Abstract

Agriculture and fisheries are dependent on water; hence, integrated approach in water management involving local stakeholders is the key to solve the food and water crisis for today and future. In Bangladesh, major small scale water resources development interventions are undertaken by Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Bangladesh, under its Small Scale Water Resources Development Projects (SSWRDSP) to facilitate mainly the plant crop production and rural employment generation. The subproject level operational field is basically the floodplain area which is also the major natural fisheries resource base of the country. The research takes an eclectic approach, using both quantitative and qualitative methods in information gathering. It reviews relevant external secondary data sources and internal SSWRDSPs field data. The primary sources included extensive field visits, household survey for beneficiaries and Water Management Cooperative Association (WMCA) interviews of a specific sub-project that made significant impact in increasing cereal and fish productions. Transcripts of field visit, field notes and relevant literature are analyzed on the basis of themes, patterns and data of interrelationships among those that addressed the research goal. This paper describes the augmentation of crop and fish production and thus, rural socio-economic development complied with the participatory water management process prevailing in Bangladesh with its future prospect.

Key words: Participatory approach, sustainable development, food production, fish production, employment generation.