Shrimp aquaculture – the farming of shrimp for commercial export – was promoted in Bangladesh as a solution to combat the impacts of climate change as well as to promote economic growth by expanding non-crop agriculture. This practice, while providing short-term economic benefits, has done more harm than good and has introduced new social and environmental injustices to the country's coastal villages. This case is an example of how well-meaning climate solutions can have detrimental effects on the communities at the centre of the issue. It is also a lesson that successful adaptation strategies should be a collaborative effort among grassroots organisations, community members, policymakers, and practitioners. 

Since Bangladesh's independence in 1971, intensive shrimp aquaculture was expanded as a means of bolstering economic growth. Paddy fields were flooded and turned into shrimp cultivation enclosures called gher. The government saw this practice as a lucrative export opportunity, while development agencies promoted it as an adaptation strategy to climate change. If farmers can't keep the rising sea levels from destroying their fields, they could at least use the increased saltwater to grow something else. However, the case of shrimp aquaculture in Bangladesh is an example of how some adaptation strategies make people more – not less – vulnerable.

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We need drastic action to save our rivers

There is a general agreement that the coastal regions of Bangladesh are experiencing environmental impacts such as rising soil salinity, waterlogging, and decreased biodiversity. But there is a disagreement about what causes these transformations. Developers and government agencies attribute them to climate change, while residents of the impacted villages attribute them to direct local changes, especially the transition from rice farming to shrimp aquaculture.

One of the main environmental impacts of shrimp farming is a drastic shift from a multifunctional mangrove ecosystem to a privately-owned, single-function aquaculture system. As saltwater from shrimp cultivation salinates the surrounding soil, the land is made unsuitable for growing trees and produce. Additional environmental impacts are degraded biodiversity, sedimentation, pollution, and disease.

As shrimp farms salinate and waterlog the surrounding land, trees and vegetation die out, leading to a lack of shade and harsher work environments.

Not only has shrimp aquaculture caused environmental degradation, but it has also led to a loss of livelihood. In the village of Kolanihat in Khulna, a district in southwest Bangladesh, outside investors came into the district and started making gher on agricultural lands. Landowners were given offers to buy or lease their land for these gher, but they were rarely or never paid (Paprocki, Threatening Dystopias: The Global Politics of Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh, 2021). Similar experiences were shared in the neighbouring Satkhira and Bagerhat districts.

As shrimp farms salinate and waterlog the surrounding land, trees and vegetation die out, leading to a lack of shade and harsher work environments. Before this ecological change, farmers used to grow fruits and vegetables in abundance to share with their neighbours. Now, they have to travel elsewhere to buy produce, with no excess to share (Paprocki, 2021). Shrimp aquaculture also contributes to potable water scarcity, leading villagers to travel several kilometres a day to bring back drinking water. Many resort to collecting drinking water during the monsoon season and rationing during the dry season, leading to serious health consequences.

Shrimp aquaculture also exacerbates the existing gender inequalities. Outmigration is gendered; men who worked in paddy fields are forced to migrate to urban areas to find work. Women are then left to take on increasing household and farm responsibilities. Residents also reported an increase in gendered violence; outsiders who settled in villages for the shrimp business harassed and committed violence against women, especially if they were alone or if it was late at night (Paprocki, 2021).

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Aquaculture 4.0 and the Bangladesh perspective

While development agencies have been promoting shrimp aquaculture as an adaptation strategy to climate change, communities have been mobilising around a different vision of the future by creating local movements against commercial shrimp aquaculture. In 1990, a village in Khulna resisted an armed attack led by a wealthy businessman, who tried to forcibly flood and seize their embankments. Because of their protests, the village's fields are still full of rice paddies and vegetable gardens. Similar uprisings have occurred in other villages, and local community members have been organising efforts to fight back against forced aquaculture. As part of Nijera Kori, landless farmers have been organising against commercial shrimp aquaculture for the last 30 years.

Effective climate action should be just, equitable, and centre the voices of people who are disproportionately affected by climate change. Using shrimp aquaculture as a climate change solution was a top-down approach shaped by the existing systems of power and resource distribution. In order to create and implement equitable climate solutions, it's crucial to understand the work being done at the local grassroots level and to work together as community members, practitioners, and policymakers.

Saira Shahid is pursuing the Master of Urban Planning degree at the University of Washington in the US.