Country Evidence/Lao PDR/Ongoing
Assessing climate risks for small-scale farmers in Lao PDR
SUMERNET
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This policy brief, produced by the Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) with the National Agriculture and Forestry College of Lao PDR, assesses climate risks facing small-scale farmers in Luang Prabang and Savannakhet provinces. It focuses on climate hazards that matter most for smallholders, including rainfall variability, mid-year dry spells and late-season flooding, and examines how these affect farming systems that often combine rice cultivation with integrated aquatic production such as fish raised in paddies or ponds. The brief presents projected rice-yield and climate-risk scenarios for 2020, 2050 and 2080, providing a forward-looking view of how conditions may change and which areas or households could be most affected. Its central recommendation is to strengthen local adaptation planning capacity, so that district and provincial authorities can anticipate risks and support farmers with appropriate strategies. Although not exclusively about aquaculture, the brief is classed as contextual because it captures the wider farming and food-security environment in which rice-fish and other aquatic production operates in Lao PDR. It is useful for scenario framing, for policy dialogue with local government, and as a baseline when designing integrated agriculture-aquaculture adaptation interventions in the country.
Additional Details
- Author(s)
- National Agriculture and Forestry College, Laos; Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET)
- Type
- Policy brief
- Aquaculture / Fisheries Dimension
- Smallholder farming systems including integrated aquatic production in Luang Prabang and Savannakhet
- Relevance to Climate Aquaculture
- Contextual
- Thematic Area
- Vulnerability & Risk Assessment
- Climate Issue
- Rainfall variability, mid-year dry spells and late-season flooding
- Adaptation / Key Contribution
- Projects future rice-yield and climate-risk scenarios (2020/2050/2080); recommends local adaptation planning capacity
- How to Use / Notes
- Scenario/policy framing for Lao PDR