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Climate Change and Community Based Adaptation in Bangladesh: the Role of Social Capital

Mohammed Faruque Uddin
Department of Sociology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The principal premise of this article is to discern the role of social capital for combating the effect of climate change in Bangladesh. This war faring requires efficient intervention of social capital for rural communities to generate adaptability in the new environmental condition. Social capital is hypothesized to fulfill three functions in communities: provide access information via networks of contacts; reduce transactions costs in contracting via trust; and sustain capacity for collective action. Using secondary qualitative data, collected from BKF and BKS, this study analyze how communities and social capital mutually interact and influence individuals and communities for adaptation decisions. Furthermore, this paper theoretically demonstrates that micro, meso and macro level social capital might equip three types of authority i.e. being in authority, having authority and being an authority which can battle the challenges of Climate Change.

Keywords: Climate Change, Social Capital, Authority, Community based Adaptation.

Location:

Start Date: 00-00-2009

End Date: 00-00-2010

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Adoption and mitigation technology

Objectives:

To discern the role of social capital for combating the effect of climate change in Bangladesh.

Methodology:

America, Australia, Europe, China-Japan with other industrialist countries are emitting greenhouse gases but victimizing developing countries like Bangladesh. In this regard Bangladesh Krishok Federation (BKF) and Bangladesh Kishani Sabha (BKS) organized 31 workshops in different parts of Bangladesh from 17^th December 2009 to 27^thJanuary 2010 (www.krishok.org). Those workshops were organized to assess the impact of climate change, and it's future consequences as well as the social responsibility in this regard. Teacher of the RMIT University, Australia, Cathryn Kriewaldt was facilitator. The workshops reflected the methodological grounding and data collection technique of FGD method.

Participants in the Climate Workshops: Most of the participants of the workshops were grassroots leaders of BKF and BKS. Expert peasants, women peasants and workers were most appreciated to attend the workshops. They also ensured the participation from different classes and professional peoples of respective areas. The participation of women was 60% to 80%. Total participation was limited to 30 to 80 delegates in one workshop.

Method of the Workshops: At first, delegates of workshops were split into some groups and each group consisted of 5 to 10 people. Each group got some climate change related photos. Before distribution of photos facilitator described the idea of the workshop to respective groups. The idea was: each group has two works after getting photos. (1) Look the photos and tries to understand the changes of climate in their respective area. All understandable changes will be discussed in each group. Each group could swap photos to other groups and could discuss in the own group. (2) Participants discussed in the groups what type of changes of weather they have seen in their lives out of the photos. At the end of discussion on two topics participants will start to expresses their opinions and results of group discussions. Each group expresses their understanding on changes of weather in the picture first and then they discussed their experiences of the life and other changes of the weather which they realize in their long time of the life. Facilitator was careful to the fact that opinions, experiences and advices of the participants can be discussed duly. Then, there started the second part of the workshop. In this part facilitator express her own idea about climate change. But she respectively narrated the opinions of each groups in her speech and also compared the expert opinions and groups opinions. For that reason all participants feel moved that their opinion and knowledge will be enriched with scientific idea.

From the data mentioned above we found that, people in grassroots’ level are already experiencing the impacts of climate change in Bangladesh. For instance, ‘Cold is increasing, colds are destroying so many vegetables and other seasonal crops’ and ‘Fog is rising, dense fogs are destroying Mango, Litchi and other seasonal crops’ indicates that climate is being changed and is threatening the livelihood on earning attainments of the community people. For generating greater awareness to combat issues relating to incumbent challenges created by climate change state, local, and individual level authority must be combined with the functions of macro, meso, and micro level social capital for community based adaptations in the new environmental condition.

Source of Information: SUST Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 18, No.4, 2012; P:1-10

Article Link (Online Journal): http://sustjournals.org/uploads/archive/e203a3d8af640eeb7a8aa852bb837cd4.pdf

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Our reviews reveal that Bangladesh is in severe vulnerable condition. Because of the topographic location, Bangladesh is experiencing the ultimate natural calamities like flood, drought, salinity, cyclones etc. Question arises that ‘is Bangladesh ready to face incumbent disasters after Aila and Sidr’ The answer requires innumerable academic, scientific and policy researches to generate a composite knowledge on these issues. From the perspective of sociology it can be inferred that consciousness and capacity building might take the common platform where all researches could stand for. Henceforth, the role of social capital in three levels i.e. micro (individual), Meso (group/regional) and Macro (societal/state) can contribute to generate three types of authority i.e. being in authority (merely an individual), having authority (local) and finally being an authority (national) which might combat the challenges of climate change. True development of final one only can save the other two and real building of adaptive capacity at community level might take place to combat the challenges of climate change in Bangladesh. By adding the effective role of media and civil society we can draw our conclusion conforming to the following BKF and BKS recommendation from the workshop of bottom-up (insiders) perspectives.

Stop emission of the greenhouse gases caused by industrialist countries. Suffering countries should be united to put pressure on rich countries.
Climate change suffering people should build strong movement against climate change.
Government and the people of Bangladesh have to plant so many trees and have to take steps for saving trees from cut. Because trees are not only receiving carbon, but they are also saving lives during flood and cyclone.
Government should take initiative to inform people of the country about devastating affect of climate change. In order that the people can take preparation to save their life and livelihood from the crazy behaviors of weather.
Compel the industrialist countries to give compensation to the effected countries for their deliberate climate change.
There have arrangement to buildup sufficient cyclone shelter in the risky area and make sufficient storage of food, drinking water, medicine and other emergency goods to serve immediately for the suffering people.
Increasing the water level of high tide and we have to raise height and strength of the natural calamity, have to inform the people immediately, so that people will be careful and have preparation to face.
There have to buildup sufficient arrangement to rescue of possible suffering peoples from natural calamity. Government has to have initiative and buildup capacity to save life and people's properties before cyclone hit and high sea wave.
Government has to plan to rehabilitate people immediately to their own place after natural calamity. Government has to ensure compensation to suffering people to recover their damages.
Government has to take initiative to reduce the use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and sterile seeds in the name of hybrid seeds and ensure balance of diversity.

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