This paper offers an in-depth sociological analysis of how the interplay of climatic factors, agricultural technologies and
markets shapes smallholder livelihoods in Bangladesh to help sketch the outline for a sustainable agricultural adaptation
strategy. It intends to question the technological optimism inherent in mainstream climate change policy discourse by
highlighting the multiple sources of vulnerabilities of smallholder peasants in Bangladesh. Using findings from a
qualitative study, it demonstrates how smallholders in Bangladesh currently experience climate change through their
everyday agricultural practices, and how climate change along with the ecosystem destruction from modern farming
technologies adversely affects their livelihoods. Drawing on the recent literature on sustainable adaptation, this paper
argues that any agricultural adaptation strategy in Bangladesh must analyse the vulnerabilities of farming communities at
the intersection of their geographically specific exposure to climatic threats, the extent of their market participation and
the socioecological implications of their technology adoption. It concludes that an eventual departure from the current rice
monoculture pivoted on chemical dependence and an excessive use of natural resources is the prerequisite for a
sustainable agricultural adaptation.