The baseline Result and Impact (RIM) Survey of the Char Development and Settlement Project Phase IV (CDSP-IV) was conducted as baseline stage of the project. It was done over the three chars the project was designed to be implemented which were located in the eastern part of Noakhali district of Bangladesh; these are Nangulia Char, Noler Char and Caring Char.  

 

Project Description: There were considerable interface between persistence of poverty in the chars and the natural disasters (such as cyclone, storm, water salinity, flood, river erosion, and drought) the people there are often subjected to. The project would therefore integrate disaster risk management with its development activities.

 

The goal of CDSP-IV was to achieve economic, social and environmental development of the chars. The major objectives of the project’s interventions would be:

 

• Ensuring fresh and safe water in the chars
• Ensuring safety from man-made and natural hazards
• Optimizing use of land
• Promoting economic growth emphasizing non-farm rural employment; 
• Establishing sustainable management of natural resources;
• Improving livelihood conditions, especially for women;
• Promoting environmental conservations;
• Empowering people through knowledge management; and 
• Creating an enabling institutional environment

 

The total project area, including the three chars together, had an estimated area of 18,530 hectors (45,770) and an estimated population of 94,000 people living in 16,700 households, with

 

1. Nangulia Char having an area of about 8,990 hectors (22,200 acres) and a population of about 35,00 people;
2. Noler Char about  2,690 hectors (6,650 acres)  and about 47,000 people; and 
3. Caring Char about 6,850 hectors (16,920 acres) and about 27,000 people.

 

Tasks carried out by Mitra and Associates:

 

Survey Methodology (sample design & tools): It was carried out by using the methodology and tools of the Result and impact Management System (RIMS) developed by International Fund Agricultural Development (IFAD), little adjustment was made by Mitra and Associates.

 

The Baseline Survey was carried out with a sample of 900 households drawn from the three Chars, Nangulia Char, Noler Char and Caring Char. Professionals of Mitra and Associates visited the three Chars to prepare the frame for selecting the sample with the assistance of partner NGOs, they identified a Char with its boundary, and then listed the villages, along with the estimated number of households living in a village. 

 

The sample was selected in two stages. At the first stage, 30 villages (clusters) were selected; selecting 10 out of 25 villages from Nangulia Char, 10 out of 18 villages from Caring Char, and 10 out of 27 villages from Noler Char and with probability proportional to estimated number of households in a village.

 

Households were selected at the second stage, including 30 households from a selected village (cluster) in order to yield the sample of 900 households for the survey. Households from a village were selected randomly in the manner as described below. 

 

• Reaching the village, the interviewing team first located a central point in the middle of the village.
• At the central point the team supervisor/an interviewer spun a pen and noticed the direction indicated by the pen after it had stopped spinning.
•  Moving in the indicated direction, the team conducted interviews with consecutive households located on the same line, one after another, until they had 30 households interviewed for the village.  
• If the team could not have completed interviews with 30 households even after reaching the end of a line, the team took a right turn to move to the next line to continue interviewing for the remaining households
• If it was not possible to interview a ‘to be interviewed’ household, the household was marked as “Non responsive” in the household list, noting the reason it could not be interviewed for.

 

Questionnaire: Questionnaires were translated in Bengali and edited. Also anthropometric data were collected by measuring the height/length and weight of each child age 0-59 living in the household.

 

Data Collection & quality control: 16 days were spent for data collection. Research Officer and Quality control officers visited the interviewers in the field and re-interviewed 10 percent of households on random basis to ensure the quality of the data. 

 

Training of interviewers and supervisors: The interviewing team members including both interviewers and supervisors were given a five-day training to prepare them for the data collection work. The training consisted of four days of class room training and one day of field training. 

 

Data processing & reporting: After office edit, data was entered twice and cleaned and produced data analysis tables and made report.

 

Client Reference: Market Infrastructure CDSP-IV, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Ministry of LGRD & C, Bangladesh and funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).