Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman
Research and Advocacy Officer
Network on Climate Change in Bangladesh
Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman works as a Research and Advocacy Officer at Network on Climate Change in Bangladesh. He has extensive experience in both scientific and social research, plus over four years of experience in planning and reporting on climate change, disaster risk reduction, environmental, social and development interventions. He has worked as a Research and Development Professional of RMMRU, JU, BCAS, BIID and Grameen Communications in their different development and research projects. After Bachelor in Environmental Sciences from Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, he has completed a Master’s degree from the same department. He is a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy, and the co-founder and Editor of an online environmental magazine named ‘Green Magazine’, which is first of its kind in Bangladesh. He has presented his research works at national and international conferences and have published several articles in peer-reviewed international journals. He was selected as a fellow of GOBESHONA Young Researchers Program-2017 arranged by the International Centre for Climate Change & Development (ICCCAD). He was also awarded the SAYRID-Social Research Excellence Award in 2017. He is motivated to work in the research field of climate change and sustainable development.
In recent years, the salt-producing areas in Bangladesh are experiencing a frequent cyclonic surge, tidal inundation and uneven rainfall in pre-monsoon period, which hugely hampering production and forced the country to import salt from abroad to manage the market shortfall. Though there is much uncertainty about the effects of anthropogenic climate change on the frequency and intensity of small-scale, sudden onset weather phenomena such as heavy rainfall and subsequent loss and damage (L&D). But, several studies indicate that an obvious strong relationship exists between irregular rainfall and associated L&D. Nowadays severe changing rainfall patterns are observed in Bangladesh which is rapid-onset in nature, but low exposed in terms of response.
The current study explored a ‘double-exposed’ burden combined of both climatic (e.g. uneven rainfall) and non-climatic governance factors (e.g. defective trade policy, the absence of risk transfer mechanisms) which are hindering salt production and pushing the country from the aspiration of salt exporting to the net buyer. Considering such a complex scenario, this chapter mainly attempts to assess the impacts of L&D due to climatic events that causing overwhelming effects on the wellbeing of marginal salt farmers at Kutubdia Upazila of Bangladesh. Data were mainly collected through Participatory Vulnerability Analysis (PVA), Key informant interviews (KII), and Sample Surveys (SS). This study would provide insights for improved disaster management policy, and an appropriate adaptive measure to address such extreme events as well as to initiate a further study for understanding the nexus of ‘nature and market’ in building the resilience among the marginal salt farmers.
Assessing Loss and Damage of Low Exposed Sudden Onset Disasters: Evidence from the Marginal Salt Cultivators of Kutubdia Island, Bangladesh
Work Areas:
Climate change,
Climate justice,
Disaster and recovery,
Policy and Governance
