Project Period: March 2024-February 2025
Funded by: Christian Aid Bangladesh.
Background: Bangladesh, ranking among the top five economically vulnerable nations to
climate change, faces severe challenges due to its geographical features and human activities.
The southwest coastal area, a climate hotspot, experiences heightened risks with its low-lying
landscape and dense population. Human actions like deforestation have worsened
vulnerabilities, leading to floods, storm surges, and cyclones, disproportionately affecting
marginalized communities. The Sixth Assessment Report by IPCC has revealed a significant sea-
level rise of 0.20 meters over 120 years, attributed to factors like thermal expansion and glacier
ice loss. Coastal areas, particularly the Sundarbans, remain highly vulnerable. This summary
emphasizes Bangladesh's susceptibility to climate-induced disasters, stressing the urgent need
for targeted interventions and global awareness to address these escalating threats.
The "Promoting Resilience and Outreach for Community Transformation with Loss and Damage Mitigation" project has been serving as a catalyst for transformative change in the southwest coastal area of Bangladesh. By addressing both economic and non-economic aspects of loss and damage, the project has been empowering communities to build resilience, ensuring sustainable development in the face of climate change impacts. The project has aimed to compensate affected communities for past losses while enhancing their resilience against future risks. By piloting locally-led strategies, it has been bridging gaps in global and national efforts, offering a replicable model for mitigating and compensating climate-induced damages while empowering vulnerable populations to adapt sustainably to the escalating impacts of climate change.
Goal: Strengthening community resilience and response mechanisms in the face of unavoidable
climate change impacts through locally-led initiatives.
Overall Objective: Empowering communities to respond to economic and non-economic loss
and damage, including future probabilities, due to unavoidable impacts of climate change by
locally led resilience-building actions.
Specific Objectives:
1) To improved resilience among vulnerable families through the provision of compensation for the loss and damage of their assets.
2) To enhanced preparedness and resilience in beneficiaries, empowering them to manage and mitigate future loss and damage effectively.
3) To way-out the successful implementation of grassroot-level projects in vulnerable areas, fostering resilience and sustainable development.
1. Providing Support for Land Restoration and Food Security: The southwest coastal area
is considered one of the climate hotspots based on vulnerability. The low-lying coastal
landscape and the densely populated delta amplify the risks faced by communities
residing in this region. Human actions, including deforestation and improper land use,
have exacerbated vulnerabilities, leading to catastrophic events such as floods, storm
surges, inundation, riverbank erosion, and cyclones. Marginalized communities have
borne a disproportionate burden of these disasters. To mitigate such adverse situation,
the following activities have been implemented:
1.1 Formation of Climate Resilient Group: The project formed 12 Climate Resilient
Groups (CRG) with vulnerable communities. At least 30 members engaged with the
CRG. The CRG has a steering committee with 7 members.
1.2 Provide orientation for Climate Smart Agriculture: The project increased
awareness of climate-smart agriculture to cope with the salinity increase due to the
last cyclone Amphan through 84 field school sessions in the community.
1.3 Establish Model Resilient Farm for Demonstration: The project established 12
model resilient agricultural farm in the working are to demonstration the climate
smart technology so that people can adopted new technology for restore
agriculture. We have established 12 model farms with different technologies e.g.
sorjan method, earth tower, bag garden, mulching, zero tillage, drip irrigation, etc.
1.4 Provide support for resilient agriculture: The project distributed saline tolerant,
rice and vegetable seed among 300 families engaged with the project to restore
agriculture in the most saline prone area. The project also distributed organic
fertilizer to habituate the people with ecological agriculture. This the project trying
to restore land in the area.
1.5 Establishing Community Food Bank: A community-level food bank has been
established, with members depositing small amounts of rice to support
beneficiaries during disasters.
2. Providing support for Asset Replacement: To assist disaster-affected individuals and
families in replacing lost or damaged assets, enabling them to rebuild their livelihoods
and recover more effectively from climate-induced disasters:
2.1 Assessment Conduction: beginning of the project LEDARS conducted an
assessment on the losses of climate induced slow on set and Raid on Set disaster
through participatory baseline study.
2.2 Compensation Grant: LEDARS provided 20,000 taka for each selected vulnerable
families through a comprehensive assessment as compensation grant for restore
their livelihood incomes and provided necessary training and monitoring for income
generating activities.
3. Promoting Disaster Resilience Infrastructure: In response to climate-induced disasters,
LEDARS supports disaster-affected families by providing financial, and technical
assistance and essential assets.
3.1 Repair of damage Houses: LEDARS provided technical and financial support to the
vulnerable families who living houses has been damaged by disasters. The support
will help to establish a disaster resilience house in the community.
3.2 Establishment of a Model House: LEDARS is developing an ideal cyclone resistance
model house as "One House One Shelter" model for the coastal area with the
support of House Building Research Institute (HBRI) Dhaka. One model house is
built to demonstration the in the area and LEDARS will provide technical support
those who wants to adopt the new house design.
