IWMI in Southeast Asia

The improvement of Earth Observation (EO) sensors and modern computational efficiency in the form of cloud analytics platform has made monitoring and interpretation of floods much more efficient. In this study, we present the recently occurred floods in the north-central section of the Irrawaddy River, inundating the adjoining farmlands on the active floodplains along a stretch of 228 km. The amount of rainfall was observed to have gradually risen from early June 2022 captured through GPM data. Similarly, the water levels in the study stretch were observed to have increased from 98.08 m to 104.08 m (from Sentinel-3 altimetry) due to torrential rains on the northern hilly tracts of Myanmar. High-resolution Sentinel-1 SAR datasets have been used to estimate flood progression in the GEE platform. The total inundated area had risen from 196 to 989 sq. km. throughout June till the first week of July. Thus, EO data associated with accessible computing on cloud platforms help monitor flood progression, warn the community well in advance and support the development of crop insurance strategies, anticipatory actions and many more to strengthen evidence-based flood policy.

Food rescue has emerged as a promising approach to address the interrelated issues of food insecurity and food waste. According to the food waste hierarchy, the next best strategy after food waste prevention is to donate surplus food for human consumption. However, while some countries have well-established networks of charities and government support to promote surplus food donation and food rescue in most developing countries is often less structured and smaller in scale. To gain insights into the current landscape of food rescue, this study thoroughly examined existing food rescue operations and systems, mainly from the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines. The study also analysed several countriesapos; food rescue policy environments to understand how an enabling environment can be created. A particular focus was set on food safety being a critical consideration when rescuing and donating surplus food. Simplified food safety guidelines, staff training, and adequate storage and transportation facilities are crucial to food safety. Effective partnerships between food rescue organizations, food businesses, government agencies, and other stakeholders are also critical to the success of food rescue efforts. The study found a need to develop such partnerships in developing countries, where they may be less established than in the Global North. To facilitate the development of an enabling environment for food rescue in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the study developed a set of templates, including relevant food safety guidelines, partnership contracts, and policy templates. These resources can serve as valuable tools for stakeholders in LMICs to promote and enhance food rescue efforts that can help address food insecurity and reduce food waste.

The AGRUMIG project was a comparative analysis of experiences from Europe, Asia and Africa, and explored the impact of migration on the trajectory of agricultural change in rural areas. This brief reviews the findings of our seven-country study. The research focused on 19 remittance-dependent communities in seven countries: China, Ethiopia, Moldova, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Thailand.

Processing biomass from different waste streams into marketable products such as organic fertilizer and bio-energy is increasingly realized through public-private partnerships (PPPs). In developing countries, the private sector can be expected to contribute technical skills, organizational capabilities and marketing expertise, and leverage capital inflow. In contrast, the public sector will provide the regulatory framework and help its enforcement, plan public investment, involve and educate stakeholders, and ensure waste supply. This report reviews case studies that implemented PPPs in resource recovery and reuse (RRR) from waste streams with a particular focus on Asia and Africa, including those PPPs facilitated by the authors. Critical factors behind the success and failure of these cases are analyzed. The review indicates three key barriers to success: (i) waste-related bottlenecks, (ii) limited awareness about RRR products and their market(ing), and (iii) lack of proper institutional frameworks. Common shortfalls concern failure to meet commitments related to the quality and quantity of waste, missing understanding of the reuse market, etc. The report points out mitigation measures addressing possible challenges around appropriate technologies, finance and revenue streams, legal issues, as well as social and environmental concerns. It is required to establish close monitoring, appropriate procurement mechanisms and due diligence during the project preparation and pre-bid. If possible, such a PPP project should consider risk and commercial viability assessment as well as financial strategy planning (scaling). Successful involvement of the private sector in the RRR market is critical to close the resource loop and safeguard human and environmental health, which is the overarching objective of sustainable waste management.

This brief focuses on international labor migration through a bilateral agreement and pre-departure training program in four major destination countries. Migration has been a common strategy for rural households to cope with fluctuations in agricultural production and prices, land pressure, and income diversification. Internal labor migration between rural and urban areas is most often for work in construction, manufacturing and services in industrial estate areas in cities including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Ayutthaya, Chonburi, and Rayong. Many people leave Thailand to find work abroad, where there are better income and job prospects.

The purpose of this policy brief is to draw together key comparative lessons on different types of migration governance interventions in the AGRUMIG project research regions and examine how they support positive feedback loops between migration and agrarian and rural development. This exploration offers stories of success and omission. Moving beyond the elusive triple-win situation on the benefits of migration for destination and origin countries, migrants themselves and the highly politicized domain of the migration-development nexus, our point of departure is that there are vital prospects for augmenting the positive impacts of migration for societies globally. This brief focuses on how migration governance interventions are potentially useful in maximizing the gains between migration and agrarian development in the sending communities in China, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal and Thailand.

