Newsletter Issue # 4 89615 June 2014 CLIMATE-SMART DEVELOPMENT Empowers Bangladesh Communities Amid unchecked climate change, extreme weather Bangladesh is among the many economies historically and climate events pose huge challenges for exposed to natural hazards and vulnerable to sustainable development in most parts of the world. disasters that have slowed or sometimes reversed Such development may become impossible unless the development gains.4 Climate-smart development most vulnerable and exposed areas can increase their begins by addressing societies’ vulnerability and climate resilience.1 The reverse is also true: the most exposure to current climate change: first, by setting vulnerable, exposed populations risk losing everything up mechanisms to mitigate the effects of current unless climate-smart development can sustain their disasters; and, second, by increasing populations’ Photo by The World Bank. local agriculture, energy, water resources, health long-term resilience to the increased intensity and and sanitation, security, and safety.2 Only climate frequency of hazards in the coming decades. resilience can safeguard the development gains of communities—indeed, of whole regions.3 BCCRF’s Contribution NGOs to implement community-driven adaptation to climate change. The BCCRF Governing Council Stories of Climate- to the Climate designated the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation Vulnerable Change Exposed (PKSF) as the responsible agency for this project.6 The Communities Communities CCCP focuses on the communities hit hardest by current Among its efforts to help Bangladeshis build resilience weather extremes: populations who live in coastal How New Economic Opportunities to climate change, the Bangladesh Climate Change areas affected by saltwater intrusions, in flood-prone Empower Women Resilience Fund (BCCRF)5 is supporting Bangladesh in chars (silt islands in rivers) and river basins, or in areas strengthening its resilience to climate change. BCCRF afflicted by recurring droughts. Although crab cultivation is not new in Bangladesh, has also recognized the long-indispensable roles of With few resources and no opportunity to the high international market demand—coupled with local empowerment and numerous nongovernmental relocate, these people know they must develop the need to find alternative economic opportunities organizations (NGOs) in community-based programs enough flexibility to adapt and survive.7 Every in areas suffering from significant saline intrusions— and services (often in partnership with government aspect of their lives is at risk—homes, livelihoods, makes it a viable climate adaptation strategy. Most and international development partners) by food and water security, health, and well-being. important, crab cultivation provides an economic allocating US$12.5 million of its climate-resilience The CCCP’s aim is to strengthen their resilience to opportunity for women because small-scale fisheries funding to NGOs through its Community Climate cope with both current and future climate stresses are adjacent to homesteads.10 The CCCP, through Change Project (CCCP) (http://www.pksf-cccp-bd. by improving infrastructure, adapting agricultural several of the supported NGOs, is providing specific org). The CCCP, in turn, provides competitive grants to practices, and finding innovative sources of income. opportunities for women by training them in crab Read more on page 4 Read more on page 2 1 Stories of Climate- to short-duration, drought-tolerant varieties of Vulnerable paddy. The ability to harvest early helps to ensure Box 2. After Aila: Ashima’s and Kamrul’s Stories Communities food security during lean periods, giving farmers the Ashima Mondal lives with her husband and family in opportunity to cultivate other winter crops in time. West Srinagar. “Before Aila,” Ashima says, “we had Through the CCCP, Ashrai, a local NGO, will introduce everything: goats, cows, hens, and ducks. Now we Continued from page 1 have nothing. In five years, we have had no harvest. these new crop varieties in three drought-prone Paddy doesn’t grow due to the high salinity levels. upazilas in the high Barind region of Rajshahi Food is scarce, and Aila destroyed the tube wells in this and Naogaon Districts, along with other remedial area, so we have to collect drinking water from sources Box 1. Changing Livelihoods: Saraswati’s Story measures in each of these areas. 