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Summary country scoping study
CCA in Cambodia (2009)
Muanpong Juntopas)
Sam Chanthy
Stockholm Environment Institute
Asia Center
Concerned locations
• Tonle Sap Floodplain and
Mekong (Delta) – prone to
flood and drought
• North-eastern Cambodia –
in terms of lowest adaptive
capacity
• Coastal zone – vulnerability
to sea level rise
Key Vulnerable Sectors
• Agriculture
• Water resources
• Natural disaster
–flood/draught
Agriculture
• Agriculture is the main economic sector
– generating 37% for national GDP ( 63%
crop and 37% of fisheries, forestry and livestock)
• Gives Employment/livelihood: 60%
rural population derives their livelihoods
from this agriculture sector (only 7% is
irrigated land)
• Rice is the primary crop covering about
90% of the cropped land which 80% of
cultivators is farmers.
Water Resources
• Important base for agriculture- both rice and
fisheries
• Not enough irrigating infrastructures
• Though there are irrigations, people still
cannot access to them due to geography,
facilities and management
Natural Disasters
• Prone to flood and drought
• Mainly affect rice cultivation and fishery
• Insufficient climate proof infrastructures
Responses
Response overall
•
Most CCA work in the water, agriculture, and disaster risk
management sectors vis-à-vis projects born out of NAPA
• challenges for Cambodia is Water Resources
– how it addresses water scarcity that jeopardizes sources of
safe drinking water and agriculture
– conversely how it copes with excessive water
Response 2
• activity around NAPA focus on
increasing water management
to increase agricultural
productivity, understanding
country’s vulnerability to the CC
hazard
• disaster risk management, and
to a lesser degree, the
protection of coastal area
Agriculture
• NAPA activities related to
climate change adaptation
through the
– improvement of rainwater
harvesting facilities at the village
level;
– System of Rice Intensification (SRI)
to reduce vulnerability to changing
rainfall amounts and patterns;
– modifications to the designs of
reservoirs and irrigation channels
Response3
• 3 projects on coastal protection ( Mangrove
Restoration) to stabilize coastal shorelines to
reduce sea water intrusion, and to protect
coastal areas from storm damage.
• underscore the shift in NAPA initiatives to a
more robust ecosystem-based approach
Water Resources
• As Cambodia’s agriculture sector is
prone to both drought and floods, some
ongoing adaptation measures
– training of ‘adaptation experts’ in
agricultural extension teams;
– rainwater harvesting techniques
– Conduct pilot projects in local
communities;
– measures to decrease soil erosion
– changed design of reservoirs and irrigation
channels to prevent risks from increased
peak flows; and
Natural Disasters
• small bridges to facilitate evacuations;
• culverts to help floodwaters recede faster;
• dams that facilitate evacuation, but also allow the
impounding of water to irrigate a second crop.
• village’s disaster preparedness: build capacity of
communities, reduced dependency on external
assistance.
Mechanism/support
• Climate change adaptation activity in Cambodia is
coordinated through four (4) central bodies
–
–
–
–
the National Committee for Disaster Management
Climate Change Department
National Authority for the Clean Development Mechanism
National Climate Change Committee.
• These bodies work with a) Ministries of Water Resources
and Meteorology b) Environment b) Ministry of Health c)
Planning d) the Ministry of Agricultural, Forestry, and
Fisheries.
National Climate
Change Committee
Secretariat
Climate Change
Department
UNFCCC & the Kyoto
Protocol Focal Point
Cambodian Interim DNA - MoE
Ad hoc Inter-ministerial Working
Group on Energy
Ad hoc Inter-ministerial Working
Group on Forestry
Green House Gases
Inventory
Green House Gases
Mitigation
Vulnerability
and Adaptation
UNFCCC
Implementation
National Climate Change Committee’s organizational relationships
National Climate Change Committee’s organizational relationships
CCA actors /support -NGOs
• Support Farmer to Farmer Extension groups,
innovation in farming systems, crop research, and
in disaster preparedness and risk management
• NGOS work at the field /National level ( i.e ACIAR)
– technical research with local people
– Support forums & networks geared to climate change
adaptation
– build capacities in government ministries in areas of
risk reduction planning and disaster response, e.g.
climate modeling, forecasting, and vulnerability
assessments.
Some initiatives
Oxfam America is raising public awareness on CCA
climate change ( w/ government bodies i.e. Dept
Meteorology, CCCO) 2010
• public awareness campaign: production of
visual communication materials (photos) to
record the impact of climate change
• Network: Share ‘best practices with members
National Climate Change Network & convene
forum for capacity building and awareness
campaigning
• awareness building initiatives for relevant
government officials and awareness campaign
which will also include a perception study on
climate change.
Planned adaptation
Mostly by NGO
- better crop seeds, digging wells, and
training on agricultural techniques ( by
external NGO)
– pump wells provided by Santi Sena,
rice seed by PADEK
– water pumps provided by Oxfam,
Cambodia Red Cross’s water storage
ponds and irrigation canals
Needs for small-scale and
subsistence farmers and fishers
• knowledge and mechanisms are required to strengthen small scale
producers adaptive capacities - field based adaptation and innovation in
agriculture
• Access to usable scientific information on climate and weather patterns at
the local level
• Hence, there are still significant grey areas in how livelihood security of
small-scale fishers and farmers may be threatened by climate change &
other social and environmental stressors
• strong need for enhanced knowledge bases for decision-making support.
– (1) improved monitoring
– (2) improved groundwater mapping, and compilation of existing (but
scattered) knowledge about groundwater availability and quality
– (3) improved availability and accessibility of data for decision making
processes
– (4) a supporting management capacity at the province and commune level,
and at the irrigation scheme level.
Need for support1
• Funding Support to the GCCA
programme/projects identified in
NAPA 'Integrating Climate Change
Adaptation into National Strategic
Development Plans”
• focuses on capacity for
institutional coordination –
ministries and local planning
(Decentralization process in
Cambodia)
Need for support 2
• capacity for flood and drought warnings - identified in the NAPA
as a problem area.
• Raising awareness on climate change: local planners,
development ministries ( sectors) , schools. Mitigation VS
adaptation
• Mainstreaming CCA in local development planning
• Scenario based planning /climate scenarios /Risk assessment
• Producing trainers/ training package “CC/ CCA”
– Executive briefing
– Managers/ officers
– Field practitioners/ local planners
Needs for support 3
• need quality climate data to enable the
generation of improved climate change
scenarios and projections ( CCD)
• climate data management, forecasting and
automated weather stations (Danida, 2008).
Needs 4
• Currently there are limited platforms and
networks in Cambodia dedicated to
climate change adaptation for
development workers
• Those present are seemingly for the
experts, and not for those that play an
‘everyday role’ in rural development
outside of Phnom Penh
Need 5: Structure and mechanism
• Need for “Structures’ to house and
support the generation & of CCA
knowledge
• Also to coordinate / facilitate capacity
development at the national & commune
level ( to help mainstream CCA to
development programs/ projects)
• to ensure that all institutions involved in
climate change adaptation initiatives have
adequate skills and capacities to fulfill
their obligations
In summary
• literature review & Interview,
Cambodia’s understanding of CCA is still
young; yes experts are emerging, but on
a country scale, even those tasked to
research adaptation needs and
implement adaptation initiatives have
many question that need answering and
clarity.
• Knowledge remains in the hands of
those generating it…highlights the
‘newness’ of the subject matter
nationally