How bonding and bridging networks contribute to disaster resilience and recovery on the Bangladeshi coast

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Abstract

Bonding relationships (with family members and relatives) and bridging relationships (with neighbours and friends) are key elements of social networks. These relationships play a vital role in how a community responds to extreme climate events, including cyclones and storm surges. This study investigates how bonding and bridging relationships contribute to recovery from disaster, using the two coastal villages of Bangladesh affected by Cyclone Sidr as case studies. We investigated these contributions through using household surveys, focus groups, meetings with NGOs and local and national key informants. Results show that after a cyclone, affected communities draw heavily on their bonding and bridging relationships to face the immediate crisis. Support through bonding and bridging networks—sharing food, providing comfort, mutual works, etc.—is very important initially. As the time after the disaster increases, these networks perform less well, because of the limited physical and financial capital. After a period of time, bridging relationships become less active and sometimes break down due to poverty, disaster impact, and competition and conflict over access to external support. Bonding relationships, however, do not break down; rather, they continue contributing to the recovery process by reducing food intake, helping with alternative income, and livelihood options through temporary migration and so on. For longer-term recovery, however, disaster victims usually need support through linking social networks, e.g. from the national and international NGOs, local government, and Community-based Organisations. The study concludes by exploring policy options for strengthening the capacities of bonding and bridging networks for disaster recovery and promoting resilience.

Introduction

Bangladesh is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world [1], [2], [3]. Climate change is increasing the frequency of various extreme climatic events, for example, cyclones and storm surges, on the Bangladeshi coast [4]. Along with the cyclone disaster there are persisting local hazards (e.g., salinity, river bank erosion etc.) in the coastal parts of Bangladesh [5]. These hazards affect many socio-economic sectors, creating many physical, socioeconomic, and ecological vulnerabilities [6]. Many initiatives have been taken to address these vulnerabilities and build community capacity to recover from disasters, and promote resilience. This study explores how bonding and bridging social networks contribute to recovery from cyclones – the most serious climate hazard in these regions – and the limitations of these networks.

Bonding networks (relationships with family members and relatives) and bridging networks (relationships with neighbours and friends) are essential elements of social capital. These relationships play a significant role in how a household responds to natural disasters. When a disaster strikes, the first responders are the local residents because disaster response organisations often need a minimum 48–72 h to reach the affected areas—sometimes longer due to communication and access difficulties. Alam and Collins [7] report that institutional relief goods can take four to five days to reach the devastated areas. Households′ reliance on bonding and bridging networks during this initial period – and their ongoing contributions of course – make bonding and bridging networks a key point to focus on to understand disaster resilience and recovery in this region. This study uses experiences with Cyclone Sidr (a category 4 cyclone which hit the Bangladesh coast on 15 November 2007), in two affected coastal villages, to reveal how bonding and bridging networks contribute to recovery from cyclones.

Several studies have considered the importance of social networks in times of disaster [8], [9], [10], [12]. However, there have been relatively few studies that have given a comprehensive overview of how social networks contribute to disaster resilience and recovery (e.g. the following studies of the impacts of the Indian Ocean Tsunami: [13], [14], [15]). The literature on social capital and disaster recovery suggests that homogenous, tight-knit communities have an advantage over less-connected communities in promoting community rebound and redevelopment [16], [17], [18]. Likewise, Storr and Haeffele-Balch [11] argued that trust-bonding, tight-knit social networks encompassed homogenous groups, and these networks are crucial in post-disaster recovery. Social networks are important from a resilience perspective because they allow individuals to draw on community resources, and increase the likelihood that such communities can effectively address their collective concerns [19]. Similarly, Davidson [20] argued that the most resilient communities are those that work together toward a common goal. Relatedly, Mayunga [9] argued that where characteristics of a strong community are missing, members of that community tend to have less capacity to cope with disasters.

