Journal of Food Security, 2015, Vol. 3, No. 5, 125-136 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfs/3/5/2 © Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/jfs-3-5-2 Community Based Risk Assessment of Agriculture Sector in Sreerampur Union of Bangladesh AKM Abdul Ahad Biswas 1,* , Md. Tariqul Islam 2 , Md. Abdus Sattar 1 , Shamima Nasrin Mili 2 , Tawrat Jahan 2 1 Department of Disaster Risk Management, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh 2 Faculty of Disaster Management, Patuakhali science and Technology University, Patuakhali, Bangladesh *Corresponding author: aahadpstu@yahoo.com Abstract Community based risk assessment (CBRA) is process for assessing local hazards, vulnerabilities, risks; coping capacity and finally identified risk mitigations options are the ultimate outcome of CBRA. Selected study area was Sreerampur sub-sub district in Dumki sub district of Patuakhali district in Bangladesh aiming to gather information on local hazards; to assess community vulnerabilities, capacity, risks and existing adaptation measures adopted by agriculture farmers. Focus-group-discussions, key-informant-interviews, extensive physical visit and exploration of secondary data sources were followed to collect primary and secondary data. Result revealed that in Sreerampur no innovative adaptations options were practiced. Only alternative options are adopting to reduce risks which results higher production costs in agriculture and environmental degradation. Due to the changing trend in risk profiles; increasing its persistence time and frequency and intensity, farmer’s adaptation capacities and sustainability are more exposed to vulnerability. They are increasingly depending on the non-agricultural livelihood activities and migrating from nature based traditional on-farm livelihood to nonfarm livelihood as alternative options, not as innovative sustainable options. Therefore need community based hazard specific more research in agriculture to understand characteristics of hazard events, mode of impact and community based appropriate adaptive measures if we want community resilience in the country. Keywords: adaptation, agriculture, community, farmers, risk assessment Cite This Article: AKM Abdul Ahad Biswas, Md. Tariqul Islam, Md. Abdus Sattar, Shamima Nasrin Mili, and Tawrat Jahan, “Community Based Risk Assessment of Agriculture Sector in Sreerampur Union of Bangladesh.” Journal of Food Security, vol. 3, no. 5 (2015): 125-136. doi: 10.12691/jfs-3-5-2. 1. Introduction Hazard is a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption, or environmental damage [1]. Hazard means an abnormal event which has the potential to cause colossal loss to human life and livelihood and which can be either natural, human induced, biological or technological in nature. Risk results from the interaction of physically defined hazards with the properties of the exposed systems, i.e. sensitivity or vulnerability. In risk assessment, the focus is on individuals and social groups and understanding the probabilistic of the triggering event [2]. These interactions mean that different people are exposed in different ways to stresses and threats. Or more simply, who is vulnerable? To what? Risk equals the probability of climate hazard multiplied by a given system’s vulnerability. Although measurement of risk is clearly important, quantification does not always tell the whole story, and not all risks are quantifiable [3]. According to UNISDR, risk is the combination of the probability of a hazardous event and its consequences which result from interaction(s) between natural or man-made hazard(s), vulnerability, exposure and capacity [1]. It is important to consider the social contexts in which risks occur and that people therefore do not necessarily share the same perceptions of risk and their underlying risk factors. Risk assessment is an approach to determine the nature and extent of risk by analyzing potential hazards and evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability. ISO 31000 defines risk assessment as a process made up of processes: risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation. Risk identification is process that is used to find, recognize, and describe the risks that could affect the achievement of objectives [1]. Over the last two decades there has been a growing realization that disaster management is most effective at the community level where specific local needs, resources, and capacities are met [4,5]. In risk assessment, the focus is on individuals and social groups and understanding the probabilistic of the triggering event [2,6]. Several studies have been revealed the positive outcomes of community based approaches for disaster management worldwide [7,8,9]. This present study focused on farmer’s Hazards, vulnerability, capacity and risk analysis by understanding, planning for and adapting to a changing climate that individual agriculture farmer can take advantage of opportunities to reduce risks associated with climate-induced stresses [10]. The UNDP [11] define risk by the equation: Risk = Hazard X Vulnerability. [R= (HXV)], Scientists [12,13,14,15] adds