BARC1K, a non-governmental organisation, organised a dialogue titled 'Climate change: The security of agriculture and farmers' at the National Press Club in the city on Thursday, says a press release.
Chairman of parliamentary standing committee on food and disaster management ministry Md Sayedul Houqe attended the programme as chief guest while Dr Atiq Rahman, executive director of BCAS, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, executive director of BELA, and Dr Ajoy Das Gupta, assistant representative of FAO Bangladesh, attended the programme as special guests.
Kamruzzaman Sagor, coordinator (support services) of BARCIK. presented a paper based on the adaptation process and experiences of the fanners across the country relating to climatechange.
After the presentation, farmers from various ecological zones shared their experiences and problems related to climate change.
They also mentioned some indigenous tools in adapting to changes.
After hearing the experiences and skills of
farmers, the chief guest thanked them for their initiatives to adjust with climate change.
He said the economy of the country is very much dependent on agriculture.
“We. therefore, should take initiative to ensure an enabling situation and environment for them so that they can produce crops and grains without any problems," he added.
The farmers and fishermen are the real patriots, Sayedul said, adding that they have taken a lot of troubles to produce food for the entire population but they never protested and resorted to any movement to fulfill their needs and demands.
Dr Atiq Rahman said the farmers are the real heroes of the country. "If they stop producing foods, the country will face immense crisis.
So the government should prioritise and implement their demands so that they can adapt to climate change." he added.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan laid emphasis on formulating mass and farmers- friendly policies.
She said the government formulated many policies in the name of the welfare of the mass people but it never consulted them when the policies were formulated and finalised.