Farmers' adaptation strategies to combat climate change in drought prone areas in Bangladesh

Drought introduces a different set of risks and adaptation strategies as compared to flood, river erosion and other natural hazards. This paper attempts to investigate farmers' adaptation strategies to combat climate change in drought prone areas and identify their determinants based on a survey of 480 farmers from northwestern Bangladesh. Farmers commonly practicing six technology-based strategies and one labour/family-based strategy with 80% adapting two or more adaptation strategies. Although synergy exists between selected strategies, competition also exist between rice- and non-rice based strategies. The likelihood of undertaking climate change adaptation strategies are significantly and positively influenced by education, subsistence pressure, income from livestock and poultry, extension services, involvement in organizations and the use of ICT in farming. Adaptation probability inversely related with increasing women participation in agricultural labour force. Recommendations include strengthening extension services and promoting use of ICT in farming, incorporation of climatic information in education, easing and facilitating farmers' access to institutions and promotion of livestock rearing to combat climate change induced challenges on farming in drought prone areas.

Automated summary

This study investigated farmers' adaptation strategies to combat climate change in drought prone areas in northwestern Bangladesh. It found that farmers commonly employ multiple technology-based and labor/family-based strategies, with factors such as education, subsistence pressure, livestock and poultry income influencing the likelihood of adaptation. Recommendations include strengthening extension services, promoting use of ICT, incorporating climatic information in education, facilitating farmers' access to institutions, and promoting livestock rearing to address climate change challenges in drought prone areas.