Land policy reform has dominated the development agenda across the Global South over the past two decades. In contrast with earlier distributive land reforms, contemporary policies reflect an amalgamation of neoliberal, state territorial, and social justice agendas. This paper demonstrates how land policy changes reflect the spatially extensive and multi-scalar politics of land contestation and control, employing the cases of Myanmar and Laos. Myanmar’s short-lived democratic transition enabled civil society actors to exert uneven influence on policy reform. In contrast, communist party and state dominance in Laos has constrained, although not wholly obstructed, policy intervention by non-governmental groups.

Access to sufficient clean water is important for reducing the risks from COVID-19. It is unclear, however, what influence COVID-19 has had on water insecurities. The objective of this study was to assess the associations between COVID-19 control measures and household water insecurities. A survey of 1559 individuals living in vulnerable communities in five countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) showed that increased needs for clean water to wash hands or facemasks made it more likely a person was water insecure along those dimensions. Water insecurities with respect to handwashing and drinking, in turn, made adoption of the corresponding good practices less likely, whereas in the case of washing facemasks there was no association. Water system infrastructure, environmental conditions such as foods and droughts, as well as gender norms and knowledge, were also important for water insecurities and the adoption of good practices. As domestic water insecurities and COVID-19 control measures are associated with each other, efforts should therefore be directed at identifying and assisting the water insecure at high risk when COVID-19 reaches their communities.

What happens to local institutional arrangements regarding access and use of communal land under the forces of agricultural commercialization? Taking Khwaykham village in Phongsaly province, Laos as a case study, this paper sheds light on this question as farm households in the settlement have progressively transitioned to commercial farming, specifically tea cultivation. Traditionally, farm households’ access and rights to use the land were embedded in their swidden agriculture practices. The adoption of tea has increasingly fixed land use rights, making land sticky at the household rather than communal level. How, why and with what effects this occurs are the focus of the paper. We argue that while this transition to tea cultivation has benefited – in income terms – most farm households in the village, it has also created an agrarian context for increased inequity between those households who rapidly took the opportunity from the tea boom and others who have missed out on it.

The Central Dry Zone (CDZ) of Myanmar is the heartland of the Burmese culture, and in many ways, it is socially and culturally coherent with the other rice-centred cultures of mainland Southeast Asia. In climatic terms, it is a semi-arid outlier in a mostly wet-tropical region. Climate change is exacerbating weather variability and water insecurity, and the CDZ thus epitomises the challenges posed by climate change for much of the region. This chapter describes two examples of interventions aimed at addressing water insecurity in the CDZ: pumped irrigation at Pyawt Ywar; and artesian groundwater in the Pale Subbasin. Both address the interconnections between social and physical drivers of vulnerability. They demonstrate the challenges and importance of working across institutional scales. These examples demonstrate that progress is possible at local levels despite a lack of (or inappropriate) national policy and regulations, which limit the scale, and possibly the long-term sustainability of such gains.

This paper highlights how farmers in a northern Lao village transformed their customary land rights – in the face of incoherent overlapping state territorialization attempts – into a territorial strategy to secure their land tenure. By planting rubber, some villagers have engaged in a crop boom to lay claim to land which has recently been zoned for upland rice cultivation (and conservation) as part of a state-led land use planning initiative. We show how internal resettlement, ethnic division and the influx of commercial agriculture in the Lao uplands intersect in a novel land use planning process and predetermine the plan’s actual significance.

Over the last two decades, several data sets have been developed to assess flood risk at the global scale. In recent years, some of these data sets have become detailed enough to be informative at national scales. The use of these data sets nationally could have enormous benefits in areas lacking existing flood risk information and allow better flood management decisions and disaster response. In this study, we evaluate the usefulness of global data for assessing flood risk in five countries: Colombia, England, Ethiopia, India, and Malaysia. National flood risk assessments are carried out for each of the five countries using six data sets of global flood hazard, seven data sets of global population, and three different methods for calculating vulnerability. We also conduct interviews with key water experts in each country to explore what capacity there is to use these global data sets nationally. We find that the data sets differ substantially at the national level, and this is reflected in the national flood risk estimates. While some global data sets could be of significant value for national flood risk management, others are either not detailed enough, or too outdated to be relevant at this scale. For the relevant global data sets to be used most effectively for national flood risk management, a country needs a functioning, institutional framework with capability to support their use and implementation.

Hydropower development in the lower Mekong Basin is being rapidly developed. Taking the Pak Beng hydropower project in Laos as a case study, this paper looks at participation and politics in transboundary hydropower development, how the latter is revealed by multiple, parallel institutional architectures in hydropower decision-making across scales, and its implications for transboundary environmental governance. We look at the institutional disjuncture in hydropower decision-making, how it is (re)produced by powerful, albeit conflicting narratives at respectively national and transboundary levels, power relations shaping these narratives, and how these translate into local communityapos;s limited ability to convey their voices and represent their development needs. Conceptually, the paper sheds light on the underlying politics in transboundary environmental governance by bringing to light the structural factors that prevent participation, including how these factors are justified, sustained and to a certain extent reproduced as an integral part of legal, policy, and institutional landscapes that govern hydropower decision-making across scales (e.g., local to transboundary).

