Using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to Identify Constraints and Opportunities to the Development of Freshwater Prawn Farming in Southwest Bangladesh

Abstract A conceptual framework, drawn from an approach to poverty reduction known as the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA), is applied to understanding the role of freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii , farming in gher (modified rice fields with high, broad peripheral dikes) systems in southwest Bangladesh. Gher farming potentially allows incorporation of a wide variety of crops together with prawn, fish, dike crops, and rice culture. The analysis shows how, in a gher farming context, sustainable livelihoods are achieved through access to a range of livelihood assets, which are combined in the pursuit of prawn farming strategies. The study used the SLA framework as a diagnostic tool to identify ways of strengthening the livelihoods of the prawn farmers.