Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Rohal Suong village Aek Phnom district, Battambang province, Cambodia (CA01)

This report presents findings from a village baseline study conducted in Rohal Suong village in Cambodia. Findings have been gathered from focus group discussions and participatory resource mapping with community members in Rohal Suong. The site analysis is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) Baseline Survey work and provides information on community resources, the organizational landscape, and information networks at the village level. These indicators will be monitored over time and compared across other village sites to assess changes in food security and natural resource management. The baseline study shows that Rohal Suong is endowed with several types of natural resources, with little farm system diversification and livelihoods, but good access to physical and institutional infrastructure. When it comes to networks of information, the findings show that people receive and access a variety of community-level information, as more than 60% of the households can access a TV and/or radio. However, most of the accessed information does not necessarily relate to agriculture, weather, climate and/or environmental changes. The main challenges include deteriorating natural resources, high input costs on the farm with low production profitability. The community also lacks understanding of how to adapt their agriculture practices to the now increasingly variable seasonal cycle of flooding and drought. The community has identified irrigation water management and farm trainings as priorities for increasing agriculture productivity and profitability in the village

Summary of Baseline Household Survey Results: Vinh Loi district Bac Lieu province Viet Nam

The household baseline survey conducted in December 2014 to January 2015 collected data from 140 households in seven villages, including Tra Hat village, in Bac Lieu province, Vietnam. This is part of the baseline data collection activities in Tra Hat Climate Smart Village of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. The objective is to collect household baseline data where data in five or 10 years in the same households will be compared to capture changes that may occur over time. Results showed that the households were highly dependent on farming, particularly rice, for food and income. Farming, however, was characterized by low crop and commercialization index. They diversified income sources by engaging in off-farm work within the area or migrating to other places to find work. The market influenced more farmers’ decisions related to crops, but climate-related factors were becoming significant. Adaptation and mitigation measures need to be enhanced. Providing the farmers with correct information can help them make better decisions about the future. Access to land, increased production, few natural disasters in the area, and improved irrigation were likely the reasons for enough food supply among most of the households

Summary of Baseline Household Survey Results: Ek Phnum district Battambang province Cambodia

The household baseline survey conducted from December 2014 to January 2015 collected data from 140 households in seven villages, including Rohal Suong village, in the Ek Phnum district, Battambang province, Cambodia. This is part of the baseline data collection activities in Rohal Suong Climate Smart Village of CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. The objective is to collect household baseline data where the data to be collected five and 10 years after on the same households will be compared to capture changes that may occur over time. Results showed that the households were highly dependent on farming and small livestock raising for food and income and had access to small landholdings. Households also diversified income sources by engaging in off-farm work, and experienced hunger, especially in the months of October to December. Farming was characterized by low crop and commercialization index. Climate change-related factors, particularly drought and flooding, were the main factors identified to influence farming decisions. Adaptation and mitigation measures need to be enhanced. Information on extreme weather events were commonly available, but not weather forecasts. Providing the farmers with correct information can help them make good farming decisions

Situation Analysis and Needs Assessment Report for My Loi village and Ha Tinh province, Viet Nam

My Loi village is located in the uplands of Ky Son commune, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province on the north central coast of Viet Nam. In 2014, it was chosen as a site for Climate-Smart Village because of its exposure to multiple extreme weather events (temperature and water stress, storm and typhoon) and the potential for climate-smart solutions. The purpose of situation analysis and needs assessment was to understand the current situation at the village and province levels, on a number of issues, including food security and natural resources management, and to identify and prioritize the needs for My Loi to develop agriculture and livelihoods in synergy with climate adaptation and mitigation interventions. Data collection was conducted in October 2014 alongside a Village Baseline Study. The findings were shared during a feedback meeting in December 2014. The major findings for My Loi Village included: 1) main livelihood sources are in forestry (140 ha acacia and eucalyptus planted in near 200 ha) and rainfed agriculture (55 ha, paddy rice, peanut, maize, green bean, and sweet potato); 2) main constraints for production are water scarcity and poor soil quality; 3) livestock was promoted to improve livelihood diversification; Low investment capital and diseases are the households’ main challenges for expansion from an average of 1-2 cows per household. Larger herds could open up opportunities for biogas production. Feed sources, however, are unclear. The villagers identified 21 stakeholders active within food security (the majority), food crisis and natural resource management. The village experienced temporary periods of food insecurity during natural disasters. While the main issues relating to natural resources were pollution (mining) and land degradation, there was little awareness of the potential impacts due to progressing climate variability and change. The CCAFS CSV projects, therefore, are a timely complement to help implement the province action plan and policies in response to climate change

