- 1Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Gazipur, Bangladesh
- 2Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
In Bangladesh, vulnerable groups including women and food security are severely impacted by climate change. Due to their lack of means for unequal climate adaptation, the impoverished and marginalized in developing countries are more exposed and vulnerable. This research study looks at how Bangladesh’s food security and the status of disadvantaged women are affected by climate change. Gender-based vulnerability is rising as a result of expanding catastrophe consequences, such as decreased agricultural productivity, rising costs, joblessness, food insecurity, post-hazardous illnesses, etc., according to the literature review findings. The assessment highlights the significant risks that climate change poses to Bangladesh’s food security and vulnerable women, including increased susceptibility to food shortages and post-disaster issues, given that women in Bangladesh are more susceptible to these issues due to their social, economic, and political circumstances. The literature review demonstrates that disadvantaged groups, particularly women, are negatively impacted by climate change. Profound policy implications should propose for enhancing system performance, coordinating regional agricultural output, and fortifying resistance to climate change.
Highlights
• The creation of efforts and policies targeted at eliminating dangers resulting from climate change in Bangladesh is greatly influenced by this review article.
• This study will be beneficial in evaluating the potential consequences of climate change on food security and vulnerable women.
Introduction
Globally, gender inequality and climate change are major issues. Because of their interdependence, there is a wider gap between men and women in society. The consequences of catastrophic occurrences brought on by climate change, such as heavy rainfall, severe temperatures, sea level rise, flash floods, and cyclones, primarily increase this imbalance (IPCC, 2001). The world is paying more and more attention to the growing trend of global warming and climate change, particularly the extreme weather that is influencing food production, pricing, and supply chains (Ledda et al., 2021; Jin et al., 2023; Yang and Hamori, 2023). Food security is the cornerstone of social stability, economic growth, and national security, all of which directly affect the welfare and means of subsistence of the populace. Food security include aspects including food availability, accessibility, use, stability across time, agency, and sustainability (HLPE, 2020). In particular, climate change risks food security for vulnerable populations, causing system breakdown, disruptions in distribution, and disruptions in crops, livestock, and fisheries due to global warming, drought, flooding, and precipitation variability (O'Neill et al., 2022). According to the Global Food Crisis Report 2023, extreme weather events, geopolitical unrest, economic shocks, and climate change all contributed to the increase in food insecurity and global food crisis in 2022 (Amiraslani and Dragovich, 2023; Rice et al., 2023).
Global climate change negatively impacts people’s lives and subsistence, especially for disadvantaged groups, especially women, in Bangladesh, a vulnerable country due to its low and flat topography (Chowdhury et al., 2018; Roy, 2020). According to Ngigi et al. (2017), women in Bangladesh are particularly susceptible to climate-related severe events due to their heavy reliance on agriculture, restricted access to resources, and dearth of institutional infrastructure. A recent World Food Program research estimates that roughly 11 million individuals in Bangladesh experience acute hunger due to the pandemic and other factors, making up approximately 25 million people who are food insecure (World Food Programme (WFP), 2021; Moon, 2023). According to Kreft et al. (2017), the country is ranked fifth out of 171 environmentally susceptible nations due to the frequency of rare shocks that have grown and the degree of their effects on society. For instance, 54 tropical cyclones and a strong storm surge affected Bangladesh’s coastal communities between 2000 and 2021 (Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), 2021). Bangladesh experienced 14 flood episodes, including two exceptional flash floods, in the past decade, highlighting the vulnerability of vulnerable populations, particularly women, to climate-related catastrophes (Annual Flood Report, 2019).
Extreme weather is becoming more common and more severe as a result of climate change. Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, stronger cyclones, rising temperatures, waterlogging, and riverbank erosion are all on the list where agriculture is one of the most susceptible to these changes which decreases productivity (Alston, 2015). As a result, it will affect food production, food security, and the capacity of a large portion of the population to have enough food supplies. During the severe rainy period of 2010, about 700,000 people were forced to flee their homes due to the significant waterlogging that has already occurred in coastal areas (Rashid and Paul, 2014). Bangladesh has experienced drought, river erosion, and increasingly frequent and severe cyclones and storm surges in recent decades. Before, during, and after climate-related disasters, agricultural regions’ expected temperature rise and rainfall decline have affected household food supply and security (Hanjra et al., 2013). Half of the population cannot afford nutritious food, and a large fraction lacks access to it. Hunger and malnutrition are especially likely for women and girls under such settings (World Bank, 2012). Rainstorms in northern Bangladesh can affect Rabi and kharif crops (BBS, 2020). Climate events can impact agricultural regions annually or intermittently (Huq et al., 2015). Over the past decade, climate shocks in Bangladesh have raised concerns about agricultural production and food security. Several studies have examined the effects of climate change and natural disasters on agricultural output, food consumption, livelihoods, and poverty (Hossain et al., 2019; Alamgir et al., 2021; Jalal et al., 2021; Islam et al., 2022), but little has been done on household food security (Smith and Frankenberger, 2018; Alam et al., 2020). Surprisingly, there is a lack of study on how the 2017 disastrous floods and excessive rainfall affected the ability of farming households to have enough food (Kamal et al., 2018; Dey et al., 2021; Parvez et al., 2022). Most of the prior studies have mostly concentrated on specific areas, rather than conducting a complete review throughout the three main affected regions of Bangladesh: the coastal, haor, and char regions.
