Living on the frontline of climate change +FIRST RAN NOV 28+
133 views · Published 15 December 2018 · 7:52 · Indexed 15 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(10 Dec 2018) LEAD IN As world leaders talk climate change at the the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) in Poland, farmers in Myanmar are already racing to adapt to the realities of changing weather patterns. Stretching down the Bay of Bengal – with vastly varied terrain - Myanmar's communities are forced to cope with cyclones and floods, but also extreme drought. STORYLINE Suu Kyi, a farmer in Nyaung-U, in central Myanmar's Dry Zone, says it hardly rained there this year, making it harder to collect water. "If there's rain, we can collect water from our village pond, but if there's no rain, we have to hire a tractor or ox cart to collect water from another village," she says. A new well in her village – supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Adaptation Fund – has helped ensured water security though, in an otherwise harsh year. "Now we have our own well, we save money," she says. UNDP is also equipping communities to plant more trees, irrigate farmland, diversify into more drought-resistant crops, as well as livestock, such as goats. "The main objective…is to reduce vulnerability of dry zone farmers to increasing drought and rainfall variability, as well as enhance their capacity to cope with and adapt to changing climatic conditions," explains UNDP Technical Specialist Karma Rapten. According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2018, the South-Asian nation is one of the three most vulnerable globally to the extreme weather and losses linked to climate change, along with Honduras and Haiti. This is compounded by widespread poverty, according to Biplove Choudhary, Ph.D, Chief of the UNDP's Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Unit, affecting about a third of the population. "Out of the 52 odd million population that Myanmar has, a large number of the people who are living in Myanmar have very high poverty rates," says Choudhary. Many also work in sectors such as agriculture, where livelihoods can be lost over minor climatic changes. The highlands of Shan State - which grow numerous crops, including ginger and chilies, are seeing shorter, heavier monsoon seasons, as well as soil erosion, making landslides more common. According to local farmer U Win, deforestation is also an iss "14-15 years ago, we had good weather and forests, so we could grow good crops, but in recent years, there was more deforestation, so rain became unpredictable and our yields decreased. We also saw more insects destroy our crops." With training from the Myanmar Institute of Integrated Development (MIID), his village is now cultivating more large plants on their land, such as banana trees, to cool their air for other crops to succeed, as well as tackle soil erosion. A new MIID-supported well also saves them time collecting water, allowing U Win and his family to concentrate more on planting trees and tending to their crops. While water shortages continue to strain farmers in the country's north and center, in the southern Ayerwaddy Delta, variability in rainfall patterns and difficulties forecasting when and what to grow are a key challenge. According to Wilson John Barbon, Country Director of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) – now developing Climate Smart Villages in the delta – diversification is key in adapting to abnormality, such as via homestead farming. "So maybe you're a rice farmer. Then maybe you need to think about other options like producing ducks or producing fish. You can have fish ponds in your rice farms," which provide an additional income, as well as trap rain and reduce floods. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/919370c2ec08e2093353acba7ec14e5a