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Pailom village Champone district, Savannakhet province, Lao PDR (LA02)

Data collection for the village baseline study of Pailom village located in Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR, took place from 17th -19th Oct, 2014. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for men and women. The village experienced yearly food shortage leading to hunger and malnutrition. Contributory factors included the frequent drought and crop damage from pests and diseases, poor irrigation facilities benefiting only very few farms, high concentration of salt in soil that limits crop diversification in certain areas of arable land, and increasing population that reduces the land area per person. Rice production was the main livelihood in the village but only limited during the wet season because it is mostly rainfall dependant. During the dry season, fields are left to fallow and used for livestock grazing. The government has provided emergency food aid such as rice and corn powder at subsidized cost during food shortage. , Villagers were temporarily migrating to Thailand to work as labourers in factories and in other farms. Few organizations were operating in the village, particularly working on food security and food crisis issues. Information networking for agricultural activities was mainly by individual (farmer to farmer) interaction rather than media. There was poor dissemination of agricultural information or technical support from agriculture extension workers and responsible agencies. Identified priorities in Pailom village include strengthening and promoting agricultural research extension to gather information on fertilizer management, sustainable agricultural production techniques, pest and disease management

Situation Analysis and Needs Assessment Report for Ma Village and Yan Bai Province, Vietnam

Ma village is one of the 15 villages of Vinh Kien commune, Yen Binh district, Yen Bai province in the northern mountainous region of Viet Nam. Ma village was selected as a site for the Climate Smart Village (CSV) development under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). It has a topography, landscape and climate conditions representing most in the region and faces increasing challenges caused by climate variability, natural resources degradation, and environmental pollution. The village’s current production systems have low sustainability and profits. Maize and cassava are largely produced in dominant monoculture systems on sloping lands representing most of the village’s total arable lands, while rice is planted in a small area. Slash and burn practices are used largely in sloping lands, while unbalanced fertilizer levels (often with too much nitrogen) are applied for all the crops, and integrated pest management is yet to be promoted. All these have caused high intensity soil erosion, land degradation, and GHG emission. In addition, improper waste management, particularly from cassava, has resulted in severe water pollution in all river and lake systems. Organizations are present to support Ma village and the province in the areas of agriculture, forestry, food security, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, coordination between organizations remains poor. The local systems currently do not have the capacity to solve the multiple problems in the village. Human and financial resources. Inadequate. Support from CCAFS in important to help the village address the increasing problems caused by climate change, water pollution, soil erosion, and land degradation

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Tra Hat Village, Vinh Loi, Bac Lieu, Viet Nam (VNM 03)

This report presents data collected from the Village Baseline Study conducted on 2-4 October 2014 at the Tra Hat village, Vinh Loi district, Bac Lieu, Vietnam. Data were collected through focus group discussions and participatory resource mapping with community members in the village. The Village Baseline Study is part of the baseline activities conducted under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) in South East Asia. The purpose is to collect data for indicators that will allow site comparability and monitoring to assess changes in terms of food security and natural resource management across time. Results show that the men and women in Tra Hat village consider farmland, rivers and canals as important natural resources. The quality, however, of land, water and wildlife habitats has declined in the last decade along with the improvement of farming techniques and intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Infrastructures such as roads, internal canals, hospitals, schools, water supply station and electricity transformer station have improved. The future is envisioned to have improved internal canals in farmlands and a developed irrigation system, dykes and sluices to support high agriculture production. Home garden diversification was also believed to enhance food security and improve livelihood resilience. To turn the vision into reality, the community expects support from the different organizations working in the area considering current impacts of salinity intrusion and sea level rise, the need interventions of CCAFS and its partners. Strengthening the irrigation system, improving local rice variety, and introducing modern farming techniques taking into account negative impacts of climate change are major recommendation for future intervention

Village Baseline Study – Site Analysis Report for My Loi, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province – Viet Nam

Data collection for the Village Baseline Study (VBS) of My Loi village in the CCAFS benchmark site of central Viet Nam took place on 17- 19 October 2014. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for 45 men and 45 women villagers.. The VBS had three main topics: map of (1) community resources, (2) organizational landscapes, and (3) information networks. A seminar was held in December 2014 to seek participants’ feedback. My Loi village has experienced multiple extreme weather events (temperature and water stresses, storms and typhoons) throughout the years. The main constraints for agricultural development and livelihoods are limited water resources and poor conditions of irrigation systems, which are challenges to improving the agricultural production situation. Moreover, sand and rock mining have caused water pollution, erosion on riverbanks and loss of farmland area. Another constraint is marketing, as villagers are not aware of any organization involved in finding outlets for agricultural products. The potentials for developing innovative climate-smart solutions in the village are several: farmers have experiences and are interested in trying new varieties and adjusting farming calendars to improve the situation. Livestock expansion and agroforests/reforestation hold opportunities for improving household incomes. Furthermore, at least half of the organisations identified in the region are working to address food security issues