Study region: Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam Study focus: Intensification of agriculture has resulted in unsustainably high levels of groundwater use in the Central Highlands. High monsoonal rainfall provides opportunities to boost groundwater storage through managed aquifer recharge (MAR), yet experience with MAR in the region is absent. In response, five farm-scale pilots were implemented in collaboration with local farmers whereby runoff from roofs and fields was recharged into shallow dug wells. The pilots were closely monitored over three years. New hydrological insights for the region: MAR pilots exhibited large contrasts in performance, with volumes recharged ranging from 5 to 530 m3 per year. Pilot sites with cleaner roof runoff water performed best, whilst those using more turbid water from unpaved roads performed worst. Water quality analyses did not identify parameters of major concern for irrigation. Field data and modelling indicate that the size of the recharge water plumes are small relative to the high groundwater velocities making the recharge water difficult to recover from the recharge well in this setting. Water is however contained locally, providing potential for improved water availability within the local area. Farmer attitudes towards MAR vary in response to the technical performance and a range of socioeconomic factors. These findings may provide insights for researchers or practitioners from other regions where groundwater dependence is high but experience in MAR is lacking.

This study characterizes the hydrological regime of the Upper Ayeyarwaddy River Basin (UARB) of Myanmar under current and future climate change scenarios by using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The model simulation results show that the annual precipitation, actual evapotranspiration and water yields are 1,578, 524 and 1,010 mm, respectively. These will increase by 13–28%, 11–24% and 42–198% under two representative concentration pathways (RCPs), RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5, for the future. There is seasonal variability across the cool, hot and rainy seasons in the agro-ecological regions – mountains, hills and inland plains. As in other Asian regions, the model shows that the wet (rainy) season is becoming wetter and the dry (cool) season is becoming drier in the UARB too.

Concerns over hydropower development in the Mekong River Basin and elsewhere include not only the overall impacts of dams on basin ecology and economy but also more site-specific impacts on affected communities. While hydropower development is impacting the livelihoods of local communities living along the river, the latter’s views and concerns are often sidelined by top-down hydropower planning. Nonetheless, local communities create and shape their political spaces of engagements in relation to hydropower decision making across scales, albeit through various means and with different results. Taking the planned Pak Beng hydropower dam as a case study and building on the concept of institutional bricolage, we look at: 1) local communities’ responses in Thailand and Laos, including how these are influenced by social movements; 2) how these responses are translated into collective action (or the lack thereof), including in relation to local communities’ (in)ability to negotiate better compensation for their to be impacted livelihoods; and 3) how local communities strategies are embedded in the wider political context and different manifestations of state-citizens relations. We argue that while affected farm households can pursue their interests to secure proper compensation through individual means, this leads to sub-optimal outcomes for affected communities collectively.

Groundwater for Sustainable Livelihoods and Equitable Growth explores how groundwater, often invisibly, improves peoples’ lives and livelihoods. This unique collection of 19 studies captures experiences of groundwater making a difference in 16 countries in Africa, South America and Asia. Such studies are rarely documented and this book provides a rich new collection of interdisciplinary analysis. The book is published in colour and includes many original diagrams and photographs. Spring water, wells or boreholes have provided safe drinking water and reliable water for irrigation or industry for millennia. However, the hidden nature of groundwater often means that it’s important role both historically and in the present is overlooked. This collection helps fill this knowledge gap, providing a diverse set of new studies encompassing different perspectives and geographies. Different interdisciplinary methodologies are described that can help understand linkages between groundwater, livelihoods and growth, and how these links can be threatened by over-use, contamination, and ignorance. Written for a worldwide audience of practitioners, academics and students with backgrounds in geology, engineering or environmental sciences; Groundwater for Sustainable Livelihoods and Equitable Growth is essential reading for those involved in groundwater and international development.

Existing studies on socio-economic differentiation in Vietnam focus on the inequality between the ethnic majority and minorities while neglecting the disparities among ethnic minorities. Using a framework to analyse marginalisation at different scales, we identified through an extensive literature review the diverse ways in which ethnic groups develop strategies to transform or maintain their marginality. These strategies depend on, at the same time influence, inequalities that manifest in processes of social differentiations and power relations. Elucidating these processes of inequalities enables us to promote livelihood opportunities that support the diverse development pathways of different ethnic groups, thus increasing the relevance of development interventions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of safe access to sufficient clean water in vulnerable communities, renewing interest in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs and related targets under Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6). The purpose of this study was to better understand the obstacles to water access in vulnerable communities and identify ways they might be addressed in five countries in the Mekong Region (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam). To this end, qualitative interviews with 50 government officials and development or health experts were complimented with a quantitative survey of the experiences and views of individuals in 15 vulnerable communities. There were several key findings. First, difficulties in accessing sufficient clean water for drinking and hygiene persist in certain vulnerable communities, including informal urban settlements, remote minority villages, and migrant worker camps. Second, limited rights, high prices, and remote locations were common obstacles to household access to improved water sources. Third, seasonal differences in the availability of clean water, alongside other disruptions to supply such as restrictions on movement in COVID-19 responses, drove households towards lower quality sources. Fourth, there are multiple threats to water quality from source to consumption that should be addressed by monitoring, treatment, and watershed protection. Fifth, stakeholder groups differ from each other and residents of vulnerable communities regarding the significance of water access, supply and quality difficulties, and how they should be addressed. The paper ends with a set of program suggestions addressing these water-related difficulties.

