Discussions on how to improve urban or rural livelihoods are mostly based on disconnected ideas that examine urban and rural areas separately. Yet there are many links between urban and rural areas because income strategies and opportunities in these two areas often related.

Using Bangladesh as a case study, a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute, USA, provides a framework to identify and analyse these links. Based on a review of secondary data and on field interviews, the paper examines the ways in which urban and rural areas are linked (people, goods, services, information, investment, waste and natural resources). The paper emphasises the need for the incorporating geographical considerations in planning and policymaking. 

Most studies look at rural-to-urban interactions. Research is needed on how links with rural areas affect urban livelihoods, politics, society and the urban economy. There is not much information on investments and services; infrastructure; flows of information; and the use of natural resources, especially water.

Main findings of this study include:

• Migration patterns are becoming increasingly varied and complex: it is no longer a rural to urban flow of men who eventually return to villages; seasonal and permanent migration and the independent migration of women are becoming common.
• Two types of migration exist: some may be forced to leave rural areas due to reasons such as natural disasters or land scarcity, but others, especially the younger and educated people, are attracted to the city (the latter may make a more successful transition).
• Agriculture has done well in past decades but has undergone a transformation. The share of agriculture in total employment is just over 50 percent, with women’s share increasing rapidly. The share of agriculture in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is just over one-fifth. Although crop agriculture has declined to around 60 percent of agricultural GDP, fisheries has increased to about one-fourth.
• A modern food value-chain is emerging in Bangladesh, with uncertain impacts on small farmers, the landless and women. Food processors such as the Praan Group and other supermarket chains now contract some producers directly. 
• Non-farm activities are becoming increasingly important, especially for larger farmers, blurring the urban- rural distinctions. Rural households now earn more than half their income from sources other than agricultural production.

However, even as the relative importance of agricultural production declines, it is still the key system that runs the rural economy. Policies must take into account the reality that urban and rural livelihoods are interdependent. Because of the areas of action of different levels of authority overlap (district, city, regional and national), planning needs to take a regional view that integrates rural and urban spheres and meets local needs.  But planning in Bangladesh remains centralised and fails to take regional disparities into account.

The report suggests that policymakers must:

• think regionally and link planning for urban and rural economies at the local level
• invest in health and education to ensure the rural population have the ability to make successful transitions to non-agricultural or urban employment
• invest in infrastructure and strengthen market institutions to facilitate urban-rural interactions.

Source(s):
‘Urban-Rural Links and Transformation in Bangladesh: A Review of the Issues’, Care Bangladesh, Discussion Paper, by James Garrett and Shyamal Chowdury, July 2004 Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (Bangladesh)

id21 Research Highlight: 10 March 2006

Further Information:
James Garrett and Shyamal Chowdhury
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
2033 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1002
USA

Tel: +1 202 862 5600
Fax: +1 202 467 4439
Contact the contributor: J.Garrett@cgiar.org

International Food Policy Research Institute

Rural Livelihoods Programme
Care Bangladesh
8th Floor, RPR Center
20-21 Kawran Bazar
Dhaka 1215

Tel: +880 (0)2 9112 315
Fax: +880 (0)2 811 4183
Contact the contributor: carebang@bangla.net

Other related links:
'Pulling rickshaws: a way out of poverty?'

'The poverty impacts of female employment'

'Place matters: the challenges of survival in remote rural areas'

Urban-Rural Synergies and Poverty Alleviation: The Case of Bangladesh, Presentation by Jelena Pantelic, World Bank