDB mid-level design engineers were ''inter alia'' introduced to gates made from composite materials which are inert and resistant to corrosion. As a result, investigations were started under the Blue Gold Innovation Fund into the testing of composite gate materials, in preparation for major investments in water infrastructure under the Delta Plan. From December 2017, this early work was taken-up by Deltares and the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) under the Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program (WMKIP).

==== Siting of Regulators ====
The siltation of a river channel into which a regulator discharges, is likely to result in the regulator falling into disuse and the loss of a considerable capital investment (of up to €500k for a 4-vent structure), as well as the loss of agricultural benefits within the catchment drained by the regulator. The siting of new regulators on a river channel that will remain active for the 50+ year life of a regulator is a difficult task and relies on expertise in tidal river morphology and historical records.

In cases where regulators become blocked by sediment, internal drainage systems within the polder are re-routed to discharge water to regulators on active rivers. This is assisted by the relatively flat terrain within a polder, and the cross-linking of drainage khals. The drainage capacity of a regulator (ie the number of vents) is determined from the sluice catchment area. By including additional drainage capacity (ie more vents in a regulator) during the design process, it would be possible to reroute and dispose of drainage water from an adjacent regulator which falls into disuse because of sedimentation.

'''Concrete blocks''' – The cost of providing revetment to structures can be expensive (some 8 to 13% of the total cost of a new structure). Because of the high cost of rock in Bangladesh (mostly found in the riverbeds in the north-east of the country), concrete blocks are provided as revetment to structures in the coastal zone (on both the river-side and country-side). There is a case for phasing the revetment – providing an acceptable minimum to guard the structure from side-cutting and then monitoring the development of scour over the first year of operation and extending the revetment as required.
----

==== Preparation and Award of Contracts ====
After the design and bill of quantities (BoQ) has been prepared by the BWDB Design Circle, the following activities are required for the preparation and award of infrastructure contracts:
{| class="wikitable"
!'''Activity'''
!'''Responsibility'''
!'''Duration'''
|-
!Estimate preparation
|BWDB Field Office
|1 week
|-
!Estimate vetting
|Technical Assistance team
|1 week
|-
!e-Tendering process
|Tenderers
|2 weeks
|-
!Notification of Award (NOA)
|BWDB Field Office
|2 to 4 weeks
|-
!Work Orders
|BWDB Field Office
|1 week
|-
!Contract mobilisation
|Contractor
|1 week
|}

==== Role of Technical Assistance (TA) Team ====
All estimates submitted by BWDB field offices are formally vetted by the TA Team.

== References ==
<references />

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== See more ==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[11 Investments for Polder Safety and Water Management|Chapter 11: Investments for Polder Safety and Water Management]]|Curr_sect=Section C: Water Infrastructure|Next_chap=[[13 Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt|Chapter 13: Construction: Progress, Modalities and Lessons Learnt]]}}

{{SeeMoreSectionC}}

Frequently Asked Questions

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Bigblue: /* Where can a I download a printable version of the Lessons Learn Report? */

__FORCETOC__

__INDEX__
__NEWSECTIONLINK__

Welcome to Blue Gold wiki's FAQ. We hope this helps you to have a better experience of the wiki.

== General Questions ==

=== What is a wiki? ===
A wiki is a website or online resource to which multiple users have contributed. Some wikis - such as the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia - are publicly accessible. Others are used by organizations to manage information in-house, enabling teams to easily share knowledge and work together more effectively. A wiki typically collates knowledge from various sources in a descriptive manner, with links to source documents, and in that respect is not unlike a report presented for easy accessibility in an on-line format.

=== What is the Blue Gold wiki? ===
This wiki presents lessons learnt over the 8+ years of Blue Gold program. The Blue Gold Program is a development project implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) over the eight+ year period from March 2013 to December 2021. Blue Gold has rehabilitated and improved the main water infrastructure in 22 coastal polders in south-west Bangladesh and built the capacity of Water Management Groups (WMGs) and Water Management Associations (WMAs) to be the drivers of economic development in the polders – through organisational management, adoption of modern crop technologies, the planning of an annual cropping pattern to maximise cropping intensities, and the collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce for highest profitability.

The wiki lessons learnt report (LLR) has been prepared to complement the BWDB and DAE project completion reports (PCRs), with the aim of recording lessons learnt for use in the design and implementation of future interventions in the coastal zone. The aim of this report is to review and analyse approaches and methodologies used in the delivery of Blue Gold, how and why they evolved over the lifetime of Blue Gold with reasons for the adaptations and adjustments that were introduced and an explanation for the timing of the intervention.

Much of the lessons learnt report has been completed before the end of the project while resources within the technical assistance (TA) team were available. At the time of preparing a working version of the report (around May 2021), DAE’s involvement as a stakeholder partner had finished at end-December 2020, and BWDB’s involvement continued to end-December 2021. During the last six month period of Blue Gold from June to December 2021, a skeleton TA team concentrated on assisting with quality control and payment certification for construction contracts, with supervising fieldwork for a final socio-economic survey of WMGs and analysing and reporting on the results, and with amending the lessons learnt report with this information.

Although the wiki report is in English, many documents were prepared in Bangla for use in communicating with, and building the capacity of, Blue Gold communities and are available in the File Library.

=== Why use wiki to distribute information? ===
One of the main aims of the wiki report is to pass on the knowledge and experience gained during the 8+ years of the project to the planners and policy makers working towards the realisation of the Delta Plan, and to those responsible for the design and implementation of future projects in the coastal zone. We hope that students, researchers and others concerned with development will also benefit from the experiences recorded here. In particular, the wiki provides digital versions of documents prepared by the project team, by other organisations through the Innovation Fund and the many valuable references (policy documents, legislation etc) that have provided direction to Blue Gold. The documents have been organised in categories (see “File Library”) to aid searches.

=== Can I obtain a printable version of the wiki? ===
A mirror version of the wiki has been developed as a digital document (.pdf) which is also available as a printable publication.

A print copy of the report has been distributed to all key stakeholders of Blue Gold by the end of the Blue Gold Program. In addition, a limited number of print copies of the report are available from early 2022 onwards on a first-come first-served basis via the Euroconsult Mott MacDonald office in Dhaka (with postage/delivery costs payable by the requestee).

== Browsing the wiki ==

=== How is the wiki organised? ===
The wiki mainly follows a 'report' format, divided over eight (8) sections. Each section comprises a summary and a number of chapters. The layout of the sections and chapters is provided in the Table of Contents on the homepage. To see the contents of a specific chapter, a more detailed table of contents is also provided in the homepage.

=== How do I browse the pages? ===
A summary for each section provides an overview, and the table of contents helps navigation through the section.

=== Do I need to go back to the homepage every time I need to access the table of contents? ===
No. For better navigation experience, every page in a section incorporates a table of contents for the particular section and another table of contents for the entire wiki at the bottom of the page. Look for 'See more' at the bottom of the page to find it.

=== How do I find a page with particular topic? ===
{{#ev:youtube|IgoY8guVCYM|500|right}}
Start with the table of contents on the homepage. If you don’t find the topic in this list, a search bar is provided in the upper right corner of the page: type the topic in the search bar and press enter.

== Files and downloads ==

=== Where do I find files that have been referenced on a page? ===
In general, a hyperlink will be provided to the reference.

=== How can I see a list of the files? ===
A File Library provides all digital documents used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki, categorised by keywords, sections, language, and authors.

=== How do I search for a file? ===
{{#ev:youtube|AR2GUystLGA|500|right}}
The list of files available in Blue Gold wiki has a search functionality.

=== How do I export a particular page? ===
{{#ev:youtube|yggzoqYQHJw|500|right}}
All major internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox etc. already have the ability to export PDFs, and will likely be available from your browser's toolbar across the top of the screen. On Apple Safari, for instance, you need to select File >> Export as PDF in order to download the page you are currently on.

== Copyright and permissions ==

=== General copyright information ===
The work presented in Blue Gold wiki has been funded by the Governments of the Netherlands and Bangladesh. The Blue Gold wiki has been prepared by the technical assistance team grant-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Government of the Netherlands, represented locally by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dhaka. The technical assistance team was led by Euroconsult Mott MacDonald.

=== Can I download and use, or redistribute the documents, images, charts, general files, graphs and maps etc. found on the Blue Gold wiki? ===
All materials used in preparing the Blue Gold wiki can be downloaded and redistributed, on condition that an acknowledgement is provided (such as ‘This information was obtained from a report on the Blue Gold Program prepared by a technical assistance team financed by the Netherlands Government.’) accompanied by a disclaimer (such as ‘The information is not necessarily endorsed by the Government of the Netherlands, or the implementing agencies of the Government of Bangladesh which are the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)’.

=== Who should I contact for further information? ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Bangladesh Water Development Board
|''[mailto:dp3.bwdb@gmail.com dp3.bwdb@gmail.com]''
|-
!Department of Agricultural Extension
|''[mailto:info@dae.gov.bd info@dae.gov.bd]''
|-
!Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
|''[mailto:DHA@minbuza.nl DHA@minbuza.nl]''
|-
!Euroconsult Mott MacDonald
|''[mailto:euroconsult@mottmac.com euroconsult@mottmac.com]''
|}
=== How long will this wiki site be available? ===
The site will be available until end-December 2026.

Template:ToC Section D

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Bigblue:

<noinclude>
<templatedata>
{
"params": {},
"description": "Table of contents for Section D: Participatory Water Management"
}
</templatedata>
</noinclude>
{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[14 Consultation and participation in planning|Chapter 14: Consultation and participation in planning]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[15 WMO capacity building|Chapter 15: WMO capacity building]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[16 Women’s participation in water management|Chapter 16: Women’s participation in water management]]'''
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|
#[[14 Consultation and participation in planning#Polder Development Plan|Polder Development Plan]]
#[[14 Consultation and participation in planning#WMG Action Plans|WMG Action Plans]]
|
#[[15 WMO capacity building#From individual to group capacity|From individual to group capacity]]
#[[15 WMO capacity building#From transferring knowledge to promoting behaviour change|From transferring knowledge to promoting behaviour change]]
#[[15 WMO capacity building#From dependence to self-reliance|From dependence to self-reliance]]
#[[15 WMO capacity building#From autonomous WMGs to networked organisations|From autonomous WMGs to networked organisations]]
|
#[[16 Women’s participation in water management#Background|Background]]
#[[16 Women’s participation in water management#Blue Gold approach|Blue Gold approach]]
#[[16 Women’s participation in water management#Why is water management important for women?|Why is water management important for women?]]
#[[16 Women’s participation in water management#Why are women important for water management?|Why are women important for water management?]]
#[[16 Women’s participation in water management#Results|Results]]
#[[16 Women’s participation in water management#Enabling factors and challenges|Enabling factors and challenges]]
|}
{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="25%" |'''[[17 In-polder water management|Chapter 17: In-polder water management]]'''
! rowspan="2" width="25%" |'''[[18 The Water Management Partnership|Chapter 18: The Water Management Partnership]]'''
! width="25%" |'''[[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept|Chapter 19: Operationalisation of the PWM concept]]'''
|- align="left" valign="top" style="background: antiquewhite; font-size: 92%;"
|
#[[17 In-polder water management#Context|Context]]
#[[17 In-polder water management#Interventions: a mix to address all scales|Interventions: a mix to address all scales]]
#[[17 In-polder water management#In-Polder Water Management as a step forward|In-Polder Water Management as a step forward]]
|
#[[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept#Trend 1: ‘Water management through business development’ or ‘business development through water management’|Trend 1: ‘Water management through business development’ or ‘business development through water management’]]
#[[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept#Trend 2: Supporting functional water management organisations|Trend 2: Supporting functional water management organisations]]
#[[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept#Trend 3: From O&M to Local Economic Development; from task to mandate|Trend 3: From O&M to Local Economic Development; from task to mandate]]
#[[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept#Trend 4: Unit of organisation: from pre-defined to pragmatic|Trend 4: Unit of organisation: from pre-defined to pragmatic]]
#[[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept#Sustainability – a discussion|Sustainability – a discussion]]

|}
{| cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="3px" border="0" width="100%" style="background-color:#fff;margin:auto;"
|- align="center" style="background-color:tan;"
! width="10%"|'''[[20 Way forward|Chapter 20: Way Forward]]'''

|}

Explanatory Videos

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Bigblue: /* Reading and downloading resources */

Category:Maps-polder

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Bigblue:

Polder maps from Blue Gold Program

Category:Maps-overview

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Bigblue:

Overview maps of the polders.

File library

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Bigblue: /* Video Tutorials */

This section is intended to help you to identify and locate specific files and videos from the range of materials which has been generated over the past 8+ years of the Blue Gold Program.

== '''Video Tutorials''' ==
The following explanatory video tutorials have been prepared to help you quickly navigate your way around the wiki:

# [[Explanatory Videos#Searching for a specific text|Searching for specific text]]
# [[Explanatory Videos#Searching for a file|Searching for pages and files]]
# [[Explanatory Videos#Extracting texts and images|Extracting text and images]]
# [[Explanatory Videos#Reading and downloading resources|Reading and downloading resources]]
#

==File library==
A complete list of the references hosted in the file library can be found [https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/images/1/18/BGP-Wiki-File-List-v1.1.xlsx '''here''']. You can browse through this list or search it using a specific word or phrase. When you have found the title of a document you want to locate, enter the title or selected keywords into the search bar at the top right-hand corner of this page (ie the magnifying glass) and select the 'multimedia' option to search within the entire file library. This search method usually yields the most comprehensive results when searching for documents.

The following three options for searching are intended to complement the above search method. They present a broad range of Blue Gold topics (when searching by keyword), the non-BGP authors (when searching by author), and allow searching by language. The first two search methods provide different angles of search rather than being comprehensive. Searching by language provides the overview of all available English language documents or of all available documents in Bangla.
*'''[[:Category:Keywords used in files|Files by keywords]]''' Files categorised using keywords - providing, for example, a quick way of locating all the Polder Development Plans (PDPs)
*[[:Category:Files by author|'''Files by author''']] Files categorised by the author of the publication
*'''[[:Category:Files by language|Files by primary language]]''' Files organized by the primary language of the document ie English or Bangla.

== Communication Products ==
From the following headings of five different groups of communication products, a specific document or video can be quickly located to read, view or download:
*'''[[:Category:Thematic Brochures|Thematic brochures]]''' [[:Category:Thematic Brochures|-]] to provide the context for the different types of interventions or themes of the Blue Gold Program, and their outcomes and impact, and how inclusiveness has been addressed
*'''[[:Category:Slide Decks|Slide decks]]''' - pdf versions of slide decks used for presentations on ten different themes of the Blue Gold Program
*'''[[:Category:Case Studies|Case studies]]''' - examples of success stories showing the practical impact of the core interventions – but written from the perspective of the main stakeholders
*'''[[:Category:Videos|Videos]]''' - a small number of high quality videos cover the main features of Blue Gold: participatory water management, what water management means, agricultural outcomes (prepared by one of the implementation partners, the Department of Agricultural Extension), women's empowerment, and farming-as-as-business, In addition, there are a large number of videos about the Blue Gold Program on YouTube varying from films of specific activities, TV newscasts, extracts from the TV extension program ‘Mati O Manush’. They have been filmed for a wide range of reasons by TV news programs, professional film makers and Blue Gold colleagues.
*'''[[:Category:Maps|Maps]] -''' A collection of detailed technical maps are presented here for the 22 polders included in the Blue Gold Program. The maps are categorised as either '''Overview Maps''' which provide a range of information on a map whose coverage is that of the entire project area or '''Polder Maps''' which give detailed technical information on maps of each of the 22 polders.

17 In-polder water management

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Bigblue: /* Context */

==Context==
{{Briefing materials STCVM|decks=*[[:File:Bgp-slide-deck-ipwm-v2.pdf|Small-scale infrastructure for in-polder water management]]|brochures=*[[:File:BGP 4 pager IPWM v3.pdf|In-polder water management: maximising returns from agriculture and aquaculture]]
*[[:File:BGP 4 pager lessons learnt v7.pdf|Lessons learnt for scaling out: how participatory water management contributes to inclusive development]]
*[[:File:Bgp-4-pager-wrm-v1.1.pdf|Improved water distribution and drainage through rehabilitation of water management infrastructure]]|studies=*[[:File:BGP case study Rudhaghara CII v3.pdf|Cropping intensity initiative: Rudhagara WMG increasing production of crops by effective water resources management]]
*[[:File:BGP case study Rudhaghara CII v3.pdf|Community-led agricultural water management at Uttar Khekuani]]
*[[:File:BGP case study impact of WRM at Amodkhali Satkhira v1.pdf|Impact of water resource management at Amadkhali, Satkhira]]
*[[:File:18feb 21 BGIF booklet practical innovations in CZ v4.5.pdf|Practical Innovations in the coastal zone: in agriculture and water management]]|videos=*[[:Category:Videos#What water management means to me: Bangladesh's polder farmers|What water management means to me (Bangla with English subtitles)]]
*[[:Category:Videos#Participatory Water Management: An integrated approach|PWM: an integrated approach - animation (Bangla with English subtitles)]]
*[[:#|Water Management Organisations (Bangla with English subtitles)]]|manuals=*[[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual text based-reduced.pdf|Water Management Manual - text version (Bangla)]]
*[[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual picture based-reduced.pdf|Water Management Manual - pictorial version (Bangla)]]
*[[:File:22dec 20 bgp-sswmi-guidelines-v1.4.4-reduced.pdf|Pipe and Box Culvert Manual (Bangla)]]|flipchart=No flipcharts for the current chapter.}}
In the polders of the coastal belt of Bangladesh, the potential to improve income of farmers is large. Compared to other parts of the country, productivity and profitability from its mainstays agriculture and aquaculture are low. To strengthen the economies of the polders, the Blue Gold Program rehabilitates main hydraulic infrastructure, capacitates water management organisations and stimulates the agricultural market system in 22 polders (see [[03 Social, Physical and Environmental Context|chapter 3]] for the physical characteristics and for maps). Optimisation of the use of hydraulic infrastructure inside the polder, both small and large, maximises the returns from these interventions. This is called in-polder water management.

