ABSTRACT
This paper clarifies how poverty drivers are deeply affected and influenced by waterborne challenges. With a mix-method approach using a household questionnaire survey and a number of qualitative tools, this research intends to explore the drivers of poverty in general and how those drivers are deeply connected and influenced by waterborne challenges in particular. In building a broader perspective on water-poverty connections, this study draws information from the geographically vulnerable coastal zone in Southern Bangladesh. Findings are drawn from the recent qualitative and quantitative surveys conducted between 2016 and 2019 in coastal Bangladesh. The findings represent the reasons behind the poverty among agriculture-based smallholder households in geographically vulnerable zones. The findings suggest that the poor and extreme poor households face poverty differently as the waterborne challenges make the poverty drivers more difficult to challenge and overcome.