Agricultural waste represents untapped resources that can be used to produce large value added products with many potential industrial applications. On-farm food waste comprises of harvest and post-harvest waste amounting to 1.2 billion tons per annum and measures up to USD 370 million. Production of food products and other outputs (like biofuel and compost) help in reduction of on-farm food waste and provide livelihood opportunities for the rural households. This reports highlights some innovative approaches across four countries which lead to reduction to food waste. The report cover 6 cases located in Burkina Faso, India, Kenya and Vietnam. The two business models identified in Ouagadougou are – (i) Waka group, that repurpose mango residues in to sweet and bio-vinyl vinegar called MISSIM vinegar, and (ii) SOFAB-SA utilizes oilseeds (such as peanuts, cotton, and soybeans) with blue cheese bran or corn, salt, or any other micro-ingredient to produce feed for livestock. From India, two such case studies are included – (i) Sai Shubhada agro industries is located in Ahmednagar, (Maharashtra, India), and converts bagasse, [a pulpy and fibrous residue of the sugarcane processing] into organic jiggery, and (ii) Arogyasangini Oil Mill, Mill has embarked on the mission to reintroduce oil extracted from the safflower seeds. Nadanya Greens located in Mbale, (Vihiga, Kenya) is exploring the use of farm waste from livestock to produce feeds for fish reared through three fish ponds. Xuan Tien Agricultural Cooperative, located at Yen Chau (Son La province, Vietnam), converts mango which is otherwise wasted post-harvest.

Agricultural land use and practices have important implications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. It is, therefore, important to develop methods of monitoring and quantifying the extent of crop types and cropping practices. A machine learning approach using random forest classification was applied to Sentinel-1 and 2 satellite imagery and satellite-derived phenological statistics to map crop types in the Mekong River Delta, enabling levels of rice intensification to be identified. This initial classification differentiated between broad and prevalent crop types, including perennial tree crops, rice, other vegetation, oil palm and other crops. A two-step classification was used to classify rice seasonality, whereby the areas identified as rice in the initial classification were further classified into single, double, or triple-cropped rice in a subsequent classification with the same input data but different training polygons. Both classifications had an overall accuracy of approximately 96% when cross-validated on test data. Radar bands from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 reflectance bands were important predictors of crop type, perhaps due to their capacity to differentiate between periodically flooded rice fields and perennial tree cover, which were the predominant classes in the Delta. On the other hand, the Start of Season (SoS) and End of Season (EoS) dates were the most important predictors of single, double, or triple-cropped rice, demonstrating the efficacy of the phenological predictors. The accuracy and detail are limited by the availability of reliable training data, especially for tree crops in small-scale orchards. A preliminary result is presented here, and, in the future, efficient collection of ground images may enable cost-effective training data collection for similar mapping exercises.

Research-engaged decision making and policy reform processes are critical to advancing resilience, adaptation, and transformation in social-ecological systems under stress. Here we propose a new conceptual framework to assess opportunities for research engagement in the policy process, building upon existing understandings of power dynamics and the political economy of policy reform. We retrospectively examine three cases of research engagement in small-scale fisheries policy and decision making, at national level (Myanmar) and at regional level (Pacific Islands region and sub-Saharan Africa), to illustrate application of the framework and highlight different modes of research engagement. We conclude with four principles for designing research to constructively and iteratively engage in policy and institutional reform: (a) nurture multi-stakeholder coalitions for change at different points in the policy cycle, (b) engage a range of forms and spaces of power, (c) embed research communications to support and respond to dialogue, and (d) employ evaluation in a cycle of action, learning, and adaptation. The framework and principles can be used to identify entry points for research engagement and to reflect critically upon the choices that researchers make as actors within complex processes of change.

Water markets are a potential approach for reallocating and improving the efficiency of water use in river basins in which water resources are under stress as a consequence of demographic and economic pressures. However, establishing water markets is not easy and to be successful a wide range of context specific criteria, relating to the legal and institutional framework as well as political and economic conditions, must be met. We applied the Water Market Readiness Assessment framework proposed by Wheeler et al. (2017) to investigate whether adequate policy and governance arrangements were in place to enable water markets to effectively operate in the countries of the Lower Mekong River Basin. We identify a number of key gaps and conclude that more conventional regulatory approaches, along with integrated basin planning and management, will likely better serve the communities and environments of the region.

