Boro, mango, dairy and poultry sectors face massive billion-dollar losses due to heat wave: BRAC

A new study shows that Bangladesh’s agriculture sector is facing massive losses worth several billion due to the record heatwaves that hit the country in April.

“Nationwide Boro rice production may decline by 6-16% and 30% of mango buds have fallen off due to prolonged drought followed by heatwaves,” says Dr. Liakath Ali, director of the Climate Change Program, Urban Development Program and Disaster Risk Management Program at at BRAC said yesterday (May 23) while presenting a research paper on the heatwave.

“Moreover, the poultry industry has lost Tk 200 crore in the last two weeks of heatwaves,” he said while presenting the research at a seminar at the Renaissance Hotel in Gulshan, Dhaka, organized by BRAC’s climate change program.

The persistent heatwave that hit Bangladesh in April this year broke a 76-year-old record for high temperatures.

The estimated loss of dairy products – milk, eggs and meat – due to hot weather was 25%, BRAC said in a press statement issued today (May 24).

According to a press release, in Dhaka city alone, labor-intensive sectors suffered production losses of Tk 50,000 crore.

“Dhaka loses labor productivity worth USD 6 billion every year due to heat stress. As a result, by 2030, Bangladesh could lose 5% of its total productivity, equivalent to almost 4 million full-time jobs, and experience GDP losses of up to 4.9%,” Liakath Ali said at the event.

A speaker at the event said that extensive preparations need to be made to cope with such extreme weather conditions.

Speaking as the chief guest of the event, Farhina Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said, “We are working towards including the health aspect of climate change in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Specific actions and interventions related to the health impacts of heatwaves so that our health systems can be better prepared to deal with these issues.

“We also need to build the capacity and awareness of different sectors of society so that citizens are better prepared to combat the effects of extreme heatwaves.”

She added: “We need to prepare our engineers and architects to develop infrastructure and projects that emphasize nature-based solutions. We need to modernize our current infrastructure and introduce new technologies to reduce heat generation.”

Delivering closing remarks, Asif Saleh, Executive Director of BRAC, said: “Marginalized communities are the most vulnerable to disasters of all kinds. We have seen this during Covid-19, the economic crisis and the effects of climate change.

“Those who are most at risk are those who have no voice and those who have no one to listen to them. “Unfortunately, it is marginalized communities that suffer the most because of something they are not responsible for.”

Bushra Afreen, director of heat at Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), said: “Dhaka city was never built with heat resistance in mind. With very limited resources and with sustainability in mind, we all need to work together and deliver on the commitments we make.”