A conceptual framework, drawn from an approach to poverty reduction known as the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA), is applied to understanding the role of freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, farming in gher (modified rice fields with high, broad peripheral dikes) systems in southwest Bangladesh. Gher farming potentially allows incorporation of a wide variety of crops together with prawn, fish, dike crops and rice culture. The analysis shows how, in a gher farming context, sustainable livelihoods are achieved through access to a range of livelihood assets which are combined in the pursuit of prawn farming strategies. The study used the SLA framework as a diagnostic tool to identify ways of strengthening the livelihoods of the prawn farmers.