Editorial Type: RESEARCH ARTICLES
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Online Publication Date: 01 Jul 2024

Building Community Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction in the Coastal Regions of Bangladesh

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Article Category: Research Article
Page Range: 792 – 802
DOI: 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-23-00043.1
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ABSTRACT

Abir, T.M.; Das, T., and Ferdous, F., 2024. Building community resilience and adaptation to climate change: Integrating disaster risk reduction in the coastal regions of Bangladesh.

Building community resilience is very significant in reducing climate shocks and disaster risk. There is some insufficiency in community resiliency among coastal communities of Bangladesh, so they are still suffering from disastrous events like cyclones, floods, riverbank erosion, heavy rain, salinity, and tidal surges. So, this study critically examined the impacts of disasters on coastal communities and how they can build their resilience to reduce disaster risk. This study emphasizes the local adaptation strategies for risk reduction and the barriers faced by the local coastal community that hinder disaster resilience. The study was conducted from November 2022 to March 2023. A mixed-method research approach was utilized to assess the situation. In order to gauge the resilience of the community, the study focused on social, economic, infrastructure, and institutional dimensions based on different established climate disaster resilience indexes and frameworks. Key informant interview and face-to-face interview methods were used for data collection. Findings showed that the main barrier to sustainable adaptation and community resilience is the poor socioeconomic conditions of the community in the study area. Lower rates of quality education, limited livelihood opportunities, lack of other resources, and repeated disastrous events cause poor socioeconomic situations for those communities. The results show that the area is highly dependent on agriculture and fishing, so there needs to be special consideration given to disaster tolerance cultivation. In addition, the collaboration of locally grounded adaptation solutions and technological solutions should be emphasized for sustainable adaptation and will be necessary to ensure sustainable livelihoods. The study suggests that policymakers prioritize social and institutional support in building community resilience to reduce disaster risk.

INTRODUCTION

Coastal regions are generally vulnerable to disasters; rising temperatures and global climate change exacerbate this situation. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the most highly exposed areas to the more severe effects of climate change and related disasters (Uchiyama, Ismail, and Stevenson, 2021). According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, approximately 4.4. billion people have been affected by disasters since 1992, which is 64% of the world’s population (UN News, 2018). The Asia-Pacific region bore a significant burden from disasters, with 729,128 recorded deaths, around 56.2% of the global count, and about 2.7 million people affected by disasters from 2000 to 2014. The increased number of disasters in the region is primarily due to global warming and environmental degradation (UNESCAP, 2019). The coastal region of Bangladesh differs from the rest of the nation due to distinct geophysical traits and sociopolitical effects that frequently restrict people’s access to resources and intensify risk and vulnerability. Bangladesh’s coastal community is the worst affected by climate change and a significant victim of natural disasters, including riverbank erosion, salinity, floods, cyclones, and tidal surges (Shamsuddoha and Chowdhury, 2007). Community resilience, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and climate change adaptation (CCA) initiatives are frequently linked to growing concerns over the limited effectiveness of solutions to a changing climate. The ability of a community to respond to environmental and socioeconomic hazards is known as climate resilience (CR) (Adger, 2000). Although it is noticed that municipal policy is starting to reflect climate adaptation activity, it can frequently be reactive, with action typically taking place only after a city has suffered a severe event (Berrang-Ford, Ford, and Paterson, 2011; Birchall and Bonnett, 2020). These actions frequently align with disaster relief efforts but ignore how climate change is ongoing, unpredictable, and changing (Wallace, 2017). In a previous study, DRR and CCA were determined to eliminate effort duplication and to improve the effective use of limited resources because both strategies share similar goals of reducing vulnerabilities and boosting resilience (Islam, Chu, and Smart, 2020).

This study argues that community resilience and sustainable adaptation are essential for DRR. Here, the community resilience framework (CRF) and some of its components were utilized to measure the status of the resilience of the coastal community in Bangladesh, and this study found several limitations and barriers to building a resilient community.

