The fields in Kamarkhola, a rural community some 150km southwest of Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka, are lush and green even as the hot May sun beats down on the farmers who tend their crops. The heat is heavy, but the farmers are unruffled. For the first time in many years, they are looking forward to a good summer harvest, bigger incomes and a more secure future.

With access to increased climate finance, the community has invested in a locally conceived project to tackle the impacts of climate change that is making their farmland productive after a 15-year hiatus. With incomes on the up, young people are once again seeing farming as a viable option while training has enabled the community’s women to grow and trade more produce, providing valuable additional incomes.

Sukanto Mistry is 25 years old and had to drop out of education to support his family. Discouraged by the long summer lean season that had hindered farmers in the community since a 2009 hurricane damaged local water supplies, he was initially hesitant to rely on farming for his future income. But a locally conceived project finance through the UN Capital Development Fund has changed his perception.

“I think farming gives me a sense of independence and flexibility,” said Mr Mistry. “I find it to be a respectful profession and we would like to explore scopes around it.”

Kamarkhola lies in Khulna District and is wrapped inside two mighty rivers, the Dhaki and Bhodra. There was a time when the people of this village were entirely dependent on agriculture and enjoyed three harvests a year. But everything changed after the Cyclone Aila struck in 2009. The raging winds not only shattered their houses, shelters, and scattered cattle but damaged their livelihood and future prospects as it destroyed the canals that irrigated their fields with fresh water.

Protiva Rani, a farmer shed light on the circumstances, “Since Aila, we consider the months from January to June as dry period. We wait till monsoon for harvesting. This is the first time after that we are having crops in summer”.

She reminisced how more than 200 farmers in nearby villages became unemployed after Aila. “The male members of the families started migrating to bigger cities for work and it made us [women) insecure in our own homes,” said Protiva.

Based on the needs of the area, UNCDF in partnerswhip with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) started working here in 2018, cooperated with the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) through the climate-related project Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGIC) that is funded by the European Union and the governments of Sweden and Denmark.

The project initially focused on providing training to selected beneficiaries on crop cultivation and animal husbandry to increase livelihood opportunities in climate-vulnerable areas and empower people. Yet results were slow in being realised.

“We received training on how to grow watermelon and seasonal vegetables but could not utilise our learnings for lack of water required for irrigation,” said Chinmoy another farmer working in the field. “We knew restoring canals could help our agriculture,” added Chinmoy.

With the increased participation of the community themselves, who quickly identified a scheme for improving rehabilitating the irrigation systems the the local government was able to respond quickly with the support of UNCDF and UNDP and took necessary actions using the income from a Performance Based Climate Resilient Grants (PBCRG) to reinstate water bodies for irrigation.

After the restoration, the farmers were able to put what they had learned in the training into full effect and productivity has flourished.

“The canals were restored by the middle of 2022. We enjoyed rice plantation during the monsoon and grew seasonal vegetables during winter. After two decades we will be enjoying three crops a year in 2024,” Chinmoy further added.

Protiva Rani emphasised the special focus on women in this scheme. “This initiative particularly has helped women in this community. After training a small grant was provided to the women from every household. We not only work together in the field, but also feel ownership of the produces,” said Ms Rani.

Farmers are selling their produce to nearby marketplaces and exporting them to other parts of the country, with some of the farmers reporting additional earnings of up to US$ 600.

UNCDF and UNDP are proud to assist communities in Bangladesh impacted by climate change to ensure that no one is left behind.

Find out more about LoCAL here