This study investigates whether necessity entrepreneurship (NE) alleviates needs in marginalized contexts, focusing on the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh. Prior research often reduces NE to individual survival, overlooking its broader social role. We adopt an abductive, mixed-methods approach, combining ethnographic observation with two household surveys (3,842 households in 2021, re-surveyed in 2025). This panel design allows us to trace both the determinants of livelihood choices and household transitions over time. Our preliminary analysis shows that entrepreneurial engagement is not universally accessible but shaped by past business experience, household composition, and social capital, rather than resource endowments. 

Longitudinal evidence further reveals that households often move between different livelihood strategies, with NE offering more sustainable improvements in well-being compared to alternatives. Contrary to assumptions of linear need satisfaction, necessity entrepreneurs distribute resources across survival, social, and future-oriented goals. We argue that NE is a multifaceted life project, sustaining dignity, identity, and hope beyond short-term survival.