Community Resilience

Community resilience refers to a community’s ability to utilize its resources for subsistence and take the proper actions to adapt to change. According to the research, enabling people to comprehend their particular circumstances and identify the necessary adaptation strategies and demands is crucial for enhancing livelihoods (Adger, 2000; Kelly and Steed, 2004; Walker et al., 2002). Community resilience was defined by Imperiale and Vanclay (2016) as the social processes (cognitive and interactional) that take place in localities and are implemented by locals to enhance community well-being and address the adverse risks and impacts they perceive and experience as common problems (Imperiale and Vanclay, 2016). Adger (2000) provided a broad definition of community resilience to the adverse effects of climate change, which is the identification of adaptive capacities that support disaster preparation and response and enhance environmental community growth (Adger, 2000; Vella et al., 2012). Many stakeholders have various understandings of community resilience, resulting in varied opinions on measuring their community’s resilience (Constas et al., 2014). Koliou et al. (2020), in their recent review, provided a list of 17 concepts of community resilience. They recognized three essential elements of community resilience: minimizing effects or consequences, hastening recovery, and minimizing vulnerabilities in the future. National Research Council (2012) explained this concept as the capacity to anticipate, adapt to, and recover from, or do so more successfully, actual or anticipated adverse events. According to research, a resilient society will probably sustain fewer losses and bounce back faster when faced with a damaging incident (Scherzer, Lujala, and Rød, 2019). Recent academic studies have conceptualized resilience as a set of capacities driven by a set of capitals to achieve outcomes like improving recovery and impacting preparedness before and after disasters. It was discovered that better economic status and social capital contributed to many resilience outcomes by encouraging preparedness, reducing impacts, and easing recovery from flooding (Gaisie, Han, and Kim, 2021). The connection between economic resources and resilience is often predicated on the idea that these resources offer safety nets that are crucial for overcoming economic disruptions brought on by catastrophic occurrences, increasing the likelihood of recovery (Yoon, Kang, and Kim, 2017). Gaisie and this team revealed that two additional aspects of family capital (housing infrastructure and economic-based networks) were linked to worsened flood impacts, whereas three crucial aspects (trust perception, communitarianism, and economic autonomy) facilitated resilience by reducing the effects of flooding (Gaisie, Han, and Kim, 2021). Degrees of resilience in various municipalities and regions vary widely by geographic location (Cutter, Ash, and Emrich, 2014). A household survey in Chennai, India, which assessed individuals’ physical, social, and economic resilience, indicated that those populations near rivers and canals are more susceptible to negative consequences associated with floods, such as property harm and illnesses. However, due to their weak adaptive capacity and despite their exposure to prior flood-related calamities, they have yet to be able to improve their coping skills (Joerin et al., 2012).

The resilient household generally suffers fewer financial, physical, and psychological effects from calamities than others (Gaisie, Han, and Kim, 2021). Resilience assessment might become more grounded in local stakeholder views with the help of a flexible climate disaster resilience (CDR) framework, which could also improve knowledge of community resilience (Tariq, Pathirage, and Fernando, 2021). Learning alone cannot promote resilience unless translated into action (Haque and Hostetler, 2021). By helping people who are experiencing poverty, boosting resilience, and exhibiting robustness under socioeconomic and climatic uncertainties, a combined approach that includes dike construction and fortification, postdisaster support, and more robust housing can cut welfare losses by up to 70% and promote sustainable development (Verschuur et al., 2020). Objective and subjective methodologies may be used to classify CDR frameworks that assess resilience at the community level (Béné et al., 2016). In this respect, the term “objective approaches” refers to methods that employ resilience qualities that are specified externally rather than by community members themselves (Béné et al., 2016; Maxwell et al., 2015). Objective approaches are those aspects of resilience measurement independent of the subject’s judgment. Conversely, subjective techniques tend to have a more “interpretive” (or “constructivist,” if taking a more critical perspective) stance because they use subjective measurements that are intended to represent the relative opinions and comprehension of various stakeholder groups (Endress, 2015).

Climate Change and Disaster Risk Adaptation

Strategies for climate change adaptation at the regional level may become inefficient, retaliatory, or nonexistent due to several circumstances. Traditional social and economic norms can restrict chances for action and affect how climate change adaptation is undertaken, whether articulated via policy or informal practice (Forino et al., 2017; Measham et al., 2011). A lack of urgency in response to climate risks and vulnerabilities drives the slow pace of climate adaptation (Vogel and Henstra, 2015). There may be small implementations or actions even in places where adaptation is crucial (Berrang-Ford, Ford, and Paterson, 2011; Wallace, 2017). In order to increase their adaptability, capacity for learning, and capacity for coping with stresses, communities must address vulnerabilities across sectors and governments (Adger et al., 2005). Farmers experience significantly different effects than individuals who work in other occupations, including fishing, and the latter group is much more likely to switch jobs after a disaster (Uddin et al., 2021). There is some evidence that local communities are developing the ability to deal with change and uncertainty by fostering and fusing various forms of social memory and knowledge, producing a variety of livelihood options, and self-organizing to increase their resilience to upcoming extreme weather events (Uddin et al., 2021). A community will undoubtedly be more robust to the effects of any particular hazard event if those impacts can be lessened; as a result, taking steps to lessen the effects of disasters on the community is a clear path to enhance resilience to disasters (Davies and Davies, 2018).