Based on these above considerations, this study’s primary goal is to present the effects of climate change on women’s vulnerability and food security based on some research questions like (a) What effects does climate change have on women’s access to food in vulnerable communities? (b) To what extent does women’s access to sustainable food sources become impacted by climate change? (c) What coping mechanisms do women in climate-vulnerable areas use to reduce their risk of food insecurity? and (d) Which policy interventions are successful in mitigating the effects of climate change on women’s access to food security? As, Bangladesh is recognized globally as one of the most susceptible nations to the effects of climate change, extreme weather events account for the majority of climate change’s negative consequences, and water-related risks including floods, droughts, saline intrusion, bank erosion, and tidal bore are projected to worsen, causing significant harm to crops, jobs, livelihoods, and the country’s economy. It is commonly acknowledged that the women are the most disadvantaged population of Bangladesh would endure the biggest difficulties due to climate change. However, there have been few to no studies looking at how the climate affects vulnerable groups like women in Bangladesh, which is known as one of the most sensitive regions to the climate change. Therefore, the aim of this study is to illustrate how women’s vulnerability and food security have been impacted by climate change in Bangladesh in order to bridge this gap.
Methodology
Description of the study area
A comprehensive study has been undertaken encompassing Coastal, Haor and Char regions of Bangladesh (Figure 1). The coastal regions of Khulna, Barisal, and Chittagong Divisions are at a high risk due to their low-lying terrain, close proximity to the Bay of Bengal, and susceptibility to cyclones, storm surges, sea-level rise, and saline intrusion. These factors result in extensive flooding and significant damage to infrastructure and agriculture. The Haor Areas in the Sylhet Division are susceptible to sudden floods and erosion along riverbanks, which have a significant impact on agricultural and people’s livelihoods. These regions encounter difficulties such as waterlogging and crop loss during the monsoon season. The Char Areas in the Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions are susceptible to riverbank erosion, floods, and droughts, which have a detrimental impact on agriculture and result in the displacement of residents. The Sylhet, Dhaka, and Rangpur divisions are susceptible to flooding and experience substantial precipitation levels (Islam et al., 2022). Sunamganj and Rangpur are districts located within the Sylhet and Rangpur divisions, respectively. Sunamganj is situated in the northeastern region of the country and is renowned for its Haor-dominated ecosystem. Haor is an exceptional wetland situated in the low-lying floodplain regions of northeast Bangladesh (Hoq et al., 2021; Soldavini and Ammerman, 2021). The Haor families residing in the Sunamganj district are highly susceptible to the detrimental effects of climatic disasters, especially when it comes to obtaining food, water, and healthcare services (Hoq et al., 2021). Kamal et al. (2018) found that 39% of homes in Bangladesh’s Sunamganj district were affected by the flash flood that occurred in 2017.
Figure 1. Map of Bangladesh (Source: Available at https://www.infoplease.com/atlas/asia/bangladesh-map).
Search strategy
The study utilized data from the 2007 to 2023 from systematically searched related articles in databases like PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and peer-reviewed journals. Study searched for articles based on the effect of climate change on food security and vulnerability of women following PRISMA guidelines (Page et al., 2021), and Key search terms for this study were as follows- “Food Security”; “Climate”; “Climate Change”; “Vulnerability”; “Vulnerable”; “vulnerable women” were used for this comprehensive study. A total 2,310 were initially found via this study’s systematic search, and an additional 35 articles were found by searching various databases. 2,243 of these articles were eliminated after abstract screening and 102 has been removed based on title screening. Out of 2,141 screened records, 1950 has been excluded based on abstract. Based on the similarities of this study, 191 complete publications were evaluated for eligibility where 183 full text articles being eliminated for various reasons, including poor quality (96), lack of primary data (23), lack of intervention (11), not fitting into the concept (36) and conference papers (17). In addition, a total of 5 articles were included from the review of references. A final selection of 13 articles were considered for the systematic review (Figure 2).
Study selection criteria
Current studies of impact of climate change on food security and vulnerability of women using extensive inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review included studies on women who are in vulnerable due to only climate change. Additionally, reports from other developing and developed nations were included in the study to allow for showing the actual pictures of the vulnerable situations. Excluded from the study were men who are vulnerable.
Results and discussion
Status of climate change, food security and vulnerability of Women
Food security is greatly impacted by climate change, which increases the hazards of uncertainty for women who are already at risk (Lee et al., 2024). In the 21st century, 70–85% of meteorological disasters are attributed to severe weather events such as heat waves, droughts, and floods and the resulting disaster losses (Moon, 2023; Nie and Lee, 2023; Wang and Lee, 2023). Bangladesh is one of the countries most affected by climate change, mostly because of a lack of institutional, technological, social, and economic resources (Ahmed and Haq, 2017). Many of the causes that drive migration have been impacted by climate change, which has an effect on the most vulnerable people, including women (Bettini, 2017). Global hunger is mostly being caused by rising food costs, which are a result of climate change (Brizmo-hun, 2019). Climate change has the most direct impact on crop output, which is also highly susceptible to it (Guo et al., 2022). Climate change impacts food production, with temperature and rainfall having a greater impact on agricultural productivity, which drives the economy (Casa and Ovando, 2014). Irregular rainfall and high temperatures can disrupt the natural structure and nutritional makeup of food crops like rice, wheat, and maize, leading to reduced crop quality and nutritional deficiencies (He et al., 2020). Insufficient sunshine can negatively impact crop quality, especially in agricultural production areas with poorly ventilated and opaque light. The process of climate change to food insecurity has been shown in Figure 3.
Extreme weather occurrences in Bangladesh have been more frequent and intense over the past few decades (Dastagir, 2015; Table 1). The average temperature has been rising by 0.20°C every 10 years. Bangladesh’s riverine and coastal populations are particularly susceptible due to their limited ability to adapt and frequent exposure to natural catastrophes (Uddin et al., 2019). Climate change risks have led to many individuals transferring their families to isolated char land islands, primarily due to the risk of flooding. According to a number of studies, the char land community is particularly vulnerable to climate change (Monirul et al., 2017).
