Improving Climate-Resilient Farming Practices Among Smallholder Farmers Through Participatory Action Research in Flood-Prone Communities in Bangladesh

Background: Smallholder farmers on the coastal chars of Patuakhali in southern Bangladesh lose part of their aman rice crop to tidal flooding in most years, and dry season salinity reaches fields that were once safe for boro rice. Extension advice usually arrives as a fixed package that fits the water conditions of a particular char poorly. Objective: This programme aimed to improve climate-resilient farming practices among smallholder farmers in two flood-prone villages through participatory action research combined with participatory rural appraisal. Methods: The programme ran from March to December 2025 with 42 smallholder farmers in Char Kajal and Char Biswas. Three action research cycles moved from participatory appraisal, covering hazard mapping, seasonal calendars, and problem ranking, to farmer-managed trials of floating seedbeds, submergence and saline tolerant rice varieties, and raised-bed homestead vegetables, and then to joint reflection and a seed exchange. Data came from trial plot records, household practice checklists, focus group discussions, and a community early warning log. Results: Farmers using at least three resilient practices rose from 9 to 33. Mean aman yield on trial plots was 4.6 tonnes per hectare, against 3.4 tonnes on neighbouring conventional plots in the same flood season. Households acting on flood warnings before the September 2025 flood rose from 11 to 36. Conclusion and Implications: Farmer-led testing, rather than the varieties alone, explains the uptake, because farmers trusted results they had measured on their own plots. The cycle structure and seasonal calendar can guide similar programmes in other coastal chars.