The Problem with Solutions: Development Failures in Bangladesh and the Interests They Obscure

Abstract

Long described as the “largest poorest” country, Bangladesh has been a prime target for massive infusions of foreign aid for decades. Through historical and ethnographic investigation, I document how flood control and agricultural intensification projects underwritten by foreign institutions exacerbate vulnerability to water crises in Bangladesh. These ostensibly pro-poor water governance and economic development programs engender cycles of crop loss, groundwater and soil salinization, reduced fisheries, and impeded navigation that erode agrarian livelihoods, thereby reproducing the conditions and rationale for continued flows of aid dollars into the country. Shifting attention away from depoliticized problems and solutions, I develop the concept of the interest-shed as a broadly applicable method for intervening in cycles of failure by examining the interests that they serve. This framework can also be used in the planning process by enabling differently situated groups to evaluate how proposed schemes include, ignore, or prioritize their interests.