Home ›› 16 Jan 2023 ›› Editorial
Farida Begum (35) lives in Gabura village of Gabura union in Satkhira district. One of her hand is broken. She got it injured during the Cyclone Sidr. Every day, she dips up to her waist in the salty water of the river to catch the Bagda prawn. The salty water is very bad for her health. Already she has suffered from an infected uterus. If she catches 100 bagda prawns, she can sell them for 40 taka.
“Before Cyclone Sidr and Aila, our village used to grow a lot of paddies. I used to cultivate paddy in my own land along with my husband. We used to plant some vegetables. We raised poultry. We had a comfortable life. We did not feel any lack of anything.”
Farida Begum was saying these words with tears in her eyes. After that, with frustration in her voice, she added, “Now I have nothing but two daughters. As there was no income here, my husband went to work in a brick kiln in Barisal. He has not taken any care of us for ten years. I heard that he is starting a new family there. Drowning in salty water in the sun, storm, and rain, we can barely afford two meals a day with the hard-earned money, but there is still a lot of scarcity. Due to this scarcity, both of my girls also work with me. I can’t send them to school.”
Statistics show that 3,406 people died in Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009), and 55,000 people survived with physical disabilities. Aside from these numbers, there are many negative stories. Among them, thousands of Faridas like Farida are living a hard life in the sub-tropical regions and making ends meet by catching Bagda prawn/fish spawn. Agriculture in the region has yet to recover from the effects of climate change. Rather, the issues are becoming more and more complex by the day. Not only did the lives associated with agriculture change, but the socio-economic and family lives of people also changed drastically.
Subtropical regions (especially Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Barguna, Patuakhali, etc.) were heavily inundated by powerful and destructive cyclones like Sidor and Aila. This has caused the amount of land to decrease. Statistics say that 2.6 million hectares of land are flooded every year as a result of climate change. As a result of salt water entering the lands of that area, cultivation stopped on acre after acre of land. One type of trader increased the amount of shrimp farming on their agricultural land without desalinating or reclaiming it. It ruined the possibility of growing rice or other crops.
Another type of crisis has also begun. 10 labourers can work on one bigha of paddy land. However, each bigha shrimp farm can only have one labourer. This resulted in a massive lack of employment in all those areas. Thousands of people left their localities to work in Dhaka, Barisal, Khulna, Chittagong, etc. At one point, they found a family there and cut off contact with the previous family. As a result, all those abandoned wives and children fell into unbearable suffering. Their struggles in life begin similarly to Farida Begum’s. Climate change is thus destroying the lives and livelihoods of many people in subtropical regions and encouraging inhumane living.
According to a statistic, one out of every seven people in the country will be displaced by the year 2050 due to rising sea levels due to climate change. Sea level will rise by 19.6 inches during this period, and land mass will shrink by 11 per cent. During this period, 18 million people will migrate. The incident in Gabura has already proven this statistic.
Climate change is having some indirect effects on our country. One of them is Hurricane. Although cyclones originate in different parts of the world, they hit Bangladesh. This hit usually occurs in subtropical regions and has adversely affected agriculture. Besides, there are four types of changes due to climate change. For example, the temperature is rising, the water level is dropping, various diseases are spreading, and the seasons are changing, with the majority of these effects having a direct impact on agriculture.
The effects of climate change are being noticed not only in subtropical regions but throughout the country. Explaining how much the 2022 seasonal change has affected Bangladesh’s agricultural system will help us understand where climate change is taking us. Usually, there is a lot of rain in the whole country, including Dhaka, from July to September. Last year, in the month of July, Dhaka received a handful of days—two or three—of rain, and the amount was less. Every year at that time, there is a lot of rain in the Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra, and Rajshahi regions. It didn’t happen this time. Rather, it was very hot.
According to the data of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), heat waves occurred in Rangpur and Rajshahi in July and August last year. A heat wave has also occurred in other parts of the country, including Dhaka. At that time, the temperature in Dhaka, Rangpur, and Rajshahi districts was around forty. The average person does not understand heat waves. They say they have never seen such heat and drought before, which has made their lives miserable.
