Climate change is severely affecting agriculture, the main source of income for flatland ethnic minorities in NaogaonKamrul Hasan/Dhaka TribuneAgriculture is the main occupation of many members of ethnic minorities, but climate change has left most of them unemployedNiresh Pahan, one of many ethnic minority farmers living in Naogaon, is on the brink of starvation and poverty as most of his paddy crop died this year. He, like many others, has fallen victim to climate change affecting the region. Additionally, most of the landlords have started farming mangoes on their land due to climate change; leaving us without work. In order to address the climate-induced livelihood vulnerabilities of flatland ethnic minorities, HEKS/EPER—a Switzerland based international NGO—has developed a bilateral partnership with UNDP to implement an IBFCR project that aims to empower women, and a project named Climate Change Adaptation Project for Plain land Ethnic Minority Communities. Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, HEKS/EPER Country Director Anik Asad said: “Community-level intervention is not sufficient enough to ensure climate-resilient livelihoods of the flatland ethnic minorities.

Source: Dhaka Tribune December 18, 2018 08:26 UTC