Description/achievement of initiative
Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. The low-lying coastal districts of Khulna and Bagerhat are particularly vulnerable where cyclones, tidal surge, and extreme flooding have devastated agriculture and food production, increased mortality rates, and destroyed the livelihoods of many communities. Over four years the project aims to improve sustainable food security and livelihoods of 42 vulnerable communities through capacity building programmes in sustainable village development, organic vegetable production, natural building techniques and effective climate change adaptation strategies and interventions.
Implementation methodologies
The project adopted a holistic approach to poverty reduction while promoting a paradigm shift in food production and disaster management, from a conventional relief and response practice to a regenerative risk reduction culture. Capacity building includes Design for Sustainable Settlements Bangladesh (DSSB), Permaculture Design Education (PDC), Training of Trainers for Climate Change Awareness (CCA).Curricula and learning outcomes were developed to effectively respond to the environment prone to adverse climate change in association with national and regional experts, permaculture practitioners and local growers. 405 community members and key stakeholders from Gaia Education, CIFAL Scotland, Stamford University Bangladesh Environmental Science Dept, and local government officers fed into the PDC and DSSB curricula design process. For this purpose, 24 community feedback sessions were conducted in Khulna and Bagerhat with community members.The project followed a strict equal opportunities policy and gender balance criteria. Marginalised members of the community such as sex workers, and women from Dalit communities had the opportunity to participate and lead community projects, becoming proficient with organic vegetable gardening in their limited land and home compounds.
Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
So far 141 community members from 42 communities have taken part in a series of capacity building activities, acquiring practical skills needed for establishing combined food and water production systems including horticulture, vermiculture, organic gardens and canal fisheries in an environment prone to adverse climate change. 114 women including those most marginalised among the communities and 27 men acquired practical skills in composting, vermi-composting and vermiculture, mulching, herbal pesticides, raised bed cultivation, with significant improvement in the productivity of the salinated soil. Furthermore, the project strengthened the community participation in natural resource management with a total of 27 community-led small income generation projects. 9 organic gardens, 6 vermiculture and 6 horticulture sites and 6 Canal fisheries have demonstrated the practical application of the lessons learnt in the heart of their communities.Over 3 years 75 climate change adapted houses have been built across the 42 communities. The houses benefit from a reinforced infrastructure that makes them more resilient to flooding, high winds and surges. The houses are raised of the ground by 5 feet and the roof is tied down with strong pillars. Inside the house clay pitchers are installed to preserve rain water and also to act as storage containers to protect valuables and food from water damage. 25 more houses are expected to be adapted by the end of the project.The ripple effect of the project is clearly demonstrated as the 141 change agents return to their communities and share lessons learnt with fellow community members. Inspired by the trained change agents, 1133 directly and 970 indirectly women and men of different ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds engaged in similar food growing, small income generation projects and climate change adapted houses achieving a remarkable success in terms of increased food production and household income.
Coordination mechanisms/governance structure
Gaia Education, BASD and CIFAL Scotland make up the consortium of organisations leading the implementation of the project. An in-depth understanding of local context and identification of constraints and opportunities provided by BASD have informed the design of the project. CIFAL is responsible for the overall project management in UK and for the liaison with the Scottish Government. Gaia Education provides the technical support and leads on the capacity building activities based on its long experience of working with communities on sustainable development projects in 43 countries. CIFAL Scotland and Gaia Education have put together a collaborative UK based team working closely with Bangladeshi BASD team. Gaia Education provides mentor support for the BASD team so that education and training programmes have a lasting impact on communities. Gaia Education Chief trainer in West Bengali works closely with BASD team of trainers. BASD is responsible for the implementations processes that support learning of community leaders, in particular women, in both technical and contextual skills. BASD makes sure that at least 50% of project participants are women. BASD disseminates lessons learned in Bangladesh networks. The M&E of this project, with both quantitative and qualitative indicators, is the responsibility of both the UK and Bangladeshi teams.
Partner(s)
Gaia Education, Bangladesh Association of Sustainable Development (BASD), CIFAL Scotland, Scottish Government