Climate change adaptation and coping strategies in Bangladesh
The geographical position of Bangladesh is a determinant factor to its vulnerability to the effects of climate change. It is located at the border of different atmospheric pressure such as the Bay of Bengal to the south and the Himalayas to the north. The atmospheric pressure intersects to generate adverse weather conditions and natural disaster. Since the country is in a low lying land with dense population, climate change affects its citizens’ existence. The change in climate conditions due to the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has led to the increased pollution and the climate issues in Bangladesh. As climate change leads to various risks in a country, the government and the international bodies have initiated moves to formulate strategies that can aid in the coping with the menace and adapting to the negative effects of climate change. Bangladesh is a developing country that must require aid from the international bodies concerned with the prevention of climatic hazards to be in a position of preventing the adverse effects of climate change. Bangladesh through the international aid has devised several ways of adapting and coping to the changes in climate in the society.
Bangladesh adopted short-term strategies to mitigate the risk of climate change. Although they have not succeeded in the full mitigation process, the strategy has aided in the prevention of the disasters. The country is prone to floods due to the heavy rainfall during monsoon (Uddin, 2013). The rain leads to rising sea level different from the global sea level rise. Since the society is developing, they lack quick action to prevent the situation from escalating to its negativity. However, the country has opted for adaptation to the tough conditions resulting from the climate change. In the flooded areas, the government has chosen to relocate the residents to raised grounds. Additionally, they have converted the flooded areas to fish hatcheries a process that has led to the change in lifestyle through appreciating fish farming.
The construction of barrier, dams and sea walls in the sea wall are also measures that have led to the adaption to the floods due to the rise in sea levels (Uddin, 2013). Other adaptation methods that Bangladesh citizens have used are bearing the losses caused due to climate change. The government has also introduced a mean of sharing costs such as providing insurance to the affected people and donations to help them cope with the losses (Uddin, 2013). The government has further opted to renovate places destroyed by floods and other hazards caused climate change such as cyclones, river erosion, and saltwater intrusions.
The community-based strategy is another method that the country has used to mitigate the effects of climate change. Through the community, the local residents will be aware of the causes and effects of climate change through an awareness created in sessions, community projects and the workshops offered by the government (Uddin, 2013). Through the creation of an awareness, the community has adjusted their lifestyle to suit the effects of the climatic change. The Bangladesh program of the international NGO, Practical Action has is also a community project that has aided in the introduction of floating gardens. The technique protects food shortage since vegetable will sprout and acts as a surplus to the already food shortage in Bangladesh (Uddin, 2013). Since climate change leads to the reduction in farm crops and agricultural produce, this technique forms an adaptation procedure in times of hostilities.
The government of Bangladesh through the help of UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the United Nations Development Programme for formulated strategies to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The local participating body was predominantly the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (Uddin, 2013). The launch of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) provided a positive initiative by the local government and the international bodies to help poor Bangladesh mitigate climate change risks (Uddin, 2013). The strategy has aided in the expansion of people’s knowledge in the adaptation of to the climate change and disaster management skills in case hazards such as floods rock the country. The initiative has also led to the building of cyclone shelters o prevent strong winds from destroying farms, settlements and other important places in Bangladesh such as forests and government projects.
The initiative has however failed due to low-level cooperation by the local government with international donors. Poor administration, low-quality facilities, and the unproductive labor are some of the determining factors to the failure of the mitigating procedure proposed above (Uddin, 2013). Lack of the intensification of the program will lead to vulnerability to the climate change effects by the Bangladeshi citizens. International donors are ready to help the situation in case the government is fully committed to their instructions and the strategies they have proposed. European Union proposed the creation of an awareness as a perfect strategy that would help to maintain the procedure (Uddin, 2013). With the Bangladeshi government help, these adaptation and coping procedures will come to pass.
The decrease in the crop production due to the destruction of crops by floods and cyclones have resulted in a need to adopt other agricultural styles by the Bangladeshi farmers. Duck rearing forms a perfect coping procedure since it is a substitute for the rising food shortage in Bangladesh (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). Additionally, it has led to the increase in the investments since farmers can sell ducks and supplement their income that has been affected by effects of climate change. Additionally, the concentration in cottage industries, stationery shops, rickshaw puller and other day labor form an alternative in cases of the adverse effects of climate change in the environment (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). Homestead gardening also form another method that the Bangladeshi farmers have applied to minimize risk created by climate change. It involves the use of the land in various homes as a substitute for the lands destroyed by floods. The procedure has led to an increase in food availability in the Bangladeshi market.
Pests have increased in Bangladesh due to pollution caused by the adverse effects of climate change. To adapt to the prevalence of pests and diseases that attacks crops, Bangladeshi farmers have adopted pesticides as a technique to prevent diseases attacking crops and pests (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). Although pesticides lead to the pollution of the environment, Bangladeshi farmers have opted to it as the last resort towards the protection of their farm crops. The method has led to the increased produce and the forecast of the optimism towards future food security in Bangladesh. The farmers have also adopted cage aquaculture farming as a means of reducing the negative threats of climate change (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). It is a form of rearing the tilapia fish for increased investment to the farmers. Additionally, it aid in the protection of over flooding since it the cage is built in specific areas on the river or a sea.
