Learning to Live with the Tide: A Blueprint for Climate Resilience
Morrelganj Upazila, located in the coastal belt of southwestern Bangladesh which stands on the frontline of climate change. Its low-lying geography and close connection with tidal rivers make the area highly vulnerable to climate-induced hazards.
Over the years, the impacts of climate variability have become increasingly visible with reshaping livelihoods, degrading ecosystems and resilience of local communities.
Residents report that tidal water levels have risen steadily by around 1 to 1.5 feet, causing saline water to intrude deeper and remain longer in agricultural lands, ponds and homesteads. During the dry season, salinity now lingers for extended periods, severely affecting crop production, soil fertility and access to safe drinking water. At the same time, temperatures are rising. Summers are becoming hotter and more oppressive, increasing heat stress for elderly people, children, outdoor laborers and livestock.
Rainfall patterns have also changed. More intense rain has increased the risk of waterlogging and localized flooding, while winters are now shorter and sharper, disrupting traditional cropping cycles and heightening vulnerability to seasonal illnesses. Riverbank erosion and embankment stress have intensified under rising tidal pressure, stronger currents and more frequent extreme weather events.
Although embankments have been reconstructed in some areas, the ongoing climatic pressure continues to threaten their stability. Compounding these risks, environmental degradation, deforestation, declining biodiversity and deteriorating soil and water quality has weakened the area’s natural defenses.
Mr. Mostafa, a farmer lives in a coastal village of Pasurbunia in Morrelganj. Beyond his identity as a farmer, Mr. Mostafa is also the President of a community-based organization known as the Community Climate Resilience Centre (CCRC).
Recognizing the urgent need for practical climate solutions, he took a bold step: donating nearly one acre of his own land to establish a Climate Technology Learning Centre, with financial and technical support from Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB).
The centre showcases around 15 climate-adaptive technologies designed for coastal and saline-prone environments. These include hanging, vertical, floating, sack and tower-based vegetable cultivation, cage fish culture, mulching agriculture, vermicomposting, dragon fruit and Napier grass production and solar-based drip irrigation. Even during high tide, these methods allow families to grow safe, nutritious food within their homesteads.
The impact has been tangible. Community members regularly visit the centre to learn and replicate these practices at home, enabling them to meet their own vegetable needs and reduce market dependency.
NGO practitioners and development professionals also visit the site, exchanging ideas and sharing lessons with wider stakeholder networks. Through this living laboratory, Mr. Mostafa is demonstrating that safe food production is possible even in highly climate-vulnerable areas.
Mr. Mostafa envisions the Climate Technology Learning Centre as a hub not only for farmers and practitioners, but also for students. By engaging school students in hands-on learning, the centre aims to nurture a new generation that understands climate risks and practical adaptation from an early age.
Students can learn climate-adaptive farming techniques at the centre and apply them in their own homesteads, turning learning into action. This approach not only strengthens household-level food security but also helps cultivate environmentally conscious citizens by laying the foundation for a more climate-resilient future.
The centre is gradually emerging as a local hub for knowledge sharing, innovation and capacity building. The Climate Technology Learning Centre stands as a powerful bridge between local knowledge and modern, climate-smart agriculture.
It shows how community-led initiatives can translate adaptation concepts into everyday practice. As Bangladesh continues to face diverse climate challenges across regions, such models offer valuable lessons for scaling up resilience.
With encouragement and support, government and non-government institutions can replicate and promote similar initiatives across different climatic zones of the country which will help to build not only climate-resilient agriculture, but truly climate-resilient communities.
