by Aysha Akter Akhi
It is a nice opportunity to work with RMMRU on the DECCMA project. For the purpose of completing this work, I got a chance to visit the Noakhali-Laxmipur region of Bangladesh. This visit enabled me to talk with the people of this remote area. I visited 7 Mouzas in Noakhali and Laxmipur district. The people of these areas are mostly affected by the consequences of climate change. Cyclone, flood, river erosion, scarcity of rain, heavy rainfalls are frequent in these areas. Among 7 Mouzas, I found that the Char Elahi Mouza of Companigonj of Noakhali district is the most vulnerable.
I went to Char Lengta of Char Elahi which is very close to the Meghna River. People who live on the bank of the river are at serious risk. Because of environmental factors like river erosion, many people have lost their houses, lands, and other belongings. They live in bamboo or tin-metaljhupri houses.
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Economic difficulties mean that attaining regular meals is difficult for many people here. Some have responded to these difficulties by becoming migrants. Many are living in the homes of friends and family places, while some have taken shelter in Mosques and Primary Schools. The usual occupations for many of these people are fishing and cultivation, but at present they have no land to cultivate and there has been a drastic reduction in fish populations in the river. Many are not provided with basic human rights, like food and shelter.
For these reasons, people in Char Elahi have a lot of complains against their local representative. They claim that not a single person is ready to hear them or even to talk with them, and that help is far away. When I went to talk with those people, they thought that perhaps I would do some help or provide financial aid to them. Alas! there was nothing I could to for them except listen to their sorrows and sufferings. I observed their lives and their needs very closely. They fight with nature early and late with great courage.
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Phultola is a village in Batiaghata Upazilla near Pashur river. Most of the population is educated. Some people are living in other cities because of their studies and employment, and some are living abroad. People are mainly involved with agriculture. They are producing seasonal fruits and crops including paddy, daal, several vegetables, etc. Most of the houses are made of wood and leaves. Some people are engaged with prawn cultivation. Drought and cyclone are the main natural disasters here. Because of the saltiness in the soil, agriculture is becoming increasingly difficult.
Our second place was Jessore beside Kapataksha river which is linked to the poet Michael Madhushudan Dutta. Jessore is one of the districts of Khulna and one of the oldest cities. It has eight Upazillas. During the British Raj period, Jessore was a “mahakuma”.
I went to Noakhali, Laxmipur, Khulna, Bagerhat, Jessore, and Gopalgonj for field surveys for the DECCMA project and gained so many experiences from this journey. Among them, I can share the place called Amurkata of Paikgacha of the Khulna district where there is a scarcity of drinking water. This area of six or seven kilometres has no internal transport. People paddle from one part to another. The ground in that area is high in salinity. There are also very few trees and the weather is quite rough. People often travel three of four kilometres by foot to collect drinking water from a deep well which is placed in a “Local Bazaar.” Every day in the morning or evening, they go with one or two jars to collect water. In today’s age, this scenario is shocking to see.
Prof. Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe is an Associate Professor of Population Studies and the Director of the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, Legon. His research areas include population-environment nexus, migration, fertility, climate change/variability and its impact on urban and rural livelihoods. Prof. Codjoe is the PI for Ghana on the DECCMA Project.
Prof. Kwasi Appeaning Addo is a senior lecturer in coastal processes in the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana. His research areas include coastal vulnerability index to sea level rise, coastal erosion, climate change impacts, and shoreline change monitoring. Kwasi has published extensively in his area of research. Prof. Appeanning Addo is the Deputy PI for Ghana on the DECCMA Project.
Gertrude Owusu holds an MA in International Studies (specialisation – Women and Development) from Ewha Woman’s University in South Korea. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology with Linguistics from the University of Ghana, Legon. She has previously worked with ABANTU for Development, a gender rights and policy advocacy organisation, as the Governance Programme Manager. As part of the DECCMA team, she is responsible for co-ordinating the day-to-day activities of work packages within the DECCMA project in Ghana.
Dr. Clifford Amoako is a lecturer at the Department of Planning, KNUST- Kumasi, Ghana. He holds a PhD in Geography and Environmental Science from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and an M.Phil degree in Planning from The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the same university where he obtained his B.Sc. Planning with First Class Honours. 