Gender is a significant indicator of vulnerability, encompassing issues like resource depletion, knowledge and decision-making access, and livelihood prospects (Dankelman, 2010; Alston, 2013). The primary causes of women’s increased susceptibility include sociocultural norms and unequal power-based dynamics across a range of formal and informal organizations (Hunt and Watkiss, 2011). The availability of food and water is impacted by climate change, which puts more strain on women who are typically expected to do household chores (Alston and Akhter, 2016; Tanjeela and Rutherford, 2018). Natural disasters and water shortages cause women to trek long distances for water, while unsanitary habits, illnesses, hypertension, and eclampsia affect women and teenage girls, reducing earning potential (World Health Organization, 2014).
Gendered impacts of climate change
Climate change impacts human health, food security, livelihoods, and natural resources, posing a serious threat to all aspects of human life due to our intrinsic connection to the environment. Climate change impacts women, who are less likely to own productive assets and rely on natural resources for livelihoods, disproportionately due to social norms requiring them to manage time-consuming tasks like food gathering and fuel fetching. Women face disadvantages like overrepresentation in the poor, decision-making barriers, mobility challenges, and unequal access to resources, necessitating understanding gendered climate change effects for inclusive strategies. In order to do this, this research investigates the relationships between gender and the effects of climate change in Bangladesh. For instance, uneven property damage, asset losses, and lost productivity due to climate-related hazards exacerbate inequality (Islam and Winkel, 2017). As a result, vulnerable populations—particularly women in developing nations like Bangladesh face disparities in food insecurity, financial hardship, and precarious employment (Azad et al., 2013; Reggers, 2019).
The effects of climate change are intimately associated with how women are divided into different genders globally. Balgis (2009) notes that in developing nations’ rural areas, where the most impacted sectors reside, women have the primary responsibility for the provision of energy and water connected to family food security. Women spend hours waiting in line for water, even in metropolitan settings, which limits their prospects for social interaction and economic activities. The Food and Agricultural Organization (2010) supports these results and predicts that women would experience increasing poverty, social disruption, and food insecurity as a result of climate change. According to a study by Regmi (2011), explored that women’s livelihoods are at risk due to climate uncertainty, which therefore affects household food security and income. In addition, poverty, biological disparities, and societal prejudice make them more vulnerable. They are consistently ignored in their family, which limits their ability to participate and play a part in decision-making. They are never given an education and are constantly left to take care of the house; child marriages shift the responsibility for providing for the family at a younger age, leaving them even more vulnerable. Globally, 60% of undernourished individuals are women and girls, who have limited resources to care for them. Underdeveloped countries lack effective laws and policies to protect women’s social, economic, and cultural rights, resulting in gender imbalances and putting women at risk of vulnerability (IUCN, 2020). It is imperative that we empower them in every way. They frequently should not be viewed as victims because of their weak knowledge and abilities.
Impact of climate change on vulnerable women
Human health is seriously threatened by climate change, especially in Bangladesh’s heavily populated cities. Furthermore, women are more prone than males to migrate because of the loss of their communities’ means of subsistence, food insecurity, and alternatives for adaption. Human health is seriously threatened by climate change, especially in Bangladesh’s heavily populated metropolitan regions. The movement of people from rural to urban regions is one of the main effects of climate change in Bangladesh. A recent survey conducted by UN Women Bangladesh found that over 70% of Dhaka’s migrants come from coastal areas that are badly impacted by floods, cyclones, saline intrusion, and sea level rise. Due to lack of choices for adaptation in their villages, food insecurity, and loss of livelihoods, women are more prone than males to migrate (The Business standard, 2023). In Bangladesh, climate change affects many sectors, including agricultural agriculture, forestry, renewable energy, and water resource management, in a gendered way, according to a recent report by UN Women (2023). For example, although women have less access to and influence over natural resources than males do, they are more dependent on them for both their income and means of survival. Women face disproportionate unpaid care work, increased vulnerability to violence, and higher exposure to public spaces during climate-induced disasters, and are more likely to live in poverty. Gender inequality exacerbates climate change effects by limiting women’s access to education, resources, and decision-making in climate change mitigation and adaptation processes. Problems facing by Vulnerable women due to climate change in Bangladesh has been shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Problems facing by vulnerable women due to climate change in Bangladesh. Source: Husaini and Davies (2022) and Reliefweb (2019).
Apart from substance abuse, another matter of concern is the psychological well-being of men living in impoverished metropolitan areas. Their mental health suffers as a result of the stresses brought on by social injustice, poverty, and restricted access to mental health care. The climate change in Bangladesh disproportionately affects women, leading to untreated mental health issues. Gender-sensitive strategies, specialized healthcare, resilience building, and community-based initiatives are needed to address these issues. Through acknowledgement and resolution of these gendered issues, urban Bangladesh may construct a more robust and inclusive healthcare system that safeguards the health and welfare of all of its citizens, irrespective of gender.
Climate change impact on food security
Global economic development is causing the planet to warm, leading to increased natural disasters and challenges for poverty eradication and food security due to repeated catastrophic events such floods, droughts, and cyclones, which has a substantial influence on food security (Alamgir et al., 2018; Ali et al., 2020; Moon, 2023). Recent research indicates that Bangladesh’s volatile climate and harsh weather patterns significantly affect agricultural productivity, particularly rice cultivation, which is a major grain in the country. Bangladesh’s northern region and the southern coastal belt have been particularly severely affected (Sarwar and Khan, 2007). Decreased agricultural yields caused by floods and saltwater intrusion into fields have an influence on the availability and accessibility of food and reduced 7–10% agricultural production (Government of Bangladesh, 2017). In Bangladesh, climate change is not just lowering agricultural production but also affecting the quality and safety of food (Moon, 2023).
