The Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT), home to diverse ethnic communities locally known as tribals, lags behind in socioeconomic development, with widespread poverty and precarious livelihoods. This paper, using diverse sources of literature, examines the existing livelihood challenges faced by the tribal people of CHT and explores various livelihood options that could improve their well-being. Our analysis revealed that a variety of factors, including geographic, economic, social, historical, and political, affect the livelihoods of tribal people in the CHT. The region's difficult topography, remoteness, poor infrastructure, and past conflicts have hindered development efforts and deterred both private and public sector investments. Although over 60 % of the tribal people depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihoods, many of them are landless. Moreover, tribal communities have limited access to finance, education and training, health services, and markets due to their remote locations, poor infrastructure, and lack of transportation facilities. Our findings suggest that, despite many challenges, there is huge potential to improve the livelihoods of the tribal people. However, it would require a holistic and coordinated approach of managing natural resources, improving human, social, physical, and financial capital, as well as addressing underlying structural and institutional factors. Priority should be given to managing natural resources, improving governance, resolving land disputes, investing in infrastructure, improving access to markets and financial services, and developing skills and knowledge. This paper outlines a framework to address the existing challenges and harness the opportunities to promote sustainable livelihoods in CHT.

The dramatic spread of COVID-19 has threatened human lives, disrupted livelihoods, and affected trade, economy and businesses across the globe. The global economy has begun to show major disruptions and is heading toward a severe recession with an unprecedented economic crisis. As the global economy is highly integrated and interdependent through the global supply chains, it has been profoundly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although all countries have faced difficulties due to Covid-19, South Asian countries in particular have had to deal with a more challenging situation due to their large population, weak health facilities, high poverty rates, low socio-economic conditions, poor social protection systems, limited access to water and sanitation, and inadequate living space, necessary to maintain physical distancing and take other required measures to contain this pandemic. To contain the spread of the virus, South Asian countries have imposed stringent lockdowns, which have consequently affected the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the region, where a third of world’s poor live. Against this backdrop, this paper examines the existing and prospective impacts, risks and challenges of Covid-19 on key social and economic sectors including migration, tourism, informal sector, agriculture and rural livelihoods. The analysis revealed that COVID-19 is likely to affect economic growth, increase fiscal deficit and monetary burden, increase the risks of macroeconomic instability, decrease migration and remittance, reduce income from travel and tourism, and result in dwindling micro-small and medium industries and informal businesses. This is likely to deepen poverty and increase unemployment and the risks of hunger and food insecurity. If not addressed properly, this may reinforce existing inequalities, break social harmony, and increase tension and turbulence. The economic and social costs of the COVID-19 outbreak are therefore likely to be significant and long-lasting in South Asia.

To the people and communities of dry tropical areas and mountains whose wisdom and ways in adapting to fragile environments induced and enhanced my involvement in promoting the issues and messages communicated through this volume."Dr. Narpat Singh Jodha was a multi-dimensional mountain of a man devoted to understanding and supporting the rural poor.A tall Rajasthani economist, with all the pride that entails, he had a soft spoken and humble presence that belied his brilliance, and a warm heart that embraced so many of us into lifelong friendship.Jodha's scholarly work spanned the commons of the poor from the arid deserts to the high mountains.His influence has traversed the globe.Jodha's work has provided new frameworks, empirical data, and analytic tools for scholars, policy

This chapter broadens the lens of Water, Energy, Food (WEF) nexus by bringing regional and river basin dimensions in WEF literature. Looking at WEF nexus at basin, sub-basin, and regional levels can help further the understanding about the potential synergies and trade-offs across countries at different scales (local, national, regional) and inform policy and action at different levels. For instance, Indo-Gangetic Plain, which is the food basket for South Asia, depends on water sources from upstream areas of India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Similarly, change in food production in Indo-Gangetic Plain influences food prices and food security in upstream areas, including upstream countries Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Nepal. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world - how interconnected we are and how important it is to work together between countries whether it is on issues of health security, food security, water security and energy security. The rapid spread of the virus call for a cooperation both at regional and global level.