E-SALINE: Empowering coastal farmers against salinity intrusion with digital solutions in Bangladesh
While the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), actively promote climate resilient crop varieties, salinity intrusion remains a crucial vulnerability for food security, as well as the productivity and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh’s coastal regions. Salinity intrusion remains a particularly important challenge in a country, where agriculture employs nearly half of the workforce. Additionally, women farmers are affected disproportionately in this context, due to their limited access to extension services, agricultural inputs and land ownership.
Through an innovative approach, ASG-Germany e.V., in collaboration with its local partners ANTAR, aims to provide coastal farmers with simple tools to measure soil salinity through the development of a user-friendly mobile app that suggests the best types of salinity resilient crops. Through trainings, seed and fertilizer support—especially for women, the project empowers communities to boost yields, strengthen food security, and build resilience to climate change. This knowledge will be passed on to other farmers living in Satkhira district through community mobilisers to ensure rural communities improve their salinity-resilient and inclusive farming practices and enhance their well being and livelihoods.
Budget
€ 57,430
In partnership with
Two EC meters will be purchased by ASG to measure the salinity level of the soil in the five villages targeted in Satkhira district. The measured data will be inputted and used in the mobile app that the organisation will develop to suggest salinity-resilient crop varieties. During and after the farmer trainings, these meters will be used by the community mobilisers and participating farmers to measure the soil salinity of their lands. After the project, these meters will be handed over to the local DAE office and ANTAR, to ensure more farmers have access to these meters in the region.
A simple, user-friendly mobile app (called “e-saline”) will be developed, displaying appropriate salinity-resilient crop varieties based on the real-time salinity data obtained through the EC meter measurements The app’s interface will be featured in the local language and will be made available online for free. Both ASG and ANTAR will collect and validate improved crop varieties and their salinity tolerance data in partnership with local actors. After the end of the project, the app will be handed over to the local Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) office and ANTAR, to ensure it is disseminated and used among the wider farming communities in the region.
A 3-day training of trainers (ToT) will be organized to equip five project staff members and five community mobilizers with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively train other farmers later on (see activity 2.2). Training topics will cover salinity-resilient farming practices, using the E-saline app, gender-responsive farming practices and inclusive decision-making strategies.
Jointly with the local DAE office, the project will select a total of 300 vulnerable smallholder farmers from five targeted villages. Divided in groups, each participating farmers will receive a two-day training on salinity-resilient farming practices and the use of the e-saline app. The same farmers will also be trained on household burden-sharing strategy and gender-inclusive farm decision-making. For wider dissemination, local media, seed dealers, and other relevant stakeholders will be invited to participate in and observe the training.
To promote the take-up of salinity-resilient farming and further improve gender-inclusive farming practices, incentive packages will be distributed among the female trained farmers. The package will include seeds and fertilizers for crop varieties recommended by the E-saline app. The project will assess to what extent the salinity-resilient and gender-inclusive farming practices have led to gains in crop yields and income. Each of the 150 farmer households targeted through the project will receive at least one follow-up visit a month by the appointed community mobiliser. Two lesson-sharing sessions will be organised for the participating farmers and an impact video will be produced for wider results dissemination.