Climate change is causing significant negative impacts on food production and distribution, potentially leading to acute food scarcity for five to 170 million people globally by 2080 (Josef and Tubiello, 2007). Similar to this, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2020) reported that Bangladesh’s total food imports in FY 2019–20 accounted for 23% of its total goods exports. Bangladesh’s policy planners have misunderstood the country’s food security, ignoring the recurring economic burdens of natural disasters like floods, droughts, and cyclones (Sarker et al., 2012). Furthermore, a drought severely reduces agricultural productivity, which causes a lack of food grains. Bangladesh’s severe history of droughts dates back to its independence in 1971 and includes the years 1973, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1992, 1994, and 1995 (Hossain, 1990). Therefore, severe events have a substantial influence on Bangladesh’s food security, impeding the self-sufficiency and increasing dependency on the global food market, which in turn hinders economic growth. In Bangladesh, there is expected to be a rise in rainfall-associated severe tropical cyclones and floods and extreme weather events linked to climate change are predicted to become more frequent and intense, which would result in significant loss and damage since there would be limited choices for adaptation (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2018).
In actuality, Bangladesh has already seen catastrophic weather occurrences linked to climate change in the last 10 years (Figure 5). 6.1 million people were affected by a protracted period of flooding in Bangladesh in 2017 that submerged 42% of the nation (Davis, 2017). According to historical data of cyclones over the past 100 years, 50% of all global mortality and damages occurred in Bangladesh (Alam et al., 2018). As a result of climate change and increased regional and worldwide weather variability, the frequency of extreme climatic events is rising. As a result, the study’s evaluation of loss and damage may serve as a reference for assessing loss and damage from future climatic disasters as well.
Figure 5. Natural disaster-prone districts in Bangladesh (Natural Hazards). Source: Government of Bangladesh (2012; Link: https://reliefweb.int/map/bangladesh/most-disaster-prone-districts-bangladesh).
Barriers to climate change adaptation
Climate change’s global impact is unmeasurable due to institutional obstacles and natural causes, increasing vulnerabilities and hindering adaptive capabilities (Uittenbroek et al., 2013). The major obstacles for climate adaptation, food security and Vulnerability of women are shown in Figure 6 including gender inequality, availability of resources, Increasing frequency of climate change scenarios, Knowledge on climate change impacts, Competition among different planning obstacles, Absence of proper responsibilities and inadequate infrastructure, Inappropriate addressing of vulnerable populations, Less teamwork among vulnerable women, Insufficient Cooperation among different stakeholders etc. To ensure appropriate adaptation, one of the biggest obstacles is integrating policies (Chowdhury and Hossen, 2017). Weak organizational capacities and a lack of institutional mechanisms impede the implementation of initiatives and programs linked to adaptation (Combes et al., 2019). The creation of reliable and equitable resilience assessment frameworks is not without its difficulties. Adapting to climate change might be hampered by a lack of understanding, spiritual standards, and conventional structures. Moreover, regional gender norms and beliefs influence adaption strategies and potentially obstruct livelihoods (Kamal et al., 2018). Bangladesh faces a complex issue with climate change impacting food and health security, with the lack of institutional and financial support being a significant barrier to adaptation (Haider et al., 2018). Bangladesh faces food and health security challenges due to gender inequality, education gaps, and ignorance about climate-smart behaviors. Innovation and sustainable agriculture investments are needed for overcoming the obstacles for climate adaptation, food security and Vulnerability of women in Bangladesh.
Figure 6. Major obstacles for climate adaptation, food security and Vulnerability of women. Source: Moon (2023); Chowdhury et al. (2022); Biesbroek et al. (2013); Moser and Ekstrom (2010) and Runhaar et al. (2012).
The study on the impact of climate change on vulnerable women in Bangladesh, especially in terms of food security, is limited and requires further investigation. Tanny and Rahman (2016) highlighted the vulnerability of women in Bangladesh, particularly in areas like health, security, and work participation, to climate change and power disparities. Ferdous and Mallick (2019) demonstrate how prejudice brought on by the dowry system, restricted access to education, and domestic abuse leaves women very vulnerable. Furthermore, Naz et al. (2018) found that for women to be able to adapt to floods brought on by climate change, they require better access to land and literacy. Islam (2017) identifies comparable actions to lessen women’s susceptibility to flood dangers. The findings align with previous observations of gender-based drought vulnerabilities in other national contexts (Ncube et al., 2018; Ndlovu and Mjimba, 2021). Because of their gender roles, which are formed by socioeconomic institutions and old patriarchal norms, women are perceived as susceptible in these circumstances. The literature study mentioned above makes clear how significant of a threat climate change is. Nevertheless, there aren’t many studies done in Bangladesh that look at how the weather impacts food security and the lives of low-income women.