===Polders===
The characteristics of the rivers running across the south western coastal belt of Bangladesh partly control agricultural opportunities inside the polders. In the western part of the coastal belt, in the Satkhira District, reduced fresh water flow from the north results in increased salinization and substantial sedimentation of the rivers. This is turning polder areas into low-lying ‘bathtubs’ in between river beds that are elevated by sedimentation. This results in drainage congestion as well as in seepage, also of saline water, into the polders. This causes production systems to shift to year-round saline shrimp ghers. More eastwards, during monsoon, the rivers’ water levels in the central south rise so much so that polders cannot be drained, causing extensive seasonal waterlogging in the Patuakhali and Barguna Districts.

Cropping systems are also influenced by topography of the land and the water levels inside the polders. In the Khulna District, within the same polder rice after fish (freshwater gher-boro) and T Aman-boro cropping systems can be found – where the latter generally occurs on slightly higher lands. Small differences in land elevation have caused these distinctly different production systems. Other areas, such as in Patuakhali District, generally have high lands compared to the Khulna region. Nonetheless, farmers in Patuakhali make a distinction within their polders in high and low lands. A height difference of 30 cm in land topography can make the difference between a waterlogged situation where only local varieties of T Aman can be grown and a well-drained one where highly profitable High Yielding Varieties of T Aman are cultivated. All this implies that slight adjustments to the water levels can make a big difference.
Figure 17.1 shows how sluice operations impact on water levels. It shows water levels at two different locations (blue: near Amkhola sluice; Red: Mushuriaghati sluice) in the period from April 2018 to June 2019. The grey graph shows the water level in the river outside the older. The graph appears to have a large bandwidth due to the diurnal (twice daily) tidal fluctuations. The blue graph shows water levels inside the polder, near the Amkhola sluice. It provides evidence of sluice operation: in the period late May to early September 2018, water was drained as-and-when possible, resulting in a internal water level lower than the average external water level. From September 2018 onwards, the sluice is used to retain water, ensuring an internal water level slightly above the average of the water level in the river. The red graph represents the water level inside Mushuriaghati sluice. As the red line aligns almost exactly to the middle of the tidal amplitude (grey line) it would appear that no management of the interior water level takes place. This is indeed the case, as Mushuriaghati sluice’s gates were at the time of the water level recording dysfunctional.[[File:Water levels Pressure Divers (April 2018-June 2019) (high-res).png|thumb|800x800px|'''Figure 17.1: External and internal water levels of two sluice catchments'''|alt=|center]]
===Managing internal water levels===
Water levels in the polders can be managed with sluices. Each sluice has its own area of influence (known as ‘catchment’) and the boundaries of these depend on elevation and the connectivity of the khal system. At the catchment scale, the water levels (managed with the sluice) in the primary or main khals should ideally serve the interests of all stakeholders in that catchment, i.e. farmers, fishermen and others. However, the following challenges occur:

* Many interests need to be catered for. It is difficult to get all interests at the table and it is complex to find a proper modus operandi for the regulator. If operation is not agreed upon, this may result in a weak pursuit of the most common interests and a high likelihood of elite capture.
* Suboptimal sluice gate operation results in:
** waterlogging and drought;
** sedimentation of and cross dams in the khal system (reducing the potential of the catchment to serve all interests), and;
** adapted but marginally profitable production systems.
* At the end of 2019, 50% of the sluices were under control of WMOs. Powerful stakeholders such as shrimp farmers or fishermen may decide when sluice gates are opened or closed – generally not benefitting the larger numbers of farmers or the larger tracts of lands;
* If under control of Water Management Organisations, proper operation and maintenance of sluices often is shouldered by the WMG nearest to the sluice; operating it as they seem fit. Other WMGs have little say over its operation.
* Main khals, serving multiple WMGs, constitute common pool resources, the management of which is often neglected. This results in water hyacinth infestation and widespread sedimentation. As a consequence, large parts of the polders become hydrologically disconnected from the sluice.

At the sub-catchment scale, secondary and tertiary khals transport water to and from the inner parts of the polder. Reduced connectivity and control of the secondary and tertiary khal fails to meet increasing demands:
* Many secondary and tertiary khals have cross dams in place to help to store water for a small group of people ( e.g. for irrigation purposes or fish cultivation) living next to the khals. This reduces the connectivity of the sub-catchments and hampers drainage and irrigation for significant portion of lands. Would sluice operation be optimised, it would not have any effect on these more interior areas;
* The construction of new roads is often planned without taking into account water drainage requirements;
* When zooming in at a scale where height differences are small and water management conditions for farmers are more or less homogeneous, there is a lack of infrastructure to retain or drain water in order to harness the production potential of this particular area.
[[File:IPWM interventions.png|center|thumb|800x800px|'''Figure 17.2: Local Water Management Organisations (WMA/WMG/group) and their area of influence''']]
Figure 17.2 summarises this section on context, by showing how the polder and the hydrological subdivisions therein correlate to hydraulic infrastructure and organisational entities. It labels all water management efforts within the polder, including the operation of the main regulators located in the embankment, as ‘in-polder water management’.

==Interventions: a mix to address all scales==
In-polder water management (IPWM) is the maintenance, operation and modification of the hydraulic infrastructure inside the polders to facilitate viable and profitable production systems. IPWM helps to increase returns from interventions in primary infrastructure (see Section C) and from involvement and capacity building of WMOs (see Section D [[14 Consultation and participation in planning|Chapters 14]] and [[15 WMO capacity building|15]]) which in turn provides an environment for increased agricultural production (see Section E). Since IPWM works on different scales and is context-specific, a mix of approaches has been employed:

# '''''Catchment Planning (50-1,000 ha)''''' – Through coordination between WMGs through a catchment O&M committee, plans were made for improving sluice operation to manage water levels in the catchments, and agreements forged with respect to maintenance and other actions that benefit the catchment’s performance;
# '''''Intermediate scale infrastructure (50-500 ha)''''' – Conveying water between primary khals on one hand, and tertiary khals and fields on the other; the polders’ secondary khals play a key role in the distribution and management of water. However, secondary khals are hardly ever equipped with control structures. The experience with an intermediate structure in Polder 29 may give insight in the potential of such structures;
# '''''A small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) fund (10-150 ha)''''' – Provision or improvement of water management infrastructure (using a ‘hands-off’ approach) on tertiary khals (i.e. outside the jurisdiction of the Bangladesh Water Development Board). Sometimes in combination with Demonstration plots (0.2-1.0 ha) to demonstrate the agricultural potential of SSWMI.
# '''''CAWM, Community-led Agricultural Water Management (10-50 ha)''''' – The optimisation of sub-catchments (10-50 ha), a scale that allows for synchronised cultivation of crops on lands with the similar elevation; for community collective action at a scale that is replicable by other farmer groups. This is used for horizontal learning, and also for further discussion about IPWM.

===Catchment planning<ref group="Notes">This section draws heavily on the [[:File:O&M Guideline v5 5jan 18.pdf|BGP O&M Guidelines V5.0]] (dated 5 January 2018) and the [[:File:O&M 16jul 19 evolution of catchment planning.pdf|BGP Definition of catchment planning 2018 and 2019]]</ref>===
Within catchment planning, there is clear focus on improving cropping patterns, in order to directly impact the household incomes and have a clear cause and effect between catchment planning and its benefits. Catchment planning concentrates on identifying immediate and doable actions – aiming at optimised water levels for crop production. Planning of operations and maintenance of infrastructure in the catchments is the responsibility of the WMA O&M sub-committees (also known as ‘catchment committees’). Every catchment has its O&M subcommittee, comprising of 2 representatives of every WMG in the catchment.

Catchment planning was supported by the BGP TA team from mid-2017 onwards. In 2017 catchment planning was piloted through a 2-day workshop in a few catchments, led by TA staff. By mid-2018 this had evolved into training one or two of the WMO members in the catchment to facilitate catchment planning. In this way, about 15 catchments could be lined up for catchment planning in one training batch.
[[File:Figure 17.3.png|center|frame|'''Figure 17.3: Structure of the catchment planning exercise''']]

Figure 17.3 visualises the way the WMGs, O&M sub-committee and the WMA cooperate along the process of catchment planning. To plan proper management of the catchment, one or two of the O&M sub-committee members were trained as facilitators of the catchment planning process (Step 1 in Figure 17.3). This process starts with WMG planning (Step 2), where the trained O&M subcommittee members discuss with WMGs the actions required for improved cropping patterns. In the catchment planning workshop (Step 3), shared issues and required actions among WMGs are discussed. In a meeting with the Executive Committee of the WMA, these catchment plans are validated in front of relevant Union Parishads, in order to also obtain their commitment and support (Step 4).

====Lessons learnt on the catchment planning approach====
Every catchment functions in a different way, depending on the physical and socio-economic circumstances. The BGP approach aimed to harness bottom-up initiatives by WMGs to improve water management at the catchment scale. Yet at the same time it obliged WMGs to follow specific steps leading to specific products. Planning is by nature a murky process and it must be structured to ensure it leads to decisions. '''Increasing the adaptability of the approach to easily follow the needs of the WMGs and WMA is recommended in future implementation of catchment planning. Some considerations are given below:'''

* Before starting catchment planning, develop a toolbox of approaches, together with WMGs and WMA that may suit a variety of contexts.
* Based on the understanding of the WMA, decide, together with WMA, what kind of approach is appropriate for the different catchments.

During the piloting of catchment planning in 2017, completing one catchment planning exercise required about 20 TA person-days (including significant involvement of senior staff), excluding travel time. This intensive approach would be able to only reach about 10% of the catchments (that is 20 out of 200). This was perceived insufficient and a new approach was developed. In the ‘optimised’ approach, an O&M subcommittee member (referred to as catchment committee facilitator) would be trained to lead catchment planning. Now all catchments could be targeted as TA involvement was limited to provision of training and to the provision of stimulation and guidance. While most trained O&M subcommittee members were selected for their active role in the community, as well as their intelligence and charisma, without stimulation and guidance from TA staff, not much would happen. This meant that for every catchment about 1-2 person-days of TA staff involvement were required in addition to 1 – 2 person-days per catchment for training. '''While the approach is efficient, it is important to continuously monitor and reflect on the workload involved in relation to the likely results'''.

====Lessons learnt on polder hydrology====
The Blue Gold Program had a strong focus on the organisational part of catchment planning, while in general little was known on the actual hydrology of the catchment. Sluice operation or maintenance of main khals might have little effect on the actual waterlogging conditions. In research by Deltares over the years of 2018, 2019 and 2020 in polder 43/2B, it was found that up to 50% of the polder’s water levels did not change regardless of sluices being open or closed. These areas are therefore hydrologically disconnected from the main polder infrastructure. This may be caused by, ''inter alia'', the multiple cross-dams constructed inside the khal system. While these ensure local water retention, the water flow within the catchment is completely blocked. Eventually, this becomes a normative catchment condition as other land users will adapt to the situation. '''In future catchment planning, we suggest a stronger focus on the restoring the connectivity of the khal network. If so, it is more likely that all catchment inhabitants have prospect for improvement.'''

One of the principles of catchment planning is that all stakeholders in the catchment must be consulted. Sluice catchment boundaries are difficult to define as they often overlap – and some areas are more influenced by the sluice than others. This makes it difficult to make sluice catchment planning effective: a good representation of stakeholders is difficult to define. A confounding factor is that a substantial number of WMGs fall within two catchments as their delineation is sometimes based on local community or village boundaries. Some participants in the catchment planning deemed the exercise ineffective, as they had never been part of the catchment. To build stronger water management organisations, their boundaries should be based on a sound understanding of the khal system, informed by local knowledge. '''A stronger understanding of the khal system is required, based on local knowledge but also on surveys, monitoring and modelling.'''

===== Start early for partnership development and capacity building =====
We stimulated WMAs to use their catchment plans as a basis for engaging with Union Parishads and officials from BWDB and DAE, but also with other departments such as LGED and BADC, to petition their support. In many cases these UPs and government departments were able to provide some of the resources at their disposal – be it cash, expertise or influence – to support planned activities. Based on this experience, BGP decided to strengthen the opportunity to petition local governments and government departments by organising Upazila workshops, where WMAs can present their ambitions and plans in a formal setting. Having concise and concrete plans empowers WMOs to solicit support. The importance of the relationships between WMOs and local governments are described in [[18 The Water Management Partnership|chapter 18]]. '''An early start with catchment planning is important so that WMOs have the opportunity to develop this partnerships under guidance of the project and with its financial backing.'''

As catchment planning was addressed by BGP only from 2017 onwards, the project has hardly had opportunity to repeat the exercise and to capacitate the WMOs further. Ideally – after the introduction of catchment planning by the BGP TA team – the WMOs would take up recurrent planning henceforth, although this was not explicitly suggested to them. At this stage, it is clear that most of the WMAs or catchment committees do not update or review their catchment plans a year after the initial planning exercise. Repetition of the catchment planning exercise, would have helped lodge this as a routine within the WMAs. '''We argue that, even if a catchment planning approach has not been fully developed, projects should start implementing it as soon as possible and repeat it yearly to improve the plans, the planning process and to build organisational continuity.'''

===Intermediate-scale infrastructure<ref group="Notes">This section draws on: - [[:File:CAWM 26mar 20 gajendrapur design report.pdf|Design report water retention structure Gajendrapur Uttar V2, 31 march 2020]]</ref>===
In Polder 29, Gajendrapur Uttar WMG and the surrounding WMGs have planned to retain water to irrigate land at the end of the monsoon season and during the Rabi (dry) season. However, most plots have too little water at the end of the kharif II (wet) season and during the Rabi (dry) season - and in addition, saline water enters Dholvanga Khal because Telikhali sluice remains open during the dry season to serve the interests of other water users (in this case, fishers). To solve these problems, Gajendrapur Uttar WMG and other farmers campaigned for the construction of a small regulator in the Dholvanga Khal.

[[File:Figure 17.4.png|frame|right|'''Figure 17.4: Gajendrapur retention structure location map''']]Most in-polder water management interventions by Blue Gold had been for a sub-catchment area of a single WMG serving 100 ha and typically requiring some limited amount of khal excavation and a gated culvert. The case presented by Gajendrapur Uttar WMG was of a larger scale (some 500 ha) and involving five WMGs. Given the interest of the five WMGs and their willingness to jointly manage the completed structure, the decision was made to use this as a pilot case from which to extract lessons for future in-polder investments.

In December 2018, a topographic survey was conducted to map the hydraulic system. Subsequently, boreholes were drilled to provide information on soil conditions, and a design was prepared by the TA team. After discussions with the community about the proposed design, the WMGs agreed to adopt the design and proceed with construction. The WMG was contracted to construct the retention structure (also known as a mini 2-vent regulator), with the TA engineering staff providing technical guidance and quality control. A map of the catchment in '''Figure 17.4,''' shows the location of the regulator as a red block, the approximate catchment boundary with a dashed green line - with a yellow line indicating a possible sub-catchment boundary to the north of which the benefits may be more limited.

A [[:File:CAWM 26mar 20 gajendrapur design report.pdf|design report]] was prepared in March 2020 with a hydrological analysis, design criteria, a stability analysis, structural and hydraulic design, and construction recommendations. A short [[:File:CAWM 29oct 20 gajendrapur final construction report.pdf|construction report]] was prepared after commissioning the structure in October 2020 showing the contract value, start and finishing dates, itemised cost estimate, and a photographic record showing construction activities. Both reports are available in the File Library. A short [[:File:CAWM 2nov 20 Case Study gajendrapur bangla.pdf|case study]] (in Bangla) is available for visitors and neighbours, explains the background and purpose of the regulator.

