Climate Change Adaptation Strategy of the Coastal Indigenous Community of Bangladesh

Abstract

Climate change has increasingly impacted developing and underdeveloped nations, with Bangladesh’s coastal areas experiencing significant effects such as storm surges, salinity, cyclones, and droughts. These regions, heavily reliant on agriculture, face economic challenges exacerbated by climatic events, making adaptation to climate change a critical concern for coastal inhabitants. This study aims to understand the obstacles and adaptive mechanisms employed by the Munda indigenous people in southeastern coastal Bangladesh to protect their livelihoods. Employing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including focus group discussions (FGDs) and thematic analyses, we assessed the community’s challenges and adaptation strategies. FGDs revealed that public life is frequently disrupted, salinity poses a major threat to agriculture and drinking water, and the cropping pattern, fish production, livestock, infrastructure, industry, biodiversity, health, and human settlement are adversely affected. Notably, there is a significant lack of adequate healthcare. Quantitative analysis using the χ2 test showed that 33.2% of participants believe climate change affects their happiness, 85.1% stored 72 h of water and food, and 59.3% had hygiene and sanitation supplies. This research underscores the necessity of adaptive measures such as rainwater harvesting, organic fertilizer usage, community disaster preparedness education, effective communication systems, and social security implementation to mitigate climate change’s adverse effects. The findings offer valuable insights for the government, nongovermental organizations (NGOs), policymakers, civil society, and stakeholders in developing suitable climate adaptation strategies to ensure sustainable livelihoods in coastal Bangladesh.