Conclusion and recommendations
Bangladesh’s food production is vulnerable, thus developing adaptation plans tailored to individual varieties may help lessen the negative consequences of climate change and lower the likelihood of food insecurity. In order to decrease the consequences of natural catastrophes, this article has evaluated current adaptation and mitigation techniques and looked at how climate change affects vulnerable groups such as women and food security. According to the most recent systematic assessment of research, women are more likely than males to be the most susceptible category. Less empirical data is available about how these groups are affected by climate change and the appropriate adaptation measures that may be used to lessen the negative effects of such disasters. It is important to highlight that the extensively reviewed research particularly found that women are less equipped to counteract the effects of climate-induced disasters, making them more susceptible to their effects. In addition, there is an urgent need to address other places that are susceptible to other extreme weather occurrences, such as floods, droughts, extreme temperature events, etc. (Chen et al., 2021). Recent successful releases of high-yielding rice cultivars to coastal areas in Bangladesh may guarantee food security for vulnerable coastal people, particularly women (Islam et al., 2016). Since women have a wealth of indigenous knowledge and culture, it has been determined that their high death rate and lack of mobility are a loss to society. Therefore, more empirical study is required to determine how well government interventions work to support vulnerable women before, during, and after climate-related disasters. Future studies should explore the efficacy of current adaptation interventions in mitigating climate-induced disaster impacts on vulnerable populations and ensuring food security. Policymakers should increase the number of crops stored for emergency situations and offer financial assistance to aid in the recovery from the effects of climate-related disasters and loss of agricultural output in order to increase the adaptive capacity of vulnerable populations to climate change, particularly women.
The study has certain drawbacks. First, information regarding the precise effects of climate change on food security and the disparities in its effects on women is frequently lacking. Second, we are unable to determine whether there are regional variations in the relationship between food security, vulnerable populations, and climate conditions since we do not have access to data at the province or county level. Third, implementing sustainable solutions to alleviate food insecurity and women’s vulnerability may be hampered by a lack of funding. Furthermore, interdisciplinary methods are necessary for effective solutions due to the complexity of the interactions between gender dynamics, food security, and climate change. However, the strengths are about women’s vulnerability in the context of food security can be addressed to promote gender equality and empowerment, and the obstacles presented by climate change spur agricultural innovation that results in more resilient farming methods. Furthermore, there are many of research opportunities on this topic to comprehend the intricate relationships between gender dynamics, food security, and climate change.
Author contributions
MM: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Funding
The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
References
Ahmed, M. N. Q., and Haq, A. S. M. (2017). Indigenous people’s perceptions about climate change, forest resource management, and coping strategies: a comparative study in Bangladesh. Environ. Dev. Sustain. 21, 679–708. doi: 10.1007/s10668-017-0055-1
Alam, G. M. M., Alam, K., Mushtaq, S., Sarker, M. N. I., and Hossain, M. (2020). Hazards, food insecurity and human displacement in rural river in Bangladesh: implications for policy. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduc. 43:101364. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101364
Alam, E., Momtaz, S., Bhuiyan, H. U., and Baby, S. N. (2018). “Climate change impacts on the coastal zones of Bangladesh: perspectives on tropical cyclones, sea level rise, and social vulnerability” in Bangladesh I: Climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation in developing countries eds. M. Islam and A. van Amstel (Cham: Springer), 145–166.
Alamgir, M. S., Furuya, J., Kobayashi, S., Binte, M. R., and Salam, M. A. (2018). Farmers’ net income distribution and regional vulnerability to climate change: an empirical study of Bangladesh. Climate 6:65. doi: 10.3390/cli6030065
Alamgir, M. S., Furuya, J., Kobayashi, S., Mostafiz, R. B., and Ahmed, M. R. (2021). Farm income, inequality, and poverty among farm families of a flood-prone area in Bangladesh: climate change vulnerability assessment. GeoJournal 86, 2861–2885. doi: 10.1007/s10708-020-10231-2
Ali, M. H., Musa, R. M., Afroz, S., Azam, M. S., and Rashid, M. T. (2020). Impact of climate change on rice productivity in Bangladesh: a review. J.Agricul. Stud. 8, 175–184,
Alston, M. (2013). Women and adaptation. Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Clim. Chang. 4, 351–358. doi: 10.1002/wcc.232
Alston, M., and Akhter, B. (2016). Gender and food security in Bangladesh: the impact of climate change. Gend. Place Cult. 23, 1450–1464. doi: 10.1080/0966369X.2016.1204997
Amiraslani, F., and Dragovich, D. (2023). Food-energy-water nexus in Iran over the last two centuries: a food secure future? Energy Nexus 10:100189. doi: 10.1016/j.nexus.2023.100189
Annual Flood Report (2019). Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC), Dhaka, 2019. Available at: http://www.ffwc.gov.bd/images/annual19.pdf. (Accessed 10 January 2024).
Azad, A. K., Hossain, K. M., and Nasreen, M. (2013). Flood-induced vulnerabilities and problems encountered by women in northern Bangladesh. Int. J. Disaster Risk Sci. 4, 190–199. doi: 10.1007/s13753-013-0020-z
Balgis, O. E. (2009). Women: in the shadow of climate change. The UN Chronicle 46, 54–55. doi: 10.18356/5d941c92-en
BBS (2020). Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics. Dhaka, statistics & informatics division (sid), ministry of planning government of the people’s republic of bangladesh dhaka, bangladesh. Available at: https://bbs.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/bbs.portal.gov.bd/page/b2db8758_8497_412c_a9ec_6bb299f8b3ab/2021-08-11-04-54-154c14988ce53f65700592b03e05a0f8.pdf
Bettini, G. (2017). Where next? Climate change, migration, and the (bio) politics of adaptation. Glob Policy 8, 33–39. doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12404
Biesbroek, P., Klostermann, G. R., Termeer, J. E., and Kabat, C. J. (2013). On the nature of barriers to climate change adaptation. Reg. Environ. Chang. 13, 1119–1129. doi: 10.1007/s10113-013-0421-y
Brizmo-hun, R. (2019). Impact of climate change on food security of small islands: the case of Mauritius. Nat. Res. Forum 43, 154–163. doi: 10.1111/1477-8947.12172
Casa, D. L. A. C., and Ovando, G. G. (2014). Climate change and its impact on agricultural potential in the central region of Argentina between 1941 and 2010. Agric. Forest Meteorol 195-196, 1–11. doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.04.005
Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) (2021). The Emergency Events Database, Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL)-CRED, Brussels, Belgium. Available at: www.emdat.be. (Accessed 10 January 2024).
