Md. Anwarul Abedin

Community Perception and Adaptation to Safe Drinking Water Scarcity: Salinity, Arsenic, and Drought Risks in Coastal Bangladesh

One of the most serious resource and health issues in coastal communities of Bangladesh is the scarcity of safe drinking water, triggered by the combined effects of salinity, arsenic, and drought. This article explores community perception of vulnerabilities in daily life, livelihood, and environment, and investigates how communities and institutions cope with or adapt to drinking water scarcity. This study outlines community expectations for support from government and nongovernment organizations to overcome this problem. The findings reveal that nearly all respondents from the drinking water scarcity area perceive that salinity is the primary reason for the lack of safe drinking water compared to arsenic and drought hazards. Despite a number of socioeconomic factors and a geographical location that aggravates the coastal communities’ vulnerability, these communities have established their own adaptation mechanism to cope with this crisis. Government and nongovernment organizations have also supported community efforts to cope with the problem. By emphasizing both community adaptation methods and efforts of institutions, this article illustrates an integrated community-based approach, which would be effective for reducing drinking water scarcity in the southwestern coastal region of the country.

Food Security and Risk Reduction in Bangladesh

Both aquaculture and fi sheries have long been an integral part of life of the people of Bangladesh. The sector, second only to agriculture in the overall economy of Bangladesh, contribute nearly 4.5 % to the gross domestic product (GDP), 23 % of gross agriculture products and 2.46 % to the total export earnings. It accounts for about 60 % of animal protein intake in the diet of the people of Bangladesh with per capita fi sh consumption of 18.94 kg per annum. The people of Bangladesh largely depend on fi sh to meet their protein needs in both the rural and urban areas. In Bangladesh, to date about 20 fi nfi sh and a several crustacean species have been domesticated, their breeding and rearing protocols have been developed and now under nation-wide aquaculture. In addition to 1.32 million full time fi shers, 14.7 million people have been involved in aquaculture in Bangladesh including fi sh farmers and prawn/shrimp farmers. The value chain from pond/farm to plate/fork and beyond the chain includes hundreds of stakeholders, whose livelihood fully depends on aquaculture. The major stakeholders include fi sh farmer, prawn/shrimp farmer, hatchery owner, nurserer, farm/hatchery technicians/workers, input (feed ingredient, fertilizer, hormone, chemical, instrument etc.) importers/suppliers, feed mill owners, homestead feed producer, fi sher, fi sh processor, fi sh transporter, wholesaler, exporter, retailer, consumer, technology provider (government and nongovernment) and many more. Aquaculture has increasingly been playing a major role in total fi sh production (3.26 million tons) of the country and presently more than half of the total production (52.92 %) comes from aquaculture (1.73 million tons). The sector provides living and livelihood for more than 11 % people of the country. If the available resource are used sustainably with proper technological M. A. R. Hossain (*) Department of Fish Biology & Genetics , Bangladesh Agricultural University , Mymensingh , Bangladesh e-mail: marhossain@bau.edu.bd H. Kabir • A. M. O. Faruque Department of Fisheries , Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock , Matshya Bhaban, Ramna , Dhaka 1000 , Bangladesh M. Hossain PMTC (Bangladesh) Ltd. , Dhaka , Bangladesh marhossain@bau.edu.bd

Agriculture Adaptation in Coastal Zone of Bangladesh

Nowadays, climate change is one of the greatest threats to human lives and livelihoods in coastal regions all over the world and especially, coastal zone of Bangladesh is facing tremendous challenge from climate change. Furthermore, Climate change and agriculture possess an inverse relationship where climate impacts hamper agri-production. Among other sectors, agriculture is facing deadliest experiences from climate change related natural disasters, as agriculture is the main livelihood option for the coastal people of Bangladesh. Hence, agricultural adaptation approach is one of the key aspects that are helpful to reduce agricultural crop vulnerability in the coastal zone of Bangladesh. In this connection, considering local level experiences, the main objective of this chapter is to find out suitable and viable adaptation measures that have the potential to help farmers to adapt climate change. These adaptation practices include identification of suitable cropping pattern, choice of seed, irrigation water management, crop intensification suitable transplanting and so on. Therefore, the first part of this chapter illustrates the changing pattern of climatic parameters mainly temperature and rainfall in the whole country alone with coastal zone sea level rise and cyclone; and the impacts of climatic variability on crop production in the southwestern areas. Then the focus shifts on brief profile of the coastal zone including geographical location and geophysical environment. The last part of this chapter provides recommendation on possible adaptation techniques that have the potential to help farmers to adapt climate change and reduce yield loss in achieving food security.

Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Approaches in Bangladesh

A number of disasters are very common in Bangladesh. Among them, flood, tropical cyclone and drought are the most catastrophic disaster, which has substantial effect on livelihood. In every disaster, people within the community suffer most the disaster impacts and they are the first front line responders to survive with disaster. During or after disaster period, it has been often seen that external support comes later to rescue community. In this regard, community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) is a new concept that provides an opportunity to dovetail indigenous knowledge for disaster risk reduction and settle strategy to mainstream risk reduction at the community level. In Bangladesh, the communities have developed a number of community driven approaches with the collaboration with different international as well as governmental organization or NGO. Thus it eventually helps in building the capacity of the local community to prepare and respond with emergency faced by disasters. On the contrary, Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has established Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM) through which it operates all disaster management activities within the country. Besides, Government now gives more emphasis on the involvement of community and local government in the disaster management system. Even, GoB established comprehensive disaster management program (CDMP) under MoFDM to reduce the nation’s vulnerability to natural hazards and to strengthen disaster management activities. However, CBDRR activities are now institutionalized in local government through the recent national program of CDMP with the assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Defining Water Insecurity

Abstract Water quality and quantity will become the principal limiting factor for sustainable development in many countries across the world. “Everything living is created from water” is an ancient quotation, which closely describes the importance of water. Water insecurity is a social dilemma in the recent decades because of several factors. Moreover, the widespread presence of arsenic in groundwater, salinity in both surface and groundwater, and the insidious disaster of drought make the water insecure and the population faces water risk in their daily life. Safe drinking water as well as health problems is an issue of concern in many countries on all continents, particularly in Southeast and South Asia. Therefore, this chapter provides water insecurity issues in a broader viewpoint especially focusing on salinity, arsenic, and drought disaster that together enhance vulnerability of water sector.

