In Bangladesh, the salination of coastal areas is becoming an increasing problem for farmers during the dry season. The rising sea levels and subsequent penetration of salt water make growing crops increasingly challenging. The livestock sector is also affected, as there is a shortage of sweet water for the animals' drinking needs. Moreover, salination leads to deficiencies in the feed supply.
Judit Snethlage, a researcher of Water and Food at Wageningen Environmental Research, is currently investigating what decisions the Bengali farmers in coastal areas make and why. She discovered that farmers would traditionally grow sesame but have switched to watermelons in recent years because these fetch a higher price. However, the sudden increase in watermelon supply saturates the market, causing the prices to drop and leaving many watermelons to rot in the fields. 'Framers focus on fast harvesting and have not yet linked bad harvests to salination', says Snethlage.
She intends to apply the food system approach with farmers to analyse3 which cultivation systems are better suited to salinised farmlands. Farmers can thus search for farming techniques that are less, or not at all, affected by salination. They may switch to crops that are less sensitive to salt water, or research organisations may develop salt-tolerant crops.
Snethlage also studies the shrimp farming sector in the Bengali coastal regions. Much of the mangrove forests were felled in the development of this sector, robbing the area of a natural system to mitigate the rising sea levels and floods. She is now investigating whether sustainable fisheries may be combined with the development of mangrove forests so that the coastal defence systems and the food supply may be strengthened simultaneously.
In Vietnam, Snethlage focuses on, among other things, the effects of salination on fruit farming in the Mekong delta and how farmers may reduce the impact of salination through water management. She always uses the food systems approach, meaning she considers the situation at the food system level. In doing so, she assesses food production while also including processing, trade, and the effects on the environment and nature. Thus, she arrives at scientifically substantiated transition pathways for agriculture and fisheries.
Workshop about salination
Judit Snethlage will present a workshop on salination based on her research in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Surinam and Egyp at the climate summit:
Watch the video about her research:
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