The increased sea waves due to bare land and strong winds have led to the construction of Koroch plantation to prevent the sea waves from accessing and that can result in the destruction of settlements and crops (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). The plantation can tolerate water stagnation thereby preventing floods. The plantation also aids in the protection of the villages from the soil erosion that has led to the adversaries the Bangladesh citizens have been facing. Additionally, the plantation acted as a wood collection point to supplement fuel needs (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). The process of fuel also aided in the protection of forests from logging by the villages leading to the growth of forests that can prevent monsoon winds from causing floods. USAID and CARE were the major donors that aided in the construction of the project through the collaboration with Bangladeshi government.
The government of Bangladesh has also constructed the story building that can act as a clinic to the affected people by the disaster and schools for the displaced children. These shelter houses have acre as a coping strategy since the permanent solution to the effects of climate change is still elusive in Bangladesh due to the imbalanced economy (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). Additionally, the construction of the village mounds is an example of the shelter houses that protect the citizens from strong winds and floods. The use of bamboos in the building of the protection walls also forms an ideal situation where the Bangladeshi residents have used the mitigating procedure for adverse effects of climate change.
The high siltation has also led to the need for digging and re-digging of canals and rivers since the water filled the rivers and canals leading waterlogging. The government through the help of the NGOs and the local community has built the canals (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). The process also acted as an employment opportunity for the poor people in Bangladesh since the government pays the local communities who involves in the construction of the canals. The project also leads to the proper water movement during the monsoon (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). The most visible importance of the project is that farmers harvested water stored in the canals for use in the irrigation farms.
The construction of embankments is another adaptive strategy that Bangladesh citizens are employing to survive the adverse effects of climate change. The embankments protect the wave action allows effective communication during the times of disaster (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). The embankments also aid in the prevention of crops in the failed from floods. It also protects the soil mounds from being washed away by floods learning to the protection required for the sustainability of soil and crops in Bangladesh. Since there were several cases of waterlogging and flood in the local villages in Bangladesh such as Jamalganj area, there was a need to involve NGOs and government of Bangladesh in providing the above method of adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change (Anik, Khan, Sayed, & Arfin, 2012). Through the project, there have few cases of flooding in the Jamalganj area.
Climate change also leads to diseases such as air and waterborne in Bangladesh. Diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea, asthma and other psychological orders have affected Bangladeshi citizens (Haque, et al. 2013). Since the literacy level in Bangladesh is low, there is a shortage of physicians. Local villagers seek help from the unqualified health providers in the village as a coping strategy they are using to mitigate health risks. The government of Bangladesh has also come forward to decentralize health facilities in the local villages to provide ease in the access to health providers for perfect and quality treatment (Haque, et al. 2013). The government has also introduced health insurance to the Bangladesh people to motivate health risks and help the low-income earners in the access to the quality health provision of qualified doctors with high expertise in matter medicine.
The government through the NGOs and other local members of the community have collaborated to create awareness on the methods the Bangladeshi citizens can use to overcome the health risk brought about by the climate change (Haque, et al. 2013). Personal protection such as wearing of warm clothes during cold weather, bathing with warm water, the use of oil and skin creams to prevent skin diseases that arise due to airborne diseases are some of the areas that these volunteers have concentrated on (Haque, et al. 2013). Since the stoppage the permanent solution to the negative effects of climate change is impossible in Bangladesh, the strategies although temporary will aid in the protection of the citizens and improve their adaptability to the menace.
Lack of mobility is another process that the local community has adopted to avoid attracting water and airborne diseases. Since there is a constant weather change in Bangladesh more so the southern parts due to its low lying altitude, citizens have adopted the means of adaptation to the adverse effects (Haque, et al. 2013). Issues such as staying indoors during a sunny and rainy day or during the days with extremely high temperatures have contributed to the reduction of the ill citizens due to the adverse effects of climate change. The approach has been fruitful since cold and other air pollution diseases have dramatically dropped in Malawi.
Climate change in Bangladesh has invited several ways of adaptation and coping strategies due to the imbalanced economy, many climate change disasters such as floods, cyclone, soil erosion, crop destruction and destruction of settlement. Digging of cans, Cave aquaculture, shelter houses, the building of gabions and sea walls, construction of Koroch plantations, the use of pesticides and transition in the agricultural methods are some of the adapting procedures that have applied in Bangladesh to facilitate the adaption to adverse effects of climate change. Other international bodies such As USAID and WHO have cone forwards to mitigate these risks. Although there have been efforts in the mitigation procedures, Bangladesh has not solved the effects of climate change amicably.