====Lessons learnt on relations with the WMG====

The relationship between Blue Gold and the leading representative of the community (Gajendrapur Uttar WMG) has been complex. The following factors shaped this relationship:

* From the start, the WMG leadership has been very convincing. The WMG has received CII and CAWM demonstrations, FFS schools and have consistently identified the need for water retention in Dholvanga Khal. Some would argue that the WMG has received enough benefits from the BGP project. Others see a mature WMG organisation presenting their analysis of their local water management situation and seeking assistance with implementation.

* The type of structure that is required has been the subject of many discussions within the TA team: some have argued for a minimum construction, arguing the hydrological situation is as simple as it gets; others have said that more research was required - which led to delays in decisions.

====Lessons to be learnt from operating the structure====
The success of an investment in a water management structure which is community-operated depends on whether the community can put in place governance systems to serve the wider interest of all users, including rules for opening and closing of the gates, and for maintenance. All five WMGs in the catchment area gave verbal approval to proceed with the structure, but were unable to provide convincing explanations of the arrangements for operating the structure. Further discussions were therefore held with representatives of the five WMGs to obtain their joint agreement to the intervention on the understanding that the benefits were to be shared amongst the communities in the entire area served by the structure - and not just by the main sponsor, Gajendrapur Uttar WMG. An agreement with all parties was signed. The difficulty here is that there is little experience of joint-management, and - during the design stages - the WMGs were unable to imagine the benefits the structure would bring. Close monitoring of the operating modalities has been difficult during 2020/21 because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, and because of other commitments of TA staff during the final few months of implementation. Future in-polder interventions should build on the Gajendrapur experience, taking account of how the community has jointly managed the asset for the benefit of all five WMGs.

====Lessons learnt on a missing link affecting development of intermediate infrastructure====
While polder communities have a history of constructing and modifying tertiary infrastructure, and BWDB has a long track record with polder-level major infrastructure, neither government nor the community has any experience with this type of intermediate infrastructure. It falls into a gap: too small for BWDB but too large for communities. LGED does focus on infrastructure of this type (covering up to 1,000 ha), but the institutional patterns (WMOs, planning processes) set-up for the polders does not link well to LGED’s investment decisions. However, a mechanism for investments in this form of intermediate (or secondary) water management infrastructure, similar to Gajendrapur, will be required - to allow the management of water levels in different areas of a polder, thereby enabling the realisation of the cropping potential of land of different elevations.

In addition to the development of intermediate infrastructure in Gajendrapur, Blue Gold has supported action research under the Deltares/IWM Water Management Knowledge and Innovation Program (WMKIP) for field-testing of pumped drainage in Polder 2 in Satkhira. Although the adaptive research experiment is still ongoing, it is hoped that the experience will show that in cases where the river bed is raised so high that natural drainage is impeded, local pumped drainage of agricultural lands may form a viable alternative to large-scale dredging of the river system; or to conversion of cropped land to inland fisheries.

With BWDB focussing on main investments in polder infrastructure, and with polder communities having limited capacity to develop intermediate-scale infrastructure, there is a missing link in the process of realising the full agricultural potential of coastal polders. '''There are a number of organisations who could take on this role, including the Department of Agricultural Extension, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, Local Government Engineering Department, Union Parishad - which will ''inter alia'' require staff to develop practical skills and experience in small-scale water management and to put in place mechanisms for coordination between the organisations (as set out for example in Water Rules 2018).'''

===Small-scale water management infrastructure===
A fund to encourage the uptake of small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) was established under Blue Gold in 2018 with the aim of improving in-polder drainage and irrigation conditions.

The improvement of secondary and tertiary infrastructure across the coastal zone will involve a large number of small-scale structures and huge volumes of earthwork. The planning, design, contracting, supervising and monitoring of this small-scale infrastructure would be highly resource-intensive if provided with the same level of involvement as is provided by government engineering departments in large-scale infrastructure. Building on the success of the CAWM schemes (see next section), a fund was made available so that WMOs could plan and implement small-scale water management infrastructure (SSWMI) with a relatively low-level of supervision.

As small structures are beyond the remit of BWDB, the fund for small-scale infrastructure was provided through the TA budget, based on the following assumptions:

* Individual WMGs are eligible to apply for a single scheme (up to a ceiling of BDT 2 lakh, equivalent to approx. Euro 2,000) - assuming that they will choose an application that will maximise their benefits.
* Since the communities have a financial stake and will benefit from a significant increase in agricultural production, the WMG will ensure good quality construction work.
* Communities must make a financial contribution but may also mobilise funds or other resources from third parties such as Union Parishad or BADC.
* Since the SSWMI provides benefits to the community, the WMG will have a direct interest in maintaining the infrastructure.
* SSWMI schemes are to be chosen where the full drainage system is functional ie water from the sub-catchment can be drained through the various channels and ''khals'' up to the point of discharge to the outside river or channel via a sluice or regulator
* By involving the WMA in the supervision of the WMG, there is a check and control on the implementation process.

The SSWMI fund adopted the following staged process:

# During a 2-month period, WMGs are familiarised with procedures and requested to apply.
# Checks of the WMG's provisional application are made by field-level TA staff
# The final application is submitted by WMG to the TA office
# The cost estimation is checked using a simplified cost model
# For successful applicants, a standard form of contract (in Bangla) is entered into by WMG representatives and with the Zonal Coordinator representing the TA team.
# Payments are made to the WMGs through their bank account in instalments with the final payment based on a confirmation by the TA field team that all works have been completed.
# Demonstration plots are developed to show the agricultural potential of the implemented SSWMI to other farmers.
A total of 335 SSWMI schemes were funded through Blue Gold: 167 in 2018/19 and 168 in 2019/20 at a cost of BDT 39.9 million (equivalent to Euro 400,000) or some BDT 1.20 lakh per scheme (equivalent to Euro 1,200 per scheme). An overview map presents the distribution of these SSWMI schemes.

====Lessons learnt from the SSWMI Fund ====
In preparation for the first round of applications for SSWMI funds in 2018/19, a number of steps were taken: (a) application procedures were developed which encouraged participation from as many WMGs as possible and which provided reasonably equitable access to available funds; (b) methods were devised for checking cost estimates prepared by WMGs; and (c) a standard form of contract between Blue Gold and the WMGs was developed.

Approaches to Implementation varied slightly between zonal offices, reflecting the local context. Although this was generally acceptable, the variable quality of small structures was recognised as one specific area where improvement and greater consistency would benefit the durability of the schemes. Although in many areas, there was some experience with the construction of pipe and box culverts from the implementation of CAWM schemes, under SSWMI, communities were left to arrange construction of small structures with very little guidance or direction and without standard design drawings and specifications. One of the main concepts of SSWMI was that responsibility for construction would be delegated to the community who would operate the structure, and would thus be invested in ensuring the structure was strongly-built and functional. Practical experience showed that completed structures were often not well-built and that essential elements were missing - such as the control gate. For the 2019/20 season, a [[:File:22dec 20 bgp-sswmi-guidelines-v1.4.4-reduced.pdf|manual]] (in Bangla) for the construction of a standard culvert was developed. The manual provides practical guidance, alongside a series of photographs illustrating the steps in the construction process, all written in simple Bangla. The main lesson from this experience, is that '''a construction manual should be provided for communities for the construction of simple, functional and durable small-scale water management structures.'''

====Lessons learnt with respect to polder hydrology====
In a short period of around two years, the fund has contributed to the functioning of around 335 small sub-catchments: culverts in road embankments have extended the catchment area served by inter-connected drainage systems, and silted khals have been re-excavated to increase the drainage capacity. Generally, communities are pleased with the investment, and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that cropping intensities have increased. But there are other uncertainties, about the wider impact - such as whether the improvement causes waterlogging or drought elsewhere. '''A review of the impact of SSWMI as a means of promoting investments in tertiary infrastructure would help in further refining the design and outcome of any future SSWMI initiatives.'''

Tertiary infrastructure should not be developed in a vacuum. The polders in the southwest are traversed by a fairly intensive network of local roads, constructed by Union Parishads, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) or the Roads and Highways Department (RHD). Road embankments often obstruct water flow, so the provision of culverts sized to serve the drainage catchment can be used for local water management if - for example - they are provided with simple facilities for closing off the flow in either direction. Though roads and their structures are not designed with any consideration for optimisation of local water management; their presence provides an opportunity for improving local water management conditions.

Blue Gold focuses on the rehabilitation of primary infrastructure (by BWDB) and - through SSWMI schemes - also on tertiary infrastructure. Field experience has shown that the secondary system – conveying water between the primary and the secondary drainage channels – is often in poor condition. These khals (with widths ranging from 5 to 50 metres) generally serve areas between 100 and 500 ha. As primary and tertiary systems are upgraded through initiatives such as SSWMI, reduced discharge capacity in the secondary system because of siltation or blockages from cross-bundhs or fishing nets can limit the flow of drainage water from the field through the drainage channels up to the point of discharge to the outside river or channel via a sluice or regulator.

Small-scale project interventions such as SSWMI require good local knowledge of the complex interconnectivities required to drain relatively small areas and a sound understanding of the local hydrology to be fully effective. But field experience has shown the importance of '''understanding the operations of the related secondary drainage system, allowing where necessary for the secondary drains or ''khals'' to be re-excavated and provided with structures to control water flow.'''

====Lessons learnt with respect to institutional responsibility====
We realised that small-scale infrastructure is in high demand by the communities. To ensure a swift implementation, the hands-off fund has mainly been developed by the Technical Assistance team of BGP. Neither the implementing partners nor the Local Government Institutions gained experience in handling the fund.

The Department of Agricultural Extension has expressed its interest to implement a SSWMI-fund across the coastal zone; and has applied for external funding for such a project. The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation – which like DAE is situated within the Ministry of Agriculture – has sufficient engineering knowledge to guide the implementation of such a fund; whereas DAE’s SAAOs should be able to reach out to communities to discuss the agricultural benefits and potential negative effects of small-scale infrastructure. Accountability may, however, be an issue as hands-off funding to community initiatives is a novel concept.

To ensure accountability during the implementation of a small-scale infrastructure fund, it is worthwhile exploring whether the responsibility could be shared with the Union Parishad. They have experience with funding similar structures, are accountable to their constituents and often have close connection to WMOs. They handle their own budget, but don’t have sufficient resources focused on water management.

====Lessons learnt with respect to matching grants====
When making use of the SSWMI fund, WMGs are to make a matching contribution. In case of earthwork this would be 30% of the total estimated value, and in case of culverts 10%. Cost estimates are made using the standard schedule of rates; and costs are split according to the above ratios. The WMGs, however, mobilise the requisite labour from among the local day labourers and rather than paying them the standard daily rate on which the schedule of rates is based; they pay roughly 70% of this rate. In this way, the matching contribution is de facto made by the hired labourers and not by the WMG.

An alternative would have been to insist on an upfront cash contribution from the WMG. WMGs have, however, not been successful in building up capital reserves (e.g. a Maintenance Fund). There are several reasons why building up a reserve for investment in water infrastructure modification, operation and maintenance has not taken off:

* There is a fundamental contradiction between the WMG’s voluntary membership – implying that not all beneficiaries of better water management are part of and contributor to the WMG – and the collective nature of the benefits created by water management improvements. Simply put: the members are not eager to develop a capital reserve that is spent on measures that may also benefit non-members;
* In many cases, WMG leaders and members are averse to building-up capital, as it brings along issues of transparency and accounting. Rather than facing possible mistrust over how funds are used and accounted for, WMGs choose to not have capital reserves;
* When building up a reserve, there is an unknown lead time between member contributions and the moment that the collected resources are used, and the time when this generates benefits. People would like to have the use of their money in the intervening period;
* Even when financial resources are there, members could question whether investment in SSWMI is a priority. Purchase of fertilisers would possibly bring more direct benefits; while households themselves might prefer to reserve their resources for investment in education.

Nonetheless, WMGs facing urgent challenges (e.g. when responding to a flood threat) have been found to successfully collect funds for financing emergency works. Often, such fund collection campaigns are organised with or supervised by the Union Parishad (or by its chairman), which could help address concerns over social justice. There are also other rural development programmes that have been able to marshal upfront cash contributions from communities, provided the matching grant is released immediately upon the contribution being made available.

'''Future project interventions for SSWMI should remain critical on how the matching contribution is actually made and should seek ways to ask the benefitted community of the SSWMI to make cash upfront contributions.''' The experience of other rural development programmes should be used as reference, while close involvement of the LGIs can be explored as a way to ensure that the contribution is primarily made by those that would benefit from it.

====Other lessons with respect to small-scale water management infrastructure====
The SSWMI fund provides a rich and diverse experience, and the final word on its value and practice cannot yet be given. Replication and further improvement by further roll-out of such a fund would be useful. Some practical recommendations, based on BGP’s experience, include:

*'''Emphasise construction-safety''' – An accident during construction made clear that safety instructions are needed for box culverts;
*'''Aim to realise the full potential benefit of the small infrastructure by promoting introduction of High Yielding Varieties, high value crops and intensified cropping patterns''' – This requires a focus on agricultural commercialisation and on the opportunities within the market system;
*'''Investment in SSWMI can also make sense in areas where the primary infrastructure is not (yet) fully functional''' – The relatively inexpensive investments helps enhance control of water resources in a sub-catchment. Investment in the tertiary system does not have to wait – as was done in BGP – until the primary infrastructure is largely rehabilitated, but can be incorporated in polder development from its onset.;
*'''Monitor operation and maintenance of the small-scale infrastructure''' – as the effects, be it positive or negative, of SSWMI are not yet fully understood;
*'''Scale-up and scale-out the SSWMI-fund''' – The SSWMI investments generated a high demand. The strong desire for improving water control at the sub-catchment is in all likelihood not confined to the BGP project area. Once standards for design, costing, cost sharing and contracts are established, the approach can easily be scaled-up and -out.
*'''Consider incremental investment cycles''' – WMGs that did well in year one, should be given further opportunity in subsequent years, possibly with different arrangements for sharing investment costs;
*'''Make planning for SSWMI an explicit part of the planning cycle of the WMOs''' – In BGP, the SSWMI-fund was executed as a stand-alone campaign. In hindsight, it could have been incorporated in the water management planning that WMGs do as part of the catchment planning (see above). In this way, coherence with wider developments (i.e. opportunities offered by development of primary and secondary infrastructure) is sought, and the practice of regular planning and review is more strongly promoted in the new organisations;
*'''Discuss operation and maintenance ahead of the investment decision''' – Though not always easy, it is important to get the communities commitment to using and caring for the infrastructure. Insist on explicit definition of responsibilities.

===Community-led agricultural water management===
Community-led Agricultural Water Management (CAWM) aims to improve sub-catchment agricultural production and profitability by an integrated approach. CAWM introduces improved cropping varieties, enhanced crop (and crop-fish) practices in combination with timely and well-coordinated drainage of fields and khals by the involved WMG members. Attention is paid to operational coordination at the catchment level (sluice), as well as conflict management at WMA level to make sure khal blockages are removed and water can drain smoothly. CAWM improves the local situation with respect to water management, and CAWM areas were used to demonstrate the benefits of better local water management, through horizontal learning<ref group="Notes">In elevated areas, where waterlogging or late post monsoon drainage is no concern, BGP supported alternative crop choices through the Cropping Intensification Initiative (CII). See Section E on the production shift.</ref>.

Within BGP the approach was developed in 2015 and 2016 through a collaborative program led by IRRI<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yadav|first=Sudhir|title=Community water management to intensify agricultural productivity in the polders of the coastal zone of Bangladesh, Paddy and Water Environment|last2=Shew|first2=Aaron|publisher=published online|year=2019|isbn=|location=|pages=|display-authors=1|authors=}}</ref> with Phultala WMG and Kismat Phultala WMG in Polder 30. A [[:File:Feb 15 CAWM P30 baseline pilot martina groenemeijer feb 15.pdf|baseline report]] on the program was prepared in February 2015 by a TA intern (Martina Groenemeijer), and this was then developed into Technical Report 19 'Improved Water Management at the Polder 30 Community Water Management Pilot' in September 2016. This report built on the baseline information, reviewed the current status of the community water management action plan, summarised lessons learnt and made recommendations for disseminating the experience. In order to upscale the work, Blue Gold prepared plans for developing a network of CAWM schemes for [[:File:TR20 2016 17 CAWM Strategic Plan 22 Sep 16.pdf|2016/17]] and for [[:File:TR24 2018 2019 CAWM Strategic Plan 16sep 18.pdf|2018/19]]. Over the period 2017 and 2019, CAWM schemes were developed at 71 locations, covering 1,480 ha and involving over 4,300 farmers. DAE was responsible for all agricultural extension aspects and the Blue Gold TA team assisted with organisation and investment.

The approach consists of a mix of interventions, largely led by the community:

* Introduction of modern crop varieties, such as early maturing HYV T Aman and sunflower.
* Farmers field schools (FFS) led by DAE for knowledge transfer to support the introduction of modern crop varieties.
* Improved water management including:
** Coordination with WMA and catchment level (sluice) for conflict resolution, removal of blockages from khals and smooth and timely release of drainage water;
** Construction of small-scale water management infrastructure, to regulate water at the sub-catchment (tertiary) level;
** Hand-dug field canals (‘nullah’) for better drainage and water retention.