Dr. Cynthia Addoquaye Tagoe is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana, Legon. Her research interests and experience are in migration, decentralisation, participatory approaches to governance, institutions and gender issues.
Prosper Adiku holds an MPhil (Oceanography) from the Marine & Fisheries Sciences Department of the University of Ghana. Prosper is interested in vulnerability & hazard (flood) mapping, and Science Communications. He is the Technical Officer for the ‘Promoting Research into Use through Networking and Engagement’ (PRUNE) under the Ghana Country Engagement Group (G-CEG) of CARIAA. His main role is to support the implementation of the RiU strategies for the CARIAA consortia (ASSAR & DECCMA) in Ghana.
Dr. Barnabas Amisigo is a Hydrologist/Water Resources Engineer with interests in hydrological modelling and integrated Water Resources Planning and management research, modelling the impacts of climate and environmental change on river basin water resources, data assimilation in hydrology, operational streamflow forecasting and flood and drought risk assessments in river basins. Dr Amisigo is the Ghana lead on Work Package 5 on the DECCMA Project.
Dr. Mumuni Abu is a lecturer at the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS), University of Ghana, where he teaches and provides mentorship to students in the area of technical and social demography. His interest areas are population projections and estimations; climate change, migration and health. Dr Abu is a research scientist working on Work Package 3 on the DECCMA project.
Dr. Benjamin Kofi Nyarko is a Senior Lecturer and a Physical Geographer at the Department of Geography & Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast. His research interest is in fluvial geomorphology and application of spatial techniques in fluvial dynamics. Dr Nyarko will be working on Work Package 5 on the DECCMA Project.
Beyond working as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, UCC for the past fifteen years, Dr. Emmanuel Ekow Asmah is a visiting lecturer and a network member of the Africa Economic Research Consortium and has in the past worked with the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings (US) as a Research Fellow and an Intern Macroeconomist with the World Bank Tanzania Office. 
Dr. Prince Osei-Wusu Adjei holds a PhD in Geography and Rural Development. His research interest and experiences are on Local Governance and Rural Development, Livelihoods and Poverty Studies. He is currently a Lecturer at the Department of Geography and Rural Development, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana. Dr Adjei is the Ghana lead on Work Package 4 on the DECCMA Project.
Dr. Joseph Asenso is the Head of the Energy/Oil and Gas Unit of the Real Sector Division, Ministry of Finance. He is responsible for the annual projection of the Government’s petroleum revenue, reporting on petroleum revenues and general coordination of petroleum revenue-related activities. He also coordinates the national GDP projection exercise. Dr Asenso will be focusing on Work Package 4 on the DECCMA Project.
Mrs. Francisca Martey is a Senior Meteorologist and Researcher in the Research Department of the Ghana Meteorological Agency and has expertise on issues of climate change, climate variabilities and climate scenarios in Ghana. She is also interested in Numerical Weather Prediction models for nowcasting and seasonal forecasting. Francisca is working on Work Package 2 on the DECCMA project.
Mr. Winfred A. Nelson holds an MPhil Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK and is a member of the Ghana Institute of Planners. He is currently a Deputy Director at the National Development Planning Commission, responsible for the mainstreaming of environment issues into the national development planning and budgeting processes. Winfred will be working on Work Package 1 on the DECCMA project.
Dr. Adelina Mensah is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies, University of Ghana. Her main areas of research include the varying complexities of inland and coastal aquatic systems, including inter-linkages with socio-economic drivers and sustainable management; and vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. Dr Mensah is the Work Package 6 Lead for Ghana on the DECCMA Project.
Prof. Ofori-Danson is a fisheries resource scientist with an interest in fisheries assessment and management. He was awarded the 2010 best teacher award for the sciences from the University of Ghana. As a member of the National Biodiversity Committee he has been involved in many policy decisions concerned with aquatic wildlife conservation issues to the Ghana government. Prof. Kwabena is working on Work Package 4 on the DECCMA Project.
Philip-Neri Jayson-Quashigah is a PhD student in the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana, with skills in coastal zone monitoring using remote sensing and GIS. He holds an MPhil in Environmental Science and is currently researching on delta morphodynamics on the DECCMA Project.
