A youth-led initiative titled “Climate Action at Local Level” (CALL) is driving visible change in agriculture, nutrition and local governance across the flood-prone char areas of Savar and the industrial belt of Gazipur.

The project is implemented by the OBHIZATRIK Foundation with technical support from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and funding from the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh.

Under the project, 12 marginal smallholder farmers in Savar upazila received seeds of the modern, zinc-fortified and flood-tolerant BRRI Dhan-102 along with balanced fertilisers (DAP, MOP and Guti Urea).

Thanks to timely interventions before river waters rose in the vulnerable char areas, crops from 10 of the 12 demonstration plots were successfully harvested.

In parallel, 10 extremely climate-vulnerable families in Nayapara, Sadhupara and Shaolateki villages of Ashulia union set up homestead nutrition gardens on unused land, now growing more than 15 varieties of seasonal vegetables using eco-friendly pheromone traps instead of chemical pesticides.

On 4 March 2026, a GAIN technical team, led by agronomist Dr Md Monir Uddin, visited the sites and advised the farmers.

Earlier phases of the project trained over 160 young volunteers – half of them women – across Savar and Gazipur Sadar upazilas, who went on to conduct 16 community awareness campaigns on climate change and nutrition.

“We believe change begins at the grassroots. Through CALL, our young volunteers have shown that with the right training and trust, they can transform not only farmlands but also how local institutions plan for climate and nutrition. This is just the beginning,” said OBHIZATRIK Foundation President Ahmed Imtiaz Jami.