To accomplish and coordinate this, the following steps were taken:

# Select suitable area (primary infrastructure functional, secondary or tertiary infrastructure can be improved, social coherence, good organisation)
# Regular meetings with CAWM farmers to inform about process;
# Regular coordination meetings between BGP TA and DAE-staff;
# General planning at District level with DAE field staff and selected lead farmers;
# Specific CAWM sub-catchment planning with WMO and farmers to define the new cropping pattern, decide on water management interventions and improve infrastructure;
# Farmer Field Days or crop cutting ceremonies to share the experience with neighbouring farmers and LGIs.

====Lessons learnt on farmers’ crop choice – convincing all farmers====
BGP has stimulated farmers to shift from local T Aman paddy varieties to modern varieties, which have a shorter duration and produce higher yield. As these varieties mature earlier (usually 4 weeks), they have a different irrigation and drainage calendar from the surrounding crops. To overcome this, CAWM funds seeds and other inputs not for just one farmer but for all farmers in a particular sub-catchment. CAWM also intervenes with FFSs and small-scale infrastructure to ensure the success of the improved T Aman crop in order to convince farmers to continue growing modern varieties. But is this sufficient to convince farmers?

The cropping system a farmer adopts is dependent on multiple factors (see Figure 17.5)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kulsum|first=Umme|last2=Timmermans|first2=Jos|displayauthors=1|date=2019|title=Modelling of farmers’ livelihood decision making to understand their adaptation response to changing conditions in southwest coastal Bangladesh in the Ganges Delta|url=|journal=International Conference on Water and Flood Management|location=Dhaka|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> that are not necessarily obvious towards implementers of a water management project. In the Blue Gold Program, water management and cropping systems are assumed to be exclusively related. Therefore, farmers’ decisions with respect to crop and variety choice need to be well-understood in future CAWM interventions.
[[File:Figure 17.5 v2.png|center|thumb|800x800px|'''Figure 17.5: Factors in a farmers' choice of crop variety''']]
CAWM is a uniform package of interventions (infrastructure, FFS, varietal change), while farming requires a broad set of choices grounded ''inter alia'' in norms, beliefs, intentions and experiences. While the interventions are well-accepted by the community; this does not mean that the adoption of the varieties propagated by CAWM will be continued. For example, a new rice variety may on the long run not be to the liking of a farmer because of its taste, workload and input requirement, or marketability. It is desirable that all farmer considerations in crop choice are reviewed before determining the cropping pattern that CAWM will support.

Interventions within CAWM are planned through group workshops. Generally, vocal farmers lead the discussions. When it comes to varietal selection as well as infrastructure interventions, BGP invites lead farmers (together with SAAOs) to make the decisions. These lead farmers are generally well-respected and can create Union among farmers. This is helpful, as considerable portions of land become simultaneously cultivated with a new variety (crop synchronisation). This prevents conflicting drainage and irrigation requirements between short duration and local varieties of T Aman. Smaller farmers however, often grow a substantial amount of their crop harvest for their own consumption and may on the longer run revert back to varieties that have a better taste, size and structure than the modern variety. Future CAWM interventions need to take the numerous small farmers into account by facilitating multiple varieties of rice to be grown.

'''It is recommended that CAWM increases its option for improving the relation between crop production and local water management'''. CAWM’s menu presently comprises introduction of the early maturing BR52 T Aman variety, supported by a field crop FFS (for the aman season) and the provision of small-scale infrastructure. This narrow menu of choice increases the likelihood that only a small portion of farmers is served well. Expanding the ‘toolbox’, should be considered, by e.g.:

*Ascertaining what aspects of the crop choice are most important to farmers in a CAWM area and explicitly include and address these in CAWM planning exercises;
*Shifting focus from paddy production towards Rabi crops. While early aman harvest (and therefore drainage) is required for proper Rabi production, it can also be argued that the need for early aman harvest becomes apparent if more high value crops can be produced in the Rabi season;
*Developing a diversified irrigation and drainage schedule within a CAWM scheme that does not synchronise all water management efforts in the sub-catchments, but streamlines it. A group of farmers would still agree on cultivating the same paddy variety, but other choices are possible.

====Lesson learnt on the challenge of an integrated approach====
The Community-led Agricultural Water Management approach (as set out in [[:File:TR24 2018 2019 CAWM Strategic Plan 16sep 18.pdf|TR24 CAWM Strategic Plan for 2018/19]]) aimed to have a holistic approach towards improving the cropping pattern<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=2018-2019 CAWM Strategic Plan, Blue Gold Program Technical Report 24|publisher=Euroconsult Mott MacDonald & Associates|year=September 2018|isbn=|location=|pages=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:TR24_2018_2019_CAWM_Strategic_Plan_16sep_18.pdf}}</ref>. A main assumptions of CAWM is that higher income at the tertiary scale – i.e. the sub-catchment – can be achieved by improving water management, agricultural practices, crop varieties and marketing ''simultaneously.'' This integrated nature of CAWM places a large demand on the capacities and skills of the staff implementing it. Inevitably, staff having a background in say agronomy, are less likely to be confident in community mobilisation. Staff with a background in WMO-organisation are less likely to know the intricacies of rice varieties. The [[:File:TR24 2018 2019 CAWM Strategic Plan 16sep 18.pdf|TR24 CAWM Strategic Plan for 2018/19]] stated that “''insights coming from Value Chain Analysis (VCA) for relevant crops to be promoted under CAWM, and lessons learnt from BGP’s market orientation activities and market-oriented FFS (MFS) were used too”''. For nearly all staff this is a novel perspective and – while these insights were used to develop a new curriculum for FFS to be used under the CAWM umbrella – BGP and DAE staff often could not make the translation to the activities in the field.

Guiding staff – in this case from the BGP TA team as well as from DAE – in implementing the highly integrated CAWM approach requires a high level of coordination with the local teams and good cooperation with the subject matter experts supporting them. This was done by placing the program under one senior member of the TA team.

While the dedicated high-level attention can be understood from the special, highly integral nature of CAWM; the heavy central hand does not sit easy with BGP’s management philosophy, in which local polder teams play the key role in guiding the. This constitutes a contradiction, which was not solved by BGP:

*In order to upscale the pace of implementation of CAWMs, the lead would need to be vested more strongly in the Polder Team. To facilitate this, the approach would need to be simplified and standardised;
*In order to optimise the impact of CAWM on farmer livelihoods, the approach needs to be more flexible, more responsive to farmers’ diverse crop choices, more innovative and more locally adapted. Doing so, would require close involvement of senior staff

====Lessons learnt on local adaptation of CAWM====
CAWM has primarily focussed on the benefits of improved aman production. In the Patuakhali area, where aman is the mainstay, the relative impact on income of a better aman rice variety is high. In Khulna and Satkhira, boro rice is the mainstay and the relative effect on income by improving aman is lower. Therefore, 60% of the area covered by the CAWM approach is in Patuakhali; and the CAWM crop choice was replicated by farmers (with some support through extension) to roughly thrice this area. Therefore, it is more logical to continue to implement the current CAWM approach with this crop choice in the Patuakhali area. It is recommended to:

* Expand implementation in CAWM in Patuakhali with the present T Aman focus;
* Explore crop choice opportunities for the Rabi season (see also the lesson on ‘farmers’ crop choice, above) and include irrigated crop options, by including infrastructure investments for surface or groundwater irrigation;
* Explore other combinations of water management and agricultural products. As an example, within Khulna and Satkhira CAWM could be used to optimise indigenous systems, such as smallholder ghers and cultivation on sorjhon (raised beds).

A further opportunity for CAWM is to include novel agricultural practices. For example, incorporating ideas from Bangladesh’ research institutes. Research institutes often do trials at a small-scale, but innovations in water management will only be truly convincing if tried at the scale of CAWM (about or above 10 hectares). Inclusion of novel ideas can be achieved by keeping most of aspects of the CAWM approach intact, but changing the extension, input and infrastructure based on the new idea. In this way, CAWM remains a platform for agricultural water management innovation – in keeping with its own origin. '''It is recommended to reach out to IRRI, BRRI, BADC or other organisations and to invite them to do trials within CAWM schemes.'''

====Lessons on the institutional home for CAWM====
During the implementation of CAWM, DAE has been involved continuously. In 2020, DAE has taken the CAWM concept further on board as a potential mainstream activity and aims to implement it in the wider coastal belt. This is a big achievement for BGP. Key to this were the following factors:

*DAE initially entered the CAWM approach by supporting it with Farmer Field Schools. This was appreciated and enabled DAE to link its package on crop production to the perspective on water management;
*DAE District Directors, SAAOs and Farmer Trainers (FTs) were involved in the planning workshops for CAWM, so that DAE staff that was not directly involved in BGP also learned about CAWM and water management;
*The obvious synergy between DAE’s usual practices – especially farmer field schools (which are aimed at groups) – and the community-oriented CAWM activity made it relatively easy for DAE staff to find their way in the program.

It is recommended that DAE remains a leading party in CAWM implementation. CAWM could provide a testing ground for novel combinations of crop choices and local water management and thereby helps DAE to remain relevant in a changing rural setting.

====Lessons on monitoring, reflection and learning====
Using the experience of a successful IRRI-led pilot in Polder 30, plans were developed to scale-up and transfer the knowledge and experience across the Blue Gold Program area using CAWM demonstrations. By the end of the 2019/20 season, there were 71 CAWM demonstrations across Blue Gold. Presently, DAE is considering mainstreaming (parts of) the approach. While the potential of CAWM has fuelled such ambitions; the actual benefits may be less than anticipated. A 2019 sample survey of 24 CAWM sites found positive outcomes only in 11 locations<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Assessment of Outcomes of Community-led Agricultural Water Management, unpublished first draft|publisher=Euroconsult Mott MacDonald & Associates|year=December 2019|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref>. This outcome needs to be qualified by further research and follow-up interviews, and it is difficult to draw many lessons from a one-off survey.

To understand the impact of CAWM, the yardsticks have to be clear. The implementers of CAWM measured its success by the area of BR52 paddy in a polder (which showed a strong upward trend in Patuakhali, where this was assessed); whereas the sample survey focussed on the impact on income. In future, '''monitoring staff should be involved in defining the objectives of a project activity, such as CAWM, and help ensure that its outcomes and outputs are clearly established by management'''.

Some of the lessons learnt from operating a network of demonstration schemes under the Blue Gold Program over four to five years are as follows:

*'''Provide follow-up support''' – The CAWM approach was implemented at a particular location over the course of a single year, only. The consensus now is that a 3-year support period is required; the first year to construct new infrastructure, the second year to introduce a new cropping pattern and the third year for further finetuning. It follows that it is recommended that follow-up support is provided to the CAWM locations that were completed in preceding years.
*'''Establish SMART targets, outcomes and outputs''' – to ensure greater clarity of the respective roles of implementers, partner agencies (DAE) and BGP management
*'''Diversify production choices supported by CAWM –''' In Patuakhali, the focus should remain on short-duration T Aman in combination with attention to rabi cultivation. However, elsewhere other combinations of product and water management can be supported, such as:
**Low lift pumps (LLPs) or shallow tube wells (STWs) for irrigated rabi crops;
**Involving BRRI and IRRI in CAWM activities;
**For Khulna, introduce other land use such as smallholder ghers.
*'''Standardise procedures''' – SSWMI cost estimates and designs should be adopted for future CAWM schemes.

==In-Polder Water Management as a step forward==
Neither the track record of polder development nor that of participatory water management in Bangladesh is particularly good. Where polders (and other water management infrastructure, for that matter) are caught in a vicious cycle of ‘build – neglect – rehabilitate’; participatory water management has not – or hardly – lived up to its promise of changing the neglect of infrastructure maintenance into lasting care. In fact, only few water user organisations continue to exist beyond the duration of the projects that established them. Nonetheless, polders and embankments are recognised to be an essential part of water security in the coastal zone, as seen by the hue and cry over eroded embankments and defunct sluice gates. Likewise, local water management organisations have proved their worth in pinpointing and addressing water management issues, be it often only for the duration of a project intervention.

While the deeper causes of the above dual problem of failing infrastructure and failing care merit a profound analysis; this section – rather than dwelling on shortcomings – puts forward the strong conviction that '''in-polder water management has the potential to make the combination of polder development and participatory water management work better'''.

This assertion is made in the full realisation that BGP started systematically addressing in-polder water management only from 2016 onwards; and that BGP’s initial steps in this arena were cautious and therefore lacked momentum. The conviction that IPWM would help make polder development and participatory water management more sustainable is therefore only loosely based in evidence, and more rooted in the expert judgement of those involved.

'''Lesson 1: In-polder Water Management adds value to ‘peripheral’ polder infrastructure'''

Embankments, sluices and primary khals alone help reduce the occurrence of flooding; the inflow of brackish water and sediments; as well as some waterlogging in a polder; but it does little to speed-up drainage of the interior lands, does not help retain water for relatively elevated lands and does not improve conditions of interior areas that are altogether disconnected from the main system. Internal polder water management – which can be defined as establishment of desired local water levels through development of arteries into the polder and the control over the water flows therein – uses the opportunity provided by the main infrastructure to ensure locally-specific optimised combinations of water management and production choices. Primary infrastructure alone cannot serve the interests of all polder dwellers. To improve livelihoods in all parts of the polders, secondary and tertiary infrastructure is needed.

Investments in in-polder water management are relatively cheap, while the increase of income for involved farmers can be high. Payback times of less than one year are no exception. A typical sluice would cost around 200 lakh BDT per catchment, while BGP estimate that with 10 to 30% of this amount, most of the secondary and tertiary infrastructure in a catchment can be constructed, excavated and optimised.

Like the infrastructure of large irrigation systems, the infrastructure of a polder is ‘nested’. This means that there is a local or tertiary level, which sets its water management routines within the possibilities of the sector- or secondary system; which in turn depends on the conditions determined by the main- or primary system. The interconnectedness of these three spheres of a polder and their coherent functioning, maximises the benefit that can be had from investment in polders. Polder development requires in-polder water management to be developed along and in harmony with the development of the main infrastructure, which is located on the periphery of the polder. This periphery forms the interface between in-polder water management and external river system.

'''Lesson 2: Actions to improve local water management enhance responsibility for higher order infrastructure'''

BGP showed that communities are highly interested in water management interventions in their vicinity. They are willing to plan and contribute to infrastructure that creates improved water management conditions as a common good for a group of producers. The ability to better control water in a sub-catchments (a tertiary unit) is likely to encourage the beneficiaries to pursue their water management interests at larger scale as well; i.e. in their WMG and through that in a catchment O&M subcommittee. Similarly, being able to ensure a good performance of a secondary khal through better maintenance or even through development of intermediate infrastructure, would encourage water users to pursue their interests at the level of the polder; and thereby to enhance accountability for proper maintenance and operation of main infrastructure (embankment, sluices and primary khals).

Another way in which the processes at local and catchment level provide a stronger basis of overall management of the polder is that in the development of small-scale infrastructure and of catchment plans local organisations, such as the Union Parishad and government agencies such as BADC and LGED played a supportive role. They reviewed plans, committed support to certain actions and provided financial contributions to maintenance work and even to investments. Of course, there is an element of the local authorities wanting to be associated with beneficial interventions; but these joint activities also forge a partnership between WMOs, LGIs, department and possibly other relevant actors. Such a partnership constitutes an important condition for responsible behaviour of all concerned with respect to the overall performance of a polder and with respect to the integrity of its primary infrastructure, i.e. embankments, sluices and primary khals.

Through Blue Gold, O&M Agreements (examples provided here in [[:File:O&M Agreement P47 3 Bangla version.pdf|Bangla]] and [[:File:O&M Agreement approved Eng ver recd 6aug 18.pdf|English]]) have been used to set out the respective responsibilities of BWDB and WMAs for routine, periodic and emergency maintenance. The main purpose of the agreements is to sustain the benefits arising from bringing land into cultivation – to protect the land from further waterlogging and to bring new land into cultivation. By February 2020, these agreements have been signed for all polders by the respective Executive Engineer of BWDB's O&M Division, and by representatives of 36 WMAs.

To encourage good practice in water management, two versions of a manual for WMO executive members and BWDB field staff were prepared: a [[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual text based-reduced.pdf|‘text-based’ manual]] (in Bangla) for a more literate audience; and a [[:File:3dec 20 WM Manual picture based-reduced.pdf|‘picture-based’ manual]] for an audience that is less familiar with text-based advice. During preparation of the manuals, Blue Gold worked closely with field staff, WMO executives and other WMO members and incorporated their feedback to ensure that the manuals serve the needs and interests of farmers and fishermen. Feedback sessions with BWDB zonal staff have been used to establish that all required material is covered. Copies of the manuals were distributed to WMOs during the first quarter of 2021.

