Sheep rearing to evade climate change fallout

The people of the southern coastal part of Bangladesh always experience severe impacts of climate change on their lives and livelihood. Severe cyclones and saline water intrusion make their lives even more vulnerable. These natural calamities have been directly affecting the natural ecosystems, natural resources and leaving negative impacts on the economy, livelihood, agriculture and food security that prove challenging to achievement of  the goals of Millennium Development Goals.
History says, once the coastal districts of Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat were rich with livestock like buffaloes, cows and goats. Two recent extreme weather events Aila and Sidr hit and destroyed this habitat. Intrusion of saline water has changed the soil properties for agricultural activities. Due to this increased salinity, absence of crop agricultural practices, lack of grazing lands and acute fodder problem, the livestock resources have been reduced seriously in the coastal areas.
It has been found that sheep rearing is an important and potential adaptive livestock option in the areas with increased salinity. Sheep is stress-tolerant and fond of local grass named 'Samna' (English name Sea Hard Grass and scientific name parapholis strigosa) which is also highly saline tolerant and adaptive.
Sheep rearing is gradually becoming a more popular livelihood option in the coastal areas as it is a household-based adaptation and alternative income option. It requires a 5´x8´ house for 5/6 sheep. Sheep eat almost everything. Samna, a local grass, is the major feed for sheep. The grass is very suitable to grow well in saline soil.  Cultivation of this grass could be done on land adjacent to the homestead. In the month of April, the grass has to be sown following zero tillage. Some urea fertiliser and irrigation may be required for rapid growth. Beside this grass, sheep take wide range of feed like kura (waste from rice husking), different other grasses available in the locality and leaves of trees.
Vaccination and de-worming must be ensured for sheep to avoid diseases and unexpected death. A sheep of 5/6 months could be sold for Tk 1,500-Tk2000. Sheep-dung is used both as fertiliser (compost) for vegetables production and as fuel.  A household can save their fuel cost per month around Tk450 if they have 5-6 sheep. Sheep wool is another potential earning prospect if high volume production and marketing are ensured through group production and proper market linkage.
The community can adopt sheep rearing as an important and potential adaptive livelihood option in the increased salinity context. Sheep rearing can contribute to employment opportunities and eradication of poverty of the poor and marginal, specially, as a household-based income generation option, where employment scope is a major problem.
There is a lack of good breed of sheep in our country. If researchers could improve the breed as well as management practices, it can change the livelihood of the vulnerable coastal people. Training and market linkage are also essential for sustainable production system.
The writer is working as Deputy Programme Manager, Climate Change and Disaster Resilience, the Department of Islamic
Relief, Bangladesh anwar_kbd@yahoo.com