This paper looks at scalar politics, power struggles, and institutional emergence in Daw Lar Lake in Karen state, Myanmar. It brings to light tensions between centralized and decentralized approaches in the country’s natural resource governance, and how these are manifested in the current legal stalemate with regard to the formal management status of the lake. Building on earlier research on legal pluralism and critical institutionalism, we look at: 1) how the current legal stalemate with regard to the formal management status of the lake is rooted in ongoing bureaucratic struggles between different government agencies; 2) local communities’ strategies to develop and implement their own vision of lake governance through the formation of the Daw Lar Lake Interim Committee; and 3) the extent to which the Interim Committee is able to mediate diverse and often competing local uses and claims to natural resources at (inter) village level, which are based on a mix of customary and ‘official’ legal entitlements and normative orderings. From a policy perspective, we highlight the need to identify pathways for collective action among and across different groups of resource users, as the latter will be crucial in addressing ongoing resource competition, managing cross-sectoral livelihood impacts and ensuring sustainable lake management.

This research report presents the first comprehensive framework of business models in terms of developing, marketing and scaling Index-based flood insurance (IBFI). The report evaluated ten case studies on agricultural insurance schemes (macro, meso and micro levels), globally, to develop public-private partnership business models for creating value (product development) and capturing value (product marketing). This report highlights four broad groups of interrelated factors that influence the uptake and scaling of agricultural insurance: (i) behavioral factors that influence farmers’ enthusiasm to invest in insurance; (ii) financial factors that stipulate governments’ willingness to provide financial support; (iii) legal and regulatory factors, which set ground rules for fair business and govern their adherence by stakeholders; and (iv) facilitating factors, including product design and development, business models, research and development, data availability, and awareness creation, which help ensure an efficient supply of insurance services. In summary, the report highlights the need for designing innovative IBFI and its potential benefits for uptake, and efforts for implementing IBFI as a potential risk transfer tool for comprehensive climate risk management among small-scale and marginal farmers.

This article examines the factors shaping communal land tenure and livelihood practices in two villages in Houaphan province, Northeastern Laos. It employs the concept of institutional bricolage to show how local actors combine communal tenure, state intervention, donor programs and local power relations to (re)shape formal rules and day-to-day land tenure and livelihood practices. In particular, it highlights how state territorial strategies in lowland and upland rural spaces have differently shaped state interventions in communal land use and access, producing hybrid forms of communal land management rules and practices. The two cases highlight different processes by which communal tenure is eroded or adapted in the process of state incorporation, raising questions about competing authorities over land and the interests and objectives of different actors in land administration. The village cases illustrate how local communities’ (in)ability to shape, adapt, and reproduce institutional rules and arrangements pertaining to access and use of communal land is closely interlinked with: 1) how farm households perceive communal land tenure in relation to their livelihood options and farming strategies; 2) how power relations among local communities and between local communities and state actors shape decision-making processes and distributional outcomes; and 3) the role of the state in sustaining and advancing its control over land and how this changes over time.

This paper examines the governance and implementation of land compensation for the Laos-China Railway (LCR). It brings to light the central government’s strategy to use compensation rules and procedures as its means to extend its spatial power across the provinces, districts, and villages that are affected by the railway construction. We examine both the manifestations and effects of state power through the formulation and implementation of land compensation procedures. Taking Naxang village in Chomphet district, Luang Prabang province, in Laos as a case, the paper highlights: 1) how centralized compensation rules and procedures serve as a means for the central government to expand its power; 2) how power relations between central-provincial-district governments (re)shaped the actual project implementation especially pertaining to compensation valuation and payment; and 3) implications for smallholder livelihood options and strategies.

Irrigation represents a long-standing water sector investment in South East Asia. However, despite the undeniable benefits of food production, an irrigation/rice-centric strategy is insufficient in a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) challenge us to re-think traditional ways of achieving food security. Central to this challenge is how we can retain multi-functionality within landscapes. We explore the often negatively correlated relationship between irrigation and inland fisheries through a literature review and interviews with key informants, focusing on examples from Myanmar and Cambodia. We found that whilst technical options exist for minimizing irrigation impacts on fisheries, there is a fundamental disconnect between the technical application of such ‘solutions’, and distribution of benefits to the marginal groups that SDGs 1, 2, 3 and more target. We found that insufficient recognition of the social contexts in which solutions are applied underpins this disconnect. This means that technical infrastructure design needs to be organised around the question, ‘Who do we want to benefit?’, if investments are to go beyond rice/fish production and deliver more on socially inclusive food security and livelihood opportunities. This paper is a call to extend the framing and financing of irrigation investments beyond technical parameters to include investing in the social processes that enable both multi-functionality and inclusive growth, to enhance the role of irrigation in adapting to a changing climate, while maintaining landscape integrity and multi-functionality so necessary for a sustainable future.

