Speakers Call for Stronger Food Security in Climate-Hit Areas

SAJIDA Foundation hosted a research dissemination event titled “Building Climate Resilience: Women as Agents of Change” in Dhaka on Thursday.

SAJIDA Foundation hosted a research dissemination event titled “Building Climate Resilience: Women as Agents of Change” in Dhaka on Thursday. Policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and community representatives joined the half-day programme to explore community-led, locally driven strategies for strengthening climate resilience in Bangladesh’s most vulnerable regions.

The event presented findings from the Building Climate Resilient Food Systems in Bangladesh (BCFS) and Eliciting Needs-based Grassroots Action through Cross-Group Engagement (ENGAGE4Sundarbans) projects.The ENGAGE4Sundarbans initiative is currently being implemented in Protapnagar, a low-lying coastal union where climate change is a daily challenge. After years of salinity intrusion, cyclones, land degradation, and harmful shrimp farming practices, prolonged flooding from Cyclone Amphan in 2020 led the community to elect new leadership, ban shrimp enclosures, and return to agroecological farming.

Launched in 2023 and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), ENGAGE4Sundarbans is supporting the community in restoring land, scaling traditional agroecological practices, and strengthening linkages between local farmers, high-end markets, and startups — thereby building both social and climate resilience.Speaking after a keynote presentation on the ENGAGE4Sundarbans project, Corinne Henchoz Pignani, Head of Cooperation at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, highlighted Swiss funding agencies’ role in the Climate Action at Local Level (CALL) programme.

“What we’re trying to do with CALL is to work at the local community level in left-behind regions, where we support locally-led answers to the impact of climate change – be it adaptation or mitigation,” she said. She also expressed hope for stronger cooperation between CALL and ENGAGE4Sundarbans in advancing locally-driven adaptation and mitigation.Dr Sajeda Amin, Senior Research Advisor at SAJIDA Foundation, stressed the need to bridge the gap between researchers and implementers. “We need to connect people, research, programmes, and bureaucracy for better results,” she said, underscoring the importance of understanding local cultures for effective communication and greater programme impact.

The Building Climate-resilient Food Systems in Bangladesh (BCFS) project, led by SAJIDA Foundation in partnership with Citi Foundation, seeks to strengthen food security for climate-vulnerable communities by developing a resilient food supply chain.The initiative uses climate-smart agriculture to boost production and diversity, establish grain and seed storehouses to reduce post-harvest losses, and build stronger market linkages. It also provides timely weather and agrometeorology information, enabling communities to adapt quickly and maintain stable food supplies amid climate shocks.

Expert discussants in the plenary session included Dr Shah Abdul Saadi, Deputy Secretary at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the Ministry of Finance; Bipasha Hossain, Country Representative at IUCN; Dr Haseeb Irfanullah, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB); and Dr AKM Nuruzzaman, General Manager at Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF).The session was moderated by Md Fazlul Hoque, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SAJIDA Foundation.