In the mountainous region of the northern part of Laos, traditional shifting cultivation agriculture is undergoing drastic transitions. New government policies stopping traditional cultivation and the rapid expansion of commercial agriculture with its mass deforestation is terminating traditional cultivation agriculture.
Up until now, villagers in the area have relied on shifting cultivation and the surrounding forest lands to provide their main source of food – rice, as well as various vegetables and edible plants. Agriculture in this area relies heavily on rainfall and is vulnerable to changes in the climate, which results in fewer crop options and yields low productivity. These factors combined threaten the food security of local people. A new food security safety net is urgently needed for these villagers.
WATER PLANT aims at building the capacity of villagers to plan and implement activities for managing water resources in a sustainable way for the future. It also aims at establishing good relationships between villagers and respective government department offices in district and province level, which are responsible for water resource management. WATER PLANT and PLANT projects work side-by-side and are part of our larger vision for a sustained area development plan in Long District.
Donors: JICA, ADRA Japan
Amount: $335,492 USD
Start: 1 November 2009
Finish: 31 March 2012
Location: Long district, Luangnamtha ProvinceBeneficiaries:8 villages in Long District – approx 3,000ppl
Main Objective: Villagers are engaged in ‘water-using agriculture’, including appropriate technologies composed of repairing/expansion the irrigation of rice paddy fields, pond utilization and ram pumps. Capacity building activities for water resource management are planned and implemented by the people in each of the targeted villages.
Main Activities:
- Irrigation: Strengthen any existing irrigation systems, and develop/train/build new irrigations systems from natural water supplies in the local area, such as river and creek water management flow systems.
- Constructing fishponds to add a new income source and supply to the local market.
- Water Utilization: Introduce water-utilizing technologies such as ram pump.
** this project is apart of our greater Food Security Programme that exists in Long District, and the project links up with our PLANT project which focuses on advancing agriculture techniques and environmental management.