This paper looks at how local livelihoods and to a certain extent their transitions are embedded in, and in thrall to, power relations at higher levels. Placing the (re)shaping of livelihood pathways within the context of top-down hydropower planning, it shows how the latter predetermines farm households’ current farming strategies and future livelihood pathways. Taking two villages along the Mekong River, both of which are to be impacted by the planned Pak Beng hydropower dam in Pak Beng district, Oudomxay province, the paper illustrates how the pathways that rural livelihoods are taking in northern Laos are being shaped by decisions and processes embedded in national and regional exigencies. We argue that top-down approaches in hydropower planning, as manifested in the current institutional vacuum to formally deal with resettlement and compensation issues at the village level result in village authorities’ and potentially affected villagers’ inability to strategically convey and negotiate their views and concerns. Moreover, we reveal how it is the specter of change which drives livelihood adaptation, not change itself, thus illustrating how the defined compensation rules and procedures (re)shape farm households’ farming strategies and future livelihood pathways even prior to the construction of the hydropower dam.

This paper looks at the (re)shaping of local institutional arrangements within the context of land use planning processes in Laos, bringing to light their dynamic and co-constitutive relationship. Taking Pa Khom village in Houaphan province as a case study, it examines how local tenure institutions are (re)produced, (re)assembled and adapted to mirror farmer’s livelihood strategies to meet households’ food security, while also conforming to the defined land use plan. Drawing on examples of changes in swidden agriculture and village grazing land arrangements introduced as part of land use planning, the paper highlights the important role played by local communities – acting autonomously, collectively and in relation to external agents – in reconfiguring the relationship between natural resources and institutional orders. It illustrates how farmers employ institutional bricolage to creatively assemble and reshape their land use arrangements to comply with the defined land use plan, thus ensuring it meets their locally embedded livelihood priorities, albeit with different distributional outcomes for various farm households. Linking farm households’ strategies with inter-household and village level institutional arrangements, the paper shows how institutional bricolage contributes to synergizing the different rationales behind land use planning processes.

Positioning migrants as quintessential globalisation subjects, this paper reveals how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the ambivalent positioning of migration as a pathway for human development. Drawing on interviews with international and domestic labour migrants from Bangladesh, India, Laos and Myanmar working in Laos, Myanmar, China, Singapore and Thailand, the paper explores the vulnerabilities, challenges and opportunities that have come with migration and how these have been reconfigured as the pandemic has progressed, disproportionately heightening migrants’ exposure to the virus and their socioeconomic precarity. Through their personal stories, the paper provides insights into the evolving livelihood pathways of migrant workers during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, their (changing) views of migration as a route to progress, and tentatively sets out how ruptures caused by the pandemic may lead to a re-thinking of livelihood pathways for such men and women and their families.

The countries around the world are dealing with air quality issues for decades due to their mode of production and energy usages. The outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic and consequent global economic shutdown, for the first time, provided a base for the real-time experiment of the effect of reduced emissions across the globe in abetting the air pollution issue. The present study dealt with the changes in Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), a marker of air pollution, because of global economic shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. The study considered the countries in south and south-east Asia (SSEA), Europe and the USA for their extended period of lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic. Daily Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from Moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and tropospheric column density of NO2 and SO2 from Ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) sensors, including meteorological data such as wind speed (WS) and relative humidity (RH) were analyzed during the pre-lockdown (2017–2019) and lockdown periods (2020). The average AOD, NO2 and SO2 during the lockdown period were statistically compared with their pre-lockdown average using Wilcoxon-signed-paired-rank test. The accuracy of the MODIS-derived AOD, including the changing pattern of AOD due to lockdown was estimated using AERONET data. The weekly anomaly of AOD, NO2 and SO2 was used for analyzing the space-time variation of aerosol load as restrictions were imposed by the concerned countries at the different points of time. Additionally, a random forest-based regression (RF) model was used to examine the effects of meteorological and emission parameters on the spatial variation of AOD. A significant reduction of AOD (- 20%) was obtained for majority of the areas in SSEA, Europe and USA during the lockdown period. Yet, the clusters of increased AOD (30–60%) was obtained in the south-east part of SSEA, the western part of Europe and US regions. NO2 reductions were measured up to 20–40%, while SO2 emission increased up to 30% for a majority of areas in these regions. A notable space-time variation was observed in weekly anomaly. We found the evidence of the formation of new particles for causing high AOD under high RH and low WS, aided by the downward vertical wind flow. The RF model showed a distinguishable relative importance of emission and meteorological factors among these regions to account for the spatial variability of AOD. Our findings suggest that the continued lockdown might provide a temporary solution to air pollution; however, to combat persistent air quality issues, it needs switching over to the cleaner mode of production and energy. The findings of this study, thus, advocated for alternative energy policy at the global scale.

