FAO.org

The last one of a series of three workshops about climate risk mapping has been finalized today in Oudomxay. The meeting organized by the Department of Agricultural Land Management (DALAM) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), in collaboration with the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI); and the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). The first meeting had been held in Pakse in December including 45 officials from Champasack, Salavan, Xekong, Attapeu. After the success of the first workshop, a second one was organized in Phonsavanh between the 20^th and the 21^st of February, including 74 officials from the District and Province Offices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Natural Resources and Environment of the provinces of Xiengkhuang, Bolikhamxay, Vientiane Capital, Vientiane Province, Savanakhet, Khammuan and Saysomboun. The third and final workshop is organized between the 24^th and the 25^th of February in in Oudomxai including 73 officials from Oudomxay, Phongsaly, Luang Namtha, Huaphan, Luang Prabang and Xaiyaboury.

This activity is a collaboration and is co-financed between SAMIS and the project “Applying seasonal climate forecasting and innovative insurance solutions to climate risk management in the agriculture sector in SE Asia” otherwise known as De-RISK SE Asia. The project, implemented by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) together with International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is financed by the International Climate Initiative of German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (IKI-BMU).

This initiative has allowed to undertake participatory mapping of the actual farmers’ perception of climate change, and how they react to the existing climate threads such as drought and floods. This information is important to understand how to the farmers can use the weekly forecast produced by the Laos Climate Services for Agriculture (LaCSA) that is an online system produced by the Department for Meteorology and Hydrology.

In addition, the authorities have used participatory mapping to define farmers’ livelihood. This map will guide the government authorities to improve the agricultural sector responses against climate change, such as adopting resilient crop varieties or adjusting the management for pest and disease. The SAMIS project is producing maps of the future of agriculture due to the shift in crops due to climate change. However, in order to compare the present with the future, these livelihood maps can be used as present status of agriculture.

The initiative will allow for DALAM to produce a multiplicity of maps data at national level, all included in the concept of “livelihood mapping”, that will be put online in the Land Resources Information Management System (LRMIS) that is under preparation.