Village Baseline Study – Site Analysis Report Ma village-Yen Binh district, Vietnam

Ma village, Vinh Kien commune, Yen Binh district, Yen Bai province has been selected to be one of Climate Smart Villages (CSVs) under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) in Southeast Asia. The village baseline survey (VBS) of Ma village, was therefore conducted as part of the baseline effort. This VBS aimed to provide baseline information at the village level about some basic indicators of natural resource utilization, organizational landscapes, and information networks for weather and agricultural information, which can be compared across sites and monitored over time. The study was conducted using the method developed and provided by CCAFS. The study’s findings show that Ma Village is rich and diverse in natural resources. There are three main resources of vital importance for the local people livelihoods, namely farmland, forest and water resources. However, improper exploitation and management have caused negative impacts on these resources. As mentioned by farmers, in the past, farmland of the village used to be very fertile, but has now become severely degraded due to overexploitation and improper management. Regarding forest resources: before 1980s, natural forests existed in large areas and consisted of valuable timber and wild animals. Today, much of the forest area has been converted to production forests or to food crop production land. Water resources, including lakes, rivers and streams have been severely polluted with pollutants from processing cassava, wood and also from animal husbandry and crop production. Degradation of water, farmland and forest resources are causing increasing challenges to agricultural production and also to other human activities. Results of farmer group discussions also demonstrate that there are 34 organizations operating in the village. Most of them are governmental. Very few are private or non-governmental organizations. The number of organizations involving in food security accounts for nearly 50%, the figure for those involving food crisis is 41.6% and in natural resources management is 25%. Those organizations working in food security and food crisis focus mainly on providing support (financial, seed and agricultural inputs) to local farmers to implement some production activities. Insufficient attention and input spent for sustainable development by these 34 organizations, especially those working in the area of natural resources management, could be one of the main reasons for the degradation and erosion of natural resources. There was no activity supporting Ma Village to develop production systems which can respond well to climate change. The study findings however show that local people are very flexible and creative, especially in exploitation of information. Among media channels, television is the most popular. Nevertheless, organizations, in particular, extension networks, Farmers’ Union, local authorities, etc., also have an important role in information dissemination. Exploitation of information from the internet and mobile phones has also been given attention, but mostly by young people only

Summary of Baseline Household Survey Results: Phonghong district Vientiane province Lao PDR

This report summarizes the results of the household baseline survey conducted in Ekxang Climate-Smart Village and six surrounding villages in Phonghong district, Vientiane province, Lao PDR. The survey was implemented with participation of 140 randomly selected households using pre-prepared tablet-based questionnaires. The majority of the households were male-headed. On average, each household had six members and most of the members were between 5 and 60 years old. The household size and labor force in the target region are similar to national average. The main source of food and income of the households were from on-farm agriculture production, which was mostly contributed by cultivation and livestock. Agriculture production was mainly for self-sufficient purpose as most of products were consumed within the household. Farm size mostly ranged between 1 and 5 hectares and households still can expand land for crops from existing pasture or fallow land. Besides their own land, households were also allowed access to communal land for food crops, vegetables, and other products. With the availability of arable land, food production was enough for the household demand throughout the year. Considering a “typical food year”, food shortage was only experienced by 3% of the households in June, July and October. Few households experienced food crisis in last five years. Although climate change is widely mentioned by the community, it was not perceived as a main factor that led to changes in farming practices. About 80% of the households changed their crops following market price and preference of consumer and availability of labor over the last 10 years. Rain water was often available for farming during rainy season. During the dry season, due to limited capacity of irrigation system, farmers often use water from ponds and boreholes for surrounding crop fields. Regarding information sources, households received climate and weather information from television and individuals, such as friends, relatives or neighbors. Most of the households owned television (97.9%) and mobile phone (95.7%). Information about extreme events and short term (2-3 days) weather forecast were available, but not the long term weather forecast or early warning of pest and disease outbreak. It seems that government organizations did not pay much attention to providing climate information to farmers as only one out of 129 households reported that they receive the information from government staffs