Following the National League for Democracy’s landslide victory in the 2015 national election, Myanmar embarked on a series of legal and political transitions. This paper highlights parallel processes alongside such transitions. Linking land governance with the ongoing peace processes, and taking Karen state as a case study, it brings to light how both processes are in fact closely interlinked. Building on legal pluralism research, we argue that in the context of ethnic states, farmers’ strategies to strengthen their land rights resemble the very notion of state transformation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the context of global migration. From a migration perspective, the pandemic is a source of insecurities that challenge migrants, their livelihoods and migration governance. Meanwhile, curtailment in movement has led to economic decline affecting labour markets. For migrant origin and hosting countries, this poses multidimensional development challenges. Analysis from March to August 2020 of China, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal and Thailand highlights the varying ways in which they are all severely affected by the disruptions in migration, suggesting a potentially emerging complex situation in migration patterns and pathways. The disruptions in migration and remittances have had a profound impact on migrants and migrant-sending households. The uncertainty of migration returning to pre-pandemic levels and the potential of lasting consequences on migrants and migration patterns and pathways, suggests a future of greater risk and exploitation, and a wider gap between formal and informal migration. This paper calls for greater mobility cooperation between countries and suggests strengthening mobility migration frameworks and policies for safer migration and for the rights of migrants.

This report examines social equality aspects related to resource recovery through solid waste composting and wastewater irrigation. The report shows that women are represented in greatest numbers at the base of the recycling chain, most often as informal waste pickers and as sorters of recyclables with limited access to resources and upward mobility. Despite a wide gender gap in the solid waste and sanitation sectors, women play a key role in both municipal waste reduction and food safety where irrigation water is unsafe. Analyzing the gender dimension is important for understanding household responses to recycling programs, differences between the formal and informal sectors as well as along the waste-to-resource value chain from collection to treatment and reuse. The report stresses the important role of women in household waste management, including waste segregation, and the power of women-dominated waste picker associations, where the informal sector plays an essential role alongside the formal sector.

This report presents a spatial analysis conducted at global scale to identify areas of high suitability for implementing the Underground Transfer of Floods for Irrigation (UTFI) approach. The study used multiple global spatial datasets, and the related data were arranged under three categories – water supply, water demand and water storage – to assess global UTFI suitability. Among the river basins with high suitability, the Awash in Ethiopia, Ramganga in India (one of the major tributaries of the Ganges River Basin) and Chao Phraya in Thailand were selected for the economic analysis in this study. The results from this study are intended to provide a first step towards identifying the broad areas (at the river basin or country scale) where more detailed investigation would be worthwhile to ascertain the technical and economic feasibility of UTFI, with greater confidence.

Viewing the Salween River as a transboundary commons, this paper illustrates how diverse state and non-state actors and institutions in hybrid and multi-scaled networks have influenced water governance in general, and large dam decision-making processes in particular. Putting power relations at the centre of this analysis and drawing on the conceptual lenses of hybrid governance and critical institutionalism, we show the complexity of the fragmented processes through which decisions have been arrived at, and their implications. In the context of highly asymmetrical power relations throughout the basin, and the absence of an intergovernmental agreement to date, we argue that hybrid networks of state and non-state actors could be strategically engaged to connect parallel and fragmented decision-making landscapes with a goal of inclusively institutionalising the transboundary commons and maintaining connected local commons throughout the basin, foregrounding a concern for ecological and social justice.

Urbanisation will be one of the 21st centuryapos;s most transformative trends. By 2050, it will increase from 55% to 68%, more than doubling the urban population in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Urbanisation has multifarious (positive as well as negative) impacts on the wellbeing of humans and the environment. The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the blueprint to achieve a sustainable future for all. Clean Water and Sanitation is a specific goal (SDG 6) within the suite of 17 interconnected goals. Here we provide an overview of some of the challenges that urbanisation poses in relation to SDG 6, especially in developing economies. Worldwide, several cities are on the verge of water crisis. Water distribution to informal settlements or slums in megacities (e.g. N50% population in the megacities of India) is essentially non-existent and limits access to adequate safe water supply. Besides due to poor sewer connectivity in the emerging economies, there is a heavy reliance on septic tanks, and other on-site sanitation (OSS) system and by 2030, 4.9 billion people are expected to rely on OSS. About 62–93% of the urban population in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia rely on septic tanks, where septage treatment is rare. Globally, over 80% of wastewater is released to the environment without adequate treatment. About 11% of all irrigated croplands is irrigated with such untreated or poorly treated wastewater. In addition to acute and chronic health effects, this also results in significant pollution of often-limited surface and groundwater resources in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Direct and indirect water reuse plays a key role in global water and food security. Here we offer several suggestions to mitigate water and food insecurity in emerging economies.

Increasing demands for energy to boost the Mekong economies have attracted the keen interest of riparian countries for hydropower development. This is evidenced by extensive investment in hydropower projects across the region over the last few decades. Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders, including officials from Ministry of Energy and Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, private sector actors, civil society organisations and academics, as well as secondary data from public and policy resources, this paper aims to examine how the government of Laos’ (GoL) decisions in hydropower development are influenced by regional energy dynamics, and how these shape the country’s future energy development. The paper argues that the GoL’s decisions on hydropower development are highly dilemmatic, given the current limited institutional capacity in hydropower governance and the accelerating evolution of alternative energy in neighbouring countries. While uncertainty in power markets is recognised, this places greater pressure on new hydropower projects as to how much power could be sufficiently produced and exported. The paper calls for GoL’s policy considerations on the development and planning of alternative energy to secure the sustainable and equitable use of water resources as stipulated in the 1995 Mekong Agreement.

