From raised homes to crab farms, how life is adapting on the coast
From rainwater harvesting and homestead gardening to crab farming, these adaptations are helping families reduce their vulnerability while creating alternative livelihoods
For people living along Bangladesh's vulnerable southwestern coast, climate change is no longer a distant threat. Cyclones, tidal surges, flooding, salinity and erratic weather are increasingly shaping their homes, livelihoods and everyday lives.
In response, many families are adopting practical ways to reduce their risks — raising houses and livestock above floodwater, harvesting rainwater, growing vegetables and ginger in limited spaces, and turning increasingly saline water into an opportunity for crab farming.
For Kalpona Sornokar of Mongla, these changes have a deeply personal meaning. She has lost her homestead three times to cyclonic storms. Living now in a climate-resilient house, she feels more secure about facing the next storm.
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A home has never been a place she could take for granted; she has had to rebuild hers again and again.
Kalpona lives with her ageing husband and two children on the bank of the Pashur River in South Kainmari. The first major blow came when Cyclone Sidr hit the area in 2007; other storms followed, bringing fresh destruction each time.
She and her husband rebuilt their house with whatever they could afford — bamboo, golpata and other locally available materials. But the fragile structures could not withstand cyclones, tidal surges and saline water.
Now in her 60s, Kalpona hopes those days are behind her. She has received a climate-resilient house through a local NGO. Unlike her previous homes, it stands on a raised earthen mound, reducing the risks from tidal surges, saline waterlogging, cyclones and heavy rain.
For Kalpona, it means more than a stronger roof. The house has restored a sense of security she had almost forgotten.
"We cannot prevent natural hazards… What we can do is strengthen people's capacity to cope with these challenges. This means scaling up climate-resilient housing in coastal communities, raising awareness about climate change and adaptation, and helping people find new and sustainable ways to live and earn their livelihoods." Kazi Rajeeb Iqbal, Executive Director, Nabolok Parishad
Her family still depends mainly on fishing in the Pashur River and rearing goats, growing vegetables whenever possible to supplement their food and income. But with a safer home, Kalpona can now think more about rebuilding her livelihood than rebuilding her house.
Like her, other coastal families are gradually adapting their homes and livelihoods to a changing environment, with support from organisations working on climate resilience.
Shanai Bibi of Gawrokathi in Chalna knows the same feeling. She too has received a climate-resilient house and is more confident about facing storms, floods and tidal surges. She believes it will protect her family during disasters and can also shelter nearby neighbours in an emergency.
For people in these vulnerable coastal areas, such security is precious. A single cyclone can destroy a house, damage livelihoods and wipe out years of savings. Yet, as the climate changes, people are finding new ways to protect themselves and keep their livelihoods alive.
A safer home for a changing climate
The houses provided to families like Kalpona and Shanai are part of a wider effort to help vulnerable coastal communities adapt to growing climate risks. The Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) is implementing the Resilient Homestead and Livelihood Support to the Vulnerable Coastal People of Bangladesh (RHL) project in 20 upazilas across seven coastal districts — Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola and Cox's Bazar — with funding from the Green Climate Fund.
On the ground, it is delivered through partner organisations Nabolok Parishad and Ad-Din Welfare Centre.
The houses are built on raised plinths with stronger construction to reduce risks from floods, cyclones and tidal surges. They also include safe sanitation, rainwater harvesting, solar power and improved cooking stoves.
Rainwater harvesting is particularly important in areas where saline intrusion has made freshwater scarce. But the houses serve another purpose too: helping families develop climate-adaptive livelihoods.
"This is not just a climate-resilient home; it has also become a hub for vegetable cultivation, ginger farming, goat rearing and fruit-tree planting, which provides financial support to the families," said Fazlul Hoque, director of Ad-Din Welfare Centre.
"This is not just a climate-resilient home; it has also become a hub for vegetable cultivation, ginger farming, goat rearing and fruit-tree planting, which provides financial support to the families," he added.
Turning the homestead into a source of food and income
As salinity makes traditional farming increasingly difficult, coastal families are finding new ways to use the small pieces of land around their homes.
Many climate-resilient homesteads are now surrounded by vegetables and fruit trees. Families grow sweet potato, pumpkin, okra and spinach, providing food for themselves and, when there is a surplus, additional income.
They also plant coconut, neem, guava, sofeda, amra and lemon. Besides fruit and shade, the trees generate income, help hold the soil together and offer some protection from strong winds.
