World Bank supports Bangladesh farmers vulnerable to climate change

Bangladesh and the World Bank have signed a 120 million US dollars financing agreement to help improve the irrigated agricultural and fisheries production and increase the incomes of 170,000 poor people vulnerable to climate change, reports Indian news agency ANI quoting Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The agreement was signed by Fatima Yasmin, secretary of Bangladesh’s Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance and Dandan Chen, acting World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, on behalf of their respective sides in Dhaka, said the bank in a statement received on Thursday.

The “Climate-Smart Agriculture and Water Management Project” will improve climate resilience by modernising flood management, drainage and irrigation infrastructures, said the statement.

“Bangladesh’s success is well-rooted in the agriculture sector. With a large population and scarce arable land, it is a major accomplishment for the country to achieve its level of food production today. But the climate change and increased natural disasters pose a threat to food security,” Chen said.

According to the bank, the project will help with climate resilient and improved irrigation, flood management and drainage service covering 120,000 hectares of land, which will reduce damage to crops from floods by 60 per cent.