2 to 3 kilometers from here.” Kamrul Islam’s story is similar. Kamrul lives in Saraswati Rani’s situation in Biswanathpur is common Another practice spreading throughout many Khulna near the Sundarbans, where Aila devastated to many. Saline water intrusions have rendered her farming systems in Bangladesh is goat rearing, which livelihoods and took many lives. Kamrul and his family’s land unsuitable for agriculture. Her husband has been introduced or expanded in increasingly neighbors have not been able to return to their old has turned his hand to fishing, and with the help of homes since May 2009. Instead, they squat on polders, the NGO Satkhira Unnayan Sangstha (SUS), Saraswati drought-prone parts of the country (box 3). his entire family squeezed into one small room. Kamrul has become a crab farmer. Bangladesh now has more than 25 million goats, with highlights the impact of salinity on cropping. “In the SUS provides training and capital in the form of an annual growth rate of about 2.5 percent. The Black past, we used to harvest 740 to 925 kilos of paddy from crabs, nets, and crab feed. Once the crabs are ready for one acre of land,” he says. “Now barely 296 to 333 kilos market, Saraswati’s husband sells them to middlemen. Bengal goat has multiple benefits: It is a relatively grows. This is a great loss to our agricultural production.” They reinvest their profits to rear more crabs, and the extra hardy animal, better adjusted to drought than other For now, the NGO Jagrata Juba Shangha (JJS) is income supplements her husband’s fishing income. livestock, and requires relatively little space and helping Kamrul and Ashima and their communities raise the plinths of their homesteads so that they will Source: Personal interview, February 2014. care. It is a reliable producer in bad times, a prolific remain above the flood level. JJS is also introducing breeder, and has lower nutritional requirements than crab farming to these communities and helping them those of cattle and buffalo. It is also an asset that can restore their local sources of freshwater. culture (box 1). It is well documented that training of be liquidated for finance in times of need, providing Source: Personal interview, February 2014. women in proper technologies increases competence the farmer with a buffer against crop failures. In some in crab fattening and increases revenue as well.11 areas of Bangladesh, goats contribute up to 41 percent of a farm’s total income.12 Disaster Recovery: A Long Road from Destruction In a recent study by the Bangladesh Agricultural University, rural women involved in goat rearing Box 3. Farmers’ Uncertain Fates: Jaker’s story After Tropical Cyclone Aila struck Bangladesh in May identified these top three major problems: lack of 2009, its torrential rains and floods killed at least 179 proper training about goat rearing, lack of available Jaker Hossain is a marginal farmer from Dhalarhat village people. Severe flooding in coastal regions isolated more grazing land, and high mortality of goat kids.13 The under the Baro Harishpur Union of Natore Sadar Upazila in Natore District. Jaker has a wife and a daughter. The than 400,000 people, and many villages were either training aspect will be addressed directly by the CCCP family’s livelihood depends on agriculture. Jaker says submerged or completely destroyed by 3-meter-high in the subproject run by the National Development “Now it is difficult to grow good crops; nowadays farmers storm surges. Inland, rivers broke their banks, causing Programme (NDP), a local NGO in Natore District. face many natural disasters, especially drought.” In the past couple of years, drought has brought widespread flooding. Countrywide an estimated 500,000 considerable hardship to the Natore District. Marginal people or more lost their homes. Waterborne diseases Living on a Sandbank farmers, like Jaker, wonder which crops to cultivate soon followed, afflicting more than 7,000 people. (such as rice, jute, and wheat) and how much time it will take to recover from the loss of a single crop. In the Like most tropical cyclones, Aila washed away Chars are basically inhabited sandbanks. They past, villagers could rely on rainfall for irrigation, but roads, damaged bridges, submerged fields, and constitute less than 1.5 percent of Bangladesh’s total now the rains are scarce. Groundwater is needed for destroyed homes and livelihoods. Five years later, land area but are home to about 5 percent of its irrigation, but the pump’s output is also decreasing, and sometimes Jaker has to bring water from a long distance many people still struggle to cope with their losses, and population. Some chars last through only one or at considerable cost. Without water, the crop dries out. they depend heavily on the help of local NGOs (box 2). two monsoons, after which they disappear into the Productivity is now so low that he can barely cover his Individuals’ stories of recovery are seldom unique, but river; others may have been inhabited for two or family’s food needs. Sometimes he needs to borrow money to cover his unmet costs. they serve to highlight the complexity of adapting to more generations (box 4). The CCCP, through the NDP, will address the the long-term effects of climate change while coping The daily life of char dwellers is based on agricultural water needs of Jaker’s village by installing with the sudden impact of weather extremes. subsistence agriculture, small-scale animal husbandry, deep tube wells for irrigation to increase crop production. They will also provide training and technical support to and pond and river fisheries. Many households are help 400 households set up goat and sheep rearing. Farming Practices Must Adapt in Drought-Hit Areas quasi-landless, owing less than half an acre, but chars often include a small middle group of dwellers who Source: Personal interview, August 2013. As prolonged droughts become more frequent in own enough land to rent to the landless or to hire Bangladesh, farmers are adapting by switching landless workers. 