SITUATION ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT 1 SITUATION ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT EKXANG VILLAGE A Selected Climate Smart Vientiane Province, Lao PDR Village Site July 2015 Angela Grant, Soytavanh Mienmany, Anousith Keophoxay, Khamphamy Khodyhotha, Silivong Phonevisay, Chantha Souvannaxayyavong, Phetsamone Toummavong, Saythong Chidvilaphone, Jerome Villanueva, Neeny Khamkhosy, Paul Pavelic, Lilao Bouapao, Palikone Thalongsengchanh, Alice Joan Ferrer, Bui Tan Yen, and Leocadio Sebastian 2 EKXANG VILLAGE, VIENTIANE PROVINCE, LAO PDR Suggested citation Grant A, Mienmany S, Keophoxay A, Khodyhotha K, Phonevisay S, Souvannaxayyavong C, Toummavong P, Chidvilaphone S, Villanueva J, Khamkhosy N, Pavelic P, Bouapao L, Thalongsengchanh P, Ferrer AJ, Yen BT, and Sebastian LS. 2015. Situation Analysis and Needs Assessment Report for Ekxang Village, Lao PDR. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Copenhagen, Denmark. Titles in this series aim to disseminate interim climate change, agriculture and food security research and practices and stimulate feedback from the scientific community. Published by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). CCAFS Coordinating Unit - Department of Agriculture and Ecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 21, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Tel: +45 35331046; Email: ccafs@cgiar. org Creative Commons License The paper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial–NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Articles appearing in this publication may be freely quoted and reproduced provided the source is acknowledged. No use of this publication may be made for resale or other commercial purposes. The tools and guidelines used for implementation of the village baseline study across all CCAFS sites, as well as the mapping outputs at a higher resolution can be accessed on our website (http://ccafs.cgiar.org/ resources/baseline-surveys). © 2015 CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Disclaimer This Paper has been prepared as an output for the baseline activities under the CCAFS program and has not been peer reviewed. Any opinions stated herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of CCAFS, donor agencies, or partners. All images remain the sole property of their source and may not be used for any purpose without written permission of the source. SITUATION ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT 3 Summary Ekxang village is located in the plains of Phonhong district, Vientiane province, Lao PDR. Since the 1990’s, the province has been under rapid infrastructural, economic and social development. Increased access to services including electricity, water, major roads, and education facilitated economic growth in the region. Employment in non-farming activities such as civil servants and factory workers is on the rise, particularly among men. Most of the provincial population (77%) is still dependent on agriculture as their main livelihood activity and rely heavily on natural resources for food security. The main crop produced in Vientiane province is rice (lowland 39.2%, upland 41.5% and plateau 19.3%) with other important crops including tamarind, mango, maize and rubber. Agricultural yields in the region are low but have the potential to increase through the use of supplemental irrigation, new varieties, improved production techniques and the adoption of climate smart technologies. A major threat to agriculture, food security and livelihoods in the region is climate change. The government of Lao PDR recognizes climate change as a barrier to the country’s overall development and has adopted several strategies for promoting adaptation and mitigation across various sectors. However, the ability of the country to adapt depends greatly on the capacity of its institutions to plan and implement these strategies. This study suggests that priority interventions to increase agriculture, food security and improve livelihoods in Ekxang CSV and, on a larger scale, Vientiane province, are 1) develop a sustainable water supply for irrigation, 2) diversify and increase production, 3) build the capacity of local organizations/staff, 4) support projects that focus on skills transfer to local staff and students, 5) enhance current local natural resource management initiatives, and 6) strengthen civil society. Keywords Ekxang, Laos, situation analysis, need assessment, village, CCAFS 4 EKXANG VILLAGE, VIENTIANE PROVINCE, LAO PDR About the Authors • Angela Grant, Neeny Khamkhosy, and Jerome Villanueva are volunteers, working at CUSO International, Vientiane, Lao PDR. • Soytavanh Mienmany and Lilao Bouapao work at the Mekong Development Center, Vientiane, Lao PDR. • Anousith