Climate-tolerant farming changes lives in coastal Dakop

Khulna's Dakop was once a poverty-stricken and disaster-prone coastal region of South-West Bangladesh, but thanks to the now prevalent climate tolerant farming practices, it has become an example of a silent revolution featuring a notable participation of women farmers.

Frequent cyclones, tidal surges and salinity once made life unbearable, leaving villages like Chardanga, Tildanga, Kamarkhola, Moshamari and Joynagar barren eight to ten years ago. Now, vegetables, fishes and fruits are cultivated throughout the year in these areas.

Chardanga, the land that once lay under saline water is now covered with fields of pumpkin, lentil, chilli and brinjal - surrounded by fish ponds.

Suchitra Rani Roy, a housewife-turned-farmer said, "Earlier, we suffered from food shortages. After receiving training on climate-tolerant farming from local NGO JJS, I started cultivating vegetables and fish on leased land.

"Now I earn my own income and my family lives well," she added.

Like her, thousands of women in Dakop and Koyra upazilas have become self-reliant through integrated farming - cultivating vegetables on embankments and rearing fish in ponds. They are selling their produce in local markets and earning Tk 8,000-10,000 per month. Many farmers are now cultivating salt-tolerant rice.

Tildanga Union Parishad Chairman Jalaluddin Gazi said, "Previously, salinity made cultivation impossible, and people migrated elsewhere for work."

Attributing farming and income generation to climate resilient methods, he added, "Men and women are working together, and the education rate has improved."

Several non-government organisations (NGOs), including Concern Worldwide Bangladesh, are working to promote this agricultural transformation.

Concern Worldwide's Programme Manager Md. Masumur Rahman said they are providing farmers with saline and flood tolerant seeds; organic fertiliser; and water conservation technologies to diversify livelihoods. "Our goal is to ensure that even if income is affected by a disaster, it can be quickly restored," he said.

Ashalata Roy, a farmer from Tildanga, said, "Earlier, cyclones destroyed my crops every year. Now, after adopting new methods, my income has doubled."

Women's participation in household decisions has increased, child education rates have gone up, and local markets are now vibrant every morning with confident women farmers selling their produce. "We used to struggle for food," said Shikha Rani Goldar, a farmer. "Now we send our children to school with the money we earn ourselves. It's a matter of pride."

According to the local agriculture department, combined vegetable and fish production in Dakop has risen by about 45 per cent in the last five years - mostly due to climate-tolerant techniques. However, experts say the transformation needs long-term support, including improved coastal infrastructure, proper water management, storage facilities and a post-disaster agricultural fund. Chairman Jalaluddin Gazi said, "Farmers are now knowledgeable and hardworking. With government help in dam repair and inputs, Dakop can be a model for the whole country."

During the harvest, Suchitra walks home carrying a basket of her produce when the sun sets over Chardanga. ," she said.

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