Circular economy and nature-based solutions for WASH resilience in Bangladesh’s Hill tracts

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:Provides empirical baseline data on water fetching times and determinants in a climate-vulnerable hill region.

🏢実務担当者:Can inform WASH project design and NbS implementation in mountainous developing regions.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights need for targeted WASH investments and climate adaptation policies in indigenous areas.

Climate change is one of the pressing issues in Bangladesh, a developing country in South Asia. Reliable access to safe water and adequate sanitation remains a critical challenge for indigenous communities in this country’s southern part, i.e., Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), where steep terrain and seasonal climate shocks intensify fetching burdens and health risks. They are mostly dependent on natural resources to meet their basic needs. A few studies are addressing their Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) condition and climate vulnerability, as well as nature-based solutions with a focus on the circular economy. With that view, a cross-sectional survey was conducted on 81 households across four Chakma, Tripura, and Bangali settlements. Evaluating the perception and effect of climate change on the underprivileged people of CHT revealed a bitter truth. Farmers are leaving paddy production to minimize water use in agriculture and investing money with high interest to afford the initial cost of Tobacco cultivation. Consequently, food scarcity and financial burden make their lives more difficult, with prevailing water, sanitation, and flood problems. Descriptive analyses revealed average round-trip fetching times of 7.8 min for drinking water and 19.4 min for domestic water, and 60% of households experience seasonal or chronic scarcity. One-way ANOVA and multiple regression showed that each additional 100 m distance to a water source increases domestic-fetching time by 3.1 min ( p < 0.001), while higher climate-shock indices add 1.8 min ( p = 0.003). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analyses identified a high-burden profile encompassing one-third of households. These findings urge targeted WASH investments and align with SDG 6 and climate-resilience goals. Therefore, this study concluded by incorporating a circular economy to strengthen governance and financial systems through nature-based solutions. Integrating proper health, sanitation, and technological knowledge with interest-free investment in the communities can be a sustainable solution.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-026-03656-1first seen 2026-06-17 05:24:15 · last seen 2026-06-17 07:13:39