Enhancing capacity of people to mitigate climate change Loss and Damage in Bangladesh.
Background
Bangladesh, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries globally, faces escalating challenges due to its geographic features, socio-economic conditions, and the adverse effects of human activities like deforestation. The southwest coastal region, recognized as a climate hotspot, is particularly at risk due to its low-lying terrain, dense population, and proximity to the Sundarbans. This area is frequently impacted by floods, storm surges, and cyclones, with marginalized communities bearing the brunt of these disasters.
Climate-induced phenomena, including significant sea-level rise documented in the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, have intensified vulnerabilities, threatening livelihoods, ecosystems, and infrastructure. LEDARS addresses these challenges by implementing targeted interventions that focus on mitigating both economic and non-economic loss and damage. Through community-driven strategies, LEDARS empowers vulnerable populations to adapt to climate change, build resilience, and sustain development. By bridging gaps in global and local efforts, LEDARS demonstrates scalable models to address the multifaceted impacts of climate change while advocating for global action to support affected communities.
Major Interventions
Enhancing Adaptation Capacity of the Vulnerable
LEDARS promotes sustainable agricultural practices to restore soil fertility and enhance resilience to climate change. This includes raising awareness on climate-smart agriculture, providing input support such as seeds, fertilizers, and technology, and promoting methods like sorjan, earth tower, and drip irrigation. These initiatives help mitigate the impact of salinity and other climate factors, enabling farmers to adapt to changing environmental conditions and restore agricultural productivity in the southwest coastal region.
Promoting Disaster Resilience
In response to climate-induced disasters, LEDARS supports disaster-affected families by providing financial assistance and essential assets. This includes assessing the losses, providing grants for asset replacement, and constructing disaster-resilient houses through the “One House One Shelter” model. Additionally, small women entrepreneurs receive compensation grants to restore their businesses, empowering them to recover and rebuild their livelihoods in the face of climate disruptions.
Mitigating Non-Economic Loss and Damage (L&D)
Recognizing the psychosocial impacts of climate change, LEDARS addresses the mental health and well-being of affected communities. Counseling sessions and disaster preparedness training are organized to help individuals cope with trauma from previous disasters. Additionally, health and hygiene kits are distributed to women, promoting better hygiene practices, particularly during menstruation, and addressing the non-economic aspects of loss and damage caused by climate change.
Ensuring Food Security during Emergency
To combat food insecurity during climate-induced disasters, LEDARS has established a community-level food bank. This initiative encourages community members to deposit small amounts of rice, creating a collective support system to ensure food availability for vulnerable populations during times of crisis. The food bank acts as a sustainable, community-driven resource to mitigate the impacts of disaster-related food shortages.
Knowledge Sharing and Stakeholder Engagement
LEDARS fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing through workshops, forums, and learning-sharing activities with stakeholders. This includes organizing project launching workshops with government officials, forming Climate Resilient Groups (CRGs), and disseminating project results through various media channels. LEDARS also conducts research on sustainable strategies for mitigating climate-induced loss and damage and engages in national-level discussions to inform policy and drive future interventions. These efforts ensure that lessons learned from the project are shared and used to enhance climate resilience on a broader scale.
Major Achievements
- 200 Climate Resilience Groups (CRGs) have been formed.
- 72 awareness sessions on climate-smart agriculture have been conducted.
- Salinity- and drought-tolerant paddy seeds (BRRI Dhan-67 and 78) have been distributed to 3914 marginal farmers, along with six types of vegetable seeds for 3301 farmers.
- 53 tons of organic fertilizer has been distributed among the 5287 farmers.
- 73 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.
- 4575 health and hygiene kits have been distributed among young women.
- 5 community food bank has been established.