- WATCH: Bangladesh’s Water Crops: Your Story, Your Generation
- Farmers in the south-central districts of Bangladesh, like Firdouz Ahmed, 62, are turning to a centuries-old form of hydroponics to grow their crops in rising waters to adapt to a changing climate.
- "Climate change really is affecting us. The weather is often extremely hot, and we either have too much rain or drought. And this is affecting farming." - Firdouz Ahmed, farmer from Bangladesh
Farmers in the south-central districts of Bangladesh, like Firdouz Ahmed, 62, are turning to a centuries-old form of hydroponics to grow their crops in rising waters to adapt to a changing climate.
ADB is scaling up nature-based solutions and support for climate-smart agriculture across the entire agriculture and food value chains. In the face of rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing impact from climate change and disasters, and ongoing environmental damage, ADB has placed combating climate change and its consequences at the top of its development agenda.
The people in this film are not associated with ADB, but they are affected by many of the issues that ADB is addressing in countries across Asia and the Pacific.
Transcript
Firdouz Ahmed
Farmer
Bangladesh
My name is Firdouz.
I live in Murgajhor.
Climate change really is affecting us.
The weather is often extremely hot, and we either have too much rain or drought.
And this is affecting farming.
Farmers in the south-central districts of Bangladesh, like Firdouz, 62, are turning to a centuries-old form of hydroponics to grow their crops in rising waters to adapt to the changing climate.
Firdouz Ahmed
Farmer
Bangladesh
When I was younger, there was a lot of water, but it was below the house.
Now the land has been raised by mud-filling, but compared to the past water level is higher.
There is no crop that we cannot grow on these floating beds.
Whatever you ask for, we can produce on these beds.
But we need investments to produce our crops.
At the Asian Development Bank we believe that the involvement of local communities is key to finding the best ways to cope with climate change.
Firdouz Ahmed
Farmer
Bangladesh
We could not work for six months of the year before these floating beds were built.
Things used to be hard then.
We are better off now, but this is labor-intensive work.
If 10 of us work on the floating beds, many more people are needed to help us.
You can only understand that if you see how things are done.
There are many steps in the work.
One group prepares the bed.
Another group collects the water hyacinths.
A third group collects weeds to make the beds.
A fourth group prepares the seeds.
So many people are needed.
Many people earn their livelihoods.
Your story. Your generation. Your Asia and the Pacfiic.
