Agri-Food System Governance in Bangladesh’s Coastal Regions: Why the Socio-Ecological Systems Approach Needs to be Politicized

Authors

Deepa Joshi International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri LankaPaul Schulze Department of Environmental Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Patuakhali, BangladeshMD Nurul Amin CNRS (Center for Natural Resource Studies), Dhaka, BangladeshBryce Gallant International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri LankaMohamed Aheeyar International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri LankaMokhlesur Rahman CNRS (Center for Natural Resource Studies), Dhaka, BangladeshJames Garrett Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Rome, ItalyMou Rani Sarker International Rice Research Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59490/ijwg.12.2025.7772

Keywords:

Bangladesh, SES, socio-ecological systems, agri-food systems, governance, politicizing

Abstract

While Bangladesh is reported as doing well in food production, there is increasing concern that this essentially deltaic and highly climate-vulnerable country will face steep challenges in food governance and productivity. Anthropogenic drivers shaped by narrow economic goals and sectoral policies have deeply altered Bangladesh’s food systems since the early 1960s and partly led to adverse outcomes. By combining policy and institutional analysis and primary research in Shyamnagar Upazila in Satkhira district in the southern coastal deltas, we revisit two key transitions, poldering and commercial shrimp farming, to reveal how diverse economic, social, and political factors have reshaped the efficiency, inclusivity, and sustainability of agri-food systems. These complex interactions between agrifood systems, the broader ecology, and heterogeneity in poverty, gender, and other social identities are poorly understood and accounted for in policies and program interventions. This has resulted in unequal conflicts and contestations around critical resources, which impact most marginalized groups, also because policy incoherence encourages collusions between local elites and local decision-makers (all men) for resource appropriation and control. Conceptually, a social-ecological systems (SES) framework would identify these complexities. However, SES approaches tend to be technocratic and overlook the overtly economic framing of natural resources governance, diversity amongst local communities, and the politics of resource appropriation. This gap can be remedied by merging SES thinking with a critical political ecology lens to trace the historical, scalar, and deeply intersectional nature of socio-ecological relations.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2025-01-16

How to Cite

Joshi, D., Schulze, P., Amin, M. N., Gallant, B., Aheeyar, M., Rahman, M., … Sarker, M. R. (2025). Agri-Food System Governance in Bangladesh’s Coastal Regions: Why the Socio-Ecological Systems Approach Needs to be Politicized. International Journal of Water Governance, 12. https://doi.org/10.59490/ijwg.12.2025.7772

Issue

Section

Research Article

Categories

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.