Chen, M., Atiqul, S. M., Ahmed, K. J., Hussain, A. H. M. B., and Ahmed, M. N. Q. (2021). The link between climate change, food security and fertility: the case of Bangladesh. PLoS One 16:e0258196. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258196
Chowdhury, M. A., Hasan, M. K., and Islam, S. L. U. (2022). Climate change adaptation in Bangladesh: current practices, challenges and the way forward. J. Climate Change and Health 6:100108. doi: 10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100108
Chowdhury, M.A., and Hossen, M.A. (2017). “Challenges of governance for addressing cli-matic concerns in Bangladesh,” Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325285575_Challenges_of_Governance_for_Ad-dressing_Climatic_Concerns_in_Bangladesh.
Chowdhury, F. R., Ibrahim, Q. S. U., Bari, M. S., Alam, M. J., Dunachie, S. J., and Rodriguez-Morales, A. J. (2018). The association between temperature, rainfall and humidity with common climate-sensitive infectious diseases in Bangladesh. PLoS One 13:e0199579. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199579
Combes, H., Des, J., Siga, A., Buliruarua, L. A., Rabuatoka, T., Kua, N., et al. (2019). “Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in Resilience (Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction) in the Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges in Climate Change Education,” in Climate Change and the Role of Education. Climate Change Management. eds. W. L. Filho and S. Hemstock (Cham:Springer), 363–370.
Dastagir, M. R. (2015). Modeling recent climate change induced extreme events in ban-gladesh: a review. Weather Clim Extrem 7, 49–60. doi: 10.1016/j.wace.2014.10.003
Davis, R. (2017). Floodlist. Retrieved January 15, 2024 from http://floodlist.com/asia/bangladesh-floods-august-2017.
Dey, N. C., Parvez, M., and Islam, M. R. (2021). A study on the impact of the 2017 early monsoon flash flood: potential measures to safeguard livelihoods from extreme climate events in the haor area of Bangladesh. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduc. 59:102247. doi: 10.1016/J.IJDRR.2021.102247
Ferdous, J., and Mallick, D. (2019). Norms, practices, and gendered vulnerabilities in the lower Teesta basin. Bangladesh. Environ. Dev. 31, 88–96. doi: 10.1016/j.envdev.2018.10.003
Food and Agricultural Organization (2010). Framers in a changing climate: Does gender matter? Food security in Andhra Pradesh, India. Rome, Italy, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at: https://www.fao.org/4/i1721e/i1721e00.pdf
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) (2020). Food and agriculture organization corporate statistical database (FAOSTAT). Multiple Access. Available at: http://www.fao.org.
Government of Bangladesh. (2012). Disaster prone Areas in Bangladesh. Available at https://reliefweb.int/map/bangladesh/most-disaster-prone-districts-bangladesh
Government of Bangladesh (2017). Bangladesh climate change strategy and action plan 2009. Bangladesh: Ministry of Environment and Forests.
Guo, H. P., Xia, Y. J., Jin, J. S., and Pan, C. L. (2022). The impact of climate change on the efficiency of agricultural production in the world’s main agricultural regions. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 97:106891. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106891
Haider, M. Z., Huq, S. M. I., and Rahman, M. M. (2018). Assessment of climate change impacts on poverty and food security in Bangladesh: a micro-simulation approach. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 25, 17329–17343,
Hanjra, M. A., Ferede, T., Blackwell, J., Jackson, T. M., and Abbas, A. (2013). “Global food security: facts, issues, interventions and public policy implications.” Global Agriculture Developments, 1–35. Available at: https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/37212.
He, F., Thiele, B., Santhiraraja-Abresch, S., Watt, M., Kraska, T., and Ulbrich, A. (2020). Effects of root temperature on the plant growth and food quality of Chinese broccoli (brassica oleracea var. alboglabra bailey). Agronomy 10:702. doi: 10.3390/agronomy10050702
HLPE (2020). Food security and nutrition: building a global narrative towards 2030.112 pages, available at: https://www.fao.org/3/ca9731en/ca9731en.pdf
Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Jacob, D., Bindi, M., Brown, S., Camilloni, I., Diedhiou, A., et al. (2018). Impacts of 1.5 C global warming on natural and human systems. Global warming of 1.5° C. An IPCC Special Report (pp-175-311). IPCC Sectretariat. Available at: https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/311749/SR15_Approval_Chapter_3.pdf?sequence=1.
Hoq, M. S., Raha, S. K., and Hossain, M. I. (2021). Livelihood vulnerability to flood hazard: understanding from the flood-prone haor ecosystem of Bangladesh. Environ. Manag. 67, 532–552. doi: 10.1007/s00267-021-01441-6
Hossain, M. (1990). Natural calamities, instability in production and food policy in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Dev. Stud. 18, 33–54,
Hossain, M. S., Qian, L., Arshad, M., Shahid, S., Fahad, S., and Akhter, J. (2019). Climate change and crop farming in Bangladesh: an analysis of economic impacts. Int J Clim. Chang Strateg. Manag. 11, 424–440. doi: 10.1108/IJCCSM-04-2018-0030
Hunt, A., and Watkiss, P. (2011). Climate change impacts and adaptation in cities: a review of the literature. Clim. Chang. 104, 13–49. doi: 10.1007/s10584-010-9975-6
Huq, N., Huge, J., Boon, E., and Gain, A. K. (2015). Climate change impacts in agricultural communities in rural areas of coastal Bangladesh: a tale of many stories. Sustain. For. 7, 8437–8460. doi: 10.3390/SU7078437
Husaini, S., and Davies, S. E. (2022). Case report: another burden to bear: the impacts of climate change on access to sexual and reproductive health rights and Services in Bangladesh. Front. Clim. 4:875515. doi: 10.3389/fclim.2022.875515
IPCC (2001) in Climate change: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. eds. J. J. McCarthy, O. F. Canziani, N. A. Leary, D. J. Dokken, and K. S. White (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press).
