Oct 20, 2022
A new case study outlines how climate-smart agriculture can improve livelihoods and bolster resilience by working with the private sector to use innovative technologies and practices among farmers in the coastal regions of Bangladesh.
The report, “Promoting Climate Adaptation in Coastal Bangladesh: Catalyzing Private Sector Participation to Champion Climate-Resilient Agriculture and Food Security” examines how the Climate Resilience and Food Security (CRAFS) project funded by Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), drove private sector participation to help strengthen the climate resilience of farmers in the polders region through climate-smart agricultural initiatives.
The coastal regions of Bangladesh are among the most vulnerable in the world to climate change and its impacts, which include floods, cyclones, drought, and soil salinification. In this imperiled landscape, Bangladesh’s polders occupy a particularly precarious position.
The polders are low-lying areas of land, bound by earthworks to hold back the encircling waters. The novelist and anthropologist Amitav Ghosh, writing about the Sundarbans ecosystem of the Bay of Bengal, called this phenomenon “the hungry tide.” In addition to facing climate impacts like ever-hungrier tides, Bangladesh’s polders are relatively remote, impoverished, and constrained by poor infrastructure. Many inhabitants make a living from agriculture, growing rice, maize, and vegetables like gourds, watermelon, and chilies. Yet how farmer’s accessed climate-smart agricultural innovations, such as salt-resistant seeds, was constrained by their remoteness and the reluctance of many private companies (seed sellers and agricultural off-takers) to do business in the polders.
About the project
The CRAFS project was implemented between 2014 and 2020 by IFC with funding from CIF’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). At launch, the project confronted a range of implementation challenges: geographic remoteness, perceptions of high investment risks and low rewards, and low level of skills in climate-smart agricultural practices among farmers in the polders.
When the project was initiated, many private sector actors were skeptical and viewed the idea of their involvement in climate adaptation, especially in such risky areas, with some trepidation. Could this unproven field generate profits and benefits for private companies and farmers alike?
The project team conducted extensive outreach to local private sector agribusiness companies. Termed “lead firms” by the project, these were seed companies that also would provide agricultural extension services to farmers. To convince potential lead firms to participate, the project team presented a business case centered on the potential for climate resilience solutions to strengthen supply chains and increase productivity. IFC technical support also helped reduce investment risks in the initial phase of the project.
Once lead firms joined the project, they carried out training programs and field days in the polders to raise awareness among local farmers on the benefits of using climate-resilient seeds and farming practices such as irrigation techniques and raised-bed systems. By the end of the project, over 73,000 farms reported adopting at least one climate-smart agricultural practice, and farm yields of major crops increased by up to 38 percent. More than 96,000 smallholder farmers received capacity building on climate-smart agriculture, exceeding the initial project target of 82,500 farmers.
Insights from delivery challenges and solutions
By the time the project wrapped up in 2020, it had generated crucial lessons. Important among these is that the private sector could be a powerful force and a key ally for delivering sustainable and climate-resilient development, even in challenging settings, if actors in the sector are with the right incentives and shown a strong business case. The CRAFS project experience provided an important proof of concept for private sector participation in building climate resilience of vulnerable communities through climate-smart agriculture.
Additional lessons include:
• Flexibility in project delivery was important as a response to the evolving reality and beneficiary needs on the ground. The project adjusted its original scope to focus on different agricultural commodities over time.
• Digital tools provided remote services and technical support to overcome geographic barriers.
• South-South connections from similar projects elsewhere, particularly in a PPCR project in Nepal, where accelerated learning on issues such as agricultural techniques, private sector engagement, and ICT.
The case study of the CRAFS project in Bangladesh adds to CDI’s body of work as an initiative that seeks to break down operational barriers, that are inherent to climate finance projects, by building an evidence base to identify, record, and respond to delivery challenges. These delivery challenges are cataloged and analyzed and entered into a searchable database to inform future climate interventions, particularly in lower-income and developing countries. Read more about CDI here.
