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Poverty and livelihood, the twin social problems are found throughout the length and breadth of this land. The study explores the present status of poverty and contemporary livelihood strategies adopted by the local people of a disaster prone area. This research provides towards a new direction, a new paradigm of poverty reduction from an analysis of the current poverty discourse. This research identifies that environment or environmental performances must be considered to attain sustainable poverty reduction. Besides, the findings of the study will help to determine the planning needs and policies by the planner and the concern authorities including government and non- government organization for sustainable rural development. It is vital for development planners, NGOs, Government agencies and other actors to be acquainted with the local environmental dynamics. Moreover, it generates essential information for policy planners, decision makers and donor agencies to mainstream environment to national, regional and local policy.

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Muhammad Jahedul Huq is a Research Officer in Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction, ActionAid Bangladesh. He has a Masters in Human Ecology from the Department of Human Ecology, Free University of Brussels, Belgium. He also did MSc in Geography and Environment from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh.

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