Islam, S. (2017). An assessment of Women vulnerability for flooding Hazard and socio economic condition: a case study on char Gonai of Tepamadhapur union, Kaunia, Rangpur. Bangladesh. Imp. J. Interdiscip. Res 3, 211–231,
Islam, M. S., Samreth, S., Islam, A. H. M. S., and Sato, M. (2022). Climate change, climatic extremes, and households’ food consumption in Bangladesh: a longitudinal data analysis. Environ. Chall. 7:100495. doi: 10.1016/J.ENVC.2022.100495
Islam, M. R., Sarker, M. R. A., Sharma, N., Rahman, M. A., Collard, B. C. Y., and Gregorio, G. B. (2016). Assessment of adaptability of recently released salt tolerant rice varieties in coastal regions of South Bangladesh. Field Crop Res. 190, 34–43. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2015.09.012
Islam, S.N., and Winkel, J. (2017). Climate change and social inequality working paper no. 152 Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), New York, NY, Retrieved from https://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2017/wp152_2017.pdf (Accessed 10 January 2024).
IUCN (2020). Gender-based Violence and Environment Linkages: The Violence of Inequality. Available at: https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/gender-based-violence-and-environment
Jalal, M. J. E., Khan, M. A., Hossain, M. E., Yedla, S., and Alam, G. M. M. (2021). Does climate change stimulate household vulnerability and income diversity? Evidence from southern coastal region of Bangladesh. Heliyon 7:e07990. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07990
Jin, Y., Zhao, H., Bu, L., and Zhang, D. (2023). Geopolitical risk, climate risk, and energy markets: a dynamic spillover analysis. Int. Rev. Financ. Anal. 87:102597. doi: 10.1016/j.irfa.2023.102597
Josef, S., and Tubiello, N. F. (2007). Global food security under climate change. PNAS 104, 19703–19708. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0701976104
Kamal, A. S. M. M., Shamsudduha, M., Ahmed, B., Hassan, S. M. K., Islam, M. S., and Fordham, K. M. (2018). Resilience to flash floods in wetland communities of North-Eastern Bangladesh. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 31, 478–488. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.06.011
Kreft, S., Eckstein, D., and Melchior, I. (2017). Global climate risk index: Who suffers Most from extreme weather events? Weather-related loss events in 2015 and 1996 to 2015. Bonn: Germanwatch, 2017.
Ledda, A., Cesare, E. A. D., Satta, G., Cocco, G., and Montis, A. D. (2021). Integrating adaptation to climate change in regional plans and programs: the role of strategic environmental assessment. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 91:106655. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2021.106655
Lee, C. C., Zeng, M., and Luo, K. (2024). How does climate change affect food security? Evidence from China. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 104:107324. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107324
Monirul, A. G. M., Alam, K., Mushtaq, S., and Clarke, M. L. (2017). Vulnerability to climatic change in riparian char and river-bank households in Bangladesh: implication for policy, livelihoods and social development. Ecol. Indic. 72, 23–32. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2016.06.045
Moon, M. P. (2023). Food and health security impact of climate change in Bangladesh: a review. J. Water and Climate Change (jwc) 14, 3484–3495. doi: 10.2166/wcc.2023.131
Moser, J. A., and Ekstrom, S. C. (2010). A framework to diagnose barriers to climate change adaptation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 107, 22026–22031. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1007887107
Naz, F., Doneys, P., and Saqib, S. E. (2018). Adaptation strategies to floods: a gender-based analysis of the farming-dependent char community in the Padma floodplain. Bangladesh. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct 28, 519–530. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.12.016
Ncube, A., Mangwaya, P. T., and Ogundeji, A. A. (2018). Assessing vulnerability and coping capacities of rural women to drought: a case study of Zvishavne district. Zimbabwe. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct 28, 69–79. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2018.02.023
Ndlovu, T., and Mjimba, V. (2021). Drought risk-reduction and gender dynamics in communal cattle farming in southern Zimbabwe. Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct 58, 102203–102207. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102203
Ngigi, M. W., Mueller, U., and Birner, R. (2017). Gender differences in climate change adaptation strategies and participation in group-based approaches: an intra-household analysis from rural Kenya. Ecol. Econ. 138, 99–108. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.03.019
Nie, C., and Lee, C. C. (2023). A synergy of pollution control and carbon reduction in China: spatial-temporal characteristics, regional differences, and convergence. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 101:107110. doi: 10.1016/j.eiar.2023.107110
O'Neill, B., van Aalst, M. K., Zaiton Ibrahim, Z., Berrang Ford, L., Bhadwal, S., Buhaug, H., et al. (2022). “Key risks across sectors and regions” in Climate change 2022: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: Contribution of working group II to the sixth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. eds. H.-O. Pörtner, D. C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E. S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, and A. Alegría, et al. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 2411–2538.
