Bangladesh (Commonwealth Union)_ Low-lying Bangladesh is regarded as one of the most climate-vulnerable nations, with storms, floods, and erosion exacerbating the effects of increasing water levels. Moreover, natural causes, such as geological movements that are driving the land underneath to sink, and upstream dams that are keeping back silt that would replenish the eroding delta are also aggravating the climatic impact. According to a 2019 International Monetary Fund assessment, Bangladesh might lose 17 percent of its land area and 30 percent of its food output by 2050 due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 reported by the non-profit Germanwatch, Bangladesh placed 7th on a list of nations severely harmed by climate change between 2000 and 2019. According to the 2021 report of Asian Development Bank, “Because it is the largest delta in the world … a huge portion of Bangladesh’s land area experiences frequent flooding, especially flash floods along with river erosion”. Additionally, Bangladesh is often struck by cyclones that barrel up the Bay of Bengal, while global warming causes increasingly irregular rainfall patterns. Moreover, a quarter of Bangladesh’s 165 million people reside in the coastal region.
As rising seas and frequent floods are destroying more agricultural lands, Bangladeshi farmers are moving towards ancient floating farms. One such farmer is Mohammad Mostafa, who lives in the low-lying deltas of southern Bangladesh. He has recreated his ancestors’ farming method of cultivating crops on floating rafts. While navigating a boat around one of the country’s numerous rivers, Mostafa stated that he can now feed his family on his own without depending on others for help. However, he said that profit margins have been falling as costs have increased. He added that he purchased a boatload of water hyacinths weighing around 1.2 tonnes for ৳45,000 this year to be woven into new rafts. The price was only ৳ 1,000 last year.
As climate change raises sea levels and wreaks havoc on the monsoons, this traditional practice, now employed by about 6,000 subsistence farmers in the marshy southwest, may become indispensable. According to farmers, the rafts may take two months to construct and are generally 6 meters long and 1 meter broad, but may also be much longer. After three to four months, they must be replaced with fresh ones. Another farmer named Mohammad Ibrahim stated that he is able to cultivate more crops with the floating beds.
