Climate Resilience and Dynamics of Agricultural Crop Production Systems Affecting the Char Peoples’ Livelihoods in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is predominantly an agrarian country, and due to its very fertile land and favorable weather, varieties of crops grow abundantly in this country. The agricultural sector contributed about 11.55% in FY 2023–2024 to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed around 44.42% of the total labor force. This study examines the conduit through which climate resilience and agricultural production systems interact, in order to understand the livelihood nexus of climate change, which affects the northern Chars area of Bangladesh. The climate overshoot impacts the Char people and hinders their sustainable development. This study employs a qualitative research design grounded in Amartya Sen’s capability approach. The fifty in-depth interviews and participants’ observations were used as data collection tools in the research field in the area known as Six Chars (a form of islet) during the period from January to September 2023. The findings showed that several active factors, such as education, income, assets and property, employment, food intake, social safety, and agri outputs, are affected by climate change, whereas the aid provided by governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is limited in addressing livelihood vulnerability in the islet area. Consequently, agricultural production systems and climate resilience depend on aid, but these factors are limited in their ability to make the community sustainable enough to meet the growth targets set by the government of Bangladesh. Thus, one recommendation of this study is that strong institutions are important for the Char people’s development and for ensuring their contribution to overall national agricultural growth targets.