Coping strategies of the local farmers in changing crop patterns of disaster prone area of Bangladesh

Abstract

In the Bangladesh economy the agriculture sector plays a crucial role throughout contributing to GDP, creating employment, living conditions and alleviating poverty. However various natural hazards, including the climate change, have put the sector under rising pressure. Extreme events such as storms, droughts, cyclones, storm surges, sea-level rise and salinity intrusion are likely to occur more regularly and worsen in the future. This will have a significant effect on food production, particularly in vulnerable areas, such as the low coastal belts of the country. The research for this thesis discusses how local farmers already adopt mitigation methods at different levels to tackle hazards and disasters caused by climate change. These include: 30 percent farmers use water vessel to conserve fresh water for irrigation, as well as 58 percent are planting saline-resistant rice varieties. However, 86% farmers are using hybrid seeds. Furthermore, the use of modern technologies in agriculture is also common coping strategies in the study area. 97% farmers are using tractor for ploughing, 98% are applying insecticides and 100% are adopted by chemical fertilizers to counter the adverse effect of climate change. A very noteworthy and alarming finding is that during the disaster especially the cyclone, flood, flow tide and so on which were frequently confronted by the farmers of the coastal areas when their farm lands were under water or destroyed 92% of them are willing to switch from agricultural sector to industry. Moreover, due to their lack of relevant knowledge and insufficient extension facilities, most farmers are not fully aware of the benefits of these adaptation technologies. Farmers are typically prepared to embrace saline-resistant organisms and have also requested them in the region studied. While freshwater conservation can provide an efficient improvement strategy for irrigation by excavating canals, it is often expensive and beyond the budgetary capacity of disadvantaged smallholder farmers. Another argument that farmers stress is the need for training and education. Capacity building for agricultural workers and farmers must be strengthened at the same time in order to meet targets to adjust to the coastal region. In addition, the appropriate stakeholder organizations must be allocated additional funding to ensure that adaptation initiatives can be successfully enforced and further extended.