Multi-dimensional coping and adaptation strategies of small-scale fishing communities of Bangladesh to climate change induced stressors
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management
ISSN: 1756-8692
Article publication date: 21 August 2017
Abstract
Purpose
Coastal and floodplain areas are on the frontline of climate change in Bangladesh. Small-scale coastal and floodplain fishing communities of the country face a host of cross-scale stressors continually, some induced by climate change, and they have developed coping and adaption strategies based on customary social and experiential learnings. This paper aims to examine the coping and adaptation strategies that small-scale fishing communities undertake in the face of stresses including climate change and variability.
Design/methodology/approach
This research takes a nuanced ethnographic-oriented approach based on around two-year-long field study in two coastal and floodplain fishing villages, represented by two distinct ethnic groups. The study adopts direct observational methods to denote the ways small-scale fishing communities address the arrays of stressors to construct and reconstruct their survival and livelihood needs.
Findings
It was observed that fishers’ coping and adaptation strategies comprise a fluid combination of complex overlapping sets of actions that the households undertake based on their capitals and capabilities, perceptions, socio-cultural embeddedness and experiential learnings from earlier adverse situations. Broadly, these are survival, economic, physiological, social, institutional and religiosity-psychological in nature. Adaptation mechanisms involve some implicit principles or self-provisioning actions that households are compelled to do or choose under given sets of abnormal stresses to reach certain levels of livelihood functions.
Originality/value
Based on empirical field research, this paper recognizes small-scale fishers’ capability and adaptability in addressing climate change-induced stresses. Policymakers, international development planners, climate scientists and social workers can learn from these grassroots-level coping and adaptation strategies of fishing communities to minimize the adverse effects of climate change and variations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to declare no conflict of interests. The authors are grateful to the fishers of the study villages for their cooperation and participation in the research. Sincere thanks extended to anonymous reviewers and editors for their useful comments and supports. The authors declare that the contents and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively of their own, and do not express or endorse any position of their employers.
Citation
Deb, A.K. and Haque, C.E. (2017), "Multi-dimensional coping and adaptation strategies of small-scale fishing communities of Bangladesh to climate change induced stressors", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 446-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-06-2016-0078
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited