Despite recent urbanization and industrial development, agriculture remains a fundamental sector of Bangladesh’s economy. Accounting for 65% of the country’s labor force and 20% of its GDP,[1] this critical industry is among the most vulnerable to a of myriad climate risks. In its efforts to achieve sustainable food security, Bangladesh has increased its agricultural production by modernizing its irrigation infrastructure, increasing groundwater consumption, diversifying types of crops grown, and improving the efficiency of fertilizer use[2]. These efforts have so far been successful in supporting the country’s growing population, but agriculture in Bangladesh still has many issues that need to be addressed, especially due to Bangladesh’s increased vulnerability to sea level rise, freshwater flooding, and droughts as a result of climate change.
Saltwater flooding due to sea level rise and storm surge can have particularly harsh effects on agriculture. Although saltwater flooding negatively affects many sectors of Bangladesh economy and community, it is a particularly drastic issue for agriculture because salinity in ocean waters has extreme negative effects on the soil quality. Figure 1 shows the relative impacts of sea level rise and subsequent salt water flooding on Bangladesh in comparison to other countries.
Source: Chi-Chung Chen and Bruce McCarl, Climate Change[4]
Figure 1: The Percentage of Agricultural Land Impacted by Sea Level Rise
Salt water flooding not only erodes away good soil, but also leaves salt in the soil when it eventually evaporates or drains into the water table. Soil salinity is further worsened by flooding because flooding raises the height of the underground water table, pushing salts and minerals closer to the soil’s surface. Already, many agricultural areas in Bangladesh have poor soil quality due to high salinity and arsenic pollution, a dangerous remnant left behind by previous ecosystems. Due to rising temperatures and sea levels, soil quality is only expected to get worse in the next eighty years [Figure 2]. Rice crops that grow in marshes, the most common cash crop in Bangladesh and a staple food source for the population, are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of high salinity. This will have drastic negative effects on crop yield, food supply of the country, and food prices.
Legend
Isosaline Line (ppt):
(red) 1 ppt
(green) 5 ppt
Source: CEGIS, Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100[4]
Figure 2: Salinity of soils in Bangladesh from 2005 (top map) and projected for 2050 (bottom map)
Over the past thirty years, flooding has increased in severity and frequency in Bangladesh with a corresponding decrease in agricultural production as a portion of the country’s GDP. This decrease is due to several different reasons: farmers switching to other industries to find better work, general industrialization, and decrease in crop yields due to flooding damage, drought, and salinization[8]. Over the next thirty years, flooding is expected to increase by 6-8% in coastal regions.[1] This means that flooding not only affects agricultural production for food security of the people, but also the overall economy of Bangladesh.
Not only does saltwater flooding destroy crops and soils, but regular freshwater flooding from heavy rains and monsoons can also negatively impact agriculture in Bangladesh. 80% of Bangladesh is already in a floodplain from river flooding and from heavy monsoons.[4] Monsoons are predicted to become more and more erratic as climate change worsens, causing unpredictability in the rainfall cycle. This will make it much more difficult for farmers to plan their planting/harvesting cycle. If monsoons come earlier than expected and before rice crops mature, farmers will be unable to harvest their crops in time, likely destroying the entire yield.[1]
In addition to soil destruction from natural causes such as flooding, Bangladesh’s soils are also vulnerable to other forms of degradation that result from poor agricultural practices. To support growing populations, impoverished farmers have relied on unsustainable techniques that exacerbate slope erosion and deplete soil nutrients, such as overuse of soils and lack of crop rotation.[6] Profitable shrimp ponds that pollute surrounding rice fields are especially detrimental to mangrove forests and existing agricultural properties in southwestern Bangladesh.[7] Unplanned and inefficient irrigation techniques also contributes to depleted soil fertility, and as droughts become increasingly more frequent due to climate change, especially in the northern regions of the country because of its natural vulnerability to drought, inefficient irrigation will further degrade soils. Longer and more severe droughts will increase the water needs of fields for stable crop yields, yet the water tables are already under stress.[2]
Because such a large portion of the population depends on agricultural production as a source of income, and because the entire country relies upon rice farming and fishing for a majority of its food consumption, preparing the country’s agricultural sector for climate change must be a high priority, otherwise the entire country, and especially the poorest economic sector, will suffer.
Detailed plans for the solutions addressing risks to the affected area of Agriculture are listed below.
Crop Selection and Genetic Engineering Community-Based Adaptation Fishing Hydroponics and Floating Agriculture Irrigation Sustainable Land Management
By Jarek Kwiecinski and Sarah Weidman
References
- Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 (pp. 1-714, Rep.). (2017). Bangladesh: General Economics Division, Bangladesh Planning Commission.
- The World Bank. (2010). Bangladesh – Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change, no. 70266, 1–130.
- Spielman, D. J., Hartwich, F., & Grebmer, K. (2010). Public–private partnerships and developing-country agriculture: Evidence from the international agricultural research system. Public Administration and Development 30, no. 4, 261–276.
- Chen, Chi-Chung and Bruce McCarl. (2012). Climate change, sea level rise and rice: global market implications. Climate Change 110, no. 3-4, 543-560.
- Dewan, T. H. (2015). Societal impacts and vulnerability to floods in Bangladesh and Nepal. Weather and Climate Extremes 7, 36-42.
- Islam, K. R., & Weil, R. R. (2000). Land use effects on soil quality in a tropical forest ecosystem of Bangladesh. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 79, no. 1, 9–16.
- Paul, B. G., & Vogl, C. R. (2011). Impacts of shrimp farming in Bangladesh: Challenges and alternatives. Ocean & Coastal Management 54, no. 3, 201–211.
- Bangladesh: Growing the Economy through Advances in Agriculture. (2016). The World Bank. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org