From Debt Cycle to Self-Resilience: A Story from the Small Village of Datinakhali

In Datinakhali, Bangladesh, frequent extreme weather events like cyclones and flash floods have trapped residents in a debt cycle with loan sharks. To counter this, World Vision established the Samabay Samiti, a cooperative fund committee where female members save weekly to access low-interest microloans and receive business training. The initiative has enabled members, such as Swapna Parvin, to establish diversified livelihoods in cosmetics and build household assets, leading to the program's expansion and a trial collaboration with BRAC.

• The village of Datinakhali faces a 'vicious cycle of debt' because the increasing frequency of climate-driven events—including cyclones, river erosions, and flash floods—prevents residents from recovering assets before the next disaster strikes, forcing them to rely on high-interest loan sharks for urgent financial support.
• World Vision implemented the Samabay Samiti, a cooperative fund consisting of 8 groups of 20–25 women each. Members contribute between 50 and 250 BDT weekly, and loans are capped at three times a member's monthly savings, with a repayment interest rate of 50 taka per month per 1000 taka over a 3-month period.
• Diversification of livelihoods through business training and micro-capital has enabled individuals to achieve self-resilience. For example, Swapna Parvin established a cosmetics and hygiene product business that generates a profit of 600–700 Taka for every 1000 Taka of product sold, allowing her to save 10,000–12,000 BDT monthly.
• The success of the Samabay Samiti has led to its expansion to 20–30 groups and a trial collaboration with the NGO BRAC to provide further microcredit to members.

APA

Mondal, V., Mahfuz, M., & Raya, T. Z. (2023). From Debt Cycle to Self-Resilience: A Story from the Small Village of Datinakhali. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/from-debt-cycle-to-self-resilience-a-story-from-the-small-village-of-datinakhali/

Chicago

Mondal, Vaskar, Mahzabeen Mahfuz, and Towrin Zaman Raya. From Debt Cycle to Self-Resilience: A Story from the Small Village of Datinakhali. Global Resilience Partnership, 2023. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/from-debt-cycle-to-self-resilience-a-story-from-the-small-village-of-datinakhali/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mondal |first1=Vaskar |last2=Mahfuz |first2=Mahzabeen |last3=Raya |first3=Towrin Zaman |title=From Debt Cycle to Self-Resilience: A Story from the Small Village of Datinakhali |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=27 February 2023 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/from-debt-cycle-to-self-resilience-a-story-from-the-small-village-of-datinakhali/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mondal2023from, author = {Mondal, Vaskar and Mahfuz, Mahzabeen and Raya, Towrin Zaman}, title = {{From Debt Cycle to Self-Resilience: A Story from the Small Village of Datinakhali}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/from-debt-cycle-to-self-resilience-a-story-from-the-small-village-of-datinakhali/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }