Development of climate-smart maps and adaptation plans for the coastal agriculture in Bangladesh

Ali, A M M Mostafa, Md. Mostafizur Rahman, Champa Rani Saha, Syed Arman Akib Rahman, Md. Ehsanul Haque, Nusrath Jahan Nisha, Md. Motaleb Hosen, Bui Tan Yen, Katherine Nelson, Trang Vu, Quyet Vu, Nguyen Bao Tran and Ahmad Salahuddin (2024). Development of Climate-Smart Maps and Adaptation Plans for the Coastal Agriculture in Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services and International Rice Research Institute.

As Bangladesh is predominantly an agricultural country, importance of land and water resources is immense. Land is the basic natural resource from which we derive all ingredients to satisfy our basic needs such as food, raw materials for industrial goods, articles of general use, medicine etc. The gross total area of the country is about 14.8 million hectares (Mha) of which 8.4 million is the net cultivablearea (NCA). Half of the total agricultural land is utilized for double cropping while 13% land is utilized for triple cropping.

Bangladesh is one of the top 10 nations that are mostly vulnerable to climate change due to its low-lying and flat topography in coastal region, subjected to riverine flooding (due to sea level rise), frequent cyclones, storm surge, heavy rainfall, tornados, river bank erosion, salinity, high population density, high level of poverty, and solely reliance of livelihoods on climate-sensitive sectors. Thus, climate change addresses a new depressing effect to coastal agriculture since agriculture in Bangladesh is highly sensitive to climate variability as crop require sustained ambient temperature for their growth, and abrupt heat or cold waves hamper productivity. Disease outbreak are also highly sensitive to temperature and moisture content and severity varies across regions. Climate change reduces crop production and might increase food insecurity in Bangladesh. Considering the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture, it can be said that production of crop is a substantial challenge in producing enough food in Bangladesh.

However, to ameliorate such predicaments, adoption of climate smart agricultural practices and technologies are needed to ensure participatory planning and development. Adaptation planning is crucial to ensure overall productivity of agriculture against climate change events. This requires enough data on base condition such as agricultural land, cropping system, major crops, disasters, topography; climate risk maps, cost benefit study for adaptive alternative, climatic future trends etc which should be accompanied by successful participatory approach. This project is such an initiative to collect data and generate information for adaptation planning in coastal region of Bangladesh