Adapting to climate change requires an awareness of gender roles in a community. In particular, three essential aspects contribute to community resilience: social, economic, and ecological resilience, with a significant contribution from village women. Studies also show that women encounter obstacles that keep them from participating in community decision-making on matters of climate change resilience (Singh, Tabe, and Martin, 2022). Due to the particular combination of its sociocultural, socioeconomic, and geographic makeup, each community will be uniquely exposed to these effects. Due to their participation in various informal networks, women have better access to social capital. Women in rural villages can build their social capital by developing close relationships with women from neighboring groups and exchanging knowledge essential to their family’s welfare, especially in trying times (Béné et al., 2016). According to the research, women have a wealth of knowledge in sustainable resource management techniques. They may contribute significantly to conversations, choices, and planning, including ocean, land, agricultural, and freshwater management (Chauhan and Kumar, 2016). Inadequate funding mechanisms, a lack of coordination and collaboration, a lack of implementation and mainstreaming, scale mismatches, subpar governance, the sociopolitical and sociocultural structure, competing actors and institutions, and a lack of information, communication, knowledge sharing, and community involvement, as well as policy gaps, are found to be significant obstacles to the effective integration of DRR and CCA (Islam, Chu, and Smart, 2020).

Disaster Risk Reduction

Katongole (2020) has shown that DRR can enhance household productivity, food consumption, production, and access to community resources. Enhancing consumption is essential to constructing resilience since food intake is crucial for the afflicted populations’ survival in times of disaster. He has also added that people’s ability to survive drought depends on their ability to eat more daily meals (Katongole, 2020). Actions taken by the nonprofit organizations (NPOs) that were studied offered communities valuable support and showed how these organizations may help communities respond to emergencies more skillfully before, during, and after adverse events. The NPOs investigated took a variety of actions, such as conducting workshops on fire safety and risk awareness, managing food banks, founding other community support groups like Men’s Sheds, providing funding for immunizations, running community barbecues, and establishing and maintaining tool libraries (Roberts, Archer, and Spencer, 2021). Stakeholders underline the need for additional resources to be invested in informal collaboration. They have urged policymakers to acknowledge that each border zone presents a unique set of complicated difficulties that need flexibility and particular consideration by transborder authorities in disaster management (Booth et al., 2020).

Statement of the Problem

Different climatic hazards, particularly cyclones, tidal surges, riverbank erosion, and floods, have affected coastal populations in Bangladesh. The effects of such hazards are projected to be exacerbated by future climate change. Low-lying coastal regions and deltas are more exposed to the dangers of sea-level rise for many natural and human systems, including increased saltwater intrusion, floods, and infrastructure damage impacting the physiology, survival, habitat, reproduction, disease incidence, and risk of invasive species, which increases the risk to fisheries and agriculture. By 2050, several hundred million people, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, Indigenous peoples, and local communities depending on agriculture or the coast, will be at substantially increased risk of adverse outcomes and poverty (IPCC, 2018). In order to lessen the effects of climate change, community resilience, disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA), and adaptation to disaster risk are promoted as vital strategies. However, there is a matter of concern about the shortcomings in current efforts and how these efforts can interact with one another to build a resilient community and reduce disaster risk.

Significance of the Study

This study aimed to obtain further knowledge on climate change, disaster risk reduction, adaptation, and resilience in the coastal communities of Bangladesh. In particular, the research further clarifies the functions and connections of methods to disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, and climate resilience. Second, the study examined variables at various temporal, socioeconomic, and jurisdictional scales that have influenced the effectiveness of recent efforts made by coastal communities in central Bangladesh. Local communities were engaged in identifying problems caused by climate impacts and developing solutions based on their experiences. The findings are intended to be mainstreamed into the policymaking process at the proper levels of government. Additionally, the study included local officials who may advocate for inclusion of regional issues in policy formulation. Additionally, they are expected to take part in planning for DRR, CCA, and climate resilience for other coastal towns.

