In coastal Bangladesh, Agriculture is disrupted by salinity intrusion, tidal surges, poor soil health, water unavailability, cyclones and other climate change-induced disasters. Fragmented land, poor infrastructure, inefficient irrigation and policy failure further hinder agriculture. In Sundarbans areas where subsistence farming is still the main source of livelihood for millions of people, reduced agriculture and loss in production pushes people further to the poverty line, and subsequently to migrate.
Collaborating with ULAB, the SAJIDA Foundation is currently researching the efficacy and effectiveness of introducing climate-resilient integrated farming in Assasuni Upazila with the agenda of empowering communities with sustainable livelihoods. The team has developed a prototype design to initiate and provide technical support to community-based integrated farming by targeting several selected households in the union.
By consulting local communities and through planned and systematic activities such as procurement and distribution of fish fingerlings, feed, fertilizers and seeds, rainwater harvesting and storage provisions through the (re)excavation of private and cooperative ponds, the experimentation will be co-designed with rudimentary rounds of pilot testing. Through this method, farmers will use stored rainwater to irrigate dry season crops (known as rabi crops in the local dialect, such as boro rice variety, other commercial crops, etc.). The ULAB-SAJIDA collaboration is anchored to systematically train and support villagers in the use of good quality salt-tolerant seed varieties involving government officials from the departments of fisheries and agriculture to revive traditional community knowledge and adaptive practices. The multiple benefits offered by integrated farming through coproduced knowledge and actions include reduction of salinity of the topsoil, making it more durable to the unpredictable and repeated shocks of climate change in the region.
Our team has presented 2 papers at the Agroecology Science Days hosted by the University of Lausanne.
WORKSHOP 4: NOURISHING THE AGRO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION BY EXPLORING LOCAL DYNAMICS AND NON-TECHNICAL SKILLS
Beyond preconceived positionalities in transdisciplinary research: ‘Inhabitant interviewers’ incubating agroecological transitions in the Indian Sundarbans Delta presented by EmilieCremin, UNIL, Abstract
See the presentation:
WORKSHOP 5: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS FOR AN INCLUSIVE AGRO-ECOLOGY – THE RIGHT TO FOOD, SOCIAL SECURITY FOR FOOD, ACCESS TO LAND
Governance of land under Shrimp farming in the coastal area of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta, presented by Emilie Cremin Abstract
The conference provides a platform for discussion and exchange around concrete examples of systems supported by the principles of agroecology, on both a small and large scale. It brings together the scientific community, local stakeholders, farmers, consumers, development agents, as well as decision-makers in governance bodies and international experts.
In September 2024, our ENGAGE4Sundarbans team organised a workshop at Kumirmari Bari with local stakeholders to investigate the possibilities of using canals as fisheries, to upscale our pond experiments. The participation of multiple local stakeholders opened the debate on the constraints and benefits provided by the extension of the fishery into canals. https://photos.app.goo.gl/DygdgbKpLFbwG8A3A
In September 2024, the ENGAGE4Sundarbans regional workshop aimed to join together our team members from India from IIT Kharagpur and the SJM village community, Bangladesh teams from SAJIDA Foundation and ULAB, and Switzerland UNIL, and exchange around our project with regional and international experts in the field of river sustainable development observed through arts and creativity. Understanding the river through the perceptions and the livelihoods of the inhabitants of the Sundarbans and supporting the communities in their agricultural entrepreneurship of fisheries and cropping to revert or resist to the multi-hazard risk has arisen as the main target of our project.
