20. Land Use Change in Southwestern Coastal Bangladesh: Consequence to Food and Water Supply

The coastal area in Bangladesh constitutes about 32 % of the country. This one-third of the country’s land is recognized as a zone subject to intensive human use. Land use in the coastal Bangladesh is diverse, competitive, and conflicting. Over the last half-century, coastal land uses of Bangladesh have gone through major changes. Since the 1950s natural disasters like cyclone and tidal flooding, salinity intrusion, large-scale polderization, and intensive shrimp farming have changed the whole coastal area of Bangladesh. Especially, these changes are prominent in the southwestern coastal belt. Consequently these changes in coastal land uses have induced significant impacts on agriculture, crop production, food and water supply, and livelihood of southwestern coastal community. This paper is an attempt to conduct a trend analysis of coastal land use changes in Bangladesh. It highlights the responsible factors behind the coastal land use changes. Further, it examines the impact of coastal land use changes in agricultural production, food, and water supply.