Donatus Yaw Atiglo is a PhD student in Population Studies at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, with research experience on gendered dynamics and reproductive health. His current research interests include vulnerability to environmental change, trapped populations, migration and gendered population dynamics on the DECCMA Project.
Kirk Anderson is a demographer with eight years experience, particularly in the area of fertility. He is a PhD candidate on the DECCMA Project with research interest in the climate change adaptation options available to individuals within the Volta Delta in the context of demographic, cultural and socio-economic change.
Ruth M. Quaye holds an MPhil in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Ghana. Her main areas of interest include climate change adaptation, institutions, gender and sustainable development. Ruth is currently working with Work Package 1 of the DECCMA Ghana Project as a Research Assistant.
Gwendolene Asare-Konadu is a member of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) and Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG). She has worked on several donor-funded projects and has been responsible for multi-funded budgets ranging from $10,000 to $1,400,000. She is currently on the DECCMA team as Project Accountant.
Professor Md. Munsur Rahman, during his 24-year professional career, has conducted research on morphological processes in tidal and non-tidal rivers, growth of char land resources and livelihood strategies, river-bank erosion protection and social response. Currently, he is leading several international collaborative research projects focusing on ecosystem service-poverty alleviation linkages, climate change vulnerability and adaptation in deltaic settings, and disaster prevention/mitigation measures against floods and storm surges, in which the fundamental approach integrated assessment of bio-physical and socio-economic processes. He is the Principal Investigator and lead for Work Package 5 on DECCMA.
Professor Mashfiqus Salehin has been working in both technical and interdisciplinary research areas, focusing on a variety of issues, including basin scale hydrologic modelling, hydrodynamics of exchange processes between river and groundwater, hydro geologic analysis of coastal aquifers, groundwater and seawater intrusion modelling, flood hazard, vulnerability and risk analysis, harmonisation of multiple uses of water resources, assessment of ecosystem service-poverty alleviation linkages, biophysical vulnerability of coastal hazards and implications to water and food security, and trans boundary river water management. He is the Deputy Principal Investigator and lead on Work Package 1 for DECCMA.
Md. Anisur Rahman Majumdar is the Bangladesh Project Coordinator for DECCMA. Prior to this, Anis worked in different national and international organisations in administrative sectors and has completed his MBA at the University of Wales, Institute of Cardiff, in International Business. He is working on Work Package 0 for DECCMA.
Dr. Rezaur Rahman is a Professor at the Institute of Water and Flood Management at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He is a Civil Engineer by discipline with a research focus on water and environment. He was involved in the preparation of National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA), Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP) and UNFCCC 2nd country communication. Professor Rahman is acting co-lead for DECCMA’s Work Package 6, which will identify and evaluate feasible and acceptable planned and autonomous adaptations in the three deltas.
Prof. Anisul Haque is a Civil Engineer at BUET, Bangladesh specialising in Computational Fluid Dynamics. In his Ph.D from K.U. Leuven, Belgium, he worked on turbulence in stratified tidal medium. His main research interests are marine and estuarine processes, delta dynamics, basic hydraulics and numerical models. At present, he is working as a Professor at IWFM, BUET. In DECCMA, he is working in Work Package 2 where he is the joint country lead. The main objective of this Work Package is to understand and map biophysical factors affecting vulnerability. Under this objective, Hot Spot maps showing out migration for present day condition and for future climatic scenarios will be developed.
Prof. A. Fazal M. Saleh is a water resources engineer with interest in irrigation and water management. He is involved in Work Package 2 which deals with characterising the bio-physical impacts of climate change on agricultural production systems and land-use.
Professor Shahjahan Mondal specialises in climate change and hydrology, agricultural water management, risk-based planning and water governance, has been involved in several national and regional collaborative action research and consultancy projects focusing peri-urban water security, urban vulnerability and adaptive capacity, disaster impact on agricultural value chain, and technical and socio-economic aspects of flood shelters. He has received formal training in IWRM and interdisciplinary field research methodology. Professor Mondal is mostly involved in Work Package 6, which is on adaptation, and currently looking at the adaptation practices in the GBM Delta. He is also involved in the governance component of Work Package 2.