A community with strong ‘bonding′ and ‘bridging′ relationships can be expected to work together to gain access to external resources [21], [22]. For example, bonding and bridging relationships played a number of roles in response and recovery, following the 1995 Kobe earthquake [22]. During the response phase, communities were involved in the evacuations and relief efforts, both helping family members (bonding relationships) and also surrounding neighbours and friends (bridging relationships). During the recovery phase, community members focused more on the needs of their particular household e.g., repairing their own shelters, and re-establishing their livelihoods [22].

Bonding and bridging networks are also useful for reducing post-disaster trauma e.g., psychological stress, depression, and other psychosocial symptoms [23], [24]. Empirical evidence of post-Katrina clearly shows that lack of social networks predicts both depression and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder [23]. As Aldrich [25] puts it, resilience and recovery are functions of the ‘power of people′. He suggests further investigation of recovery at both at the individual and community levels to gain a deeper understanding of people’s power/capacity in the rebuilding process. Despite the importance of social capital in disaster resilience and recovery, the nature and use of social capital over the entire recovery phases has received little attention from disaster researchers [26].

Few studies have probed the roles of social networks in disaster recovery in Bangladesh. Alam and Collins [7, a study of 1991 Cyclone] and Paul and Routray [27, a post-Sidr study] do discuss households′ coping capacity and responses as a cross-cutting issue. Though a number of studies have been carried out in Bangladesh looking at different issues of cyclone disaster, the contribution of social networks to managing disasters is still little researched. Rotberg [28] suggested that further understanding and research is needed on the role of social bonding relationships, and ways of strengthening local networks, in adaptation to, and long-term recovery from, disasters. This study addresses this gap.

We investigated how coastal households utilised their bonding and bridging networks to survive and rebuild after Cyclone Sidr. This study aims to increase the understanding of researchers, development practitioners, and policy makers about the capacity of bonding and bridging networks, and how they promote the resilience and recovery of cyclone-affected households. This empirical evidence makes an important contribution to the literature of social capital and disaster.

Section snippets

Social capital

Bourdieu, Coleman, and Putnam’s work on social capital underpins this study. Bourdieu [29] has emphasised social ties and how they function to reproduce status. Coleman [30] focused on obligations, sharing of information, norms, and social networks as expressions of social capital. Putnam [31, p. 67] frames social capital as ‘features of social organisation such as networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit′. Putnam’s definition

Study area and methods

The study was conducted in South Charduani and Tafalbaria villages of Charduani Union (the smallest rural administrative and local government unit) Patharghata Upazila (sub-district) of Barguna district during February and July 2013. The villages are situated on the southern coast of Bangladesh, on the banks of the Baleshwar River, a channel of the Bay of Bengal (Fig.1). This area is frequently and severely affected by various common disasters like cyclone, storm surge, coastal floods and

Socioeconomic and demographic status of the households

The study villages are relatively poor and vulnerable. There is a significant gap between average annual household income and expenditure, and households do not have any savings (Table 1). Most households rely on loans from multiple sources (Table 1). Majority of them are involved in fishing-related work (67%), and less in farming (17%). Due to saline water intrusion, most farming land is only able to be cropped once per year (aksona land). Most of the dwelling houses (96%, both semi-pucca and

Importance of bonding and bridging networks in the recovery phases

In these coastal villages, the early/short-term recovery phase (response and relief) lasts for up to a month, and the long-term recovery phase (reconstruction and rehabilitation) lasts from a month to several years. Baird [68] distinguished between short-term and long-term recovery this way: the short-term recovery phase includes search and rescue, providing food and temporary shelter, medical assistance, restoring interrupted essential services, re-establishing communication routes, etc. The

Policy implications and conclusions

From this analysis we can develop a variety of recommendations to strengthen the contributions of bonding and bridging networks to disaster resilience and recovery. They are relevant both to local NGOs and local government who have key direct roles, and to central government, and national and foreign NGOs, who support local actors through formulating policies, providing funding and technical support, and designing new programs.

To leverage households′ preference for independence, and to reduce

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Macquarie University, Australia, as this study is supported with an International Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship. Special thanks to the disaster practitioners and policy makers, Upazilla Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP), Patharghata, the local NGOs, and the Charduani Union Parishad for their kind support during fieldwork between February and July 2013.

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