'''Lesson 3: Polder development requires integrated top-down and bottom-up planning and realisation'''

While the point that polders should be understood as a nested system of primary, secondary and tertiary infrastructure is hardly contested; the traditional approach to polder development would be to work from the outside in; i.e. starting with embankments, sluices and main khals, towards secondary khals and intermediate infrastructure; and on to finish with work at the local, tertiary level. The traditional approach to Participatory Water Management, would have it the other way around: beginning with local improvements and building-up confidence towards higher order infrastructure step-by-step. Within BGP, this led to an imperfect situation: WMAs were last to be formed and therefore still immature at the time that primary infrastructure was reaching completion; whereas WMGs were established early on, but had a long wait before they were practically involved in water management through activities related to small-scale infrastructure.

In BGP, the realisation has grown that outside-in and inside-out planning are complementary processes, which can and should take place simultaneously and which should be mutually reinforcing. This can be achieved by:

*Include investment categories for main infrastructure, intermediate infrastructure and small-scale infrastructure in the development project proforma; each with appropriate modalities for (co-)investment.
*Start implementation planning by initiating cooperation for the development of the polder between implementing agencies, locally present departments and local governments, with the proviso to expand the cooperation to other relevant actors, including the private sector;
*With the help of local governments and other local actors facilitate the development of new water management organisations from the outside in: I.e. first form a WMA that is responsible to promote user participation in the polder, and then help this lead the process of establishment of catchment committees and WMGs;
*Develop an understanding of the future polder, including its production potential for crops and fish and the hydrological processes underpinning this potential through studies and interaction with the user organisations;
*Run annual planning rounds for the polder as a whole, for each catchment and for each WMG and inform decisions on investments an annual development plans with the outcomes of these rounds. In this way, implementing agencies and the WMOs may be able to improve functionality of a particular infrastructure in conjunction with other infrastructure.

'''Lesson 4: The significance of a well-performing polder extends beyond higher production only'''

In the post-independence period, investments in polder were justified by their impact on incremental production. The incremental production largely comprised of higher average aman yields caused by the reduction of flooding and the exclusion of saline water; although in time there came recognition for the contribution made by other crops and in other seasons and, eventually, for the productive potential of fisheries in a managed water environment.

At present, the coastal zone faces the enhanced risk profile caused by climate change: deeper intrusion of salinity; continued sedimentation of external rivers, higher variability in rainfall and drought, a higher risk for storms and storm surges and continued and intensified unpredictable riverbank erosion. Polder development – combining peripheral works with in-polder water management – enhances the resilience of communities to these effects. This is done by promoting a diverse production system, by building local responsibility towards the integrity of the polders and by enhancing local economic development. Polder development is part of the answer to increased climatic risks.

The significance of a polder also extends beyond the locality. A robust local economic development in the polder helps lessen the migration to urban centres, helps ensure that the urban diet is supported by nutritious food produced that needs not be imported and adds momentum to the wider development of the coastal zone. The new road, rail and port infrastructure being developed in the southwest provides the opportunity for the region to become an agricultural powerhouse for vibrant national economy.

As the infrastructure supports more than just local incremental production, it follows that the responsibility for the primary infrastructure cannot be carried by local organisations only, and requires clear mechanisms for sharing the long-term cost of maintaining such infrastructure.

== References ==
<references />

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== See also ==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[16 Women’s participation in water management|Chapter 16: Women's participation in Water Management]]|Curr_sect=[[Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management|Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management]]|Next_chap=[[18 The Water Management Partnership|Chapter 18: Water Management Partnership]]}}

{{SeeMoreSectionD}}

File:BGP-Wiki-File-List-v1.1.xlsx

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Bigblue: Complete file list of the wiki File Library

== Summary ==
Complete file list of the wiki File Library

21 The Evolving Approach to the Commercialization of Agriculture

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Bigblue:

{{Briefing materials STC|decks=* [[:File:BGP slide deck outcomes v8.pdf|Improving the productivity of land in coastal Bangladesh: outcomes of Blue Gold interventions 2013-2019]]
* [[:File:Bgp-slide-deck-commercialisation-of-farming-long-v4.1.pdf|Commercialisation of agriculture: improved water management conditions driving reductions in poverty (long)]]|brochures=* [[:File:BGP 4 pager commercialisation of farming v8.pdf|Commercialisation of agriculture: improved water management conditions driving reductions in poverty]]
* [[:File:BGP 4 pager IPWM v3.pdf|In-polder water management: maximising returns from agriculture and aquaculture]]|studies=* [[:File:BGP case study CAWM Uttar Khekuani v4.pdf|Community-led agricultural water management at Uttar Khekuani]]
* [[:File:Bgp-case-study-svc-rice-v3.1.pdf|Improving supply chain efficiency for rice farmers: Anowar's story]]
* [[:File:BGP case study commercialisation of farming activities in polder 22 v5.pdf|Commercialising watermelon farming]]
* [[:File:BGP case study impact of WRM at Amodkhali Satkhira v1.pdf|Impact of water resource management at Amadkhali, Satkhira]]

Many of the terms used for rice crops and seasons are explained in [[:File:Bengali-agricultural-calendar.pdf|this schematic representation]]|videos=* No videos for the current chapter.|manuals=No manual for the current chapter.|flipchart=No flipchart for the current chapter.}}

== Project documents: Expectations and approach at the start ==

=== The Blue Gold Program Document ===
The [[:File:GoN Program Document BGP 28Aug12.pdf|Program Document]] of the Blue Gold Program (BGP) considered that ''‘the entry point of Blue Gold is the participation of the rural communities to the extent that they take up the responsibilities, by organising themselves in primary societies (cooperatives), for stepping out of poverty''’. The core idea was that about 600 cooperatives<ref group="Notes">At the time the Project Document was developed, Water Management Groups were registered as cooperatives under the Department of Cooperatives. Since the Participatory Water Management Rules of 2014, WMGs were registered in their own right under the Bangladesh Water Management Board (BWDB)</ref> would be newly established as Water Management Groups (WMGs) in addition to strengthening 250 existing cooperatives / WMGs in the IPSWAM polders; each cooperative would have 250 members on average. The Program Document states: ‘''The cooperatives will become the drivers of change towards better life’''.

The Program Document expected that ‘once the water resources management infrastructure is effectively rehabilitated, the producers can use this to increase their productivity and their production intensity’. Farmer Field Schools (FFSs) were assigned as the extension approach for farmers to be introduced to innovations in agricultural practice and ‘Blue Gold will facilitate this process of information and train the FFS facilitators’.

Considering “Business Development” as a separate set of activities, the Program Document argued that ‘''for the cooperatives to be sustainable, it is important that these entities will be organised and operated as private sector entities''’. In addition, it is stated that ‘''Value chain analyses will be made of a number of selected crops and private sector linkages will be established for well-defined services.''’ As a result, ''”at least 200 cooperatives will operate as an effective enterprise''”.

The relevant outputs and activities for the Productive Sector and Business Development from the logical framework (or 'logframe') of the Program Document, which also served as the logframe of the DPP with BWDB, are presented in [[Logframe Program Document (Productive Sector and Business Development)|Annex 21-1]].

'''''Preliminary Discussion'':''' A major point to note from the Program Document is the separation of principally related approaches over the three program components<ref group="Notes">The Program Document also distinguished a fourth component of Integrated Water Resources Management and a fifth of cross-cutting issues.</ref> of community mobilization, agricultural production and business development:

* The formation of Water Management Groups (WMGs) as cooperatives was assigned to the community mobilisation component. A broad-based needs identification was pursued, aimed at establishing community-based organisations with a broad membership and multiple functions or objectives.
* Agricultural innovation and technology transfer to the farming WMG members was assigned to the production component. Its primary vehicle, Farmer Field Schools, would be organised by the Department of Agricultural Extension.
* The Business Development component was envisaged to analyse eight different crop value chains, with as primary purpose, and thereby recognising the private sector, to define a role for the WMGs to generate income and therewith increase the sustainability of its other functions, in particular water management.

However, one could argue that the above three elements are part and parcel of a comprehensive value chain development approach, i.e. the identification of producer weaknesses and options, of constraints and opportunities in the value chain’s market linkages, and the capacity building of any actor required to address these. Ultimately, this could include, but only if necessary, the formation of a producer cooperative.

=== The DPP with the Department of Agriculture Extension ===
The DPP (Development Project Proforma) of DAE focused on agricultural extension through the Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology, which was already being implemented by DAE with DANIDA support. The output, included in the revised DPP, was the implementation of 1,492 FFS to transfer modern production technologies for crops, the distribution of a variety of inputs (vegetable seeds, fertiliser, fruit saplings) in 380 (horticulture focused) demonstrations, the general training of DAE staff (75 Departmental Trainers and 150 Farmer Trainers (FTs)), and the financial support to farmer organisations (375 x 20.000 BDT).

The DPP noted that in the selected polders BWDB would organize Water Management Groups (WMGs); DAE would provide crop production technology to these WMGs through a group approach i.e. the FFS approach. The FFS approach had been tested and confirmed by DAE in Bangladesh to be a solid and practical mechanism through which new knowledge, practices and messages can be transferred to farming communities where the literacy rate is low. The FFS approach is successful because the sessions run over the course of an entire cropping cycle during which the participants are encouraged to implement new practices, resulting in overall high adoption rates.

The logframe of the DAE DPP of May 2013 is inserted in [[Logframe in DPP of DAE|Annex 21-2]]. Note that it is not compatible with the logframe in the Blue Gold Program Document of August 2012 (refer to the partial extract from the Program Document logframe - for Outputs 3 and 4 - in [[Logframe Program Document (Productive Sector and Business Development)|Annex 21-1]] ).

''Preliminary Discussion:'' The DAE DPP sets a strict framework for the implementation of agricultural extension through the Farmer Field School methodology. Farmer groups, belonging to the WMGs, were seen as leaders or core actors of value chains. However, the approach to farmers and to WMGs were not aligned. Any linkages between agricultural practices and water management, as well as linkages between farmers and other market actors were beyond the content of the classic FFS.

Blue Gold’s DAE contribution consisted of a small central office to organize the implementation of DAE’s FFS. It was expected to work through the lines of the DAE structure, ‘buying person-hours and services’ in DAE’s line operations. In support of implementation (only) the training of field staff was envisaged. Beyond this, there was limited attention to the involvement of the line in the process.
----

=== The Blue Gold Proposal ===
The Proposal took the line of the Program Document, making the divergence of responsibilities and approaches even more explicit. Food security and agricultural production stood apart from Business Development. No differentiation of farming households was envisaged in the pursuit of agricultural production. Increasing agricultural production was sought through FFS in a Food Security and Production component, leaving the market linkages to Value Chain and Markets for the Poor (M4P) approaches pursued by a Business Development component. In this way, both components pursued identical results in the logframe but through different outputs. The Food Security component focused its interventions on the producers and Business Development’s focus was on the other value chain actors, mainly to carve an enterprise role for the WMGs.

The FFS focused on improving production. They would be implemented by DAE and envisaged to go beyond their traditional focus on rice. Instead of establishing farmer clubs they would work with WMG subgroups. Blue Gold would therein focus on cropping, leaving dairy and aquaculture value chains to CARE and SOLIDARIDAD in the SAFAL project. The outcomes of value chain analyses would serve the drafting of business plans and strengthening capacities. By suggesting Farm Business Groups and referring to the experience of the International Development Enterprise (iDE) with collection points, the expectations regarding the development of Cooperatives, eminent in the Program Document, were tempered.

=== The Blue Gold Inception Report ===
In the [[:File:IR Inception Report, revised March 2014.pdf|Inception Report]] the different approaches, as described in the [[:File:GoN Program Document BGP 28Aug12.pdf|Program Document]] and adhered to in the Proposal, were increasingly entrenched in the Project Organisation’s Components. In short:

Community mobilisation followed the slightly adapted six step approach to develop Water Management Organisations. This approach originated from a set procedure developed in IPSWAM. The arrangements with the Department of Cooperatives were already under strain though. WMOs, at that time, were village-based and capacity development pursued a CBO (Community Business Organization) type platform.

The Food Security and Agricultural Production Component split the integrated IFMC<ref group="Notes">IFMC refers to the Integrated Farm Management Component, a DANIDA funded program supporting DAE to develop and implement FFS.</ref> approach that was recently developed at that time. It thereby followed the FFS output targets defined in the DAE DPP and the TA budget. It divided responsibilities between DAE and the Technical Assistance (TA) team, allowing also for the involvement of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and the Department of Fisheries (DoF). DAE would implement 1000 FFS focused on crops only<ref group="Notes">However, in DAE’s approach teams of husbands and wives are selected to participate, with the husbands following the field crop modules and the wives homestead production and nutrition modules.</ref>. Initially only rice production was envisaged, but later other field crops were included as well. Blue Gold’s TA would implement 200 + 200 FFS focused on livestock and aquaculture, to which later homestead gardening was added. Blue Gold’s TA aimed at farmers with less than 50 decimals of land and considered poor. Both types of FFS followed DANIDA’s standard curricula. Groups consisted of 25 participants and for the TA FFS a 50% target of female participation was set.

It was recognised that the commodity focus of the IFMC’s FFS approach did not address all aspects of BGP objectives. It was thus foreseen that curricula would be reviewed to incorporate new elements or extra sessions to overcome this; and for the FFS to become a vehicle for market orientation and to strengthen the position of farmers in the value chain by the introduction of a new module. Simultaneously a first level of farmer differentiation was foreseen by distinguishing three FFS types, i.e. a first focused on Food Security (the homestead FFS by TA, see [[25 Poverty Focus: development of homestead production|chapter 25]]), a second was Production Oriented (crop FFS by DAE) and a third was Market Oriented (MFS by TA).

The Business Development component noted that Blue Gold’s area development concept was based on water resource management and aimed to benefit the heterogeneous population of its polders. Both points were found at odds with the traditional value chain approach with market demand as entry point and a more selective attitude to participating farmers. In addition, doubting the cooperative solution as proposed in the Program Document, an open mind was kept to the ideal form of producer organisation. It did not seek to crowd out the budding private sector by a focus on supporting Water Management Organizations (WMOs) to take up entrepreneurial roles and foresaw a slow, needs-based build-up of producer organisations. Finally, it set out to harmonise a value chain approach with the current main stance of providing extension, namely by FFS. The development of a Market Orientation cum collective action module for FFS was the responsibility of Business Development. The content was to be defined by Value Chain Analysis (VCA) wherein producers would take centre stage and opportunities and constraints across the value chain would be taken in consideration, i.e. including other market actors.

Finally, the overall approach of Blue Gold was envisaged and presented as sequential: WMOs would be formed and infrastructure rehabilitated, production would be enhanced, and business development would follow upon the increased production.
----

=== In summary: a difficult starting point ===
The outcome of the above document analysis is that Blue Gold carried - from the start - potentially flawed concepts relevant to agricultural development. Flawed concepts which might prove difficult to resolve within divided responsibilities. In short, the key positions on critical aspects were:

==== On WMO development ====
The starting position to WMO development was that the process should follow the guidelines elaborated in IPSWAM. The process was not only very structured and detailed, it was also prescriptive in e.g. membership and leadership, and sought to be multi-functional. It was a foregone conclusion that WMO’s should function as cooperatives, because they had to be registered as cooperatives and therefore were envisaged to undertake various business enterprises, with as primary objective to make their function in Operation and Maintenance (O&M) within water management sustainable. Leaving aside the difficulty of making the cooperatives function despite weak management capabilities, this would also mean that fees would be charged to all members to pay for the maintenance of water infrastructure. This however, would also benefit non-members, who tended to be larger landowners. So inherently, the WMOs have the risk of making the (generally more poor) members pay for services from which non-poor non-members would benefit as well. This, of course, would be quite contrary to the intended outcomes.

==== On pursuing Farmer Field Schools along Value Chain Development (VCD) ====
Similarly, the FFS approach was set to be the methodology to enhance agricultural production and naturally focused on the agricultural producers. Said to be a tried and tested method over many years, and requiring minimal adaptation, it solidified an obstinate application amongst the practitioners. Meanwhile, these same producers should be part and parcel, if not at the core, of another set methodology, namely Value Chain Development. The result thereof was that VCA-defined interventions involving producers had to be grafted on FFS, while activities with other actors, such as input traders or buyers, required a separate program of interventions. This supposedly included also the association of those same producers in the WMOs, as their cooperatives had to take a central role in the value chains. This was further complicated and solidified by the fact that different project partners, DAE and Blue Gold TA team, were respectively responsible for the attention to producers versus other actors in the market system.

