Bangladesh: Turning high water into harvest

ORGANISATION
An Organization for Socio-Economic Development (AOSED)

LOCATION

Ramnathpur, Haridhali Union, Paikgacha, Khulna, Bangladesh

The challenge: floods that stop the season

Each monsoon in Ramnathpur, rice production stalled before it could begin. Fields stayed submerged for weeks, making it impossible to prepare paddy seedbeds. Without seedlings, transplanting was delayed, leading to poor harvests, extra costs and months of uncertainty.

These predictable “everyday disasters” eroded livelihoods each year. Farmers knew what to do but lacked the means to act differently. With no resources to adapt, they remained trapped in a costly cycle of seed loss, debt and missed planting windows.

The solution: seedbeds that float

AOSED’s Climate Field School introduced a simple innovation, supported by targeted financial assistance: make the seedbed float. The investment covered basic materials—banana trunks and rope for buoyant rafts, mats or liners to hold soil and seed, anchoring poles for canals or ponds, and small quantities of quality seed.

With facilitators’ guidance, farmers built rafts that rose and fell with floodwater. Seeds were sown on the floating bed rather than on drowned ground, and most care could be done safely from the bank. The method used only local materials and traditional know-how, with saline-tolerant rice varieties ensuring crops remained viable in coastal conditions.

Impact: preventing losses before they begin

The first planting cycle showed where small financing made a major difference. Seeds no longer washed away, seedlings were ready on time, and transplanting took place as soon as waters receded. Farmers avoided repeat purchases, emergency loans and lost labour days.

Reusable materials, such as anchoring poles, reduced future costs, while new skills remained in the community. As conventional seedbeds lay underwater, the floating beds produced healthy seedlings, encouraging other households to replicate the model. A simple, one-page Bangla checklist now enables any farmer to build and manage their own floating bed.

A model for local risk finance

Ramnathpur’s experience shows how small, well-placed investments can prevent repeated losses. By moving the most vulnerable step of the rice cycle off the ground and onto the water, AOSED’s approach safeguarded timing, reduced debt and strengthened food security.

This is disaster risk financing in action: affordable, locally led, and precisely targeted to stop everyday disasters before they start.

This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, GNDR calls for governments, donors, the private sector and financial institutions to prioritise funding for resilience, not just funding for disasters when they strike.

All photos: AOSED