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Hugh Brammer

October 22, 1925 - January 13, 2021

Hugh Brammer (M.A. Geography, Cambridge University, 1951) worked over 60 years as a soil scientist and agricultural advisor; becoming the foremost authority on the soils and agro-ecology of Bangladesh about which he wrote 11 books and numerous articles, as well as encouraging and supporting two generations of researchers and students. Hugh had a huge professional commitment to science as a geographer and soil scientist, and a fascination with every aspect of nature. He had a deep love of Bangladesh from investigating all its natural complexity and beauty and this became over more than 50 years virtually his second homeland. What a warm generous friend and helpful adviser he has been to us and many other researchers and students around the world. His advice to public policy makers and those working in NGOs was always considered, evidence based and truthful. He was honoured with gold medals for his work by the President of Bangladesh, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, and in the UK by the Royal Geographical Society, an OBE and an Honorary Fellowship of Downing College Cambridge. After a short illness, he sadly passed away on 13th January 2021. He will be much missed by his family and his friends across the world. On behalf of his family, Edward Clay, Steve Jones and Catharien Terwisscha van Scheltinga

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Terry Cannon 2021-01-14 20:11:05 wrote:

Losing Hugh is like losing a friend who is also an encyclopedia combined with a powerful analytical engine, switched on all the time but with a sense of humour! He and i have recently been trying to increase the influence of his thinking and DATA on Bangladesh, and whether or not climate change is the main issue to be concerned with. He erred (in my view) to give too much prominence to population (I see it as a dependent variable), but we were agreed that most problems in the country were related to long-standing problems which climate change WILL magnify but must be dealt with outside of that frame of reference - in order to make it possible to deal with climate change. He insisted on referring to the data, and where it seemed to be missing then trying to collate it through his network of friends and colleagues. He was certain that so far there was little evidence of any significant impacts of climate change in the country, a view (supported by his data) that did not endear him to most Bangladeshis (and many from outside organizations) for whom the climate change narrative was either a moral or a financial advantage... Some do not understand: but he was not a climate change "denier", simply arguing for science rather than imagined problems that cannot be substantiated. He gave two seminars for us at IDS a couple of years ago, and caused a lot of good thinking and puzzlement among the students! He was very willing to accept that climate change was coming - but that the country needed to sort out lots of existing problems to enable it to adapt to this future and that not enough was being done to do that (partly because of the "diversion" to focus on climate change. One of his best legacies will be to try to continue these discussions. I am surprised at the depth of my feelings of loss, and realise that it is because I will miss his great sense of purpose and devotion to getting things right.

Terry Cannon 2021-01-14 20:11:05 wrote: Losing Hugh is like losing a friend who is also an encyclopedia combined with a powerful analytical engine, switched on all the time but with a sense of humour! He and i have recently been trying to increase the influence of his thinking and DATA on Bangladesh, and whether or not climate change is the main issue to be concerned with. He erred (in my view) to give too much prominence to population (I see it as a dependent variable), but we were agreed that most problems in the country were related to long-standing problems which climate change WILL magnify but must be dealt with outside of that frame of reference - in order to make it possible to deal with climate change. He insisted on referring to the data, and where it seemed to be missing then trying to collate it through his network of friends and colleagues. He was certain that so far there was little evidence of any significant impacts of climate change in the country, a view (supported by his data) that did not endear him to most Bangladeshis (and many from outside organizations) for whom the climate change narrative was either a moral or a financial advantage... Some do not understand: but he was not a climate change "denier", simply arguing for science rather than imagined problems that cannot be substantiated. He gave two seminars for us at IDS a couple of years ago, and caused a lot of good thinking and puzzlement among the students! He was very willing to accept that climate change was coming - but that the country needed to sort out lots of existing problems to enable it to adapt to this future and that not enough was being done to do that (partly because of the "diversion" to focus on climate change. One of his best legacies will be to try to continue these discussions. I am surprised at the depth of my feelings of loss, and realise that it is because I will miss his great sense of purpose and devotion to getting things right.

Comments (1)

  • Tineke Brinkman Anonymous user 14-01 2021 21:35

    Dear Terry, Indeed, Hugh denied that Climate Change was the Big Problem. We would discuss how family planning came too late and with too little impact. Also we looked at the 'high rises' in Dhaka and wondered about primary education; literacy and the (at

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