As we approach several international meetings of minds in the coming months – Ecosystem Services Partnership conference, World Water Week, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – ‘resilience’ becomes an increasingly important concept for discussion. Whether in relation to water resource scarcity, land degradation, or climate change, each of these events highlights key points of vulnerability for communities and ecosystems alike.
Climate change is one of these forces that puts additional strain on agricultural landscapes. A series of four case studies produced by International Alert, commissioned by the US and UK aid agencies, tries to better understand resilience to climate change specifically in the South Asia context, asking the questions: What are the root causes of vulnerability (to climate and conflict risks) and how can external adaptation interventions (by state or international institutions) address them? For the purposes of this analysis, ‘resilience’ was defined as “the ability of countries, communities and households to anticipate, adapt to and/or recover from the effects of potentially hazardous occurrences (natural disasters, economic instability and conflict) in a manner that protects livelihoods, accelerates and sustains recovery, and supports economic and social development.”
Climate change, while global in scale, has observable impacts and poses very real risks at local levels. In Bangladesh where agriculture is the primary source of employment and crucial to food security, the cultivated lowlands are extremely vulnerable to the flooding, storm surges, and salt-water incursions from sea-level rise that are only expected to worsen with increased global warming. In a risk and vulnerability assessment conducted in the Satkira district, an increase in natural disasters and salinity were seen as major impacts that would increase the risks of food insecurity, conflict within the communities, and migration to cities for employment. In other words, people in the Satkira district are dependent on the ever more vulnerable and unpredictable natural resources of the Sunderbans for the vast majority of their livelihoods. The current development of livelihood alternatives to seafood harvests and crop cultivation and improved access to credit and savings accounts are helpful as ‘coping mechanisms,’ yet it is apparent that longer-term efforts to build resilience are needed.
So what can be done? The study offered a few concrete recommendations, including continued support to diversify livelihood and income sources, for instance by encouraging ventures like poultry farming, tailoring, and weaving. It also emphasized the need for better education on the value of the Sunderbans mangrove ecosystem – both for sustainable use and protection of the coastline – to help break the dependency of local people on mangrove forest resources. However, the study concludes that the options for industrial development in the area are few due the district’s environmental precariousness. Finding non-forest sources of local income may be impractical. Smoothing and easing seasonal migration to urban centers where industrial work is found was thus raised as another recommendation, but this too raises thorny problems. Clearly, the challenge of building resilience in these circumstances is immense, with complex relationships between rural areas, urban centers, local, district and national government, foreign donors and investors, and local people.
What suggestions do you have, or ideas have you seen, for how resilience can be built in vulnerable South Asian countries like Bangladesh?
Read More:
Strengthening Responses to Climate Variability in South Asia – International Alert
Photo credit: Zak Malik
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