2 The Quest for Safer Homes tanks, and water treatment as appropriate—supported Box 4. Coping with Char Life: Mohammad’s Story by good hygiene at the point of use—offers drinking Mohammad Bodiuzzaman, his wife, two daughters, and Flooding is an important component of agriculture water with low health risks. However, rainwater quality son live on the bank of the Tista River of Goraipia Char in Bangladesh, because it deposits silt that fertilizes could subsequently deteriorate during harvesting, under the Tehrai Union of Ulipur Upazila in Kurigram the land. However, persistent flooding has become a storage, and household use. Fecal contamination is District. Mohammad inherited land from his father, and for a while he could farm rice successfully. But char major problem in agricultural communities, damaging quite common, particularly in samples collected shortly people must live under peculiar conditions: during the homes and threatening livelihoods. Soil erosion has after rainfall. High microbial concentrations are generally rainy season, the land is underwater, food and drinking contributed to the silting of rivers, making them found in the first flush of rainwater, so a system to divert water is in short supply, and sanitation is a problem. Over time, Mohammad watched as the river more easily flooded and thus devastating riverbank the contaminated first flow of rainwater from roof permanently swallowed his land. He has moved his settlements. This flooding will be compounded by surfaces is necessary. house about 10 times. Now his property consists of his rising sea levels, which slows the drainage of the land Pond reexcavation is also useful to supplement the homestead, two cows, and three goats. He cultivates borrowed land, but floods give way to long droughts, to the ocean. Raising the plinth of a house helps to freshwater supply for household and irrigation use in and it is not easy to select the right crops to plant. create a flood-resistant home (box 5). salinity-prone regions (box 6). Pond sand filters (PSFs) Mohammad realizes that drought- and flood-resistant increase the safety of the water supply. The importance crops should be cultivated, that houses must be protected from floods, drinking water must be harvested, the river Improving Sanitation and Health of access to safe water supplies is reflected in the CCCP managed, and embankments strengthened. subprojects, all of which include either rainwater The CCCP, through the SKS Foundation and RDRS Sustained use of improved or shared latrines is lowest harvesting, semideep tube wells, or reexcavation of Bangladesh, supports a variety of activities to help char residents: including raising the plinths of their among the poorest families and those living in freshwater ponds with the addition of PSFs. houses; sinking tube wells to reduce the risk of bacterial disaster-prone areas, where flood-related damage 14 The CCCP’s emphasis on local empowerment contamination of drinking water; provision of drought- and repair costs are the likely causes of people helps to sensitize communities to the impact of and flood-tolerant seeds; introduction of latrines to reduce health risks; and introduction of vaccination reverting to unimproved latrines. climate change on their livelihoods. “Through CCCP, program to improve goat rearing. Several of the CCCP subprojects tackle these issues we target to reach the most vulnerable communities Source: Personal interview, August 2013. by working with local communities and families to exposed to salinity, floods, and drought,” says PKSF upgrade latrines and, in some cases, to move out of Chairman Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad. “CCCP is shared arrangements. Protecting improved latrines from creating the path, and I am hopeful there will be flood damage in the same way that homes and water more opportunities to continue the legacy.” supplies are protected is essential to avoid reversion to Box 5. To Stay or to Go? Zakir’s Story open defecation and the attendant health risks. Zakir Hossain, at 23, lives with his wife, son, daughter, Box 6. Distant, Expensive Water: Sharifa’s Story and mother in Montola village under the Romna Union Local Access to Safe Drinking Water Sharifa Khatum lives in the village of Gholkhali, Tarali of the Chilmari Upazila in Kurigram District. Adjacent to the Brahmaputra River, the village is accustomed to seasonal District, Kaligong Upazila with her father and daughter. flooding, but nowadays these floods