Due to the gradual encroachment of natural drainage channels (also known as khals) and the poor management of drainage infrastructures, any rainfall of higher intensity for a few hours causes urban flooding in Dhaka, Bangladesh, hindering the daily lives of city dwellers, especially in slum areas. The Intensity–Duration–Frequency (IDF) curves with return intervals of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years were estimated for a 3 h duration of rainfall using the Gumbel statistical method to assess urban flooding extent around the Baganbari slum within the Baunia Khal watershed. The spatial land use changes of the Baunia Khal were also delineated through the analysis of the areal changes of the khal from 2004 to 2020. The area of the khal was found to be 7.00 km², 2.17 km² and 0.41 km² for the years 2004, 2010, and 2020, respectively. It appears that a gradual massive areal decrease of the khal (impervious land segment) was in progress during this period for high encroachments driven by various governmental agencies and other private entities’ urban developmental projects. The runoff coefficient was computed as 0.76 based on the existing land use pattern, slope, and soil type of the study area. The average runoff generated from the catchment was estimated using the rational method and was 103.41 m³/hr. The drainage length was calculated as 9.1 km using the Kirpich method, whereas the present drainage length was reported as only 6.95 km. The multiple rainfall intensities with return periods of 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years were also applied to replicate a heightened extent of urban flooding in the Baunia Khal watershed. The study suggests that the depth, length and width of the Baunia Khal need to increase to hold the generated runoff to manage urban flooding around the Baunia Khal watershed.

Smart farming using technology-monitored controlled environment agriculture (CEA) has recently evolved to optimize crop growth while minimizing land use and environmental impacts, especially for climate-threatened regions. This study focuses on characterizing crop production using system dynamics (SD) modeling, which is a relatively new approach in CEA settings. Using tomatoes in a hydroponic growing system, we explore an alternative food resource potentially accessible to underserved areas in rural and/or urban settings under abrupt climate variability. The designed autonomous indoor farming platforms (AIFP) are equipped with the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor the physiological parameters, including electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and water temperature (WT) associated with plant growth. Two varieties of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants were used in this study with two different nutrient inputs (N-P-K ratios of 2-1-6 and 5-5-5) to assess the nutrient application impact on yield, especially focusing on the early stages of tomato to conceptualize and parametrize SD modes. Repeated measure analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of the environmental factors (EC, pH, and WT) in response to changing plant nutrients. The results show that different nutrient compositions (N-P-K ratios) have a noticeable effect on both pH and WT (p < 0.001) as opposed to EC. The study indicates that the proposed AIFP would be a promising solution to produce other crops for indoor farming in a changing climate. We anticipate that the proposed AIFP along with SD tools will be widely adopted to promote indoor farming in changing climates, ultimately contributing to community resilience against food insecurity in disadvantaged areas for years to come.

Indoor farming technologies, such as aquaponics and hydroponics, are crucial for advancing sustainable agriculture, especially in urban areas with limited land for conventional agriculture. As studies comparing these two systems are limited, this study explored the cultivation of five leafy vegetables—white leaf beets (Beta vulgaris var. cicla), hooker chives (Allium hookeri), basil (Ocimum basilicum), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), and spearmint (Mentha spicata)—in an indoor greenhouse facility using two different food production platforms: an aquaponic system (AS) with catfish (Silurus asotus) and a conventional hydroponic system (HS). The results showed that the plant growth in AS outperformed that in HS, while the general growth patterns in AS were significantly affected by the different light sources. In addition, the leaf yield of the herbal plants (basil and lemon balm) in AS was 60%–70% more than that in HS. The leaf growth of hooker chives in AS also showed significant improvement (200%) compared with that in HS. It appears that the nutrient sources provided by fish were remarkable, as the average concentration of NO₃–N (64 mg/L) was easily achieved in AS. The proposed AS, therefore, would be a promising alternative to the production and supply of supplement organic food, ultimately contributing to promoting sustainable agriculture in a changing climate.

Optimizing nutrient usage and controlling environmental parameters are crucial for improved crop growth and yield in the cultivation of Cannabis sativa, commonly known as hemp, using controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) systems. Although hemp cultivation in CEA is rapidly growing, the effects of different light-intensity treatments on early vegetative stages of hemp grown in hydroponic and aquaponic systems, along with the impacts on the environment and human health remains limited. This study employed a split-plot design, consisting of two layers of plant grow beds where each layer was exposed to different light intensities (LIs): approximately 752 µmol/m²/s (high light intensity) on the upper layer and 141 µmol/m²/s (low light intensity) on the lower layer. To assess the influence of two different LIs on plant growth indicators, specifically plant length and leaf area, the environmental parameters, including dissolved oxygen (DO), electrical conductivity (EC), pH, and water temperature (WT) were maintained within the same range for both systems. Additionally, the study incorporated a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) to precisely evaluate the environmental performance of both systems. Under the specific environmental and design conditions of this study, hemp plants grown in aquaponics showed greater growth performance in plant length compared to hydroponics (more than 42% higher for both LIs) and leaf area (28.3% greater under 141 µmol/m²/s), although the leaf area was 2.1% lower under 752 µmol/m²/s compared to plants grown in hydroponics. The LCA demonstrated that the aquaponic system provided an efficient and sustainable approach by integrating fish with hemp cultivation. The LCA results showed that aquaponics had a 22% reduction in midpoint and a 15% reduction in endpoint impact in contrast to the hydroponics system for hemp leaf cultivation. This research highlights the potential of aquaponic systems as a viable and sustainable alternative to hydroponic systems for hemp leaf cultivation in CEA under uncertain future climates.

Urban flooding is a frequent disaster during the monsoon period (June–October), hindering the daily lives of city dwellers, especially slum dwellers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This study assessed the impact of urban flooding on the lives of Baganbari slum dwellers in Dhaka, Bangladesh using Moser analytical tools to explore how urban flooding affects individuals of different genders. Participatory and survey methods involving 50 slum dwellers (25 men, 25 women) were carried out to collect feedback and comments. Additionally, focus group discussions (FGDs) and semi-structured and key informant interviews (KII) were also conducted to express gender-related discrimination (e.g., men vs. women). Women are usually involved in “double day” roles (100% in reproductive and 72% in productive roles) while 92% of men are found to have no contribution in those roles. Moreover, women’s participation in community roles is significantly affected during urban flooding (almost 100%) as it imposes a compulsion for them to stay home and carry out their reproductive work. Thus, women encounter numerous challenges in meeting their practical and strategic needs, including ensuring food supplies, managing diseases and menstrual health, upholding sanitation, restricted movement, education obstacles, and more. The result shows that women in the Baganbari slum are found to have only 35% access and 6% control over resources, benefits, health facilities, and decision-making power during urban flooding. The significant decline in the access and control profile of women during urban flooding aggregates their difficulties and drives them into vulnerable positions in their own households.