In 2019, 61 percent of the population living in rural areas, 76 percent of whom rely on
\nagriculture as the main source of income and livelihood, sustainable rural and agricultural
\ndevelopment is paramount to the Cambodian economy. National Strategic Development Plan
\n2019\u20132023 forms the basis of the national approach for strengthening the agriculture sector to
\ngenerate jobs, ensure food and nutrition security, expand agricultural exports, reduce poverty,
\nimprove rural livelihoods and revive rural areas towards achieving sustainable and inclusive
\ndevelopment and climate change resilience.\u00a0The shock of the Covid-19 pandemic has coincided with other shocks and trends such as the
\nrisk of economic crisis and financial collapse, the US-China trade war, disruption of supply
\nchains, and impact on the poor due to lack of alternative or additional livelihood opportunities
\nand income and the absence of social safety nets. The Covid-19 outbreak has shed new light
\non agriculture as a relatively more resilient sector and the imperative of ensuring food security
\n(World Bank 2020).\u00a0Agriculture and water are among the high priority sectors for achieving the targets of the
\nCambodia Sustainable Development Goals, Cambodia Climate Change Strategic Plan 2014\u2013
\n2023 and Cambodia\u2019s Nationally Determined Contributions (intended reductions in greenhouse
\ngas emissions) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The impacts of
\nclimate change on these two sectors vary depending on location and the levels of exposure and
\nsensitivity and adaptive capacityThe study set out to identify groups of people who are vulnerable (both site and context-specific) to climate change, and their capacity and practices for responding to and coping
\nwith climate hazards such as flood, drought and windstorm across the four agro-ecological
\nzones. The study looks at how climate change affects the agriculture and water sectors and the
\nlivelihoods dependent on them, highlights cost-effective and technically appropriate climate
\nchange responses, and suggests best practices to suit different local settings in Cambodia.Among all climate hazards, the study found that prolonged droughts from 2013 to the present
\n(2020) caused the most severe impacts. Across all four agro-ecological zones, the rural
\ncommunities dependent on agriculture have high levels of vulnerability and those dependent
\non water resources have medium levels of vulnerability. Agriculture and water resources in
\nthe Tonle Sap, Mekong flood plain and coastal areas were found to be moderately vulnerable
\nto floods. Agriculture in the Tonle Sap, Mekong floodplain and coastal areas is moderately
\nvulnerable to windstorms and water resources in all communities are less vulnerable (flash
\nflood damage locally). Local community adaptive capacity levels for both agriculture and
\nwater resources are assessed at low and medium.\u00a0High vulnerability to drought can be attributed to local communities\u2019 low adaptive capacities,
\ninfluenced by such factors as poverty (most rural residents are still living just above the poverty
\nline), poor infrastructure, lack of social safety nets (lack of resilience), low understanding of
\nthe causes and effects of climate change, and inadequate hazard predictions and warnings even
\nthough droughts are becoming increasingly frequent.\u00a0How local households and communities deal with climate risks mainly depends on their level
\nof reliance on natural resources and traditional ad hoc (i.e., unplanned adaptation actions),
\nwhich will not be enough to mitigate climate change. Information is not provided in an easy-to-understand format suitable for people with low literacy skills or without technological means.\u00a0The study proposes three measures for strengthening local community resilience to climate
\nchange:
\nImprove access to financial and technical supports (to be responsive and sustainable) so
\nthat local communities can enhance their capacity to adapt and cope with extreme events.Distribute climate change responses in irrigated and climate-resilient agriculture among
\nlocal people and authorities geographically (most vulnerable locations) and fairly (based
\non actual needs without political consideration or bias).Engage stakeholders from different levels of government, from central to subnational
\nadministration including commune, village and community authorities, in a highly
\nintegrated approach to build climate resilience through local community actions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 2019, 61 percent of the population living in rural areas, 76 percent of whom rely on agriculture as the main source of income and livelihood, sustainable rural and agricultural development is paramount to the Cambodian economy. National Strategic Development Plan 2019\u20132023 forms the basis of the national approach for strengthening the agriculture sector to generate jobs, ensure food and nutrition security, expand agricultural exports, reduce poverty, improve rural livelihoods and revive rural areas towards achieving sustainable and inclusive development […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33440","publications","type-publications","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n