are more frequent Access to safe drinking water is major concern Sharifa works as a tailor to sustain the family’s and persistent, inundating their freshwater wells and livelihood after her husband left. Access to safe drinking in many developing countries15 and is especially water is a major problem. damaging their sanitation systems. Crops are lost, and the risk of waterborne disease increases with each day of the challenging for Bangladesh. Since the 1970s—in “Due to increased salinity, we suffer from scarcity flood. With little cash, the family must borrow money to response to the widespread contamination of surface of drinking water” says Sharifa. “I contacted the NGO buy food. In the past, they were able to recover, but the SUS [Satkhira Unnayan Sangstha] to help us to dig a water with human pathogens—there has been an pond. In previous times the water was potable, but increasing frequency of floods make recovery increasingly difficult. The need to earn more money is driving many almost universal shift from the consumption of now it has become saline-contaminated. of the men to seek more gainful employment in Dhaka, surface water to ground water.16 However, this shift “Now, we have to buy water from Kaliganj, almost creating additional stress on their families. 8 kilometers from here, and pay Tk 10 per container. generated a new health problem: the presence of It is expensive because we have to pay for the Zakir reflects on the possible actions to reduce the flood risk, such as dredging the river, building dams, arsenic in shallow tube wells.17 transportation, which includes the cost of the van, too. raising the plinths of houses above the flood level, In addition, climate and weather extremes are also The ponds are all saline-contaminated, and we cannot building flood shelters, and raising the road levels to use that water for drinking, washing utensils, bathing, stressing water supplies by way of extended droughts, or anything else.” keep communications active. His village probably needs all of the above. The CCCP subproject, managed by RDRS floods, and coastal inundation. Natural sources of water To address this crisis, with the support of SUS, Bangladesh, is focusing on raising plinths and constructing must be augmented in many areas. In Bangladesh, Sharifa has dug a new pond with a raised peripheral a link road above the projected flood level. Cultivating boundary to protect it from saltwater intrusions. After rainwater harvesting is widely practiced at a household filtering, Sharifa and her family will have access to safe flood-tolerant rice will also address some of the food security issues and may encourage the male family level. Rainwater provides an important source of drinking drinking water. During the monsoon, Sharifa hopes members to remain in the community. water as well as a useful source of water for blending that the pond will store enough rainwater for all seasons so she won’t have to buy water from far away. with other sources to reduce contaminants, such as Source: Personal interview, August 2013. arsenic.18 Well-designed rainwater harvesting systems Source: Personal interview, February 2014. with clean attachments, covered cisterns and storage 3 BCCRF Project Funds In the high-saline areas, for example, where Dozens of Local Disaster-Resilience traditional agriculture is failing, farming practices Projects are shifting to cultivating mud crabs (Scylla serrata), which tolerate high salinity and for which the interviews international market is significant and growing.9 Continued from page 1 Such approaches present new opportunities for women to enter the local work force and provide At present, PKSF has assigned 27 CCCP subprojects income to purchase the foodstuffs that they to competitively selected local NGOs. The projects cannot produce locally. Collectively, these changes include raising homes to prevent daily inundation; exemplify the capacity of local communities to Dr. Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Chairman, Palli Karma- repairing roads and planting trees to strengthen road become more financially self-reliant and resilient Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) (Implementing Agency) embankments; ensuring access to safe freshwater to weather and climate extremes. The efforts also by rainwater harvesting; excavating ponds and highlight the importance of focusing climate services performing desalination in water-scarce villages; on the ongoing needs of these communities, which and adapting agricultural practices to farm drought- will continue to bear the brunt of weather and resistant or flood-tolerant crops.8 climate extremes. Zakir Hossain, Executive Director, Jagrata Juba Shangha (JJS) (NGO) 1. “Climate resilience” is “the ability of a social, economic, or China, Singapore, and Hong Kong (Financial Express. 