The main purpose of the study was to determine the contribution of variables to
the sustainable livelihood status of char women. The sustainable livelihood status of a
char woman was measured by computing a “sustainable livelihood status score” which is
considering six major aspects of her livelihoods: food security, ability to provide family
education, health and sanitation, shelter and family assets, clothing condition and social
upliftment. Data were collected from 200 randomly selected char women by using interview
schedule in two Upazilla of Jamalpur district in Bangladesh during November 2006
to March 2007. More than two-fifths (67.5 per cent) of the char women were found under
“medium sustainable livelihood status” compared to more than one-fifth (20.5 per cent) of
them belongs to ‘low sustainable livelihood status’ and only 12 per cent to “high sustainable
livelihood status”. Pearson correlation test depicted that out of 16 variables, 13 had
significant positive relationships with the sustainable livelihood status. Results of stepwise
multiple regression analysis revealed that five variables namely, annual income, agricultural
knowledge, income generating activities, family education and organizational
participation contributed significantly which combindly explained 76.3 per cent of total
variation to the sustainable livelihood status. Path analysis indicated that these variables
had both direct and indirect effects to the sustainable livelihood status. Women who had
more annual income, better agricultural knowledge, participation in income generating activities,
more family education and more organizational participation were found to better
sustainable livelihood status in char area. Government or concern other authorities need to
give attention to these variables for any sustainable livelihood upliftment programme.
