Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change through Integrated Agricultural Approach S.M.A. Islam 1 , M.S. Osman 1 , G.C. Saha 1 , H.M.A. Hoque 2 and M.S. Reza 3 1 Department of Civil Engineering, Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur 2 Center for Climate Change and Sustainability Research, Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur 3 DUET-NICHE Project, Department of Civil Engineering, Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology, Gazipur, Bangladesh Abstract: About half of Bangladesh’s total labor force is somehow employed in agricultural sector. Impacts of climate change have become a growing concern for agriculture in Bangladesh as well as in the other countries of South and South-East Asia in recent years. Shifting rainfall pattern along with salinity intrusion as a result of sea level rise have made the sector very much vulnerable. Occurrence of extreme events like catastrophic cyclones has become more frequent. Increasing population is an added pressure to this sector as agricultural lands are transformed into households and rest of it is split into parts and pieces. This combined effect of climate change impact and population pressure is gradually making the agricultural land scarce. Reduced monsoon rainfall and intrusion of saline water through coastal flooding and storm surges are shortening the irrigation water availability. To make the most out of these scarce resources, an integrated approach of agriculture is needed. This paper is based on the interim outcome of a pilot research on integrated farming in the saline prone southern coastal region of Bangladesh. A combination of agriculture, vegetable gardening and fish farming was implemented in the research. Biological method was applied for pest control. Small Pond Irrigation System is another component of the project. Small pond irrigation was found to be very effective for vegetable gardening. It was also effective in suppressing soil salinity during dry season. The study found that this integrated application enabled a year round productivity from the research field. Annual turnover was profitable up to 15- 20% more than the usual practice. Biological pest control managed to maintain a production rate of 85-95% compared to inorganic pesticide application. But, farmers often prefer inorganic pesticides due to ease of application and simplicity. The research concludes that integrated agriculture could be a prominent adaptation option to climate change. A community based approach would render a better result during replicating this scheme by integrating small plots into a larger one. As a whole, integrated agriculture could be a path setter toward sustainable development. Keywords: Bangladesh, climate change, community based adaptation, integrated agriculture, rainwater harvesting. 1. Introduction It has been well demonstrated that Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Increased frequency and severity of many natural hazards like floods, cyclones and droughts are the elementary evidences of climate change impacts on the country. Moreover, the expected variability of the rainfall pattern will surely aggravate the current scenario [1]. The rainfall dependency of livelihood due to a distinct seasonality, profound relationship between rainfall variability and food security, inadequate livelihood opportunities during the dry season and social inequality ISBN 978-93-84422-50-9 Proceedings of 2015 International Conference on Green Buildings, Civil and Architecture Engineering (ICGBCAE'15) Dubai, Dec. 25-26, 2015 pp. 15-21 http://dx.doi.org/10.17758/UR.U1215306 15