Ecosystem-Based Sustainable Agriculture in the Current Climate Change Context of Bangladesh: Legislative and Institutional Responses
摘要
With the increasing population, the demand for agriculture in Bangladesh is growing, which tends to an unwritten competition to produce more crops from fewer pieces of land, ignoring ecological sustainability. Some common practices of this: the excessive application of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, leading to soil, air, and water pollution due to phosphorus, nitrate, and ammonia, disrupting soil nutrients and harming biodiversityBiodiversity, including birds, fish, and other organisms, shifting cultivation, conversion of the forest into agricultural land, changing agricultural and land use patterns, and producing cash crops like tobacco have dangerous impacts on the environment and ecology. However, the current climate changeClimate change has worsened this situation, including food production, ecology/environment, and people’s livelihood. Recent research has proved that only the agricultural sector could lose around USD 7.7 billion annually due to climate changeClimate change, and rice production could decline by 33% within two decades. Depending on secondary data review and adopting a qualitative and policy analysis, this chapter will focus on how far the legal regime and institutions of Bangladesh are supportive of ensuring sustainable and eco-friendly agriculture in the current climate changeClimate change context. This chapter finds that traditionally, the laws and policies of Bangladesh have concentrated on the primary issues of producing food, and there is no synergy among the associated institutions. Therefore, we argue that Bangladesh must develop comprehensive policies, strategic planning, and an integrated institutional approach to establish a sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural system to meet the future demand in the context of climate changeClimate change.