Marginal farmers are being severely affected by the impact of climate change, but leading agricultural researchers and experts say sustainable adaptation and food security in agriculture can be ensured through integrated initiatives involving both the public and private sectors.
They mentioned these at a two-days training workshop titled "Leveraging the ACASA portal for Brac Adaptation Clinic and long term agro-advisory services," held on Wednesday and Thursday at the Brac Center for Development Management (BCDM) in Rajendrapur, Gazipur.
The workshop was jointly organized by Brac, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and the Atlas of Climate Adaptation in South Asian Agriculture (ACASA) project.
The speakers at the workshop said that the farmer community of Bangladesh is continuously facing new challenges due to climate change. Problems such as productivity loss, declining soil quality and food insecurity are becoming more pronounced.
In this reality, effective collaboration between government institutions such as the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Bank, and non-governmental development organizations such as Brac is very important.
The workshop was moderated by Hasan Md Hamidur Rahman, director (Computer and GIS) of BARC and principal investigator of the ACASA project.
The welcome address was delivered by Abu Sadat Moniruzzaman Khan, program head of Brac Climate Change Programme.
The chief guest of the event was Dr Md Mosharraf Uddin Molla, member secretary, AERS Division of BARC.
Special guests included Dr Md Liakath Ali, director of Brac Climate Change Programme, Urban Development Programme, and Disaster Risk Management Programme; Dr Abdul Aziz, additional director (Extension and Coordination), Field Service Wing, DAE, Khamarbari, Dhaka; and Md Manirul Islam, additional director (Cash Crops), DAE, Khamarbari, Dhaka.
Tausif Ahmed Qurashi, senior program manager of Brac Climate Change Programme, presented the keynote speech on the activities of Brac Adaptation Clinic.
He mentioned that Brac’s Adaptation Clinic is an integrated agricultural service center that provides information, training and technology to climate-vulnerable farmers.
These clinics help farmers in climate-resilient crop selection, modern farming practices, weather and climate-related forecasting and skill development.
Since 2022, 19 Adaptation Clinics run by Brac have been operating in various climate-vulnerable areas of the country.
The ACASA project, run by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, provides information to support climate-resilient agricultural planning in South Asia. The project has been operational since 2023.
This portal helps identify adaptation needs by analyzing climate risks, natural disaster trends and data on the affected population, crop and livestock sectors.
The Brac Adaptation Clinic will provide farmers with timely and reliable agricultural information using the necessary information from the ACASA portal and the Khamari mobile app.
Government agencies and Brac will work closely to develop the adaptive capacity of the climate vulnerable farmers, supporting them with necessary information, inputs, technologies and advisory services.
Speakers at the workshop emphasized that a single effort is not enough—an effective synergy must be developed between government policy support, technological innovation by research institutions, and field-based application by the private sector to ensure climate-smart agriculture.
