GovTwin / Institution

Belaichhari (Rangamati)

Local Gov

A deeply remote, sparsely settled hill upazila of forested ridges and jhum-farming indigenous paras far from the district centre.

Wealth rank 1/452 (1 = poorest upazila)

Indicators: Meta RWI (HDX); ERA5-Land; MODIS; Sentinel-5P; VIIRS night-lights; GHSL; Hansen v1.11; CHIRPS v2.0. Exposure: GloFAS v2.1, FABDEM, MODIS LST, ACAG PM2.5, WorldPop 2020.

Problems and issues

  1. poverty The upazila has a mean Relative Wealth Index of -0.536, ranking 1st of 452 nationally as the single poorest sub-district in the country, reflecting near-total reliance on subsistence jhum and almost no cash economy. So what: Residents live with the deepest material deprivation recorded anywhere in Bangladesh. Source: Meta Data for Good Relative Wealth Index (HDX)
  2. economy Cut off from all-weather roads and the grid, the hill interior here sits largely outside the cash economy, with livelihoods confined to shifting cultivation, forest produce and fisheries. So what: Isolation keeps incomes locked at subsistence and blocks access to markets and services. Source: Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board
  3. environment Open jhum and logging on steep catchment slopes drive tree-cover loss, degrading the soils and watercourses the community depends on. So what: Erosion of the forest base undermines the very subsistence system that sustains the paras. Source: Bangladesh Forest Department

Probable solutions