Perception of Vulnerable Ultra-Poor Women on Climate Change Impacts and Local Adaptation in a High Flood Prone Area of Bangladesh

Hassan, Md Shareful and Mahmud-ul-Islam, Syed and Rahman, Mohammad Mahbubur (2022) Perception of Vulnerable Ultra-Poor Women on Climate Change Impacts and Local Adaptation in a High Flood Prone Area of Bangladesh. In: Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience. Springer, Cham, pp. 431-449. ISBN 9783030990626

Abstract

The contextual and risk perception about climate change and its consequences could help individuals respond appropriately and make timely adaptation actions. The level of perception or knowledge on climate change issues is often gender-sensitive, and it is usually less among vulnerable women. To this end, this study investigates different dimensions of risk perceptions on climate change among the ultra-poor women group within the high flood areas of Bangladesh. The study has used an empirical approach to collect primary and secondary data using both qualitative and quantitative research tools at the same time. According to the findings of the study, individual perceptions of climate change among women are relatively low. Nonetheless, they have observed significant changes in a variety of climatic variables over the last three decades. Furthermore, this study identified some major adaptation options, such as plinth raising, livestock rearing, homestead gardening, seasonal migration, and using indigenous knowledge, among others, to address the adverse effects of climate change-induced extreme events, such as flooding, at the local level. Respondents spent significant amounts of money from individual sources in the study area to implement these adaptation measures. A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is also used to comprehend any links between climate change understandings and other variables connected with the studied community. The SEM findings indicated that climate change would be a long-term challenge, and it is a strong predictor in this model, with standardized regression weight β = 0.56. Despite the respondent’s lack of knowledge about climate change, it means that climate change is occurring and has become the most significant factor limiting cultural, economic, and environmental development in the study area.