Alternatives to diesel power are proven to empower women farmers by saving them time, but sociocultural barriers to access remain
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Solar-powered irrigation pumps like this one are lightening the heavy workloads of Bangladesh’s women farmers, at a time when agricultural toil is increasingly falling to them (Image: Tanmoy Bhaduri / International Water Management Institute)
Ambia Begum’s home, kitchen garden and livestock shelter have been inundated by tidal water. The 50-year-old farmer has faced significant losses since Cyclone Remal hit her southern Bangladeshi village, Goalia, in May: “The strong winds damaged the paddy; and the tides, along with heavy rainfall, have also raised the water levels in canals, ponds and rivers.”
Goalia lies in one of the coastal regions of Barishal district, which is experiencing rapid shifts in weather patterns due to cyclones frequently forming in the Bay of Bengal. As a result of such storms, low-lying areas are submerged. In these circumstances, Begum has no choice but to retreat to higher ground until the waters recede.
Meanwhile, people living hundreds of kilometres to the north, on the chars (riverine islands) of Fulchhari upazila (Bangladeshi district sub-units) in Gaibandha, northern Bangladesh, are also struggling with extreme weather. Erratic rainfall and flash floods in the upstream Brahmaputra River are causing its banks to erode, which is displacing residents onto Fulchhari’s newly formed Kayumer char. But here, “access to essential requirements like agriculture, electricity, as well as education [and] health is severely restricted”, notes Mariam Bibi, who now lives on Kayumer.
