Abstract
The goal of this project is to assess the impacts of climate change and land degradation on food insecurity and child health in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Chattogram districts of Bangladesh, where indigenous families broadly engaged in jhum cultivation, a widely used traditional form of slash-and-burn agriculture.
The main objectives are:
- Characterize historical (1993 - 2023) trends in land use and land cover and historical climate change trends.
- Assess the extent to which climatic exposures (especially extreme weather events including drought, flooding, and landslides) and patterns of land use impact household socioeconomic status, food insecurity, child dietary diversity, and multiple forms of child undernutrition in the study regions.
- Use bio-economic modelling to evaluate the potential for alternative/adaptation practices to increase resilience, diminish hunger, and improve the well-being of the study communities.