Keophoxay is a staff of the International Water Management Institute, Vientiane, Lao PDR • Khamphamy Khodyhotha, Phetsamone Toummavong and, Saythong Chidvilaphone and Palikone Thalongsengchanh are researchers at the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, Vientiane, Lao PDR. • Silivong Phonevisay work at the the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office, Savanakhet Province, Lao PDR. • Chantha Souvannaxayyavong works at the District Agriculture and Forestry Office, Phonhong District, Lao PDR. • Paul Pavelic, PhD is a specialist in groundwater and conjunctive use management in relation to issues such as floods & droughts, managed aquifer recharge, watershed development, small scale irrigation development and riverbank filtration. He is currently based in IWMI- Laos office in Vientiane, Laos. • Alice Joan Ferrer, PhD is a faculty member in the Division of Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas, Miagao, Iloilo, Philippines. • Bui Tan Yen, PhD is the Science Officer of CCAFS program in Southeast Asia, based in Hanoi, Vietnam. He has 20 years experience in Agronomy, Geographic Information System and land use planning. • Leocadio S. Sebastian, PhD is the current regional program leader for CCAFS Southeast Asiawhere he leads the integration of CCAFS agenda into the regional agenda and national program in CCAFS focus countries. SITUATION ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT 5 Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 8 2. METHODOLOGY 9 3. SITUATION ANALYSIS 10 3.1 Geographic location 10 3.2 Demographics 11 3.3 Local Climatic Information 12 3.4 Natural Resource Utilisation 14 3.4.1 Land resources 14 3.4.2 Forest 16 3.4.3 Water resources 17 3.5 Production and Livelihood Systems 18 3.6 Food Security Status and Trends 19 3.7 Hazards and Vulnerability 21 3.8 Mitigation Measures 23 3.9 Climate Change Perception 24 3.10 Institutional Landscape and Governance 24 3.11 Current and Past Natural Resource Management Initiatives 26 3.11.1 Forestry 26 3.11.2 Water resource 26 3.11.3 Past and current status of NRM in Ekxang village 26 3.12 Organizational Landscape 27 3.12.1 Natural resources management 27 3.12.2 Food security, disaster risk response and prevention 28 3.12.3 Activities related to climate change 28 3.12.4 Stakeholders 28 3.13 Information Networks 31 3.14 Social and Gender Differentiation 31 3.15 Health/Nutrition Profiles and other Livelihood Outcomes 32 4. NEEDS ASSESSMENT 34 4.1 Strengths 34 4.2 Challenges 35 4.3 Priority Need 36 REFERENCES 38 Annex 40 6 EKXANG VILLAGE, VIENTIANE PROVINCE, LAO PDR List of Tables Table 1. Total population in Vientiane Province per district and density per km2 11 Table 2. Commercial production in Phonhong District 19 Table 3. Plan and achievement of rice cultivation in Phonhong district 20 Table 4. Plan and achievement on vegetable crop production 20 Table 5. Plan and Achievement on Meat, fish and egg production 20 Table 6. Area of rain-fed rice fields damaged by flooding in Vientiane 21 Table 7. Past and current status of NRM in Ekxang village 26 Table 8. Key activities and organizations related to natural resources management, food security and climatic stress in Ekxang Village 30 Table 9. Number of staffs working in health centers and hospitals 33 List of Figures Figure 1. Location of Ekxang village in the map of Laos 11 Figure 2. Percentage of population by age in Ekxang village 12 Figure 3. Average monthly temperature and average monthly rainfall for Phonhong district 2009-2014 13 Figure 4. Flow chart of climate information to villagers 14 Figure 5. Number of land lease/concession projects 14 Figure 6. Number of land lease/concession projects per district (top) and per sector (bottom) 15 Figure 7. Land use of Ekxang village in 2015 16 Figure 8. Current resources of Ekxang presented by the villagers during the CCAFS VBS 17 Figure 9. Land holding characteristic of Vientiane Province, 2011 18 Figure 10. Flooding duration in the lower part of Nam Ngum River Basin in 1995 22 Figure 11. Natural hazards and non-natural hazards in Vientiane Province 23 Figure 12. Government structure 25 Figure 13. Maternal Care Practices 32 Figure 14. Sanitation and Water in Vientiane Province 33 SITUATION ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT 7 Abbreviations CSA Climate Smart Agriculture CC Climate Change CCAFS Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security CGIAR Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research CSV Climate Smart Village CUSO Cuso International DAFO District Agriculture and Forestry Office DDMCC Department of Disaster Management and Climate Change DWR Department of Water Resources IWMI International Water Management Institute MDC Mekong Development Center NAFRI National Agriculture and Forestry