As stronger storms hit Bangladesh farmers, banks are climate collateral damage
16 Aug 2022

WASIM ALI, 45, lived in one of the 55,000 houses destroyed by the deadly Super Cyclone Amphan in May of 2020. The tropical storm whipped up a tidal surge that swept away his house and razed his small farm, measuring just 0.4 hectares (1 acre). Thousands of people were left destitute after this massive natural disaster. But for Wasim Ali, a resident of Protapnagar in Bangladesh’s southwestern Satkhira district, the misery runs deeper.
In addition to the loss of his home and farm, the disaster also left him with no way to pay back a debt of 42,000 takas ($440), an amount he’d borrowed from a bank as an agricultural loan. He’d pledged his farmland as collateral, and says he’s now afraid to face the bank’s officials.
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