Climate pressures on agriculture could significantly alter household food choices and ultimately impact nutrition and cardiometabolic health, experts warned at a workshop in the capital recently.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) organized the workshop in Dhaka to examine the interconnected pathways between climate change, agricultural output, food availability, and chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
The workshop utilized Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM), a systems analysis approach designed to map complex interlinkages across sectors. Organizers noted that this event marked the first application of FCM in Bangladesh focused specifically on the nexus of climate, nutrition, and cardiometabolic health.
The workshop was conducted under the project titled "The Impact of Climate Change on Nutrition and Cardiometabolic Disease in Bangladesh: Catalyzing Policy Action," funded through the Wellcome Trust Climate Impacts Award.
Running from March 2026 to February 2029, the initiative aims to generate evidence to support healthier diets and climate-responsive public policies.
Dr. Sreejith Aravindakshan, CIMMYT Scientist in Adoption, Scaling and Innovation Systems, led the session and introduced the FCM methodology.
