Higher Ground: Communities Raise up Homes — and Each Other — in Flood-Prone Bangladesh

With its networks of rivers, canals, extensive flood plains and small islands, large areas of Bangladesh are flooded each year. Building tall mounds of earth — called plinths — has proven to be an effective community response to protecting lives and livelihoods. Photo credit: CARE

Most of us will experience a devastating torrent once in our lifetime, or at worst only once a decade. But the odds are much greater in Bangladesh, where almost every year floods, cyclones, and landslides put vulnerable people at risk and force tens of thousands of people to flee to safety. This year was no exception, as historic floods covered over 40 percent of the country.

How do people cope when houses, livestock, and livelihoods are relentlessly and tragically swept away?

Community members in Habiganj District wade through floodwaters in July 2020 in search of food and other necessities. Inundated roads have hindered access to facilities and essential services. Photo credit: CARE

The key to Bangladesh’s resilience can be found in its communities, and it goes beyond neighbors lending a quick helping hand. USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance provided emergency assistance in response to this year’s floods, but the real success story started earlier.

Many communities benefitted from disaster preparation carried out by USAID and its partner CARE. Not only did they teach people how to use an early warning system piloted by USAID in Bangladesh, they also worked with vulnerable families to build something called plinths — raised mounds of earth that elevate homesteads above flood waters.

During the 2019 flood response, USAID partner CARE worked with communities to build enough plinths to help more than 10,000 people. Photo credit: CARE

Many Feet Power Engineering Feat

The plinth-building effort began after severe floods hit Bangladesh in 2019. Guided by USAID and partners, the process featured community consultation and engagement in which village development committees lobbied for the availability of soil and decided where it should be sourced, being careful to protect the environment. Members of vulnerable households were hired as laborers in line with a Government of Bangladesh short-term labor plan. This USAID-funded cash-for-work project had two benefits: In the short term, it provided an income to families who had lost everything; in the longer term, the plinth-building process helped prepare them to be more resilient to future floods.

Video credit: CARE

Abdul Halim Akhond, a mason from Gaibandha District helped build many plinths and is grateful for the opportunity.

“I am so thankful to be given the chance to use my skills to help not just raise the plinth for my house but to work for other people in the village to raise their houses, too,” he said. “I have been through this disaster myself and the only way to give back is to help others.” — Abdul Halim Akhond

Once the community and the local government gave their approval, surveyors laid out the plinth sites. Then the community dug in, using only materials and equipment available locally: shovels, wheelbarrows, baskets, bamboo sticks, and concrete hammers to compact the soil. Village workers harvested soil from dried canals, ditches, ponds, and unused land and carried it in bamboo baskets. It took about nine days to complete a plinth taller than the highest flood level recorded in the past 30 years.

Just how big are these elevated plots? An average plinth measures about 1,200 square feet — large enough for a house for a family of six with enough space for a small vegetable garden and a livestock pen. This also helps ensure that families’ ability to earn income is not washed away with the flood waters.

A Bangladeshi family stands on their homestead, which they recently raised on a plinth with support from USAID partner CARE. Photo credit: CARE

As part of the 2019 flood response, USAID and CARE raised plinths for 1,744 households, or about 10,500 people. The earthen foundations were put to the test when flooding again engulfed northern Bangladesh in July 2020, affecting at least 30,000 families in low-lying areas. In the immediate flood zone, these plinths helped protect about 5,500 families as well as their livestock and belongings from being lost. Even more critical: Families were able to keep emergency supplies — such as food, matches, and soap — dry during the floods.

In addition to getting their homesteads raised on plinths, families in Bangladesh receive training on farming practices and other activities that make them more resilient to future disasters. Photo credit: CARE

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Those with homesteads on plinths opened their homes to neighbors whose homes had flooded — a welcomed lifeline for families worried about staying in crowded evacuation centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rehana Begum welcomed her neighbors to join her on her plinth during 2020 flooding. Photo credit: CARE

“People’s lives are in danger with the ongoing flood. They come to take shelter when they have nowhere else to go,” said Rehana Begum, a program participant from Bakshiganj in Jamalpur District. “I have taken in my neighbor’s family with their cattle and a small child.”

- Rehana Begum

The new raised plinth came as a blessing for Shukhi Begum from Islampur in Jamalpur, as well as for the neighboring families she invited to stay with her.

Two women with their young children are currently taking shelter at Shukhi’s house as their own homes were damaged due to flood water. Photo credit: CARE

“During the flood, young children may go into the waters and fall sick. I told my neighbors that my door is open for them to take shelter during the floods,” said Shukhi.

Building Plinths Builds Resilience

In addition to constructing plinths, USAID and CARE worked with communities to change farming practices to make them more resilient to flooding. For example, they taught families how to grow vegetables in portable “grow bags” that can be moved out of the way of rising floodwaters and help ensure that families continue to have enough to eat.

Rasheda Begum uses the “grow bag” method to planting vegetables in bags of soil so flooding will not wash them away. Photo credit: CARE

Rasheda Begum knows what it feels like to face hard times. She was forced to sell her family cow and source of income to pay for an unforeseen medical emergency. Then, flooding brought a deluge of mud into her home in Nama para village in Kurigram. With her neighbor’s help, she cleaned the place up and did minor repairs to make it habitable. With USAID and CARE assistance, neighbors placed her house on a raised plinth where she now lives with her family. She also received support to plant vegetables to eat and to sell, enabling her to get a fresh start.

“What is important is that with our house being on a raised, we worry no more for our survival whenever a disaster like this would come. Little by little, I know we can get back on our feet again. I am grateful that we are intact, and my children serve as my inspiration to move forward.”

- Rasheda Begum

A family stands on their homestead atop a plinth built with support from USAID. Photo credit: CARE

The plinths have been so successful that the government is now working to replicate the plinth-building program so even more Bangladeshis can benefit.

“These raised plinths will help the char dwellers for years to come,” said Gaibandha District Relief and Rehabilitation

- Officer AKM Idris Ali.

Learn more about USAID’s humanitarian and resilience work in Bangladesh.

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