Cataloguing Climate-Smart Agricultural Innovations for the Ecologically Fragile Coastal Landscapes of Bangladesh

Abstract

The southern coastal region of Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to both slow-onset climatic stressors and extreme weather events due to its unique geomorphology. Tropical cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal, accompanied by storm surges, prolonged water congestion, and salinity intrusion, severely constrain agricultural productivity. The socio-economic capacity of coastal communities is likewise limited, reducing their ability to cope with recurrent climate-induced shocks. Given these constraints, scarce resources must be utilized judiciously, and traditional agricultural systems require strategic transformation through climate-smart approaches. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) offers an indispensable framework for safeguarding food security in these fragile ecosystems. CSA integrates practices designed to sustainably increase productivity, enhance adaptive capacity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Identifying and promoting context-specific CSA options for coastal growers is therefore essential. Through a comprehensive desk-based literature review supplemented by stakeholder validation, this study identifies and characterizes 52 CSA practices and evaluates their contributions to the core pillars of productivity, adaptation, and mitigation. Prominent CSA practices suitable for the coastal areas of Bangladesh include the sorjan system integrating vegetable and fish production, rice–fish culture, vertical and floating agriculture, conservation or zero tillage, cultivation of heat-, submergence-, and salt-tolerant crop varieties, irrigation using harvested rainwater, deep placement of urea, and integrated pest management. These practices collectively enhance resilience to climate stressors such as high temperatures, salinity, waterlogging and flooding, and seasonal drought. While no single farmer is expected to adopt all practices, each can select the most feasible and beneficial options to strengthen climate resilience and improve livelihood outcomes.