Framework to examine urban-rural links: an example from Bangladesh

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 theInternational Food Policy Research Institute, USA, provides a framework to identify and analysethese links. Based on a review of secondary data and on field interviews, thepaper examines the ways in which urban and rural areas are linked (people,goods, services, information, investment, waste and natural resources). Thepaper emphasises the need for the incorporating geographical considerations inplanning and policymaking. 

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

Main findings of this study include:

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

However, even as the relative importance of agriculturalproduction declines, it is still the key system that runs the rural economy. Policiesmust take into account the reality that urban and rural livelihoods areinterdependent. Because of the areas of action of different levels of authorityoverlap (district, city, regional and national), planning needs to take aregional view that integrates rural and urban spheres and meets localneeds.  But planning in Bangladeshremains centralised and fails to take regional disparities into account.

The report suggests thatpolicymakers must:

• think regionally and link planning for urban andrural economies at the local level
• invest in health and education to ensure therural population have the ability to make successful transitions to non-agriculturalor urban employment
• invest ininfrastructure and strengthen market institutions to facilitate urban-ruralinteractions.