Prof. Mohammed Abed Hossain is an environmental engineer with interest primarily on transport of pollutants in a multi-cascade system and climate change impact on environment. He has been involved in researches on industrial waste treatment, stochastic hydrological modelling, modelling of residual flow and salinity, etc. During his PhD at University of Tokyo, Abed investigated the competitive adsorption mechanisms of heavy metals in soil and sediments. Abed is a co-researcher in DECCMA’s Work Package 6. He is also involved in DECCMA’s Work Package 2 where he will deal with the GAEZ database development and maintenance, and handle meta data for the Bangladesh team. He is also involved in Work Package 1 in limited capacity.
Md. Rashedul Islam has completed his B.Sc. degree in Civil Engineering at BUET. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc. degree in Environmental Engineering in BUET. He is the project coordinator of the ESPA Deltas for Bangladesh. Rashed is working as a co-investigator in DECCMA’s Work Package 2 on hotspot map analysis and to quantify vulnerability weightage for various climate change parameter issues.
Momtaz Jahan is a Water Resources Engineer from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. She worked on the dumping characteristics of bank protection materials in her undergraduate thesis. She has worked on ESPA Deltas Project and Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre. Currently her main research interest is around different climate change issues in the water related sector. Momtaz Jahan is a Masters fellow and working for Work Packages 2 and 5.
Rubaiya Kabir is a PhD Civil Engineering from the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Bangladesh. Her research study was on the Management of Buriganga Watershed as a Bachelors degree thesis. Rubaiya has worked on ESPA Deltas Project in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) as a Research Assistant. Her keen interest is to work and research in the water sector. Rubaiya is a Masters fellow and working onDECCMA’s Work Package 2.
Debanjali Saha completed her B.Sc. degree in Water Resources Engineering at BUET. She is currently pursuing her M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development in IWFM, BUET. She is conducting research on the prospect of dry season crops in the south-western coastal area of Bangladesh under climate change scenarios. Debanjali is working as a co-investigator in DECCMA’s Work Package 6.
Muhammad Shahriar Shafayet Hossain is a Masters Student of Water Resources Development in IWFM (BUET). He has graduated in Water Resources Engineering from BUET in 2014. His undergraduate thesis title is “A Study on the Morphological Changes of Rivers Around Vicinity of Chandpur Town & Assessment of Its Bank Protection Works”. His main fields of interest are River Engineering, Hydraulic Modelling and Coastal Zone Management. He is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 6 for the DECCMA Project.
Rabeya Akter is working as a Research Assistant in Work Package 2 of the DECCMA project. Her research interests lie in the field of climate change related issues, remote sensing and GIS and Hydraulic and numeric modelling. Prior to this, she worked as a Research Assistant on a Post Graduate Disaster Management Program (PPDM) at BRAC University. She graduated from the Urban and Regional Planning Department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
Shanjida Noor is completing her post graduation in Water Resource Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (BUET). Prior to this she completed her graduation in Environmental Science from the Asian University for Women. Her thesis work was on ‘Introducing feasible waste water treatment processes in Bangladesh using Trametes versicolor, sugarcane bagasse and water hyacinth“. She has intense research interest on climate change issues, adaptation strategies, hydraulic and numeric modelling, remote sensing and GIS. She is working as a DECCEMA research fellow on Fluvio-Tidal Flood and Survey Component (Work Package 2).
Meer Ahemed Tariqul Omar, PhD Fellow, DECCMA, completed his graduation in Urban and Rural Planning in 1996. He did his masters in Water Resources Management from the University of Adelaide in 2012. His dissertation was on Urban Water Balancing model for projected urban growth of Adelaide Metropolis for 2008-2038. Mr. Omar completed another Masters in Development Studies. He is a PhD fellow and involved in Work Package 6 under the DECCMA Project at BUET.
Arif Chowdhury has completed an honors program from Chittagong University. He is interested in research activities and would like to work in the environmental sectors. He is the founder co-ordinator of a non-governmental organisation named “Youth Volunteer of Environment” and attends several national and international programs. He is working as a research assistant on the DECCMA project.
Shamrita Zaman completed her B.Sc in Civil Engineering at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology. She has worked as an Assistant Engineer at a project named ECRRP, LGED, where she observed clearly how the people are distressed because of the naturally made climate disaster. She has an interest in research programs on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Her B.Sc thesis was on finding the degradation rate of organic waste mixing with compost. She is working under Work Package 1 on the DECCMA project.
