National Workshop on Options for Flood Risk Management & Damage Reduction in Bangladesh

1. National Workshop on Options for Flood Risk Management & Damage Reduction in Bangladesh Report of Group 3 on Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock & Industries September 9, 2004

2. Presentations ●7 presentations/papers ●Crops, Fisheries, Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Industries, RMG ●Each paper estimates losses, categorises types of loss, describes problems during and after flood and recommends ways to overcome them ● Certain commonalities across papers and subsequent discussion

3. Strategic Issues ●Flood proofing or preparedness to reduce losses during and after flood ● Instituting an Early Warning System ● Damage assessment ● Post-flood rehabilitation ● Prioritisation of proposed flood risk management activities

4. Flood proofing ● Continuous monitoring of major infrastructure, e.g., Jamuna Bridge, to detect adverse effects on erosion to take redressal measures ● Raise mud-built platforms, perimeter of ponds, extra floors in school (in old and new ones as appropriate) & factory buildings as shelters for livestock, poultry, machineries, inventories. Extra care needed for saline zone industries due to corrosive action of saline water. ● Use nets, cages and bamboo-made ‘bana’ to prevent fish migration ● Roads to be constructed at higher than flood level

5. Flood proofing ●Strategic inputs supply, feed and drugs in case of livestock, seed and seedlings in case of crops to be ensured. To this end, strategic reserves of feed, medicines & seeds may be built up and maintained at various admin. levels by DAE, DLS, respective associations ●R&D on shorter crop cycles, problems of sand carpeting and suitable crop varieties needed

6. Flood proofing ● Road, embankment & similar infrastructure to be environment-friendly in general, fish-friendly in particular, through appropriate and adequate appurtenant structures ● Use concrete blocks of sand and cement to lower construction costs, minimise sand carpeting and keep rivers more navigable ● Planting of suitable trees species for preventing soil erosion along roads and embankments to be mandatory ● Planting of fodder trees to provide fodder and also fuel at times of emergency

7. Flood proofing ● Feed and veterinary drugs market to be regulated at times of floods ● Emergency vaccination programmes through mobilisation of veterinary teams ●To facilitate communication at times of floods, provide for several mechanised boats at an appropriate admin. Level (village/union) ●Gender dimensions of production activities and flood proofing to be kept in proper purview

8. Flood proofing ● Land zoning for settlement purposes, resettlement of distressed people, specific production activities such as dairy farming to be facilitated through appropriate laws, rules and procedures, as necessary

9. Flood proofing ● Facilitate additional reqd investment for flood proofing construction through appropriate credit facilities and construction codes as appropriate; also for build-up of strategic reserve ● Local government & community involvement to be facilitated through participatory process

10. Early Warning System ●Institute more dependable & flexible EWS by incorporating as many relevant factors as possible ●Lead time estimates to be widely disseminated in simple & easy language through all national and regional level media ●EW to be as much region & location specific as possible ●Local government to be involved properly in dissemination of EW

11. Damage Assessment ● Damage assessment often inflated. For rehabilitation purpose, asset loss to be estimated properly through independent, properly trained assessors, transparent book keeping and validation through sample surveys ● Damage assessment to take both positive and negative effects of flood into account ● Identification of most severely affected - by and large the poor, weak and marginal groups, is essential. They should be the main focus of rehabilitation ● Methodological improvement necessary in assessing damages to poor as benchmarking makes all the difference

12. Post-flood Rehabilitation ●Risk insurance for various sectors to be facilitated. Settlement of insurance claims to be made easier ●Credit, if necessary, to be provided on easy terms. Refinancing and rescheduling facilities to be used as necessary. If needed appropriate legal covers to be provided. ●Provisions for consumption loans in credit operations of fin. institutions, if necessary, underwritten by Govt ●Create Risk Management Fund in rev budget of ministries with stringent conditions of utlisation during disaster emergencies. May start with next revised budget in December.

13. Post-flood Rehabilitation ●Create enabling conditions for voluntary fund creation by community for use only during emergency ●No decision but questions raised on how beneficiaries of help/grants/support may pay back community once production resumes; could be no retrenchment promise by industrialists for a year or farmers paying back seeds or its value in future. Some of this can be part of community emergencey fund that will lessen need for immediate help from Govt during future crises ●Facilitate IGAs and micro credit after flood. If necessary, use central zakat funds as well as encourage individuals to contribute to Voluntary Community Fund

14. Post-flood Rehabilitation ●Lack of coordination a major impediment. To overcome this, Government may each year by a specific date inform Local Governments of all public interventions including their budgets under their geographical jurisdiction for scrutiny of overlapping, lack of coordination and finalisation through their vetting. Local Govt capacity building would be essential in this regard.

15. Post-flood Rehabilitation ● Most policies do not include disaster risk reduction provisions. These need to be revised and made consistent with each other. PoAs also have to be revised accordingly. Legal covers may be required for such major changes and should be initiated as soon as possible. ●Administrative responsibility delineation for crops outside the purview of MoA and industries outside MoI during emergencies

16. Prioritisation ●Immediate measures - EWS, communication and shelter issues, and speedy fund release procedures ●Short term measures - Emergency fund from next revised budget - Arrangement for strategic reserves of inputs - Credit, refinancing and rescheduling - Admin responsibility delineation for certain crops and industries ● Medium term measures - All others except those involving policy, legal changes and R&D ● Long-term measures - All others particularly those involving policy, legal changes and R&D

17. THANK YOU