Research Objectives

This research aimed to explore and evaluate the factors that have promoted and impeded recent DRR and CCA efforts in central Bangladesh’s coastal communities and search for alternative strategies to enhance climate resilience and reduce risks from future disasters. The following objectives specify this overall goal:

  • (1) to explore the current disaster scenario and its impact on the local communities;

  • (2) to examine how coastal communities in Bangladesh have adapted to climate change and disaster risks;

  • (3) to examine the barriers behind the lack of community resilience; and

  • (4) to suggest strategies to provide Bangladesh’s coastal communities with opportunities to enhance community resilience and reduce risks from future climate change.

Study Area

One of the most disaster-prone coastal areas, Bhola, was selected for this empirical study. The field study was conducted from 3 February 2023 to 17 February 2023, at the upazila of Bhola District, named Bhola Sadar Upazila. Two villages, named Majher Chor (from Kachia Union) and Nachir Majhi (from Dhonia Union), were selected from the upazila. As the research is related to climate change and its resiliencies, the data enumerators needed to be careful about the time of data collection. In February, the weather is moderate in Bangladesh, as it is the end of winter and the start of summer. So, this is the perfect time to travel to remote areas like Majher Chor and Nachir Majhi. In addition, data collection during the monsoon period is not ideal because of heavy rain and other climate hazards. As this research was self-funded, the study area was limited to one district, and the researchers tried to obtain the best outcome on a small scale by selecting this one area, which is highly disaster-prone (riverbank erosion, floods, cyclones) because of its geographical location. A map of the study area is presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.
Figure 1. Geographic map of the study area. This map represents the alarming geographic position of the study area with regard to disaster risk.

Citation: Journal of Coastal Research 40, 4; 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-23-00043.1

METHODS

This study was conducted based on exploratory research and triangulation (mixed) research using both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Sampling Procedure

Multistage sampling was employed to choose a sample from the population. From the most disaster-prone coastal areas, Bhola was randomly selected as a primary cluster of disaster-prone areas. Bhola has seven upazila, and from those upazila, Bhola Sadar Upazila was selected randomly. This upazila has 13 unions. From those, Dhonia and Kachia unions were selected purposively. Two places, named Majher Chor (from Kachia Union) and Nachir Majhi (from Dhonia Union), were selected purposively for data collection. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews following a random sampling method. In total, 150 sample surveys were conducted. These included 80 sample surveys from Majher Chor and 70 surveys from Nachir Majhi.

Data Collection Methods and Instrument

The investigation process was divided into two sections to collect the required data. These were sample surveys and key informant interviews (KIIs). The surveys and interviews took place from 3 February to 17 February 2023 in the study area. A semistructured questionnaire was prepared for the survey. The questionnaire was organized into four parts, following the objectives of the study, and it included a demographic section. Single-response and multiple-response questions were placed in the questionnaire, and some Likert scale questions were given to measure the respondent’s perception. The researcher conducted four KIIs. Government and nongovernmental organization (NGO) officials engaged with the community and related to DRR activities were selected for KIIs. Data collection also involved field observations by the data collectors.

Data Processing

Quantitative survey data were coded and analyzed through IBM’s SPSS software. A Microsoft Excel Worksheet was used for making graphical representations of the data. The qualitative portions of the study were transcribed verbatim. For analysis, these verbatim transcripts were translated into English.

Community Resilience Measurement

Different CRFs or indexes have been launched to justify various perspectives. The literature supports the following frameworks as more popular or frequently used for coastal regions and community levels. The climate disaster resilience index (CDRI) was introduced by the International Environment and Disaster Management (IEDM) organization and developed in 2009 by the Global Center for Education and Research on Human Security Engineering for Asian Megacities, Kyoto University, Japan. The CDRI has five dimensions: physical, social, economic, institutional, and natural. Its scope is limited to climate-induced disasters like cyclones, floods, heat waves, droughts, and heavy rainfall. CDRI was developed to measure the existing level of recovery from climate disasters within the targeted areas against an index, from which the framework’s name was derived (Shaw and IEDM Team, 2009). The baseline resilience indicators for communities (BRIC) measure was established for all counties (acting as community proxy) within the contiguous United States. It is a comprehensive hierarchical index comprised of 49 indicators and organized into six resilience subdomains: social, economic, institutional, infrastructure and housing, community capital, and environmental (Scherzer, Lujala, and Rød, 2019). The CDRI was further modified as the climate-related disaster community resilience framework (CDCRF) to be applied at an urban area’s community level, household level, or microscale level. The dimensions and parameters of the CDCRF are physical (electricity, water, sanitation, and solid waste), social (health, education, awareness and social capital, and preparedness), and economic (income and employment situation, household assets, finance, and saving) (Joerin et al., 2012).

