Title: Local resilience practices to climate change: A study on coping with flood vulnerability of a river-adjacent community of Bangladesh

Biography:

Md. Ashik Sarder is as a researcher and development practitioner, working at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Bangladesh Country Office as Disaster Management Officer. He has earned graduation, post-graduation and MPhil degree in Anthropology from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. During his professional career, he has also worked at Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), NGO Forum for Public Health and UNDP Bangladesh. He has the experience in working with issues like climate change, resilience, adaptation, migration, public health, disaster management and humanitarian responses.

Abstract

The geophysical contexts of different areas of Bangladesh are diverse and distinctive from location to location. Each of the areas has distinct characteristics and varied livelihoods pattern. The recent climate change has made different communities of Bangladesh vulnerable to frequent disasters. The impact of climate change has also been visible at river-adjacent communities. So, enhancing community resilience is very important to make the community people capable to cope with climate change and ensure sustainable livelihoods for the future. If the community people become resilient, then they can come back in their previous usual situation within a very short period after any type of disaster. The Khasbarashimul community is a flood-prone community situated in the Sirajganj district of Bangladesh on the bank of Jamuna River with having Brahmaputra delta characteristics. Most of the community people are marginalized, and agriculture and day-laboring are the main means of their livelihood. Almost every year, a flood occurs and causes tremendous losses to property and livelihoods. The study has aimed to identify the flood vulnerability due to climate change on the Khasbarashimul community people and their livelihoods. The study has been conducted at the participatory observation approach using both qualitative and quantitative research perspectives. The study has identified some of the local and indigenous community resilience techniques which the community people usually used to practice by their own knowledge and experiences. Some of the other resilience techniques have also been suggested to make community people more resilient to disasters and flood risks resulting from climate change.