An idea for adaptation to climate changes in villages adjoining the Teesta River at Lalmonirhat
district, Bangladesh.
Lalmonirhat district lies in the northern part of Bangladesh (North Bengal). Dawwa bari, a Union of
Hatibandha Upazilla at Lalmonirhat district has a common feature where roads and embankments are
occupied by small houses one after another. In places, the damaged roads do not even exist at all. If you
wish to have a look or talk with the inhabitants, you will get the same reply from them. That their
homeland is now only a barren sandy land with no sign of trees or houses. The river Teesta has eroded
their home ground and agricultural lands, and made them workless and landless. Most of them are
farmers. Now the only way remains to working locally for rich farmers (where they face a good
competition with others), working in the tobacco industry, working as a rickshaw puller, or migrating to
other districts to find work as a day laborer. The major cultivation in those lands now gone used to be
rice, maize, tobacco and vegetables.
Unfavorable weather conditions like floods, erosion, cold spells and drought are major disturbances in
North Bengal. These natural calamities manifest themselves ultimately in seasonal food insecurity. Due
to river erosion and drought, vast areas remain uncultivated. Because of unemployment during September
to November due to less farm-work for cultivation of crops, and drought in April-May, the people usually
suffer from famine which is locally termed as ‘Monga’. This famine occurs due to lack of availability of
jobs, lack of access to jobs in other areas, and improper utilization of whatever natural resources are
present. It is predicted that the conditions of the natural people will change more for the worse, and
Monga famine may intensify because of global climate changes, of which one of the most prominent
countries to suffer will be Bangladesh. Even now, the Monga-affected people have to suffer from
starvation and consequent lack of nutrition. This famine situation is regularly and repeatedly also seen in
the adjoining districts of Nilphamari, Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Rangpur, because the river Teesta and
Jamuna runs through them and causes severe erosion during floods. As the rivers change their paths every
year through eroding the fertile farmlands of the banks, the vulnerability of the people of these five
districts increases tremendously. Global climate change has been predicted to cause greater melting of the
Himalayan glaciers from which these rivers arise and so cause more flooding and erosion of river banks.
Both early and late floods have now become a common event in these districts. In fact, previously floods
use to occur only during the monsoon season with its torrential rainfall; floods now occur even in the lateAugust to mid-September. During the dry months of winter (October till February), the land is barren for
the exceptional dryness of the soil. Even if there is flood, the flood waters deposit sand on the flooded
areas, contributing more to the barrenness of the soil. The deposited sands also cause small islands to
appear in the middle of the river, which are locally known as “Chars”. All livelihood practices are nearly
zero in these chars. The emerging pattern of reduced rainfall (due to global warming) in these districts is
further accelerating the natural calamity. Due to reduced rainfall and consequent drought, the ground
water level is also decreasing. Irrigation is hampered and availability of fodder for livestock shrinks. The
net result of this complicated process of less rainfall and, drought coupled with uneven periods of
flooding is contributing rapidly to the loss of income of the inhabitants of these districts, a loss in
productivity of crops, with a concomitant increase in poverty.
An International Climate Champion (ICC) 2010 grant was awarded by the British Council Bangladesh to
Fardous Mohammad Safiul Azam who is a faculty member of the Department of Biotechnology &
Genetic Engineering at the University of Development Alternative (UODA). Safiul Azam is attempting to
research ways for the mitigation of poverty and adapting to global climate changes in the affected districts
through the ICC project. His proposal on bringing awareness to farmers on causes and impacts of climate
change and adaption though underutilized plant species was approved as Champion`s project for
Lalmonirhat, one of the worse Monga affected districts of Bangladesh. Safiul Azam is trying to bring
awareness to the farmers on cultivation of alternate plant species that can be grown in semi-arid soil and
trying to bring the households of these Monga districts to change their culinary tastes and values. The
local people have for a long time been adapted to a daily diet of rice intermixed with leafy vegetables and
fish. Because of the global climate changes, in the future, it may not be possible to grow paddy, since the
crop needs standing water for cultivation. However, it may be possible to introduce other cereal crops in
lieu of paddy. Similarly, many nutritious and under-utilized plant species, which currently are consumed
only by the people during times of food scarcity may be brought into a pattern of regular consumption.
Towards attaining this objective of making the people well-informed about the necessity of changing their
food consumption pattern and cultivating new crops, Safiul Azam is going through a participatory action
research program in these areas through holding of group discussions, seminars, showing of video clips,
and conducting speaking sessions in the various primary and high schools of the areas. At the same time,
Safiul Azam is coordinating his actions with the local Agricultural Officer and the Upazilla Chairman. In
short, Safiul Azam’s objective is to involve both the grassroots as well as the administrative personnel in
his research cum action plan so that the local effects of global climate changes in these areas can be
mitigated.
Image: A typical barren sandy land during dry season at the riverbank of Teesta in Lalmonirhat district,
Bangladesh.
E-mail: shojibbiotech@yahoo.com, fmsazam@gmail.com