According to meteorologists, July and August are hotter due to the monsoon wind. Due to a lack of rainfall last year, the temperature increased a lot. At that time, there is a lot of water vapor in the air. The body sweats profusely due to the presence of water vapor. It can be felt more intensely if you get a little hot from sweating.
While there are scientific reasons for the heat, environmentalists say there are other reasons. They say that the climate is changing day by day. In addition to the greenhouse effect, humans are emitting more CFC gases than needed. In developed countries, air conditioners and heaters are widely used for heating and cooling. It emits more CFC gas, which is playing a major role in climate change. The ice in Siberia and the Atlantic has begun to melt.
In this context, various types of pathogens are spreading in the world, and people are suffering from various types of diseases.
In addition, the sea level is rising relative to the land level. As a result of this, various changes are taking place in the world, including global warming. The seasons are changing along with the temperature. It is raining at different times than when it is supposed to rain. The level of cold is sometimes decreasing and sometimes increasing. Generally, the northern region gets very cold during the winter. However, the winter season last year was relatively mild. Last year in December, there was sudden heavy rain for a few days in the northern region, which never happens. The potatoes in that area are severely damaged.
Last year saw more changes in the north. During the months of December and January, it was very mildly cold during the day. But there was heavy fog from nighttime until nine or ten in the morning. Such changes have not been seen before. Usually it rains when it is slightly hot in Dhaka. Last year, the amount of rainfall in Dhaka was very low. Last winter, the level of cold in Dhaka was very low. However, in the month of January this year, the amount of winter in Dhaka was very high. Winter is being felt more than last year across the country.
Then it appeared that the heat had increased a lot. The amount of cold and rainfall is sometimes less, sometimes more. In this kind of situation, public life was miserable in the summer of last year. As a result, people couldn’t live without an air conditioner and a fan all of the time. It has increased power consumption. However, considering the international situation at that time, the government decided to reduce the import of fuel to save foreign exchange. For this reason, all diesel-powered power plants were shut down. This reduces power generation and widens the gap between demand and generation. As a result, farmers face problems irrigating their land due to a lack of electricity.
Severe droughts affect the economy and agriculture. Aman paddy cultivation requires a lot of water during July and August. Naturally, rainwater fulfills this requirement. At that time, the farmers prepared the Aman paddy field with rainwater. This is a God-created system. But last year there was no rain during the planting of Aman rice seedlings. At that time, the land has to be cultivated and irrigated more. But due to a lack of rain last year, the farmers could not prepare the land in that way.
As the land dries up due to a severe drought, farmers plow the land using diesel-powered tractors. It costs them more. Also, due to load shedding, their costs increased further. Due to the scorching heat, the crops did not grow normally. Many crops, including plants, were destroyed. Those concerned say that there has been less production of Aman paddy than last year. Paddy and rice prices were higher due to higher consumption. It is said that the price of rice in the country was at a record last year. Aside from that, farmers have suffered financially as a result of its impact on various vegetables and other crops during that season. Experts say it will destroy food security. Seasonal changes and changes in weather and temperature are already threatening food security. Economists say that the effects of climate change are also affecting farmers’ wages.
Climate change will greatly affect the economy. The government has taken some steps to deal with climate change. But the way they are heard, they are not seen in reality. The government needs to be sincere in implementing the issues. In particular, the impact of this on agriculture needs extensive research. Based on the research, support should be given to the affected agriculture and farmers. Farmers need help with irrigation if rainfall is low during the Aman season. At that time, the price of diesel and oil should be kept at a tolerable level so that farmers can buy them easily.
Subtropical regions are producing salt-tolerant rice. In order to increase these further, it is necessary to look at the government and private sectors. The land there should be desalinated and cultivated. Knowing what kind of technology other countries are using in this regard, we can also do something like that.
The government needs to further subsidise the agricultural sector. Otherwise, food prices will increase. It will affect the people. If the income of the population does not increase, they will not be able to purchase food products easily, and this will lead to chaos in public life.
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be contacted at [email protected]