After examining the frameworks and indexes and according to the research objectives, suitable dimensions were addressed in this study. These were social, economic, infrastructure, and institutional.

RESULTS

Among the total respondents, 64% of respondents were male, and 36% of respondents were female. The majority of the total populations are Muslims in the study area. The age group of participants in the interviews included people from 15 to over 60 years of age. The majority of the respondents were 60 to more than 60 years of age, and only small numbers of the respondents were from the teenage group aged 15 to 19. Table 1 shows the age group with their educational qualification. As the area is very remote, economic uncertainty, early involvement in the workforce, and migration due to disaster may cause a lower rate of education qualification. Many respondents had no educational qualification; many started schooling but could not complete the primary level, and 61 respondents of the total respondents completed the primary level. Only a few of them completed the secondary level. Most of the households had an average of four to five members. All the female respondents were housewives and not engaged with any earning sources. Generally, the male was the earning member here, and the most frequent occupation was fishing and farming. Some engaged with small businesses, including tea stalls and vegetable vendors, selling fish, poultry farms, and driving bikes and boats, and some had small shops for daily needs. However, their income level was comparatively low. The household monthly income was mostly between 10,000 taka and 14,000 taka (1 taka = 0.0091 USD). (see Table 2).

Table 1. Age of the respondents and their educational qualification.
Table 1.
Table 2. Occupational status of the respondents and their household income in coastal regions of Bangladesh.
Table 2.

Current Scenario of Disaster Risk and the Impact on Local Community

Almost every year, the people of this coastal belt have to deal with natural disasters. The seasons during which this occurs are mainly summer and rainy. The most frequent types of disasters are cyclones, floods, and riverbank erosion. This situation creates vulnerability for the local community. Most of the respondents agreed that the frequency of disasters is increasing. Some of the respondents remained neutral. Climate change is considered one of the most alarming causes of disaster. After a disaster, they face several problems. They face disruption in their livelihood activity and infrastructure loss, and their houses, roads, bridges, shops, and boats are damaged by the disaster. It is also common during or after a disaster that many children or local communities suffer health vulnerabilities. A good number of total respondents face economic vulnerability. Disaster also hampers education and their regular social life. According to field data, the most vulnerable are infants and children during or after a disaster. Also, pregnant women and older people are considered to be in the most vulnerable group. Table 3 summarizes the specific impacts of a disaster in several areas, including economic, infrastructural, sociocultural, education, and health.

Table 3. Impact of most frequent disaster (cyclone, flood, and riverbank erosion) on different sectors of the coastal community.
Table 3.

Disaster causes economic uncertainty by hampering their livelihood activity. They lose their crops and livestock. During a disaster, the main problem in education is disruption of regular educational activity because schools temporarily turn into cyclone centers, and the students lose their books and essentials. They have transportation and communication problems because roads are covered with floodwater. Damage to their shelter is also typical because most do not have Pucca (Houses which built of substantial material such as stone, brick, cement or concrete) or substantial enough houses. As disasters hamper their livelihood, agriculture, and livestock, this results in a lack of food and nutrition, and after disasters, they have food scarcity. After any disaster, some infectious disease is noticed among them, especially among children, who suffer the most. Because of socioeconomic vulnerability, it is hard to recover quickly.

Adaptation Strategies of Coastal Communities to Climate Change and Disaster

The study found that most respondents have heard about climate change, but many still require proper knowledge about climate change and global warming. As they are living in a disaster-prone area, the respondents naturally learned how to adapt to climate change and deal with disaster risk. Nevertheless, some people did not know how to deal with the disastrous events. Nevertheless, they tended to adapt to the situation in their day-to-day life. Some of the most common practices of adaptation are listed in Table 4. Most follow Indigenous knowledge, heightening the surroundings using bamboo, wood, and bag support. They try to strengthen their houses; during disasters, some respondents go to cyclone centers or neighbors and relatives’ homes, and others stay at their own homes using different Indigenous knowledge. They use lofts for cooking during disaster periods. The family protects themselves and their essential belongings from disaster by covering the cots with polythene paper. Disasters disrupt the livelihoods of the community people. To cope with taking loans from different NGOs, some respondents switch to another type of work for a short time, and some depend on social support.

