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Strategies and Barriers to Adaptation of Hazard-Prone Rural Households in Bangladesh

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Limits to Climate Change Adaptation

Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

The global farming communities have already experienced the impact of climate change in a range of ways and made their adaptation decision. Adaptation is, however, context-specific and varies across and within countries, which warrants location specific research. This chapter presents the strategies and barriers to adaptation of hazards-prone rural households in developing countries using Bangladesh as a case study. The cross-sectional survey data were collected from 380 riverbank erosion hazard prone rural households in Bangladesh. The results reveal that households have undertaken a range of farming and non-farming adaptation strategies, which vary significantly among farming groups. The large and medium farmers have adopted mainly agricultural adjustment, such as diversifying crops and tree plantation, whereas the small and landless farmers mostly adopted non-agricultural adjustments such as driving and migration. Access to credit and lack of information on appropriate adaptation strategies are among the important barriers to adaptation. Intervention by the government through planned adaptation, such as access to institutional and credit facilities, and new farming technologies and verities through agro-ecological based research are required to enhance the resilience of such vulnerable households.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Lower administrative unit of government; below district level but above village level.

  2. 2.

    Bangladesh is composed of the floodplains and the deltas of three main rivers—the Padma (Ganges in India), the Jamuna and the Meghna (Brahmaputra in India).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Commerce, Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts, University of Southern Queensland, Queensland, Australia

    G. M. Monirul Alam & Khorshed Alam

  2. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Joydebpur, Bangladesh

    G. M. Monirul Alam & Most Nilufa Khatun

  3. International Centre for Applied Climate Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Queensland, Australia

    Shahbaz Mushtaq

  4. School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Chester Road, Manchester, M15 6BH, UK

    Walter Leal Filho

Authors
  1. G. M. Monirul Alam
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  2. Khorshed Alam
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  3. Shahbaz Mushtaq
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  4. Most Nilufa Khatun
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  5. Walter Leal Filho
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Correspondence to Walter Leal Filho .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia

    Johanna Nalau

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Alam, G.M.M., Alam, K., Mushtaq, S., Khatun, M.N., Leal Filho, W. (2018). Strategies and Barriers to Adaptation of Hazard-Prone Rural Households in Bangladesh. In: Leal Filho, W., Nalau, J. (eds) Limits to Climate Change Adaptation. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64599-5_2

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