Contextualization of salinization and adaptation preferences in the coastal areas of Bangladesh: Bringing together farmers' salinity perspectives into placed‐based policy initiatives

Abstract

The salinization of coastal areas in Bangladesh reduces livelihood options for rice intensification but offers a more suitable environment for shrimp and salt farming. Thus, farmers' salinity perspectives might vary resulting in contested land use settings that may create uncertainties for policymakers in planning adaptation initiatives to address salinization. The aim of this study was to examine co-located farmers' salinization perspectives (e.g. trends, causes, impacts), and to demonstrate its potential for place-based policy initiatives and research prioritization for sustainable agricultural development in the coastal areas. Primary data was collected from randomly selected rice, shrimp and salt farmers in two coastal sub-districts through semi-structured interviews at household level. Furthermore, key informant interviews were conducted with personnel from research and extension organisations at national and local levels to complement the survey results. Perceptions of the salinity extent contrasted starkly among the various types of farmer. While the majority of rice farmers (87%) perceived increased salinity, just over half of the salt and shrimp farmers perceived that salinity had decreased over the past 20 years. There was also a lack of agreement on the causes of salinity, with most rice farmers (62%) indicating anthropogenic factors as the main cause, while the majority of shrimp and salt farmers focused more on natural factors. Rice farmers (42%) also perceived a reduction in yield followed by less income (30%) under saline conditions, while shrimp farmers (70%) and salt farmers (55%) perceived production gains when high salinity prevailed. The adaptation preferences to combat salinity were also at odds between farmers, with rice farmers having adaptation preferences for the development of salinity-tolerant rice varieties that should have greater tolerance at the reproductive stages, while shrimp and salt farmers' preferences were for engineering-based solutions to prevent seawater inundation during cyclones. Thus, research and extension services on integrated coastal resources management needs to consider tailoring their approach to accommodate varied livelihood perspectives of salinity, as this place-based approach could accelerate the pace of achieving the SDGs (i.e. SDG-1, SDG-2 and SGD-3) due to a more strategic targeting of farmer types and their context.