Building Coastal Agricultural Resilience in Bangladesh: A Systematic Review of Progress, Gaps and Implications

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review of climate change adaptation and resilience in coastal agriculture in Bangladesh. It explores the existing adaptation measures against climatic stresses. It investigates the extent of resilience-building by the use of these adaptation measures and identifies major challenges that hinder the adaptation process within the country. The review was conducted by following the systematic methods of the protocol of Preferred Items for Systematic Review Recommendations (PRISMA) to comprehensively synthesize, evaluate and track scientific literature on climate-resilient agriculture in coastal Bangladesh. It considered peer-reviewed English language articles from the databases Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct between the years 2000 and 2018. A total of 54 articles were selected following the four major steps of a systematic review, i.e., identification, screening, eligibility and inclusion. Adaptation measures identified in the review were grouped into different themes: Agricultural adaptation, alternative livelihoods, infrastructure development, technological advancement, ecosystem management and policy development. The review revealed that within the adaptation and resilience literature for coastal Bangladesh, maladaptation, gender imbalance and the notable absence of studies of island communities were gaps that require future research.

Bridging science and society : Tailor-made hydroclimatic information service with farmers in Lower Bengal Delta, Bangladesh

“…The development of hydroclimatic information services has the potential to support the planning and management of agricultural activities (Gbangou et al, 2020a, Naab et al, 2019, Nyadzi et al, 2018, Rahaman et al, 2020, Kundu et al, 2020. Here hydroclimatic information service is defined as the production, translation, dissemination, and usage of the weather, climate, and water-Introduction the traditional media such as television and radio (DAE, 2018b).…”

“…Indeed, co-production studies are currently narrowly framed (Bremer et al, 2019); and several challenges exist in the socio-economic, socio-political, and cultural contexts (Golding et al, 2017, Kundzewicz et al, 2017 Thus, to effectively tailor and communicate information to farmers in a local context, a detailed understanding of farming practices is needed (Vogel and O'Brien, 2006). Vaughan and Dessai (2014) found a mismatch between information needs and information being provided to the sectoral users.…”

“…The sector employs about 85% of people in rural areas by direct and indirect means (Sikder and Xiaoying, 2014) thus assists in sustaining the rural economy, and contributes to about 15-20% of national GDP (Clarke et al, 2015, Kashem et al, 2010, BBS, 2018. The agricultural production of southwest Bangladesh is affected by hydroclimatic variability and extreme events such as floods, droughts, cyclones, and storm surges (Kundu et al, 2020, Dasgupta et al, 2015a, Mallick et al, 2017. Smallholders are mostly affected by these recurrent hydroclimatic variabilities (Huq et al, 2015).…”

“…Adaptation to increased hydroclimatic variability is thus essential for the food and livelihood security of smallholders. Location-specific climatic information services are needed to assist farmers in the Bengal Delta (Kundu et al, 2020). Here climate information service is defined as the production, translation, distribution, and uses of weather and climate information for (agricultural) decision-making Dessai, 2014, FAO, 2019).…”

“…While CIS could potentially help farmers agricultural decision-making (Shikuku et al, 2017), previous studies showed that there is a lack of understanding, communication, and accuracy of CIS (Alam et al, 2013, Paul and Routray, 2013, Fakhruddin et al, 2015. There are urgent calls to improve CIS, particularly for smallholders who are the most vulnerable to climate risks (Huysen et al, 2018, Roy and Alam, 2020, Kundu et al, 2020. Despite some on-going governmental CIS initiatives, knowledge gaps exist regarding: (1) current practices, accessibility, and the role of information, (2) information needs of farmers, and (3) co-production of climate information services through users engagement, capacity building, and co-design of a users' platform using ICT tools such as a smartphone app.…”