2013. “Steps environmental system to adjust to or rebound from climate-related to Be Taken to Boost Crab Export.” December 27. http://www. stresses while still maintaining its basic function and structure. thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2013/12/27/10875.) Climate-resilient systems may not look exactly like they did before, 10. Shelly, A. B., and M. D. Costa. 2002. “Women in Aquaculture: but they are able to prosper despite climate change and related Initiatives of Caritas Bangladesh.” Working Paper 36249, The stresses.” (USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development]. 2014. WorldFish Center, Penang, Malaysia. http://www.worldfishcenter. “Climate Change Adaptation.” Online article, USAID, Washington, org/Pubs/Wif/wifglobal/wifg_asia_caritas.pdf. DC. http://www.usaid.gov/climate/adaptation). 11. World Bank. 2012. Bangladesh: Towards Accelerated, Inclusive 2. World Bank. 2009. World Development Report 2010: Development and Sustainable Growth—Opportunities and Challenges, Volume and Climate Change. Washington, DC: World Bank. I: Overview. Bangladesh Development Series Report 67991, World Sarawasti Rani, Shatkhira 3. USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development). 2013. “Climate Bank, Washington, DC. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/ District Beneficiary Resilient Development.” Brief, Global Climate Change (GCC) handle/10986/12288. Initiative, USAID, Washington, DC. 12. Chowdhury, S. A., M. S A. Bhuiyan, and S. Faruk. 2002. “Rearing 4. World Bank. 2010. Natural Hazards, UnNatural Disasters: Effective Black Bengal Goat under Semi-Intensive Management. 1. Prevention through an Economic Lens. Washington, DC: World Bank. Physiological and Reproductive Performances.” Asian-Australasian 5. Established in 2010, the BCCRF is supported by Australia, Denmark, Journal of Animal Sciences 15 (4): 477–84. the European Union, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, 13. Rokonuzzaman, M., and M. S. Islam. 2009. “Participation of Rural and the United States. Women in Goat Rearing in a Selected Area of Bangladesh.” Journal 6. The Government of Bangladesh established the PKSF in 1990 as a of the Bangladesh Agricultural University 7 (2): 361–66. “not-for-profit” company whose principal objective would be to 14. Kullman, C., and R. Ahmed. 2011. “Scaling Up Rural Sanitation: provide funds for microcredit programs to help the poor. PKSF provides Long-Term Sustainability of Improved Sanitation in Rural assistance through numerous partner organizations directly as well as Bangladesh.” Research brief, Water and Sanitation Program, World Sharifa Khatun, Shatkhira District Beneficiary by supporting their institutional development. In the past few years, Bank, Washington, DC. http://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/ the PKSF has broadened its focus to include noncredit programs, such publications/WSP-Sustainability-Sanitation-Bangladesh-Brief.pdf. as training, education, health, awareness building, nutrition, direct 15. WHO (World Health Organization) 2011. “Application of the employment linkages, and marketing supports to provide all-inclusive Guidelines in Specific Circumstances.” In Guidelines for Drinking- services for the persistent betterment of the poor. For more information Water Quality, 4th ed., 99–120. Geneva: WHO. http://whqlibdoc. about the PKSF, see the website http://www.pksf-bd.org. who.int/publications/2011/9789241548151_eng.pdf. 7. World Bank. 2013. World Development Report 2014: Risk and 16. Ebi, K. L., D. Mills, and J. B. Smith. 2005. “A Case Study of Opportunity: Managing Risk for Development. Washington, DC: Unintended Consequences: Arsenic in Drinking Water in World Bank. Bangladesh.” In Integration of Public Health with Adaptation to 8. The total of 27 projects include 10 in the high-saline areas, 9 in Climate Change: Lessons Learned and New Directions, edited by K. the flood-affected areas and 8 in the drought-prone areas, with L. Ebi, J. B. Smith, and I. Burton, 72–90. London: Taylor & Francis. Ashima Mondol & each addressing at least one of the six thematic pillars of the 17. Escamilla, V., B. Wagner, M. Yunus, P. K. Streatfield, A. van Kamrul Islam, Khulna Bangladesh Climate Change Strategic Action Plan (BCCSAP). For more Geen, and M. Emch. 2011. “Effect of Deep Tube Well Use on District Beneficiaries information, including the project selection process and recipients, Childhood Diarrhoea in Bangladesh.” Bulletin of the World Health see http://www.pksf-cccp-bd.org. Organization 89 (7): 521–27. doi: 10.2471/BLT.10.085530. 9. The Ministry of Commerce is going to take a number of initiatives to 18. WHO. “Application of the Guidelines.” In Guidelines for Drinking- boost crab exports. Demand is increasing significantly, especially in Water Quality, 4th ed., 99–120. BCCRF benefits from the financial support of the governments of Australia, Government of the Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and People’s Republic of Bangladesh www.bccrf-bd.org the European Union, and the technical support of the World Bank. Icons by Joe Harrison from The Noun Project. 4