Poverty and climate change deepen WASH crisis in coastal Bangladesh communities

A new study by researchers from ANU, QIMR Berghofer, University of Canberra, and Noakhali Science and Technology University finds that over half of coastal households in Bangladesh lack basic water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities. Poverty, education, occupation, and geography are the key drivers of these inequities, leaving fishing communities and larger families most vulnerable.

A new study by researchers from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University, the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, the HEAL Global Research Centre at the University of Canberra, and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Science at Noakhali Science and Technology University in Bangladesh exposes the severe inequalities in access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities across Bangladesh’s vulnerable coastal belt. Between March and July 2023, the team surveyed 471 households in three coastal districts, Barguna, Noakhali, and Satkhira, areas already reeling under sea-level rise, saline intrusion, and repeated cyclones. The results underline how geography, poverty, and occupation create sharp divides in who has access to safe drinking water and sanitation. More than half of the households (56.9 percent) reported limited access to drinking water, 43.3 percent lacked improved sanitation, and nearly half (48.2 percent) were without hygiene facilities. Alarmingly, only 10.6 percent had basic access to all three services combined.

Poverty and Geography Deepen Inequalities

The study reveals that poverty is the most decisive factor in determining access to safe water and sanitation. Households in the poorest wealth categories were 76 percent less likely to have safe water compared to the richest. Geography further entrenched this inequality. In Satkhira, in the southwest, families were 79 percent less likely to access safe drinking water compared to those in Barguna, while households in Noakhali, in the southeast, had 1.67 times better odds of access. Satkhira’s plight has been worsened by saline intrusion into surface and groundwater, a legacy of Cyclone Aila in 2009 and further compounded by disasters such as Super Cyclone Amphan in 2020, which alone destroyed over 18,000 water points and nearly 41,000 latrines. These figures illustrate how geography and climate interact with poverty to create zones of deep deprivation.

The Burden on Large Families and Fishing Communities

Household size and occupation further defined the likelihood of access. Larger families were found to be 39 percent less likely to maintain proper sanitation than smaller households, as basic needs like food and essentials drained already scarce resources. The occupation of the household head shaped fortunes even more starkly. Fishermen-led households, nearly a quarter of those surveyed, were 70 percent less likely to have sanitation facilities than those led by salaried service holders, often government or NGO employees. Fishing communities also accounted for the highest proportion of adults with below-primary education and dominated the “poor” wealth category. With unstable incomes, seasonal earnings, piracy at sea and fluctuating fish prices, these households emerged as the “poorest of the poor.” Their clustering of low education, poor wealth and occupational vulnerability placed them at the sharpest end of WASH exclusion.

Education Shapes Hygiene Access

The divide extended to education. Adults with little or no schooling were far less likely to have hygiene facilities, particularly handwashing stations with soap and water, compared with households where members had secondary or higher education. In fact, higher educational attainment correlated strongly with better access to all three WASH services, highlighting how awareness of the health benefits of sanitation drives demand and investment. Interestingly, the regional picture was uneven: Satkhira, though struggling with water access, showed comparatively higher odds of having hygiene facilities, suggesting that localised programmes or community practices may have partly offset systemic weaknesses. Yet overall, the study points to a sobering reality, education and awareness can significantly improve hygiene, but without parallel improvements in infrastructure and affordability, gains remain limited.

Policy Pathways Toward Equity

The study situates these findings in the wider context of climate vulnerability. Bangladesh’s southern coastline is among the most climate-threatened places on earth, facing cyclones, storm surges, and erosion year after year. The destruction caused by Amphan in 2020 highlights the fragility of WASH infrastructure in the face of such disasters. For poor households, already struggling to make ends meet, rebuilding water points and latrines is almost impossible. The researchers argue that piecemeal solutions are not enough. They call for subsidised WASH access for disadvantaged occupational groups, community-driven hygiene education, and livelihood diversification to reduce dependence on fishing. For water-scarce areas like Satkhira, urgent investment in desalination plants, rainwater harvesting systems and deep tubewells is critical. At the same time, financial support and skill training could help fishermen diversify their income sources, making them less vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.

The authors acknowledge limitations, such as the inability of their cross-sectional design to establish causality and the exclusion of certain wealth indicators like ownership of mobile phones or bicycles. Still, the strength of the research lies in its ability to highlight structural inequities in stark terms. With more than half of coastal households lacking basic WASH facilities, the findings make clear that Sustainable Development Goal 6, which promises universal access to clean water and sanitation, is far from being met in Bangladesh’s coastal zones.

Ultimately, the study offers more than numbers. It portrays a region where access to clean water and sanitation is not only a development challenge but also a frontline battle against poverty, education gaps, and climate change. Unless policymakers craft interventions that combine resilient infrastructure with social support, Bangladesh’s most climate-exposed citizens will continue to face preventable health risks and indignities. The authors conclude with an urgent call: safe water, sanitation and hygiene must be treated not just as public health priorities but as essential tools of climate resilience and social justice for the nation’s most vulnerable coastal communities.