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.
Char is a Bengali word that refers to Bangladesh’s islands of sand and silt. Some chars are wholly surrounded by water, while others remain attached to the land until water levels rise sufficiently to temporarily cut them off.
Millions of people live on the chars of Bangladesh, which emerge, change shape and disappear in tune with the country’s rivers. Chars provide much-needed land for settlers, but their transitory nature means they usually lack basic infrastructure, and life upon them is challenging.
Chars typically host extensive grasslands and are well-suited to fishing, while some are able to support livestock grazing and agriculture.
A recent report, jointly released by the International Centre for Climate Change and Development and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, highlights the 185 extreme weather events Bangladesh faced between 2000 and 2019. In 2021, the country was ranked seventh by Global Climate Risk Index on its list of countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
These increasingly frequent extreme weather events, including prolonged summers and delayed monsoons, pose serious challenges for farmers on smallholdings. Nearly 50% of Bangladesh’s agricultural labour force comprises women, who typically do not own their land, and face sociocultural barriers to diversifying their income. These circumstances leave Bangladesh’s women farmers especially vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.
Game-changers: Solar irrigation pumps
To counter reduced yields and lower incomes, farmers have deployed diesel-powered groundwater irrigation pumps. Dialogue Earth spoke to Sumi Mardi, a farmer from Birganj upazila in the northwest district of Dinajpur, about their drawbacks: diesel pumps are expensive to run, labour-intensive to set up and require constant refueling.
To overcome these drawbacks, the Bangladeshi government has been investing in solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) to phase out diesel pumps in off-grid areas. The initiative has been touted as a game-changing technology for women farmers, who face sociocultural barriers to upskilling and accessing these forms of technology.
Ayesha Banu, a women and gender studies professor at the University of Dhaka, says agriculture in the country has become “feminised”, as men shift to non-agricultural jobs such as construction and driving. Now, SIP initiatives are helping some of these women farmers by reducing the amount of agricultural drudgery they must engage in.
Dialogue Earth visited the village of Dakshin Botina in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila, northern Bangladesh, where the Infrastructure Development Company (IDCOL) has installed SIPs to irrigate 150 bigha (37.5 hectares) of farmland. During the past three years, a group of women has established fish farming beneath these solar panels. The women say the SIP system has increased their incomes, enhanced local diets and reduced their agricultural toil.
Meanwhile, in 2023, solar panels mounted on movable frames were introduced on chars in Fulchhari, by a Swiss-Bangladeshi initiative. The panels support irrigation in newly formed chars, where electricity and tube wells are scarce. This provides piped irrigation services across a 20-kilometre area, reaching several other chars and villages in Fulchhari.
Bibi says having access to these portable micro-SIPs has freed up some of her time. For example, she used to lead her cattle to the river to bathe, but now she can use pumped water. Thus, SIPs can enable women to transfer more of their time from domestic to economic activities, such as operating fisheries.
Gender disparities cling on
Inequality does not disappear with SIPs, however. Where men have left agriculture, “women are stepping in, often for less pay”, notes Banu. “While access to resources and technology is seen as empowerment, they lack control due to deep-rooted gender norms.”
A lack of finances, decision-making power and access to legal land ownership have been identified as key gender-related barriers to SIP uptake among women. That is a finding of a study by the International Water Management Institute, which is currently surveying farmers across Khulna, Jessore, Barishal and Bogura to understand barriers to SIP adoption among marginalised groups. The study’s gender specialist, Angel Konthoujam, confirms: “Sociocultural barriers significantly hinder the adoption of solar irrigation pumps in rural Bangladesh.”
Irrigation access in general – whether through diesel, electric or solar systems – can sometimes be controlled by pump owners, creating imbalanced power dynamics that could affect smallholders and women. For example, Sajeda Begum, a flower farmer who lives in Jhikorgacha district, southwestern Bangladesh, tells Dialogue Earth her work is frequently disrupted by load-shedding and insufficient water access. She points out that larger pieces of land receive priority access to irrigation, and these are typically owned by men.
Training to operate SIPs remains largely out of reach for women, too. Typically, men are trained to operate the pumps, while women are trained in cattle-rearing. This can limit their farm roles to weeding, transplanting, harvesting and post-harvest activities.
Even where sociocultural norms are less of an issue, funding is a barrier. Like many women farmers in her village of Haria Panisara, Begum and her daughter cultivate roses, marigolds and other flowers on a bigha (0.25 hectares) of leased land. Begum faces significant irrigation challenges, in that she requires 1,000 litres of water daily. This means she must pay BDT 1,000 (USD 8.36) per month for electricity to a pump owner.
Begum believes that a solar pump could resolve her irrigation issues. However, she was unsuccessful in applying for a bank loan to buy one, because her husband’s family owns the land: “We are not getting subsidised loans as we don’t have access to land.”
Achieving sustained, long-term change
Banu explains the reasons behind Begum’s difficulties: “Women are denied farmers’ cards, excluding them from access to schemes and subsidies.” She adds that there is a need for meaningful engagement of women in agriculture: “The government must ensure that women are treated as farmers and benefit from initiatives at all levels, from policymaking to implementation.”
Konthoujam says these limitations could be countered by introducing innovative, women-centric financial and institutional mechanisms to increase pump ownership among women farmers.
Dialogue Earth consulted Darshini Ravindranath, a researcher who leads the International Water Management Institute’s Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience in South Asia project. She cites the Revolving Guarantee Fund in West Bengal, India, as an aspiration. This fund offers financial autonomy for women farmers. It has also led to a 50% increase in income through the affordable and timely provision of water, which has enabled participants to also grow vegetables. Furthermore, the fund has established solar assets in participants’ names.
Ravindranath highlights the importance of targeted policies and course-correction for inclusivity. Government partnerships could play an important role in shaping policies to achieve sustained, gradual processes that help address long-term gender inequalities in renewable energy transitions. “Bangladesh’s transition to clean energy holds immense potential to empower women and build resilient communities,” says Ravindranath. In Bangladesh and beyond, SIPs could have a big part to play in this future.
The author acknowledges the support provided by the Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience in South Asia and the NGO Forum for Public Health in carrying out reporting
