Informal Institution and Adaptation to Climate Change: Insights from Rural Coastal Communities
has been conducted to understand the links between institutions and climate
adaptation. In particular, little is known about how informal institutions shape
adaptation. This research aims to understand how rural informal institutions influence
adaptation responses of coastal community members in Bangladesh. The framework of
this study builds on the emerging literature on institutions and climate change
adaptation. To understand the complex interplay between these phenomena, this
qualitative study collected data from a coastal fishing-dependent village in the northeast
coastal region of Bangladesh. The study finds that people primarily rely on informal
institutions such as kinship and dadon (an informal money lending system based on
local networks) and patronage politics to adapt to risks associated with riverbank
erosion. It also suggests that dadon, despite being exploitative, is an umbilical cord of
coastal fishing communities to adapt to the recurrent climatic shocks as the formal
institutions are weak. However, these informal institutions may undermine long-term
adaptive capacity of vulnerable coastal communities deal with risks associated with
climate change.