Study Report On Wetland Agriculture And Water Management In The Mekong Region

Under FAO initiative on eco-friendly water management for sustainable wetland agriculture, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), as the service provider, prepared the Study Report on Wetland Agriculture and Water Management in Mekong Region study report on wetland agriculture and water management in the Mekong Region for further program formulation. The overall objective is to review the current water management in relation to agriculture and identify the good practices and experiences of water management as a win-win solution for agriculture production and wetland conservation and recommend program formulation on eco-friendly water management for sustainable wetland agriculture. The expected outcome of the overall initiative is sustainable use of wetland to stress both productive and ecological functions of agriculture. The outputs aim to provide the solution as a win-win strategy for wetland and agriculture through eco-friendly water management, which will contribute to the ecological health, function and integrity of the Mekong Wetland Agriculture Ecosystem. Country consultation workshops were conducted for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to increase awareness on the issues of sustainable wetland management, and identify the threats, gaps and needs, priorities, and way forward towards sustainable use of wetlands in the Mekong Region.

The three case studies address different issues in different countries. All case studies attempt to provide incentives and trade-off mechanisms that are mutually beneficial for both agricultural production and the environment. Thailand organic rice cultivation and Viet Nam flood-based cropping systems are the examples on market mechanisms; while China case and Thailand floods control are government/policy driven. All case studies draw on extensive desk reviews and field studies.

The impacts of climate change on agriculture and food production in Southeast Asia will be largely mediated through water, but climate is only one driver of change. Water resources in the region will be shaped by a complex mixture of social, economic and environmental factors. This report reviews the current status and trends in water management in the Greater Mekong Subregion; assesses likely impacts of climate change on water resources to 2050; examines water management strategies in the context of climate and other changes; and identifies priority actions for governments and communities to improve resilience of the water sector and safeguard food production.

This report documents current irrigation and water policies in the Mekong countries. It successively reviews planning issues, water policies and legal frameworks, the setting up of water policy "apex bodies," participatory policies, and IWRM/river basin management.

This booklet contains the introduction to the volume and executive summaries of each of the five chapters. The full volume can be viewed and printed in its entirety or as separate chapters from the accompanying CD-ROM.

In many places, growing population, in conjunction with efforts to increase food security, is escalating pressure to expand agriculture within wetlands. The environmental impact of wetland agriculture can have profound social and economic repercussions for people dependent on ecosystem services other than those provided directly by agriculture. If wetlands are not used sustainably, the functions which support agriculture, as well as other food security and ecosystem services, are undermined. This report synthesizes findings from multidisciplinary studies conducted into sustainable wetland agriculture by IWMI and partners in Africa and Asia. It highlights the value of wetland agriculture for poverty reduction as well as the need for more systematic planning that takes into account trade-offs in the multiple services that wetlands provide.

The catchment area of the Mekong River and its tributaries extends from China, through Burma/Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and to Vietnam. The water resources of the Mekong region - from the Irrawaddy and Nu-Salween in the west, across the Chao Phraya to the Lancang-Mekong and Red River in the east- are increasingly contested. Governments, companies, and banks are driving new investments in roads, dams, diversions, irrigation schemes, navigation facilities, power plants and other emblems of conventional 'development'. Their plans and interventions should provide some benefits, but also pose multiple burdens and risks to millions of people dependent on wetlands, floodplains and aquatic resources, in particular, the wild capture fisheries of rivers and lakes. This book examines how large-scale projects are being proposed, justified, and built. How are such projects contested and how do specific governance regimes influence decision making? The book also highlights the emergence of new actors, rights and trade-off debates, and the social and environmental consequences of 'water resources development'. This book shows how diverse, and often antagonistic, ideologies and interests are contesting for legitimacy. It argues that the distribution of decision-making, political, and discursive power influences how the waterscapes of the region will ultimately look and how benefits, costs and risks will be distributed. These issues are crucial for the transformation of waterscapes and the prospects for democratizing water governance in the Mekong region. The book is part of the action-research of the M-POWER (Mekong Program on Water, Environment and Resilience) knowledge network. Published with IFAD, CG|AR Challenge Program on Water & Food, M-POWER, Project ECHEL-EAU and HEINRICH BOLL STIFTUNG