Table 4. Adaptation strategies of coastal communities to minimize disaster risk.
Table 4.

Indigenous Practice of Local Community

Figure 2 shows the Indigenous practices the respondents commonly follow in a disaster period. Most commonly, they try to store food for disaster periods. The food they generally store is dry and comparatively very cheap, including Chira, Muri, Chhatu (made with rice), rice, dal, and some basic cooking spices. Generally, they store food for 3 to 7 days. About 23.20% responded on keeping faith in their religion. When the signal (signal for cyclone) is comparatively high, about 77 respondents shift to safer places, including cyclone centers. Women play a vital role in the disaster period. They ensure food security for their family, and following this, they act as a primary caregiver, collect drinking water for family members, and so on.

Figure 2.Figure 2.Figure 2.
Figure 2. Indigenous practice adopted by coastal community to reduce disaster risk. Indigenous practice is developed and maintained by local community and passed down generation by generation. This is readily available and economically easy to adopt (source: this study, February 2023).

Citation: Journal of Coastal Research 40, 4; 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-23-00043.1

Sustainability of Adaptation

Many of the respondents can reduce their disaster risk through adaptation. Nevertheless, this mainly depends on the extent of the disaster. They can reduce their risk if this level is comparatively low or moderate. However, if the level of disaster is high, they cannot reduce the risk because the common practice they follow is not strong enough. Most frequently, they have to fix infrastructure after heavy rain, flood, or cyclone all ruins it again. The extent of disastrous events can hamper their adaptation method. The risk reduction is mainly the reduction of life risk. Along with this, if the level of disaster is comparatively low, they can reduce loss of infrastructure and economic vulnerability and reduce sociocultural vulnerability. One of the most effective ways to make their adaptation sustainable is building a house with bricks, and its base should be higher. Along with their Indigenous practices, total infrastructural development, technological solutions, sustainable use of resources, and climate protection can make the adaptation process sustainable and reduce the disaster risk.

Barriers Behind the Lack of Community Resilience

Although the respondents have an idea about community resilience, an alarming number of respondents needed to be taught about building community resilience. Still 37% of the respondents needed to learn about community resilience. The people who are aware of community resilience think that community resilience can reduce their disaster risk. Better livelihood opportunities, economic development, good health, and well-being can help to build a resilient community. The available facilities that push community resilience include an early warning system, government support, health facilities, and disaster preparedness training. Though all the people of that area have received an early warning system, some lack other services: 47.3% still do not have access to proper health facilities, 54.7% have not received disaster preparedness training and workshops, and 60.7% of them have not received proper support from government and NGO sources. Another barrier that the people of the study area face is lack of health facilities because there are communication and transportation problems, lack of awareness, economic uncertainty, lack of medicine and medical equipment, and socio-cultural barriers. Some barriers to getting training opportunities exist because they do not get sufficient opportunities, there is a lack of communication, and there is some unwillingness. For community resilience, the economy plays one of the most vital roles. Many people in the community face economic barriers, such as lower income and limited livelihood opportunities. Due to their lower income, they cannot save money for the future. When disasters occur and disrupt their livelihood, they struggle to overcome these challenges. The women in the study area face several problems and need to be empowered. Most of them face economic and sociocultural vulnerability and unequal treatment and workload, and they do not have access to decision-making. They also face health challenges and nutritional scarcity.

Figure 3 shows the perceptions about barriers to developing community resilience. They do have the ability to recover quickly and efficiently. The majority cannot maintain stamina and strength during the disaster period, and they need more awareness, which is a barrier to community resilience.

Figure 3.Figure 3.Figure 3.
Figure 3. Common barriers behind building community resilience and people’s perception towards those barriers. This five-point Likert scale measures their opinions. They have shared different opinions, which represent the scenarios of the coastal community (source: this study, February 2023).