==== On Value Chain Development’s suitability for territorial development ====
In addition, VCD itself appeared a somewhat ill-fitting predetermined methodology. Value chains generally have end-markets in mind as entry point for specific produce. They thereby primarily focus on particular farmers in a high potential area to produce to the high requirements of this market demand and to supply this as efficiently as possible through the value chain. Meanwhile, the entry point of Blue Gold was the broad increase of production and productivity based upon improved water management, which is defined by a territorial approach, namely hydrological units. Along comes the responsibility to consider the total, or nearly total, polder population and not to become involved in cherry-picking amongst farmers. With this came the understanding that polder households are not homogeneous, not in their livelihood strategies, and also not in their endowments or assets to farm. A differentiated strategy to the heterogeneity of the households should have been part from the start. In addition, with a substantial segment of the polder inhabitants being extreme poor, in a majority of poor, an approach more tilted towards a Markets For the Poor (M4P) approach than towards VCD would appear more appropriate.

== Lines of change during implementation – an evolving approach ==
Starting off on the above basis, implementation provided progressive insights. These are discussed below and simultaneously cover evolving lines of change and approaches.

=== The Water Management Group: no longer a Cooperative ===
As discussed in [[19 Operationalisation of the PWM concept|chapter 19]], in the course of the Project, the approach to water management groups changed in several ways:

* The legal basis of the WMGs changed from registration as a cooperative, to registration as a water management group under the BWDB;
* The focus of the BGP TA team's support to WMGs shifted from supporting compliance to the legal requirements to support to their functionality .

These changes made it possible to focus agricultural commercialisation on smaller groups, and helped promote optimisation of water management conditions for commercial crops.
----

=== Linking Value Chain Development and Farmer Field Schools to commercialise agriculture ===
The Program Document strongly established the FFS methodology as the approach to pursue production improvements. DAE had long standing experience with FFS through DANIDA projects. A short history of FFS in Bangladesh is presented below<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:IR_Inception_Report,_revised_March_2014.pdf|title=Blue Gold Program Inception Report|date=November 2013|publisher=Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Bangladesh Water Development Board, Department of Agricultural Extension|year=|isbn=|edition=Revised March 2014|location=|pages=|chapter=Paragraph 3.3.3}}</ref> in box 21.1
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; width: 75%;"
|+'''Box 21.1 A short history of FFS in Bangladesh'''
| The FFS approach was initially developed in Indonesia to educate farmers on Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Also, the first FFSs in Bangladesh (in the mid-1990s) by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) were focusing on Integrated Pest Management with the main objective of reducing pesticide misuse. The 14 weekly IPM FFS sessions were spread out over an entire (rice) cropping season.
Gradually the FFS curriculum shifted to Integrated Crop Management (ICM) with a more holistic view on growing healthy crops, for example by including learning about seed health, soils and fertilizer management. While most FFS were conducted in rice, also some other field crops were gradually included.
Another change that took place was that the earlier IPM FFSs had 25 (mainly male) participants while the ICM FFSs included 50 participants of 25 households (1 male and 1 female from each household). These FFS had 20 weekly sessions, usually 11 for crop related topics (male participants), 4 for topics that are of interest to women (homestead gardens, nutrition), and 5 sessions with all 50 participants together to develop a farmers club to sustain FFS activities in the following seasons.
In the meantime, the FFS approach was also introduced with assistance from DANIDA in the fisheries and livestock sectors where new training modules were developed for aquaculture, big and small ruminants and poultry.
Through collaboration between the two DANIDA-funded projects (AEC and RFLDC, 2007-2013), ideas started to develop to bring the crops, livestock and aquaculture together in one modular FFS curriculum for Integrated Farm Management (IFM). The projects initiated pilot FFSs to test and develop this IFM approach, which from mid-2013 onwards will be used by DAE in the new DANIDA funded Integrated Farm Management Component (IFMC). The IFM FFS consist of 52 sessions divided into different modules (e.g. rice, poultry, small ruminant, large ruminant, fish, nutrition, homestead garden) and works with 25 male and 25 female participants (same household). Many of these FFS will eventually form a Farmers Club.
|}
As per its DPP, DAE kicked-off with a season-long (seed to harvest) FFS program for groups of 50 participants from 25 household. The locations were selected independently from water management considerations. A small number of FFS were outside the BGP polders. The program primarily focused on rice production and used the standard DAE curriculum of an Integrated Crop Management (ICM) approach. While based on learning from experience (experiential learning) through a participatory learning process the trials focused primarily on technology transfers ranging from land preparation and variety selection to fertiliser and pest management practices. When testing new ideas in field observations, data collection focused on yield comparisons. It lacked the essential financial information to analyse profitability along productivity and to make well-informed farm management decisions. The standard curriculum gave no attention to a farmer’s market orientation or the producer’s market linkages. DAE FFS implementation came to a halt at some stage following administrative disagreements with EKN.

In the Agricultural Growth and Employment Program (AGEP), implemented in parallel to Blue Gold, DAE and DANIDA pursued the Integrated Farm Management Component (IFMC) wherein they ran a Farm Business School (FBS) alongside a more traditional FFS program. The latter implemented the comprehensive IFM approach, while the Farm Business School approach focused on identifying and implementing business and marketing ideas with mature Farmer Clubs or Farmer Organisations established in previous FFS programs. Farm Business Schools consisted of 20 sessions primarily focusing on value adding and collective marketing. The approach proofed to be very demanding in terms of business planning and was subsequently abandoned and replaced with a more down to earth approach involving Business Focal Persons (BFP). The latter was still pursued parallel to IFMC FFS.

Blue Gold TA staff worked closely with IFMC on the Farmer Business School approach. IFMC’s Program Document also suggested FBS as an option to pursue the Business Planning of WMOs as Cooperatives. As the registration of WMGs as cooperatives was abandoned in 2014, the focus was on FFS members and Blue Gold pursued the idea of integrating or grafting additional (part)-sessions in FFS and/or adding a Business Development module. The sole participants of FFS being producers, the attention was on business ideas or collective actions by farmers and not on strengthening the capacities of other actors in the value chain.

The crops or produce to which this was to be applied still needed to be defined. This was the outcome of a Value Chain Selection process supported by extensive polder information gathering. From a wide range of crops and produce a selection was made of a few ''rabi'' crops which stood to benefit easily from improved water management, such as mung, watermelon etc. The criteria were not set to define high value crops for specific end-markets but towards creating the most social and economic value from improved water management conditions. Still focused on the aim to embed producer groups within WMGs and an income generating objective, poultry and pond aquaculture were added to maintain contact with the group throughout the year and to be more gender-inclusive.

The next step was the undertaking of Value Chain Analyses for these products (such as [[:File:TR19 Mustard Value Chain Analysis 22feb 17.pdf|mustard]], [[:File:TN 02 Tilapia Value Chain Analysis July 13 2015.pdf|tilapia]], [[:File:TN 04 Local Poultry Value chain Analysis.pdf|local poultry]] and [[:File:TN 05 Mung bean VCA.pdf|mung bean]]). This identified constraints and opportunities across the value chain, covering producers as well as other actors and moving beyond cultivation practices to market participation. The findings were translated into interventions upon feasibility assessment and finally included in a Value Chain Development program addressing the capacity strengthening of multiple actors, in particular crops like sesame, mung and short duration rice.

What remained was linking up with the FFS approach and implementation. Due to the specific design of Blue Gold, the implementation of the VCD program required a rather complex arrangement. The interventions related to the producers were supposed to be implemented through the FFS approach and by DAE. For this purpose, producer-focused interventions were grafted into an FFS curriculum on which DAE field staff were trained along with broader Value Chain concepts. Interventions relating to other value chain actors remained the responsibility of the Technical Assistance team and were implemented through Blue Gold’s polder teams, for which they were similarly trained.

For the selected produce, sesame, mung bean, tilapia and poultry, FFS-curricula were drafted fully integrating technology transfer and market orientation aspects. The field trials were devised to demonstrate the agricultural potential if good water management practices were applied. In addition, when demonstrating new varieties, inputs or practices, also the access to those was facilitated along with the opportunity to organise this collectively through a resource farmer. Throughout the sessions, the profitability of innovative practices was put central, and the farmers’ decision-making ability strengthened. These fundamentally different curricula were referred to as MFS, or Market Oriented Farmer Field Schools.

As DAE had not restarted its participation in Blue Gold and under pressure from the 2015 Annual Review Mission to start field activities, Blue Gold TA commenced an MFS program. Relating to DANIDA experience this program would work for three years with a same producer group to allow them to mature as a business group. The program started the first year with Mung Bean/Tilapia in Patuakhali and with Sesame/Poultry in Khulna. Each zone started with up 40 producer groups -each with 25 participants - linked to existing WMGs. In the second year another 40 producer groups were started in each zone. The first groups went into their second year with a curriculum reducing the weight of technology transfer and increasing the attention to farmer entrepreneurship and collective actions.

At this time, it became clear that some of the constraints to the ''rabi'' crops could only be overcome by adaptations in the T Aman crop, for example, the need for shorter duration varieties to allow an earlier start of the Rabi crop. Therefore, the MFS program converted from a single crop seasonal focus to a year-round cropping system program. Central to this was the improvement of the productivity and profitability of a cropping system under improved water management conditions. Half-way the second MFS year a rice MFS was implemented. It stripped most of the standard rice FFS technology transfer water management practices to enable a more secure start to the ''rabi'' crops. In some places this allowed for further diversification of ''rabi'' crops e.g. maize, sunflower and wheat or of further intensification e.g. the introduction of mustard as a third crop. It was the moment that the importance of the local variance in water management conditions was appreciated. In 2016, at the end of the second MFS year, half-way into the first cropping system approach, FFS implementation through DAE was set to commence again. In parallel also CAWM<ref group="Notes">Community-led Agricultural Water Management (CAWM) interventions combined short duration Rice crop followed by exploring additional crop where possible, in a cropping year, linking with water management at community level with a view to encourage farmers at sub-catchment level more in water management for additional production and income.</ref> activities had been started up with DAE implementing FFS along similar lines, see the [[:File:GoB DAE CAWM FFS Module.pdf|CAWM FFS module]] (Bangla). The MFS program through the Blue Gold TA was discontinued in order to be grafted onto the DAE FFS as originally intended. The DAE field staff were trained on the tested MFS cropping system curriculum. However, implementation along these lines remained a challenge. Besides Market Orientation understanding, it assumed a moving away from facilitating a farmer’s operation on the basis of a set curriculum, to facilitating a group more flexibly on the basis of an enhanced understanding of local physical variations and production constraints and opportunities. The combined DAE FFS and CAWM interventions, along with a market system development program, that included capacity development of backward-forward actors, formed the basis of Blue Gold’s commercialising agriculture.

=== Differentiating Households: Maintaining a focus on the poor and reducing poverty ===
The cropping system interventions related to water management improvements led to a natural bias of interventions towards households with access to land. Understandably possessing such assets, they were often somewhat better off than many others in the polders but nonetheless poor as found in the Household Survey<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:TR06_Household_Survey_Report_P22_30_43_2D_43_2F_31mar_14.pdf|title=Blue Gold Program: Household Survey Report|date=March 2014|publisher=Euroconsult Mott MacDonald, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), and Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE)|year=|isbn=|series=Technical Report No. 6|location=|pages=}}</ref>. It was felt that Blue Gold should focus on the poorest even more. Meanwhile also the ARM called upon BGP ‘not to lose the poverty focus’ and to attend to the landless.

While the heterogeneity of the households in the polders was noted during Inception, it became better understood through applying the rural transformation framework. Around 2015 UNCTAD, [[:File:DFID Conceptual Framework on Agriculture.pdf|DFID]] and IOB published strategy papers on rural transformation<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://www.bluegoldwiki.com/index.php?title=File:DFID_Conceptual_Framework_on_Agriculture.pdf|title=DFID's Conceptual Framework on Agriculture|date=November 2015|publisher=Department for International Development, Govt. of United Kingdom|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Household survey baseline report – impact evaluation food security program Bangladesh|publisher=IOB|year=2015|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=https://unctad.org/webflyer/least-developed-countries-report-2015|title=The Least Developed Countries Report, Transforming rural economies|publisher=UNCTAD|year=2015|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref>. In essence, these papers recognise the heterogeneity of rural households and the need to diversify strategies to lift them out of poverty accordingly. At the core is the categorisation of rural households by Dorward, in households (i) ‘stepping-up’ (improving farm production), or (ii) ‘stepping-out’ (i.e. stopping subsistence farming), alongside those (iii) ‘hanging-in’<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dorward|first=Andrew|last2=Anderson|first2=Simon|last3=Bernal|first3=Yolanda Nava|last4=Vera|first4=Ernesto Sánchez|last5=Rushton|first5=Jonathan|last6=Pattison|first6=James|last7=Paz|first7=Rodrigo|displayauthors=3|date=|year=2009|title=Hanging in, stepping up and stepping out: livelihood aspirations and strategies of the poor|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09614520802689535|journal=Development in Practice|volume=19|issue=2|pages=|doi=10.1080/09614520802689535|via=}}</ref>.

For Blue Gold’s purposes we recognised that when addressing the water resource management constraints on agricultural development, not all households equally benefit from project interventions beyond the safety offered by embankments. Households have different assets, physical and otherwise, determining the extent they can participate in agricultural production innovations and take advantage of water resource management improvements. Based on the rural transformation framework, we recognised three, not necessarily sharply defined, categories:
----

* A first category, numbering probably slightly over half of the households, have access to land either through ownership and/or leasing and possessing some other assets (household labour, skills, finance, etc). They are intent on farming as their livelihood strategy but often complement it with some non-farm labour income. Only few of them are really food secure but generally they are poor or oscillate in and out of poverty as most of the polder inhabitants. This group stand to benefit from improved water resource management. It gives them the opportunity to make their farming more ‘commercial’, to become more market-oriented instead of subsistence focused.
* A second category, estimated at some 25-35% of the households, but varying across polders, lacks access to land in any form and has few other means or skills. They generally are the poorest in the polders and food insecure. Not involved in cropping agriculture, they do not really stand to benefit from water resource management besides through the safety of the embankments and indirectly from increased demand for wage labour, as for many of them such wage labour is a main income source. Roughly the upper half of this group (i.e. 15% of the total population) nevertheless have a homestead plot, possibly some livestock or a small pond, and the minimum labour available in the household of sufficient health to benefit from homestead production interventions.
* A third category, partly overlapping with the two other categories, make use of their labour and skills, and have other means or assets to be actively involved in other activities and sectors. This category includes government service holders, private sector employees, craftsmen, local entrepreneurs, etc. They have opted out of agriculture, even if they own land, and see their future elsewhere basing their livelihood strategy on the labour and skills in the household.

While these categories cannot easily be defined unambiguously and households move from category to category, Blue Gold stood to gain efficiency and effectiveness in its interventions by taking notice of their different requirements. Having the agricultural expertise, linked to water resource management, available to address the first category, this same expertise is able to achieve a measure of inclusiveness by addressing the food security needs of many in the second category. Blue Gold differentiated its approach and targeting of households accordingly, resulting in a dual strategy. The first strategy aimed at commercialisation and is the subject of the remainder of this chapter, and the second strategy aimed at food security on the basis of homestead production described in [[25 Poverty Focus: development of homestead production|chapter 25 of Section F]]. Both strategies are based upon the FFS approach and both include market orientation, be it at a more basic level in the homestead FFS. Another distinction is that the homestead FFS relate to short local value chains, whereas the crop FFS relate to long regional or national value chains.

Blue Gold also envisaged a differentiated contribution to the reduction of poverty by both strategies. Through improving homestead production immediate contributions to consumption and nutrition deficiencies in the households could be made, also increasing their resilience. In addition, the increased procurement of inputs, and more regular selling of surpluses and spending of the resulting income, contribute to local economic activities, in turn generating income and employment, though this is relatively limited in terms of the added value of production increase, as compared to the larger direct and indirect contribution to poverty reduction through the commercialisation of agriculture. An increase in agricultural productivity and profitability in the polders - from field crops and homesteads production together - generates more income and employment in farming, but also in the broader agricultural and economic sectors as depicted in Figure 21.1.
[[File:Fig21.1.png|center|'''Figure 21.1''' Core Growth of Rural Economy|alt=|thumb|854x854px]]
A more in-depth exposé of ‘commercial or market-oriented agricultural development as key driver to reduce poverty’ is provided by both the UNCTAD and the World Bank<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Faruqee|first=Rashid|url=http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24544|title=Dynamics of Rural Growth in Bangladesh : Sustaining Poverty Reduction|last2=Gautam|first2=Madhur|publisher=World Bank|year=2016|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref>, see box 21.2.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto; width: 75%;"
|+'''Box 21.2 Commercial or market-oriented agricultural development as key driver to reduce poverty'''
|''"'''The main route out of [rural] poverty is through some combination of market-oriented smallholder farming, non-farm activities and emigration from rural areas,"''''' says the UN Conference on Trade and Development in its ''Least Developed Countries Report''<ref name=":0" />.
The report warns that despite urban migration, many sub-Saharan African countries still have a predominant rural population, which in fact will most likely increase instead of decrease by 2030! Despite efforts from donor communities and regional and central governments to modernize rural economies, several (11) of the least developed countries in the world have seen their agricultural labour productivity declining since the 1990s.
But the issue is not just rural, because "agricultural growth, rather than overall economic growth, has been found to be the primary driver of poverty reduction at the national level."
The first step is raising the productivity of commercial smallholders - largely family farmers who grow mainly for the market, or have the potential to do so. This requires higher-yielding varieties, fertiliser, irrigation, and machinery - which can be small machinery such as small pumps and two-wheel tractors. At the same time, rural non-farm business activity should be encouraged, usually linked to commercial farming - input sales, crop processing, equipment rental and repair, construction of roads and irrigation systems. Not only do non-farm businesses create more jobs, but "in African least developed countries in particular, rural non-farm income is usually the main source of cash for agricultural investment.
|}
[[File:Fig21.2.jpg|thumb|'''Figure 21.2''' Infographic from World Bank Dynamics of Rural Growth in Bangladesh Report|496x496px]]
The World Bank’s ''[[:File:WB may 16 Dynamics of Rural Growth in Bangladesh-final-Booklet.pdf|Dynamics of rural growth and poverty reduction report]]'' of 2016 focused specifically on Bangladesh. It concluded that agricultural growth stimulates non-farm income, ''more specifically a 10% growth in farm income generates along a 6% increase in non-farm income'', making agriculture a key driver in reducing rural poverty, see also Figure 21.2. Blue Gold's [[:File:WP7 Polder Growth & Business Development.KtJ 31aug 16.pdf|Working Paper 7]] further elaborates how agriculture contributes to income, jobs and ultimately to poverty reduction.

