The Mekong River in Southeast Asia floods regularly and flood management has been an integral part of local people's lives for many years. But changes to the climate mean that the area now also experiences drought. Can people learn to adapt to droughts as well as floods?

Research from Oxfam Viet Nam and Kyoto University, in Japan, examines the recent droughts in Ninh Thuan province in Viet Nam. Rainfall in Ninh Thuan has been increasing for some time, but there is greater variability from year to year. There are also increasing demands for water, from the agricultural sector and the growing aquaculture industry. These factors all contribute to droughts.

Droughts have several impacts on communities. Farmers are worst affected, with droughts causing serious problems for both crops and livestock. Droughts are often followed by a loss of income and a lack of food for livestock. Women are more severely affected than men, because water scarcity means they have to walk long distances to fetch water. Children are most affected by the higher levels of malnutrition that result from crop failures.

The research shows that local people believe that they are increasingly vulnerable to both droughts and floods, but most cannot identify the reasons for this. They see responding to disasters as a community responsibility and feel that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the government only act after community members have begun to respond themselves. Local people are aware of long-term drought mitigation programmes run by the government and NGOs, but the majority of people believe they have no role in these programmes.

Other findings include:

• Farmers have adapted by using different strategies, such as growing new crop varieties and finding new sources of food for livestock.
• Local people have adopted strategies including food storage, seed preservation and water saving techniques.
• Strategies put forward by the government and NGOs mostly focus on digging wells to access groundwater and providing water storage facilities.
• However, the increasing reliance on groundwater means that salinity has increased and many newly-dug wells do not provide drinking water.
• Local people identified many limitations in current approaches to drought management, including a lack of knowledge about how to cope with droughts and insufficient means of storing water.

Reducing vulnerability to the changing climate in the region, both droughts and floods, will require carefully-planned strategies for both mitigation and response. This will require policies that involve the government, NGOs and local communities.

• Communities should be supported through existing social institutions and organisations, such as village self-help groups.
• Farmers needs more research and training in drought-resistant agricultural techniques.
• It is important to measure the demand for water by all sectors to learn how to close the gap between supply and demand.

Source(s):
'Drought-Management Considerations for Climate-Change Adaptation: Focus on the Mekong Region', Oxfam Viet Nam and Kyoto University, by Rajib Shaw, S Prabhakar, Huy Nguyen and Provash Mondal, 2008

Funded by: Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University; Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science; Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Oxfam Viet Nam

id21 Research Highlight: 5 April 2008

Further Information:
Rajib Shaw
International Environment and Disaster Management
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
Kyoto University
Yoshida Honmachi
Kyoto 6068501
Japan

Tel: 81 75 753 5708
Fax: 81 75 753 5708
Contact the contributor: shaw@global.mbox.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp

International Environment and Disaster Management, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Japan

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