Citation: Journal of Coastal Research 40, 4; 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-23-00043.1

Strategies to Enhance Community Resilience and Reduce Risks from Future Climate Change

To enhance their resilience, they prefer social support, including opportunities to share trauma experiences, sharing tips about coping, being accepted and understood by the authorities, helping in recovery, medical support, and food and nutritional support. There are some perceptions where most of the respondents agreed and a moderate number of the respondents remained neutral, such as: Coping confidence after a disaster helps the survivors to recover soon; hope for better outcomes after a disaster helps to recover soon; sustainable livelihood opportunities can build community resilience; and equal gender roles can develop community resilience. Social support and policy are required to build community resilience more effectively. Table 5 shows possible policies and implementation of those policies. They need infrastructural development, reconstruction of their damaged property, disaster preparedness training, proper distribution of relief and rehabilitation support, and some other support.

Table 5. Social support and policy for building community resilience.
Table 5.

DISCUSSION

Climate change and Disaster risks are alarming for coastal regions. Much research work has been conducted in these areas. This paper explored some of the most relevant work and found a gap in Bangladesh’s coastal belt. There is no specific work for community resiliency and adaptation that focuses on riverbeds and riverside areas. Specific community resiliency and adaptation work must focus on riverbeds and riverside areas. This area is considered to be very remote and vulnerable, and the people living there face many disaster problems. This issue needs to be addressed, and tailored policy support needs to be provided. The following sections present the findings on how community resilience can be related to DRR.

Disaster Impact and Adaptation Processes

Climate change and global warming have a noticeable disastrous impact on coastal belt areas. In the last few years, the frequency of disaster and hazard risk has increased. The level of disaster can fluctuate between high and low risk. The most common types of disasters are cyclones, floods, riverbank erosion, and tidal surges. However, this varies; those who live on the riverbank tend to suffer more from flood and tidal surges than those who live on the other side of the dam, away from the river. Many researchers have shown that resilient communities suffer less and are able to recover sooner. In the study area, disaster has multiple impacts on the daily life of the population. As mentioned above, the situation dramatically disturbs their routine tasks, affects their means of living, and harms the infrastructure.

They also face economic vulnerability, health issues, and sociocultural vulnerability. The education level needs to be improved, and most people are involved with farming, fishing, and other professions. Furthermore, their average household income level is deficient compared to other areas. As they have lower economic conditions and limited livelihood opportunities, they face challenges to recover, and they cannot recover the damage if the level of disaster is high. During a disaster, infants, children, and pregnant women are the most vulnerable groups because of communicable diseases, risk of falling into water, and transportation problems. As the area is not developed, the roads get flooded and broken. Their houses are also in need of improvement. These communities still need work to become resilient enough, but they are trying to adapt to the situation.

The people of the coastal region have their own adaptation process to deal with climate change and disaster risk. They help each other rebuild their houses and roads after a disaster and give each other mental support and strength. They protect their houses with sandbags (put around the base) and make it higher with bamboo or wood. In this adaptation process, women play a vital role but still lag behind. There is a need for women’s empowerment to make the situation better. The success of their adaptation process highly depends on the intensity of the disaster. Nevertheless, unfortunately, the adaptation process is majorly not sustainable. Technological solutions, adaptation in the agricultural sector, skill-development training, and government support can make the adaptation process more fruitful.

Barriers to Community Resilience

According to the community resilience framework or index, some criteria influence community resilience. This study focused on social, economic, infrastructure, and institutional factors. There exist some problems in the study area, as the area is surrounded by river water, and the only transportation is by trawler and boat. In the KII, the respondents stated,

“But in major cities, the transportation system is not good enough; some facilities and training are impossible to operate there.” (Respondent 03)

“And relief is allotted according to the damage. There is a limitation; it is impossible to give everything to everyone.” (Respondent 03)

There is still a gap in the distribution of relief and support. Also, the procedure of getting money is lengthy. It is challenging for the officials and the local community in emergencies, who became vulnerable during the disaster. The project implementation officer in that area added that,

“It is better to have a financial fund system at the Upazila level as an emergency fund. Technical training and livelihood opportunities would be good. It can improve their resilience.” (Respondent 02)

One of the most significant barriers the local community faces is economic barriers. They have low incomes and limited livelihood opportunities. The repeated occurrence of this problem results in a weakening of community resilience. A significant problem in a typical patriarchal society is that women face social barriers, as they are not empowered. They also have a lack of health facilities, lack of infrastructure, and lower education rates. This results in reduced resilience within the community, leading to inadequate adaptation and an increased risk from disasters. The overall infrastructure, houses, cyclone center, bridge, road, and communication system must be improved. There is also no educational institution, no health care centers, and no other social welfare facilities. By overcoming these barriers, the community could be more resilient. Resilience communities are less vulnerable, and they gain the ability to adapt to extreme environmental events.