Arsenic Contamination in Bangladesh: Contemporary Alarm and Future Strategy

For thousands of years, groundwater has served as a unique and reliable source of potable water in developed as well as developing countries. But, at the end of the twentieth century, groundwater contamination of arsenic in Bangladesh is a serious national problem. Sixty-one districts out of sixty-four districts currently have been affected by arsenic contamination and up to 77 million people in Bangladesh have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from drinking water. To save the lives of millions in Bangladesh: a great challenge for the Government of Bangladesh is to provide safe drinking water for the urban and rural population. Hence, this chapter provides an insight into the historical background to the problem of safe drinking water in Bangladesh from surface water, groundwater, and rainwater sources. It includes special reference to the occurrences, nature and extent and causes of arsenic contamination in groundwater aquifers of Bangladesh, which has emerged as a major crisis of the present decade. In addition, this chapter put its special attention on social problems due to the presence of arsenic in the drinking water, its impact on human health, agriculture, food chain and environment, Government and other organizations initiatives against arsenic contamination and the present status of technological achievement of arsenic removal at individual and community level in Bangladesh and finally this chapter serves as a ground for the common readers including researchers, policy makers, practitioners and academia.

Disaster Education in Bangladesh: Opportunities and Challenges

During the last couple of decades, there has been an increase in the frequency and severity of disasters in Bangladesh, particularly those of hydro meteorological origin such as flood, cyclone and drought. To deal with disasters, Bangladesh has achieved significant progress in disaster preparedness and taken substantial steps forward in terms of risk reduction. However, to create awareness towards disaster, Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005–2015, priority for action-3 gives emphasis on the role of knowledge and education, and highlights formal and non-formal education, and awareness-raising as important components for disaster risk reduction. In this regards, this book chapter intends to highlight the ongoing disaster education at different levels in Bangladesh. It has been seen that Bangladesh is carried out disaster education through course curricula developed by National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) in 1994/1995. In 2006 Disaster management Bureau (DMB) and Comprehensive Disaster Management Program (CDMP) had undertaken a review of the books of NCTB that mainly focused on the measures necessary to be undertaken at the family and community levels and emphasized on the need for risk reduction. This chapter further point outs key gaps and challenges to implement disaster education in context of Bangladesh. Besides, this chapter gives emphasis on non-formal and informal education, and addresses ESD (Education for Sustainable Development), CCE (Climate Change Education) and mentions community’s role for achieving sustainable development that helps to develop attitudes, knowledge to make decisions for the benefit of students, communities, and others, now and in future.

Lessons, challenges, and future perspectives of water insecurity

Abstract Water insecurity is a big threat and a defining global challenge that causes social dilemma in the society. Analyzing all the previous chapters in this volume, this final chapter will discuss water use and its consequence of social dilemma, the key lessons and observations that trigger water insecurity, major challenges and success factors toward water insecurity, and how water insecurity can be minimized through the involvement of community people, and improvement of social stability in the form of common understanding. This chapter also emphasizes the linkage between local and national levels by the development of Integrated Water Resource Management both in quantity and quality aspects.

Food Security, Climate Change Adaptation, and Disaster Risk

Climate change impacts and natural disasters are the leading cause of hunger and affect all dimensions of food security including access to food, availability and stability of supplies, and nutrition across the world. The global food crisis is exposing existing and potential vulnerabilities of households, governments, and the international system to food and nutrition insecurity. Most food-insecure people live in areas prone to natural hazards, and they are the least able to cope with shocks. Due to their vulnerability and limited capacity to manage risks, poor households are often trapped in a downward spiral of food insecurity and poverty. On the other hand, Millennium Development Goals, the first goal is to eradicate hunger and poverty, and everybody around the world is fighting together for this. At present, there are 925 million undernourished people in the world. Therefore, this chapter focuses its attention on the current scenarios of hunger and concept and dimension of food security systems, in order to understand their vulnerability to environmental change, linkages among food security, climate change, and natural disasters and to identify solutions of food security coupled with climate change and disaster risk.

Gender and Climate Change: Impacts and Coping Mechanisms of Women and Special Vulnerable Groups

Climate change poses challenges on a new scale for humanity, particularly for the populations of lower income countries like Bangladesh. There has been relatively limited in-depth analysis of the gender dimensions of climate change to date, partly because of the uncertainties of climate change science and the lack of downscaled data. Therefore, it is hard to predict how social changes are varied according to climate change. However, the literature indicates that women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change, because they are more likely to be found in the poorest sections of society, have fewer resources to cope, and are more reliant on climate-sensitive resources because of the gender division of labor. Furthermore, climate change is now recognized as serious with long-term negative effects on human community and social vulnerability and is not gender-neutral. Women are often vulnerable to climate change impacts where their endowments, agency and opportunities are not equal to those of men. They are also more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. In the context of climate change, a “gender analysis” promotes an understanding of the ways that men and women are differently impacted by climate-related hazards and by adopting adaptation and mitigation strategies. This chapter highlights the baseline relation between gender and climate change, position of women and impacts of climate change on women vulnerability and special vulnerable groups and currently existing copping mechanism that practices by women and special vulnerable groups too.