Title: Unravelling coastal people's adaptation to salinity: evidence from Bangladesh

Authors: Khondoker Mokaddem Hossain; Farhana Zaman

Addresses: Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh ' Department of Sociology, Jagannath University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract: Salinity as a slow onset climate change induced disaster is affecting coastal agriculture in multifarious ways. This study intends to explore various adaptation strategies that coastal people adopt to cope with the increasing saline water intrusion. To serve this purpose, the study conducted a survey with 318 landless people, 195 women and 123 men, selected purposively from two southwest coastal villages of Bangladesh. A five-point ordinal level Likert scale has been used to analyse data. Change in land use pattern, use of modern technology in agriculture, diversification of crops and income sources, using savings and harvesting rainwater were some of the adaptation strategies common in the study areas. The study found that women's ability to adapt is seriously compromised by their limited access to capital. So it is vital that the government take up specific programmes to enhance their adaptation capacity through increasing income generating activities and credit opportunities.

Keywords: adaptation capacity; adaptation strategy; capital; coastal people; gender; salinity; Bangladesh; coastal agriculture; climate change; disaster; environment; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2018.089278

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2018 Vol.17 No.1, pp.70 - 92

Received: 25 Oct 2016
Accepted: 19 Jul 2017
Published online: 11 Jan 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article