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., and Bossuyt, P. M. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 372:n71. doi: 10.1136/bmj.n71
Parvez, M., Islam, M. R., and Dey, N. C. (2022). Household food insecurity after the early monsoon flash flood of 2017 among wetland (Haor) communities of northeastern Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. Food Energy Secur. 11:e326. doi: 10.1002/FES3.326
Rashid, H., and Paul, B. (2014). Climate change in Bangladesh: Confronting impending disasters. Plymouth: Lexington Books.
Reggers, A. (2019). “Climate Change Is Not Gender Neutral: Gender Inequality, Rights and Vulnerabilities in Bangladesh” in Confronting Climate Change in Bangladesh. The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science. eds. S. Huq, J. Chow, A. Fenton, C. Stott, J. Taub, and H. Wright vol 28. (Cham:Springer).
Regmi, S. (2011). In the field-climate change impacts on rural women’s unpaid/paid labor in Nepal. Women and Environ. Int. Magazine 38, 38–39,
Reliefweb (2019). 5 ways climate change affects women and girls. (Accessed on 13th January 2024). Available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/5-ways-climate-change-affects-women-and-girls
ReliefWeb (a Humanitarian Information Portal) (2023). United Nations Office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA). Available at: https://reliefweb.int/organization/ocha
Rice, A. M., Einbinder, N., and Calderon, C. I. (2023). With agroecology, we can defend ourselves: examining campesino resilience and economic solidarity during pandemic-era economic shock in Guatemala. Agroecol. Sustain. Food Syst. 47, 273–305. doi: 10.1080/21683565.2022.2140378
Roy, S. (2020). “Post-cyclone Aila and mobility rights of the Shora Muslim women of the Bangladesh Sundarbans forest” in Climate change, hazards and adaptation options. Climate change Mangement. eds. W. L. Filho, G. Nagy, M. Borga, P. C. Muñoz, and A. Magnuszewski (Cham: Springer).
Runhaar, H., Mees, H., Wardekker, A., Sluijs, J., and Driessen, P. P. J. (2012). Adaptation to climate change-related risks in Dutch urban areas: stimuli and barriers. Reg. Environ. Chang. 12, 777–790. doi: 10.1007/s10113-012-0292-7
Sarker, M. A. R., Alam, K., and Gow, J. (2012). Exploring the relationship between climate change and rice yield in Bangladesh: an analysis of time-series data. Agric. Syst. 112, 11–16. doi: 10.1016/j.agsy.2012.06.004
Sarwar, G. M., and Khan, M. H. (2007). Sea level rise: a threat to the coast of Bangladesh. Int. ASIAN Forum 38, 375–397. doi: 10.11588/iaf.2007.38.329
Smith, L. C., and Frankenberger, T. R. (2018). Does resilience capacity reduce the negative impact of shocks on household food security? Evidence from the 2014 floods in northern Bangladesh. World Dev. 102, 358–376. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.07.003
Soldavini, J., and Ammerman, A. S. (2021). Marginal, low, and very-low food security among children are associated with intake of select dietary factors during summer. J. Acad. Nutr. Diet. 121, 728–737. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2020.11.010
Tanjeela, M., and Rutherford, S. (2018). The influence of gender relations on women’s involvement and experience in climate change adaptation programs in Bangladesh. SAGE Open 8:2158244018812620. doi: 10.1177/2158244018812620
Tanny, N. Z., and Rahman, M. W. (2016). Climate change vulnerabilities of women in Bangladesh. Agriculturalists 14, 113–123. doi: 10.3329/agric.v14i2.31355
The Business standard. (2023). The impact of climate change on urban women in Bangladesh (accessed on 13th January 2024). Available at: https://www.tbsnews.net/thoughts/impact-climate-change-urban-women-bangladesh-665170
Uddin, M. N., Islam, A. K. M., Bala, S. K., Islam, G. M. T., Adhikary, S., Saha, D., et al. (2019). Mapping of climate vulnerability of the coastal region of ban-gladesh using principal component analysis. Appl. Geogr. 102, 47–57. doi: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.12.011
Uittenbroek, C. J., Janssen-Jansen, L. B., and Runhaar, H. A. C. (2013). Mainstreaming climate adapta-tion into urban planning: overcoming barriers, seizing opportunities and evalu-ating the results in two Dutch case studies. Reg. Environ. Chang. 13, 399–411. doi: 10.1007/s10113-012-0348-8
UN Women. (2023). Gendered impacts of climate change: Evidence from Asia Accessed from: https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/gendered-impacts-climate-change-evidence-asia
Wang, E. Z., and Lee, C. C. (2023). The impact of commercial bank branch expansion on energy efficiency: Micro evidence from China. China Econ. Rev. 80:102019. doi: 10.1016/j.chieco.2023.102019
World Bank. (2012). “Advancing gender equity for food security.” Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/10/03/advancing-gender-equity-food-security.
World Food Programme (WFP) (2021). Bangladesh: Food Security Monitoring Bulletin. Available from: https://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ena/wfp303530.pdf?_ga1/42.263776043.1978246556.1634326936-1363628476.1634326936.
World Health Organization. WHO gender, climate change and health. (2014). Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/144781/9789241508186_eng. pdf.
Keywords: climate change, food security, vulnerability of women, impacts, Bangladesh
Citation: Moon MP (2024) How does climate change affect the food security and vulnerability of women? A systematic review of gender perspectives. Front. Clim. 6:1374469. doi: 10.3389/fclim.2024.1374469
Edited by:
Jyostna Devi Mura, United States Department of Agriculture, United StatesReviewed by:
Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Utah State University, United StatesMumita Tanjeela, East West University, Bangladesh
Dharani Suresh Babu, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States
Copyright © 2024 Moon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Monira Parvin Moon, moniramoon@bsmrau.edu.bd