The homestead is becoming more than a place to live — gradually turning into a small farm that can provide food and income when conventional farmland becomes difficult to cultivate.
Growing ginger where farmland is scarce
Another promising adaptation is ginger cultivation in sacks. For families with little cultivable land, the method turns unused spaces around their homes into productive areas. Sacks are filled with loamy soil and organic manure and placed around homesteads, in shaded areas or on fallow land.
Ginger does not tolerate waterlogging; when heavy rain, high tides or flooding threaten, the sacks can simply be moved to higher ground.
A household setup of 20 to 30 sacks can generate additional income, depending on production and market prices, without requiring the family to rent farmland — a small but telling example of how coastal people are adjusting traditional farming practices to changing conditions.
Raising goats above floodwater
Goat rearing is another important source of income for poor coastal families. But in low-lying areas, sheds can become wet and muddy, and floodwater can enter during the rainy season.
Raised platforms offer a simple solution. They keep goats above standing water and mud, provide a cleaner, better-ventilated environment, and help protect the animals from cold during winter. The system is particularly useful for rural women who rear goats alongside their household responsibilities.
Kakoli Das and Lipi Khatun, programme participants from the coastal areas of Dacope and Mongla, previously struggled to raise goats in open spaces; some of their animals died because of poor housing conditions and disease. With support from local NGOs, they have received raised platforms that make it easier to keep their goats safe and encourage them to expand their herds.
A cleaner, drier environment keeps the animals healthier and improves the prospects of earning more. For women like Kakoli and Lipi, goat rearing is becoming an opportunity to earn and gradually become financially self-reliant.
When the land turns salty, crabs become an opportunity
Climate change is also changing the nature of aquaculture in the country's coastal belt. In some regions such as Mongla, near the Sundarbans, rising soil and water salinity has made traditional agriculture and freshwater fish farming increasingly difficult.
As a result, crab farming has emerged as an alternative livelihood in parts of Satkhira and Khulna, including Koyra and the Chalna-Dacope area.
Rising salinity, problems in shrimp farming and frequent tidal flooding have encouraged farmers to look for options better suited to the changing environment. They often introduce crabs into existing brackish-water ghers, including former shrimp or fish enclosures, allowing them to diversify their income.
Farmers usually focus on crab fattening — growing lean, wild-caught juvenile crabs to market weight within 30 to 40 days — or soft-shell production using floating boxes or pen enclosures. Traditional fish or rice farming can take six months to a year to yield returns; mud crabs return a profit in just 40 to 90 days. More than 90% of harvested live and soft-shell crabs from coastal hubs such as Bagerhat and Mongla are processed and exported to international markets, with China the top destination.
Crab fattening has created a new source of income for Chandrika Mondal, a young housewife who lives on the bank of the Pashur River in South Kainmari, Mongla. In one cycle of about three months, she earned a net profit of around Tk13,000.
"Good-quality mature crabs can fetch around Tk1,000 to Tk1,200 per kilogramme, depending on size and market conditions," said Chandrika, adding that the trade also creates work for coastal women, who can be involved in feeding, cleaning and monitoring crabs.
The area's tidal rivers, estuaries and proximity to the Sundarbans provide favourable conditions for crab farming, while overseas demand has helped expand the trade. For coastal families, it is another example of adapting livelihoods to a changing environment.
Learning to live with a changing climate
The experiences of Kalpona, Shanai, Kakoli, Lipi and Chandrika show how coastal communities are changing the way they live and earn. They cannot stop cyclones or prevent the sea from rising. They cannot remove salinity from their land and water. What they can do is reduce their risks and make their homes and livelihoods better suited to the conditions they face.
"We cannot prevent natural hazards such as cyclones, tidal surges, flooding, rising salinity and increasingly erratic weather. What we can do is strengthen people's capacity to cope with these challenges. This means scaling up climate-resilient housing in coastal communities, raising awareness about climate change and adaptation, and helping people find new and sustainable ways to live and earn their livelihoods," said Kazi Rajeeb Iqbal, Executive Director of Nabolok.
A raised house can make a family safer during floods or tidal surges. Rainwater harvesting can provide freshwater when other sources turn saline. Vegetables and fruit trees can improve nutrition and bring income. Ginger sacks can turn unused space into a small farm, while raised goat sheds can protect livestock.
