To address the dual challenges of endangered agricultural practices and substantial economic loss from supply chain disruption resulting from climate change and COVID-19, this project focuses on enhance the economic recovery capacity of climate-vulnerable farmers impacted by COVID-19 through providing immediate support of essential inputs and training in adaptive farming and effective marketing techniques.
Researchers: Munshi Sulaiman, PhD; Dr. Rohini Kamal; Md. Mohsin Hossain; Md. Mahbub Ul Hassan Sharan
Partners: BRAC Climate Change Programme; BRAC Dairy and Food Enterprise; BRAC Artificial Insemination Enterprise; BRAC Seed and Agro Enterprise
Timeline:2022–2024
Status: Ongoing
Contact: Abu Sadat Moniruzzaman Khan; abu.khan@brac.net
Context:
The adverse impacts of climate change pose a significant threat to the sustainability of agricultural practices and the well-being of farming communities in Bangladesh. The compounding effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated these challenges by disrupting supply chains and leading to substantial economic losses. The project emphasizes on the provision of prompt assistance through providing essential resources and empowering farmers with knowledge, assets, and market access to boost the resilience of agro businesses affected by repercussions od COVID-19. By engaging the established BRAC Social Enterprises network, and aligning with key national strategies, including the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy, the 8th Five Year Plan, and COVID-19 response strategies, this project works towards sustainable economic recovery for vulnerable farmers in the face of dual crises.
Objectives:
The key objective of the project is to improve the condition of the climate vulnerable farmers stricken by COVID-19 through supporting them with resources, cultivating adaptive farming skills and business strategies with market linkages. This ought to help them with a climate resilient economic recovery and establishing a network on a local level for sustainable trading practices.
The study is relevant to SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 16 (climate action) specially through climate change vulnerabilities and disaster risk reduction.
Methodology:
The impact evaluation for the programme will be conducted using a quasi-experimental method. Treatment sample lists were provided by the programmes and the comparison samples were selected from the adjacent locality based on the visible similarities to the treatment group households. Since the comparison sample was not selected randomly, there could be differences in characteristics between the treatment and comparison samples. To account for this non-random sample bias, propensity score matching (PSM) will be used to evaluate the impact of the programme intervention.
Findings and Recommendations:
Forthcoming.
