Climate Mitigation and Livelihoods Improvements through Sustainable Agricultural Practices

and Community Based Disaster Risk Management

Drought Resilient Agriculture Techniques

Presented by: CEDAC and LWFThe Davis Hotel Bangkok

22nd -23rd .July.2010

Strengthening Climate ResilienceRegional Consultation Workshop

Background

• Impacts of climate hazards in Cambodia: flood and drought are the two main extreme climate events and occur every year in a number of provinces.

• Extreme drought in recent years has meant that farmers lack sufficient water for agricultural production.

• Most of farmer families have insufficient productivity to feed themselves, especially in the dry season.

Drought Mapping in Cambodia

NGOs Interventions on Drought– CEDAC

– LWF

– ActionAid

– Oxfam

– Plan

– World vision

– ZoA

– Etc ……..

Strategies

• Strengthening local leadership and improve governance for equitable and sustainable development.

• Empowering communities to obtain improved and sustainable socio-economic livelihoods.

• Empowering communities to conserve and manage natural resources in sustainable ways and to manage and mitigate disaster risk, including climate change adaptation.

Project Interventions and Achievements

• Climate change and rice study: One of recommendations in the research is to promoted Drought Resilience Agricultural technique.

• Applied Drought Resilience Agricultural Technique: Through public awareness and the needs of the community people, System of rice Intensification (SRI), Multi-Purpose Farms, DRIP, vegetable growing and animal raising have been applied in drought prone areas.

• Case study collection and Farmer Magazine: Disseminate the drought resilient innovation to others farmers in and outside areas through farmer magazines and case studies collection .

Multipurpose Farm

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

Poultry Raising

DRIP Irrigation

Project Interventions and Achievements

• Participatory Action Research (PAR): The Involvement of farmers in all stage of the research which lead to increase the capacity of farmers on discovering innovations to adapt to CC.

• Community based organizations established and functioning as structures with mandate for disaster management, and innovation development and dissemination.

• Provision of small and medium scale mitigation in the form of

technical inputs in drought resistant agriculture and mitigation infrastructure like spillway, waterwheel,...

Small and medium-scales structural mitigation projects

Project Interventions and Achievements

• Promote access to small scale economic and skill through improved access to saving group, set up income generation activities like small business by community people

• Linking farmers to market by promoting organic rice through established rice producer groups, community based rice mill.

• Planting trees: Awareness raising conducted to promote trees planting.

• Promoting improving cook stoves (less firewood used) to the target farmers.

• Increase public awareness of climate change and disaster risks:

1. Counseling cards on drought resilience agricultural technique developed and disseminated.

2. Posters on what the community people should do before, during and after drought developed and disseminated.

3. Radio program on promoting climate change adaptation and DRR.

Project Interventions and Achievements

Challenges

• Drought occurs more frequently, presumably affected by climate change.

• Communities and local leaders have limited capacities to cope.

• Advocacy to duty bearers to assist vulnerable communities in disaster risk reduction and adaptation to climate change.

Lesson Leant• Strong grassroots organizations and networks

are able to mobilize and strengthen mutual help when the community members face physical and financial crisis.

• Participatory Action Research approaches build the confidence of farmers to apply innovations.

• The drought resilience agriculture techniques are high potential for Cambodia that are supporting to mitigate disaster and adapt to climate change.