Strategies to Enhance Community Resilience and Reduce Disaster Risk

Sustainable livelihoods, a secure economy, sociocultural betterment, self-confidence, and equal gender roles push the community toward resilience. The Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) is working towards disaster mitigation, which helps to build resilience. They state,

“CPP ensures cyclone warning signals to the communities, and they help in sheltering, rescuing and emergency response. We are heavily involved in disaster preparedness, post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation operations.” (Respondent 04)

Agriculture is one of the most suitable livelihoods for coastal communities, but this highly depends on nature. So alternative agriculture and disaster-resilient crops are required to ensure sustainability. The upazila agricultural officer explained that,

“Along with the robi crop, two or three other varieties are produced, which are quick and can be obtained by the farmers before the flood or storm season. The government arranges training; a farmer is taught as a model through which others can know and learn.” (Respondent 01)

Social support is a very crucial part of developing any community. Sharing experiences and learning can help people become socially empowered, as it promotes social bonding. Community support is the first and primary tool for building community resilience. Institutional and rehabilitation support helps people to recover soon from disaster situations. Infrastructural development can reduce vulnerability and make the adaptation process more sustainable. Safety net policies, proper distribution of relief and rehabilitation support, execution of policies, bottom-level policy-making, and community involvement are possible strategies that can help to build resilience, and this also will help in adaptation to disaster risk and future climate changes.

Recommendations

This study suggests some recommendations that can help build community resilience. The education sector should be improved, and technical education should be available for the coastal community. Along with this, vocational training and education should be included in risk reduction policy. Social and livelihood training should be ensured for women to empower them. Alternative employment/livelihood opportunities should be created and made available, which includes small business, tailoring, freelancing, and other governmental and NGO jobs. Emergency responses with essential medical support should be ensured. It is need to strengthen community support and ensure the proper implementation of policy and services by the authorities. Technological solutions should be used to combat climate change and to reduce hazard risk. It is essential to ensure sustainable agriculture and arrange more training about disaster tolerance cultivation.

CONCLUSIONS

The local community can create and adopt unique strategies that are locally suitable, cost-effective, resource-efficient, effective, and culturally appropriate (Shammin, Firoz, and Hasan, 2021). There are always some challenges to undertaking collective action. Considering all the challenges, prioritizing innovative experiments for alternative livelihoods, sustainable use of resources, systematic use of Indigenous knowledge, and technological solutions can be a good solution for this techno-centered world. As climate change is a significant economic challenge for a country like Bangladesh, where the economy largely depends on agricultural products and fishing, this issue must not be taken lightly. As climate change is a global concern, transnational policy should not be exclusively Westernized. The government should not focus only on relief and rehabilitation. Now, it is time to focus on building community resilience to survive effectively against future climate change and disaster risk.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, cordial thanks go to the Almighty for His blessings throughout our research work to complete our research successfully. It is a self-funded project from our interest area. We want to thank our research supervisor for his continuous guidance, interaction, and motivation throughout our research. Completing our paper under his supervision is a great privilege and honor. We are highly thankful to our data collector, who helped us with data collection. Finally, we have always been grateful to our parents; they always appreciate and support us.

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Copyright: Coastal Education and Research Foundation, Inc. 2024 2024
Figure 1.
Figure 1.

Geographic map of the study area. This map represents the alarming geographic position of the study area with regard to disaster risk.


Figure 2.
Figure 2.

Indigenous practice adopted by coastal community to reduce disaster risk. Indigenous practice is developed and maintained by local community and passed down generation by generation. This is readily available and economically easy to adopt (source: this study, February 2023).


Figure 3.
Figure 3.

Common barriers behind building community resilience and people’s perception towards those barriers. This five-point Likert scale measures their opinions. They have shared different opinions, which represent the scenarios of the coastal community (source: this study, February 2023).


Contributor Notes

Corresponding author: tanwee.bu.soc@gmail.com
Received: 13 May 2023
Accepted: 07 Jan 2024
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