Enhancing agricultural production along the FFS approach and the related business development through Value Chain Development, can best be integrated as both producers and other market actors need to adapt to changing conditions in production, and therefore to changing demand for inputs and changing supply of produce. Agricultural Development and Water Resource Management thereby go hand in hand, as improved WRM is a pre-requisite for agricultural development. At the same time, the Agricultural Development interventions can (i) motivate the need for improved WRM, and (ii) optimize the operationalization of WRM. Therefore the link between WRM and agricultural production must be institutionalised in agricultural extension.
----

== Annexes ==

* [[Logframe Program Document (Productive Sector and Business Development)|Annex 21.1: Logframe Program Document (Productive Sector and Business Development)]]
* [[Logframe in DPP of DAE|Annex 21.2: Logframe in DPP of DAE]]

== Notes ==
<references group="Notes" />

== References ==
<references />

== See more ==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[20 Way forward|Chapter 20: Way Forward]]|Curr_sect=[[Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development|Section E: Agricultural Development]]|Next_chap=[[22 Lessons for Agricultural Extension in the Coastal Zone|Chapter 22: Lessons for Agricultural Extension in the Coastal Zone]]}}

{{SeeMoreSectionE}}

22 Lessons for Agricultural Extension in the Coastal Zone

2021-11-21T11:50:27Z

Bigblue:

{{Briefing materials STC|decks=* [[:File:Bgp-slide-deck-commercialisation-of-farming-long-v4.1.pdf|Commercialisation of agriculture: improved water management conditions driving reductions in poverty (long)]]|brochures=* [[:File:BGP 4 pager commercialisation of farming v8.pdf|Commercialisation of agriculture: improved water management conditions driving reductions in poverty]]
* [[:File:BGP 4 pager Fisheries v3.8.pdf|Outcomes of fisheries interventions to increase production, food security and incomes]]
* [[:File:BGP 4 pager IPWM v3.pdf|In-polder water management: maximising returns from agriculture and aquaculture]]
* [[:File:BGP 4 pager Livestock v9.4.pdf|Outcomes of livestock interventions in improving livelihoods and access to markets]]|studies=* [[:File:BGP case study Rudhaghara CII v3.pdf|Cropping intensity initiative: Rudhagara WMG increasing production of crops by effective water resources management]]
* [[:File:BGP case study CAWM Uttar Khekuani v4.pdf|Community-led agricultural water management at Uttar Khekuani]]
* [[:File:BGP case study SVC fisheries v5.pdf|Transformation from resource farmer to micro-entrepeneur]]
* [[:File:Bgp-case-study-svc-rice-v3.1.pdf|Improving supply chain efficiency for rice farmers: Anowar's story]]
* [[:File:BGP case study commercialisation of farming activities in polder 22 v5.pdf|Commercialising watermelon farming]]
* [[:File:BGP case study impact of WRM at Amodkhali Satkhira v1.pdf|Impact of water resource management at Amadkhali, Satkhira]]
* [[:File:BGP case study collective action v2.3.pdf|Women in collective action and market linkages: increasing benfits and empowerment]]
* [[:File:Bgp-case-study-feminisation-of-agriculture-v3.7.pdf|Feminisation of agriculture and the impact on women's workload]]

Many of the terms used for rice crops and seasons are explained in [[:File:Bengali-agricultural-calendar.pdf|this schematic representation]]|videos=* No videos for the current chapter.|flipchart=No flipchart for the current chapter.|manuals=No manual for the current chapter.}}The experience with the initial design of agricultural extension interventions in the first years of the Blue Gold Program and from the progressive insights leading to an evolved approach for Agricultural Development, provided valuable lessons for the future of extension in the coastal zone. These lessons focus on both the content for effectiveness and the cost-efficiency of the approach. The content is addressed in the following paragraphs, under six headings, followed by a seventh and final paragraph drawing lessons for the agricultural extension approach. The lessons for coastal agricultural extension offer a comprehensive set of practical recommendations based upon BGP’s extensive field experience. It is worthwhile to note that these lessons are largely aligned to the principles expressed in the Draft National Agricultural Extension Policy from 2012<ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|url=http://dae.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/dae.portal.gov.bd/page/dd7d2be1_aeef_452f_9774_8c23462ab73a/National%20Agricultural%20Extension%20Policy_%28NAEP%29.pdf|title=National Agricultural Extension Policy|publisher=Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)|year=2012|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref>.
[[File:Figure 22.1.png|thumb|513x513px|'''Figure 22.1''' Improving extension effectiveness by content|alt=|none]]
----
== The role of Water Resource Management in Extension and vice-versa ==
The relation between water resource management (WRM) and extension in the coastal zone is rather particular. WRM in the polders is primarily about drainage of hydrological entities which is beyond a farmer’s individual fields and thus beyond an individual farmer's control. A community of farmers producing in this hydrological unit is compelled to follow a degree of production synchronisation, definitely in the monsoon season, in view of production optimization. During the dry season these farmers may differentiate production from one another as they can irrigate individually from available fresh-water resources. This drainage defined WRM and production is in stark contrast to regions where WRM is essentially about applying irrigation. The idea is described in Box 22.1.

{| class="wikitable"
|+'''Box 22.1: Water Resource Management conditions and Production systems'''
|
|Without program interventions, WRM conditions in terms of infrastructure and operating capability are a given, and farmers are following a production system seemingly in equilibrium with those conditions. Those conditions being poor, particularly of infrastructure, the impact of weather and climate variations is barely mitigated and risks sustain. Not surprisingly, production systems are risk averse, and primarily of a subsistence nature. From that perspective farmers pursue a rational production system. Extension can easily identify a range of technology improvements to this system. If extension promotes suitable technologies, farmers will feel encouraged to adopt these. If the promoted technologies mean an increase in risks without adequate risk mitigation by proper WRM (such as improved drainage), farmers will avoid adopting these new technologies.
|}
The intimate relation between water control and agricultural production has programmatic implications:

* The extent to which an area can control flooding and be drained during the monsoon season will largely determine the cultivation practices of e.g. T Aman. Agriculture extension, especially DAE, must grasp local WRM conditions to define and demonstrate improved production options. Simultaneously, extension must understand crop water requirements and be able to advise farmers how to operate their water infrastructure for optimal production conditions. With very little leeway, farmers must manage water in a synchronised way during the monsoon season. Beside the need to understand WRM for optimal production, extension also plays a motivational role to undertake appropriate WRM by the Water Management Groups and/or sub-groups of WMG members as the financial benefits of improved production become clear, see figure 22.2 (below Box 22.2) with an example of a traditional versus an improved cropping system.

* During the dry season the situation is generally less complex. Extension agents need to understand the extent to which fresh-water resources will be available to define production options and to which extent farmers can maximise these water resources by operating the available infrastructure and using diverse irrigation techniques. Understanding crop water requirements will help to align production planning on a communal basis to water availability. While there is no synchronised crop production required and farmers can make an individual cropping choice, there are some limitations, which extension must help to clarify.

Insight in water management conditions and the options to manage the water resource across the year are a primary input to extension to define and advise on an improved cropping system. But extension should also weigh on the farmer’s commitment to water resource management. Extension can enhance the farmers’ ability to adequately operate the infrastructure by an improved understanding of crop water-related requirements. Moreover, it can assist in identifying and removing constraints to operating the infrastructure which in turn can enhance production options to the benefit of the farmers. Depending on the complexity of the constraints, this might take the form of small-scale infrastructure improvements largely under the control of the farmers, jointly implemented with Local Government Institutions as Union Parishads, or of much larger investments in in-polder water management in collaboration with e.g. LGED, BADC or BWDB (see [[17 In-polder water management|chapter 17]]).

Overall, extension is just as needed in planning improved water infrastructure as it is helping farmers to reach higher levels of ambition once the improved infrastructure is delivered. In fact, the relation between WRM and extension plays at four levels: a) an understanding of the local water conditions to define production potential, be it agriculture or aquaculture; b) taking production to higher levels by infrastructure improvements; c) an enhancement of infrastructure operation in relation to crop requirements to optimise production; and d) enhancing the understanding that risk reduction and production benefits require investment in proper maintenance of the infrastructure.

Local conditions and plans will define the expected role from extension and the resulting messages. In Blue Gold, several tools served this purpose, including the participatory planning, catchment planning, unified approach, and small-scale water infrastructure investment program (see [[Summary of Section D: BGP Interventions: Participatory Water Management|section D]]).

== Technology transfer defined by local variation and pursuing productivity and profitability ==
From the previous section it should be clear that technology transfer messages must take cognisance of water resource management conditions and be defined to make the most thereof. In addition, extension messages should take a year-round cropping system perspective. Water management allows production conditions to be changed. Instead of producing in a fully weather dependent way, farmers can increasingly manage water resources across the year. Managing water in one season can impact drastically on conditions in the next season, and farmers doing this diligently can pursue a production system of higher intensification, diversification and profitability.

WRM is considered a binding constraint as a key factor influencing the optimal cropping pattern and optimal production. Altering WRM vis-à-vis altering other factors can contribute most to achieving improved productivity. But beyond water resource management, and therewith the extent of salinity, there are more factors that define an optimal production system e.g. soil type and climate. Combinedly, all these factors allow for extensive local variation in crops, varieties, timing of planting, etc. This implies that variation in the extension content will be considerable and must be developed jointly with the participating farmers and based on findings of applied on-farm research and demonstration plots.

Local understanding is a pre-requisite for agricultural extension field staff; therefore involving staff from the region has a distinct advantage. Still, the required depth of local understanding generally goes beyond that of most extension field staff and they need the support of local research practitioners and institutions. Close relations and involvement need to be facilitated. The general tendency of agronomic practitioners to focus on a single crop and on productivity improvements only, needs to be overcome. Innovations must also consider production system variations and be proven to be more profitable and/or less risky in order to be adopted by farmers, as argued in Box 22.2.
{| class="wikitable" style="width:75%; margin: auto;"
|+ Box 22.2: The logic of a crop calendar approach
|Blue Gold encouraged in suitable locations the replacement of local aman varieties with a moderately short duration HYV aman, followed by a chance crop of mustard before a winter crop, such as mung bean. To achieve this, we suggested that the timing of T Aman seedling preparation and transplanting was brought forward to the 2nd and 3rd week of July instead of mid-August. In addition, planting dates of each crop were chosen to minimise crop damage from heavy rains and cyclones, especially during early germination and prior to harvesting. See also Figures 22.2.
|}
[[File:Figure 22.2.png|center|thumb|878x878px|'''Figure 22.2''' Existing and proposed crop calendar]]
There is a general expectation that improved WRM will be reflected in a higher cropping intensity, but this needs to be refined. Production improvements or potential can be differentiated as increases in yield, in cropping intensity and/or in diversification:

* Yield increases are generally the result from changes in cultivation technologies, including from switching the earlier crops or varieties to higher yielding varieties. Better water resource management, including irrigation, can also contribute to yield increase.
* The increase in cropping intensity can consist of a) the expansion of the area under cultivation of crops in the present cropping seasons (less fallow) and b) the expansion of the area under cultivation in an additional growing season, with the combined result of more crop harvests per unit of land.
* With diversification is meant the introduction of other crops beyond those presently grown. This is generally unlikely to occur in the T Aman season, but almost definitely in the ''rabi'' season and/or when crops are introduced in an additional (third) season. A production improvement through diversification would typically constitute of the replacement of an existing lower value crop with a high value crop.

Under given local conditions any of the above productivity changes can be pursued on their own or in combination. Farmers are only interested in increased land productivity if this results also in a higher profitability along with reduced risks, in particular, due to better water management. Production decisions are made from a cropping system perspective and its overall profitability.

== Moving beyond technology transfer – including market orientation ==
Till recently, agricultural extension had primarily a technology transfer focus. By technology transfer crops and varieties are introduced along with improved cultivation practices that take most advantage from given conditions. An example is the widespread replacement, particularly in coastal Bangladesh, of local aman varieties with BR52 due to its submergence tolerance. It reflects a process of farmers adopting varieties that more closely match their present waterlogged conditions.

However, extension should also support farmers to pursue commercial agriculture, i.e. upgrading their farming operations to viable business enterprises, to reach higher levels of profitability, also as enabled by improved water management conditions. Many farmers are used to operate in subsistence mode, remaining true to the risk aversion instilled in them by failing water resource management and inherent to weather dependent decision-making. To make most of the new opportunities and the reduced risks due to improved water management, and in order to commercialise farmers, extension should go beyond technology transfer and include elements of market orientation.

What can be profitably produced and sold in the market? This requires new and a higher level of skills beyond cultivation practices. A commercial farmer considers farming as a business. He/she produces quality products to satisfy market demand in a profitable way. That requires accessing various sources of information and the careful consideration thereof to make market-based decisions related to purchasing inputs, production and marketing. Extension should make farmers aware that farming is a business and that they should operate their farm as such.

In the Blue Gold polders the information seeking behaviour of farmers was found to be limited (refer to Figure 22.3). For most decision-making moments during the production season farmers relied on their own experience or that of family and/or neighbours. This reflects a system in which little new information enters. Generating and accessing information is a first pre-requisite to enhance the ability to respond to challenges and opportunities. The decision-making skills required to farm as a business rely on basic financial literacy, record keeping, gross margin comparisons, identifying good sources of information, investment requirements and an understanding of risks. All these elements were built into BGP’s extension curriculum.
[[File:Figure 22.4.png|center|thumb|854x854px|'''Figure 22.3''' Sources of information of farmers]]

While new technologies and higher investment are shown to increase profitability, they also augment risks and reinforce the need to boost resilience to livelihood shocks. Due attention should be given in the extension messages to enhance farmers’ understanding of the additional risks and how to mitigate these, see box 22.3 for an example. This reinforces the importance of strengthening the financial literacy of the farmers. Moreover, because additional investments and related risks have a potential impact on the entire household, the need for joint decision making by husband and wife in the farming households became even more pertinent, and therefore needs to be actively encouraged. Both husband and wife should be involved in the process of commercialising farming operations. This is also important because Blue Gold experience showed that the increase of cropping intensity and of crop yields resulted in an increased and broadened role of women within field crop production.
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 75%; margin: auto;"
|+'''Box 22.3: Farmers, innovations and risks'''
|Farmers readily recognise a profitable innovation when they see one. In some areas they saw neighbouring areas making a good profit from watermelon production and followed suit. Similarly, when the price of paddy increased by crop failures elsewhere, farmers suddenly planted boro in areas which never produced this before. The potential profit was recognised but other aspects were less well recognised and were ignored. Some households took loans to purchase expensive watermelon seed but saw their crop wiped out the first season due to heavy rainfall. For boro, farmers failed to understand their joint irrigation requirements and ran out of fresh-water resources. On the other hand, it did not take farmers long to weigh off watermelon profitability to investment in digging water reservoirs for fresh-water storage for irrigation, and so pits emerged all over the area.
|}

== Developing market linkages ==
Farmers are always part of one or more value chains. Even the most destitute subsistence farmers have some market linkages backward with input providers and usually also foreward with buyers. A basic representation of a value chain is given in Figure 22.4.
[[File:Fig22.5.png|center|thumb|866x866px|'''Figure 22.4''' The producer and his/her linkages in the value chain]]
Commercialisation stimulates opening up to new practices requiring uncommon inputs, new products, new processes and differently timed services. Commercial farming demands better and more varied market linkages with other actors in the value chain or market system, and thereby requires more skills from the producers / farmers. Agricultural extension needs to pay attention to this increased market participation in its curriculum.