Md. Manjurul Hussain graduated in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Currently, he is doing his MSc in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. His main fields of interest are statistical analysis, GIS, remote sensing and climate change. Md. Manjurul Hussain Shourov is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 5 for the DECCMA Project, which will develop methods to assess adaptation choices in deltas, with a strong focus on migration.
Delowar Hossain is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Presently, he is pursuing his M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. His research interests are numerical modelling, GIS, remote sensing and hydrological modelling. He is working as a research assistant for the DECCMA project on Work Package 2. His main task is to run the flow model and provide information about the fluvio-tidal flooding.
Mahmida Tul Urmi is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. She is currently pursuing her M.Sc. Degree in Water Resource Development (WRD) from IWFM, BUET, Dhaka. Her main fields of interest are River and Coastal Morphology, Climate Change Impact on Water Resources, Hydrology and Climate modelling, etc. Mahmida Tul Urmi is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 2 for the DECCMA Project, which will examine the vulnerability, environmental stressors and hazards of a range of climate change and biophysically driven scenarios across the four study deltas.
Md. Aminul Islam Khan has completed his BSc degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Currently, he is doing his MSc in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. His main fields of interest are rainfall trend analysis, statistical analysis, GIS and remote sensing, climate change, river discharge, contamination source identification and sensor placement in water distribution network, water quality assessment, phytoremediation, etc. Md. Aminul Islam Khan is a Research Assistant, working on Work Package 2 and Work Package 5 for the DECCMA Project.
Anika Tahsin is a civil and environmental engineer with a research interest in water and environmental sectors. She has completed her graduation from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. Currently she is pursuing her M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development at IWFM, BUET. Anika is working on Work Package 2 for the DECCMA Project, which will geographically define the key hazard / environmental stressor components. Her main task is to run the flow model.
Faisal Mahmood is a Water Resources Engineer with an interest in understanding how rural and urban communities respond to climate change. Faisal mainly focuses on mitigation and development in subsistence communities in Water Resources Sectors in Bangladesh. River bank erosion, Flood Risk Management and Remote Sensing and GIS is the primary research interest of Faisal. Currently he is ongoing with his M.Sc in (WRD) in Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. Faisal is acting as a researcher on Hydrotrend model in DECCMA project, which is required to predict the sediment flux and discharge of GBM basin. The result analysis further leads to predict the climatic vulnerability and adaption in the catchment areas of the basin.
Sadmina Razzaque is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Presently, she is pursuing her M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. Her research interests are numerical modelling, GIS, remote sensing and hydrological modelling. She is working as a research assistant for the DECCMA project on Work Package 2. Her main task is to run the flow model.
Tansir Zaman Asik has completed his BSc. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Gazipur, Bangladesh. Currently, he is pursuing his MSc. degree in Water Resources Development in the Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh. His main fields of research are remote sensing and GIS, hydraulic and numeric modelling, climate change related issues and mitigation and adaptation policies. He is working on Work Package 2 of the DECCMA project.
Dewan Sadia Karim is an urban planner and has a personal interest in understanding how vulnerable rural and urban communities are to climate change. Before joining DECCMA, Dewan did research on how to improve living conditions of rural people via social business. She is working as a research assistance for DECCMA’s Work Package 2, which will identify the vulnerable and risk prone areas subject to four types of hazard, in the three deltas.
Nishat Tasnim Priyanka is currently pursuing her M.Sc. in Water Resource Development at the Institute of Water and Flood Management, BUET. She is a Civil and Environmental Engineer from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet. Her undergraduate thesis was on Slope Stability Analysis of Sylhet City using Landslide Possibility Index (LPI) and Limit Equilibrium Method. Her research interests are GIS, remote sensing and numerical modelling. She is working as a Research Assistant on DECCMA’s Work Package 2.
Mashrekur Rahman received his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering in 2014 and his M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Development in October 2016. He has a number of scientific conferences, journal, book chapter publications and numerous newspaper columns based on his research. Mashrekur’s current research interests include remote sensing, GIS, hydrodynamic modelling, environment, aquaculture, wetlands and water management in drought-prone regions. Mashrekur is currently working on Work Package 5 of the DECCMA project. He is also playing an active role in DECCMA’s Research-Into-Use.