4. Providing Support for Non-Economic Loss and Damage: The project has been focusing
on addressing psychosocial impacts and health challenges faced by affected
communities. Activities include:
4.1 Community Mobilization on Disaster Shocks and Preparedness: The project has
been organized 12 counseling meetings in the community to minimize the shocks
and trauma caused by the last cyclones and has been increasing mental strength to
face disasters effectively.
4.2 Health and Hygiene Kits for Women: Health and hygiene kits have been distributed
to beneficiaries to promote hygiene practices, particularly during menstrual
periods.
6. Introducing Micro Insurance for L&D:
6.1 Introduce or pilot micro-insurance for crops/ farms and houses: The project is
trying to introduce climate risk insurance on a pilot basis on the cyclone prone
coastal area of Bangladesh. The premium has been deposited to the project and
beneficiaries.
7. Knowledge Sharing and Outreach Activities for Loss and Damage: LEDARS fosters
collaboration and knowledge sharing through organizing different event to create
awareness like climate school session, courtyard meeting, dialogues with government
and NGOs in local, national and international level.
7.1 Awareness Creation: LEDARS organized series of awareness creatin meeting with
community. LEDARS organized 72 Climate Field School session in the community to
create awareness on climate change, adaptation, mitigation of loss and damage etc.
7.2 National Level Sharing: The project sharing the working experience in national
level. The project organized a session in the 2 nd South Aisa Conference organized by
CPE on 2 November 2024. The project also sharing the working experience,
challenges and way forward in the National Stakeholder Meeting of COP29
organized by ICCCAD on 2 nd November 2024 in Dhaka.
7.3 Sharing at COP29: The project also organized a Side Event on 15 November 2024 in
COP29 meeting organized by UNFCCC. This side event was organized by LEDARS
along with some other organization entitled “Financing Loss and Damage
Challenges and Way Forward for Grassroot Action.
7.4 National-level learning-sharing meeting: The project has a plan to organize a
national Level Learning Sharing meeting in Dhaka to disseminate the project
outcome to the national-level stakeholders to get insights and recommendations.
LEDARS will invite Government Officials from different ministries and other
stakeholder to the vent.
8. Other Activities:
The implement the project, LEDARS conducted some other activities
8.1 Community-led baseline and end-line survey: The project conducted a community
led baseline and endline survey by engaging stakeholders from different level in the
community.
8.2 Project Launching Workshop: LEDARS organized a project launching workshop at
the upazila level. Government officials, local government representatives, media,
civil society representatives, NGOs and project beneficiaries attended the workshop
and provided recommendation.
8.3 Engaging a Public Relations (PR) agency to disseminate the result of the project:
LEDARS engaged a Public Relation agency to develop content and audio-visual
documents of best practices of the project; and publicize in the social media.
8.4 Study on Sustainable Strategies on CC-induced L&D Mitigation: It is very much
important to find out the best strategies in the development and implementation
of a grassroots project. The project conducted a study in 6 sub-districts of Satkhira,
Khulna and Bagerhat district to find out the best strategies to develop and
implement a grassroots project in the context of climate-induced loss and damage.
5. Creating Access to Drinking Water:
5.1 Development of water enterprise with RO: The area is the most saline-affected.
LEDARS is trying to co-fund to a entrepreneur to install a desalination unit in the
working area. LEDARS is trying to introduce an enterprise model in the drinking
water supply activities at the grassroots level, to ensure the sustainability of the
Reverse Osmosis (RO) system.
5.2 Water on Wheel (WOW) to reach last mile community: To reach the last mile
community/ community of the remote area, LEDARS is launching a water vehicle
with a smart ATM in the name of “Water on Wheel (WOW)”. Community people
have been distributed ATM cards, and people can collect water by using that card.
water supply activities at the grassroots level, to ensure the sustainability of the
Reverse Osmosis (RO) system.
● 12 Climate Resilience Groups (CRGs) have been formed.
● 72 awareness sessions on climate-smart agriculture have been conducted, with 2,183
participants (2,124 female and 59 male).
● Salinity- and drought-tolerant paddy seeds (BRRI Dhan-67 and 78) have been distributed
to 107 marginal farmers, along with six types of vegetable seeds for 124 farmers.
● 2,062 kg of organic fertilizer has been distributed.
● 12 farmers have been supported in establishing climate-smart farming using seven
adaptive technologies.
● 20 women small entrepreneurs have received loss and damage compensation grants
and launched 11 types of trades.
● Orientation sessions on disaster shocks and preparedness have been provided to 303
CRG members.
● 100 health and hygiene kits have been distributed among young women.
● A community food bank has been established, collecting 307 kg of rice from 110
members yet.
LEDARS (Local Environment Development and Agricultural Research Society) is a non-profit and non-political development organization. LEDARS has been working since 1996 in Bangladesh. Details…