Blue Gold introduced networking to enhance information seeking, and to ease access to inputs, services and markets. In practice this meant the identification of input and service providers, traders and buyers. By involving them in FFS sessions, first-contact was facilitated and relations were established to create trust and mutual understanding of challenges. Contact details, especially names and telephone numbers, of all likely persons, organisations and businesses for any activity or eventuality throughout the production and marketing process were shared and stored in mobile phones of the FFS participants.

FFS facilitators taught them to make the most of their mobiles, a tool for both financial literacy and networking. Its calculator app facilitates better insights in transaction costs. Other functions enhance access to the extension officer and the exchange of information amongst themselves. Such use of mobile phones was complemented by improving negotiation skills. Mobile phones constitute market information at farm gate and virtual access to markets, putting middlemen margins under pressure.

The BGP extension curriculum took the development of market linkages one step further. Networking stands to gain efficiency and effectiveness when undertaken by producer groups and making use of their collective bargaining power. When undertaken as collective action for a group, aggregating demand and/or supply can reduce purchase and transaction costs and increase revenues, all contributing to higher profitability. This proofed to be of particular interest to the poorer farmers. The BGP FFS facilitators worked through producer groups and built the capacity of Resource Farmers to stimulate collective action where appropriate. This was readily picked up for the purchase of inputs, such as seeds and fertilizer, and also led to several forms of coordinated selling, e.g. aggregating supply at a collection point or organising joint transport, but remained generally short of full joint marketing due to issues of trust or real or perceived quality differences. Moreover, due to local variance in connectivity, such as road systems or market locations, collective actions are not an appropriate solution everywhere. Not everything works everywhere, but the concept is not value chain bound. The underlying principles were readily picked up by the farmers and applied independently in any produce or practice they were involved in, e.g. the collective arrangement of tillage services.

Groups do not specifically have to be formed for this purpose. Due to the drainage requirements, farmers in a sub-hydrological unit already have to manage their water system together. Collective action was found to provide a stimulus to the group dynamics required for WRM. Often Water Management Group members provided necessary leadership or impetus to successful collective actions.

== Facilitating the broader market system to adapt - Market system development ==
In the above section, the focus was on the farmer and improving his/her production potential but there are more actors and more issues in the business environment at play to support the innovations the farmers embrace. To innovate and improve, agricultural production relies on many providers of inputs, services and information. They belong to the broader market system which needs to develop in line with the farmers’ innovations in order to make the changes to commercial agricultural production possible and sustainable by an improved enabling environment.

For example, when agricultural extension recommends new varieties or cultivation practices for which subsequently the seeds or mechanisation services are not readily available from input- and service providers, the farmers’ adoption rates of these varieties or practices will be constrained and substantially reduced. When not attending to the market system, the demand for these innovations will only slowly filter through to potential suppliers. It is important to catalyse this alignment process and help the market system to adapt more rapidly to changes in demand. Then not only farmers, but also these businesses will grow more rapidly, contributing to polder economic growth, with agricultural production acting as a kind of flywheel. A generic presentation of a market system is presented in Figure 22.5.
[[File:Fig22.6.png|center|thumb|850x850px|'''Figure 22.5''' Value chain and the market system]]
In Blue Gold, the evolving mixed approach of improving agricultural production and market system development, though confining itself geographically largely to the polders, provided insights in the broader market systems. A limited but practical set of interventions strived to catalyse market system development. While implemented alongside the core FFS approach, their nature is such that they can form part of a broader extension content. The following insights were gained:

* '''Promoting collective actions:''' In thin markets, inputs and services essential to production innovations, are generally scarce, costly to access and/or to obtain. Collective actions by producer groups are one way to partially overcome related constraints. In practice, this requires lead farmers or Resource Farmers to facilitate the contact between the producer groups and other actors in the market system. Blue Gold identified and built the capacity of Resource Farmers. For Resource Farmers (RFs) to negotiate for inputs and services e.g. tillage for a group of farmers, they arrange coordinated sales upon agreement with buyers, and act as a more efficient conduct for extension messages. One, or even better a few, Resource Farmers were selected from each producer group and were given advanced capacity building for collective actions. This included additional financial literacy, market visits and negotiation skills. Compensation of the efforts of the RFs by the members of the producer group was an option, and the fairness of remuneration models were discussed and assessed with the broader group. The role of selected Resource Farmers was expanded to act as local resources or representation to WMOs and other actors in the polder or region.
* '''Linking farmers to other value change actors:''' Input- and service providers, buyers and extension agents, public as well as private, and even local authorities were brought together with (resource) farmers across the year during several FFS cycles. While some were already involved in FFS sessions to facilitate linkages, the additional get-togethers took the form of workshops to consider specific common issues, local challenges and opportunities. While always strengthening relations, sometimes win-win solutions in the form of collective actions could be worked out on the spot. At other times it improved understanding of each other’s problems and intentions and served to catalyse the market system adaptation process. This often took very simple forms: an input provider who got to know that certain varieties were recommended could better prepare him/herself for a newly arising demand; similarly for a tillage operator becoming aware of changing cropping systems and farmers’ land preparation intentions. A more complex example addressed the detested hand-weighing in a sesame market. Through the arrangement of a (temporary) collection centre with a leading buyer agreeing to use digital scales and corresponding market prices, other buyers felt forced to follow and the hand-weighing practice was done away with, leading to fairer payments and increased trust.
* '''Improving capacities of input providers:''' Blue Gold organised business training to input providers and various service providers, e.g. power tillage operators. The capacity building with the input providers was organised in cooperation with the Agro-Input Retailers Network (AIRN), a network set up by a USAID project. It offered the opportunity to explore the agricultural production trends resulting from the improvement of water resource management, to introduce the concept of collective actions and not to consider it as a threat but to show the mutual benefits thereof, and to direct input providers to on-line sources of information to enhance farmer trust in their advice and services. Upon completion, trainees got certification by AIRN. With respect to the win-win of collective actions: some input providers did not immediately see the collective purchase of inputs as a win-win, as they only saw the discount they would have to give. Others quickly understood the advantage to them of bulk orders and selling volume, where the profit of the enlarged sales volume and the reduced handling costs well outweighed the discount in unit price. Some input providers even started to promote collective action themselves, an example of sustainable change introduced in the market system.
* '''Promoting coordinated selling:''' There was a natural bias by BGP experts on the input side of the value chain while many had rather expected a BGP focus on ‘marketing and physical market infrastructure’. However, the improved water conditions generally enabled production increase of those commodities for which marketing channels were already rather mature. For these products there was sufficiently tough competition to keep trader margins low, which was further enhanced by an increase in producers’ awareness on fair prices through mobile communication. This may be contrary to expectations, but it was confirmed by Value Chain Analyses. Nevertheless, there appeared win-wins in facilitating properly discussed and negotiated ‘coordinated selling’ by farmers to buyers, at collection points where necessary, or through organised transport and delivery. Again, much was facilitated through mobile communication and advance negotiating, reducing the need for utilisation of physical market infrastructures. While bulking or aggregating is always of interest to traders, issues of quality remuneration and weighing practices often proved more challenging and needed to be clarified and agreed upon. Particularly farmers were found to be reluctant to pool their produce. There is a lack of trust among them to leave it to a leader to negotiate on their behalf, as well as a strong perception that his or her own produce is anyway of better quality than that of others.
* '''Expanding access to information:''' Farmers are also in need of information beyond what the extension officers can provide but which could be found in the business enabling environment, such as information on fertilizer dose, pest control etc. While many sources of information do exist, most are still unknown to farmers, and/or were found to be too difficult to access for most farmers for technical reasons, by language, and/or by presentation because farmers have limited educational background. Still ICT systems are rapidly developing, also in the rural areas, and instead of farmers others can act as intermediaries in accessing such sources of information at the internet. Blue Gold approached and supported local intermediaries e.g. Resource Farmers and input providers, to play this role. Simultaneously it called upon the information providers, including DAE and research institutions, to make their information sources more accessible to farmers.

== Future binding constraints ==
Blue Gold addressed Water Resource Management as a binding constraint, which means a key restriction to increase agricultural production was (partially) removed. Removing this constraint opens up more production potential ahead of meeting other constraints e.g. agricultural finance. That means that once the WRM constraint is resolved, other constraints to further increasing production come to the fore and become the next binding constraint. Extension should identify and consider these future binding constraints at an early stage and relate them to researchers and/or policy makers. The Blue Gold experience provides some insights.

The increased productivity of the land brings along an increased demand for labour, labour that also increasingly seeks opportunities outside agriculture and the polder. Labour shortages become more often common at peak periods and/or labour costs make some cultivation practice adoption too costly to implement e.g. line sowing in mung bean. Mechanisation appears the next binding constraint but should not be indiscriminately pursued. There is still underemployment during low-demand periods. Mechanisation should seek to resolve peak demand bottlenecks related to specific practices in the first place.

The higher demand for labour due to increasing productivity and cropping intensity has additional consequences. The increased labour demand seeks in the first place a higher labour input from the farming household, i.e. unpaid family labour by male and female household members. If the contribution of women to increased production and income is recognised and explicitly valued, it makes them proud and can empower them by increasing their status and their participation in decision-making. But for many women the increased involvement in field crops also means a risk of becoming overburdened due to the many domestic tasks they have, which are hardly shared with men. Due to the increased productivity, women are increasingly taking up agricultural tasks which were previously the domain of men, including upholding market linkages; this is also enhanced by male migration. Extension approaches should adapt to these changing situations, often referred to as the 'Feminisation of Agriculture', see also Section F, [[24 Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment|Chapter 24]] “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment”.

== Efficiency of the extension approach ==
While there is an obvious requirement to extend the content of agricultural extension messages, extension resources are scarce and costly. In BGP consideration was given to increasing the efficiency of the extension approach in a variety of ways. These are listed in Figure 22.6 and discussed below.
[[File:Fig22.7.png|thumb|486x486px|'''Figure 22.6''' Improving the efficiency of extension approaches]]

* '''Targeting extension more accurately by a differentiated approach''': The households in the polders are heterogeneous in terms of their labour and access to assets, not least to land. As a result, they have varying livelihood strategies and are best served by differentiated support strategies. An appropriate background to this is the rural transformation framework. This was discussed in [[21 The Evolving Approach to the Commercialization of Agriculture|chapter 21]] in more detail (in the final section on “Differentiating households”). The key point here is about properly targeting the participating households with different needs for agriculture extension. Extension gains efficiency if its messages are directed at those households which can benefit from it, while others receive different support adapted to their household characteristics. Moreover, within a household, specific extension messages should especially reach out to the person(s) who can and will apply the new information. For example, this means that targeting should not be based on traditional gender roles, rather on who in a household is interested and able to take up certain agricultural responsibilities.
* '''Interacting with producer groups:''' With respect to the households interested in stepping up their agricultural activities in the coastal zone, group formation on a sub-catchment basis is an underlying requirement in order to synchronize production to better benefit from improved water resource management. Also, the advantage in terms of networking and collective action was already referred to, along with the role Resource Farmers can play as contact and conduct for a variety of other market actors. Extension field officers increase their outreach by linking up with producer groups through Resource Farmers and/or Water Management Groups of which the farmers are the core members. Mobile communication adds another dimension to this outreach. It allows the sharing of information and best practices from distance in a broad array of forms, audio as well as visual.
* '''Becoming more demand driven''': To enable commercialisation, the classic, single crop, technology transfer focused DAE FFS curriculum was revised by adapting it to take a cropping system perspective, grounding extension messages in local water management conditions, and making provision for market orientation. Nevertheless, most importantly from an efficiency perspective, the technology transfer also needed to be reviewed. The session content was revisited to delete what farmers already know or have sufficient experience with. This went hand in hand with better targeting whereas further efficiency was gained by including only actual farmer needs and focussing on critical technologies. By being demand driven, the number and length of sessions across the cropping system could be held in check. This was also based on experiences from some other projects that successfully undertake Farmer Field Schools with a limited number of sessions carefully directed at actual gaps in farmer knowledge. There is also a second dimension to this. Considering the varying and complex environment of the coastal zone, it is important to identify the appropriate answers to local conditions and integrate these in extension messages to make them location specific. This requires close cooperation and collaboration between DAE and BWDB, LGED, BADC and local government institutions, but also between field extension officers and field researchers or practitioners of regional knowledge institutes, DLS and DoF.
* '''Seeking less resource intensive methodologies''': The core of the extension approach is experiential learning. It should be hands-on and discovery-based through demonstrating cropping systems which are more productive and profitable. Within Blue Gold, most extension still took the form of classic Farmer Field Schools (DAE FFS, CAWM, MFS) but increasingly less resource intensive methodologies were pursued, for example, organising the main messages around a sufficiently large demonstration, organised by DAE or by others, including the private sector. An approach to credibly motivate farmers to undertake water resource management and serve as a successful example of an alternative, less resource intensive, extension methodology, were the Cropping Intensity Initiatives (CIIs), see box 22.4. In selected locations large year-long demonstrations were set up with farmers. Around these eye-catching innovations, farmers and other market actors were gathered in a variety of demand driven sessions and workshops.
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 75%; margin: auto;"
|'''Box 22.4 Cropping Intensity Initiative'''

The Cropping Intensity Initiative (CII) is an initiative by the Blue Gold Program to demonstrate the advantages of year-round crop planning to maximise the number of crops grown on one plot, developed jointly by the agricultural extension agency (DAE) and Blue Gold TA staff. CII involves the planting of a short-duration high yielding T Aman variety earlier than normal, thus allowing one and possibly two more profitable crops, eg mustard and vegetables, to be planted during the rabi season, generally increasing the cropping intensity from 200% to 300%. CII motivated farmers to improve their drainage system at field level, also increasing opportunities for irrigation in the dry season. Apart from the increased cropping intensity, yields per unit land also increased, such as paddy yields, due to the use of more appropriate and better yielding varieties. CII also led to increased work opportunities for landless people who depend on wage labour for their livelihoods, for example, because the short duration paddy requires wage labour in November, a period during which hardly any other work opportunities are available.

In areas where the water infrastructure rehabilitations provided under Blue Gold had not yet been implemented, the CII demonstrations were carefully chosen on medium to high land without drainage constraints and close to a source of irrigation water. This allowed farmers in lower-lying areas to witness practical examples of agricultural practices which they could implement when improved water management became possible once water infrastructure was improved.
|}
*'''Using local resources''': Extension does not solely have to rely on external resources. Technology transfer and market orientation get additional impetus and gain efficiency from the involvement of properly trained Resource Farmers and Farmer Trainers, as well as from the practical experience of nearby local entrepreneurs, such as certified input suppliers, and farmer role models or lead farmers. They are often prepared to share their knowledge or experience in sessions, serve as demonstration sites, function as resource persons, and/or provide opportunities to access information or markets in various ways.
*'''Making sources of information accessible''': Farmers are in need of various types of information. Not all these needs should be met by depending on the accessibility of the (government) extension officer. Many other sources of information exist but farmers find them difficult to access for various reasons. An appeal is made to the providers of such information, in the first place DAE, but also other programs, research institutions and even private companies, to make their information sources more accessible to farmers. Support to farmers to master the ICT technology which they readily have in hand -even many women farmers have own mobile phones nowadays-, would strengthen efficiency gains even more.
*'''Making better use of Horizontal Learning''': Blue Gold demonstrated that Horizontal Learning, where farmers learn from each other, can be a very efficient way to spread knowledge and experience to a wider target audience. It has been a general feature of FFS in the form of Farmer Field Days, but there were many more opportunities and forms to achieve horizontal learning e.g. through exchange visits, introduction sessions to demonstrations, information via mobiles, etc. For more details of Horizontal Learning in Blue Gold, see [[33 Horizontal learning|Chapter 33]].
*'''Involving the private sector''': The direct involvement in the networking by input providers and buyers, including supply companies, opened new avenues for the private sector to act as extension agents and organisers of demonstrations or providers of market information. Public and private sector extension agents willingly cooperated e.g. in demonstrations and horizontal learning. BGP trained local input traders in ethical business and put emphasis on the need for long term business relationship with customers, thus ensuring supply of quality products with a focus on business integrity to safeguard farmers' interests.

== References ==
<references />
==See more==
{{ArtNav|Prev_chap=[[21 The Evolving Approach to the Commercialization of Agriculture|Chapter 21: The Evolving Approach to the Commercialization of Agriculture]]|Curr_sect=[[Summary of Section E: Agricultural Development|Section E: Agricultural Development]]|Next_chap=[[23 Outreach and Outcomes of Commercialisation Interventions|Chapter 23: Outreach and Outcomes of Commercialisation Interventions]]}}

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File:Bengali-agricultural-calendar.pdf

2021-11-21T11:47:48Z

Bigblue: Bigblue uploaded a new version of File:Bengali-agricultural-calendar.pdf

== Summary ==
A visual representation of the relation between Gregorian and Bengali agricultural calendar. This can help to have a broad understanding of Bengali seasons and crops for each season.