Purpose: The need to increase women’s access to extension has been extensively discussed. This paper assesses women’s access to extension services through the Plantwise extension approach as a baseline for future comparison of women’s access through other extension approaches. It also assesses whether crops that men and women farmers seek plant health advice on are similar or not, and attempts to disperse assumptions that continue to be made about what crops women and men grow. Approach: We analysed data from the Plantwise Online Management System for 13 countries using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings: We show that the Plantwise extension approach enables higher levels of women’s access than generally reported for agricultural extension, that the crops that women and men seek extension advice on is not gender dependent, and there are few clear distinctions between their crops of interest. Practical implications: There is limited literature studying gender inclusiveness in different extension approaches. The findings add to the documentation of assessing women’s access to demand-driven extension. Theoretical implications: Plantwise is a new extension approach which needs to be assessed from spatial and temporal perspectives to understand whether demand-driven extension enables increased women’s access over time. Originality/value: Extension service provision is often based on assumptions about what crops are being grown. Small studies have challenged these assumptions, but this large dataset enables us to test these assumptions more thoroughly across 13 countries adding to the weight of evidence against the existence of women’s and men’s crops.

Groundwater use for agriculture has the potential to improve rural households’ income and reduce poverty, but the linkages are not always straightforward. Taking Laos as a case study, this article illustrates how differential access to water, land, and capital shape farmers’ livelihood strategies in two nearby, yet contrasting villages on the Vientiane Plain. It examines the factors driving farm households’ decisions to invest in groundwater for agriculture. The findings highlight the need to better understand how farmers view groundwater in relation to their farm household characteristics if groundwater is to be successfully used as a means to improve rural livelihoods.

This working paper was produced under the European Union Horizon 2020 funded AGRUMIG project and traces the impact of Covid-19 on migration trends in seven project countries – China, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal and Thailand. The context of global migration has changed dramatically due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both within and between countries there has been a substantial curtailment of movement. As a result of multiple lockdowns, economic activity has severely declined and labor markets have ground to a halt, with mass unemployment in industrialized economies looming on the horizon. For both migrant hosting and origin countries – some are substantially both – this poses a set of complex development challenges. Partners of the AGRUMIG project undertook a rapid review of impacts across project countries, exploring the impacts on rural households but also identifying the persistent desire to migrate in spite of restrictions.

Rice and fish are preferred foods, critical for healthy and nutritious diets, and provide the foundations of local and national economies across Asia. Although transformations, or “revolutions,” in agriculture and aquaculture over the past half-century have primarily relied upon intensified monoculture to increase rice and fish production, agroecological approaches that support biodiversity and utilize natural processes are particularly relevant for achieving a transformation toward food systems with more inclusive, nutrition-sensitive, and ecologically sound outcomes. Rice and fish production are frequently integrated within the same physical, temporal, and social spaces, with substantial variation amongst the types of production practice and their extent. In Cambodia, rice field fisheries that strongly rely upon natural processes persist in up to 80% of rice farmland, whereas more input and infrastructure dependent rice-shrimp culture is expanding within the rice farmland of Vietnam. We demonstrate how a diverse suite of integrated production practices contribute to sustainable and nutrition-sensitive food systems policy, research, and practice. We first develop a typology of integrated production practices illustrating the nature and degree of: (a) fish stocking, (b) water management, (c) use of synthetic inputs, and (d) institutions that control access to fish. Second, we summarize recent research and innovations that have improved the performance of each type of practice. Third, we synthesize data on the prevalence, outcomes, and trajectories of these practices in four South and Southeast Asian countries that rely heavily on fish and rice for food and nutrition security. Focusing on changes since the food systems transformation brought about by the Green Revolution, we illustrate how integrated production practices continue to serve a variety of objectives to varying degrees: food and nutrition security, rural livelihood diversification and income improvement, and biodiversity conservation. Five shifts to support contemporary food system transformations [i.e., disaggregating (1) production practices and (2) objectives, (3) utilizing diverse metrics, (4) valuing emergent, place-based innovation, (5) building adaptive capacity] would accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 2, specifically through ensuring ecosystem maintenance, sustainable food production, and resilient agricultural practices with the capacity to adapt to global change.

Land tenure, or access and rights to land, is essential to sustain people’s livelihoods. This paper looks at how farm households perceive land tenure (in)security in relation to food (in)security, and how these perceptions evolve throughout different policy periods in Laos. The paper highlights the centrality of farmers’ strategies in configuring the dynamic relationships between tenure (in)security and food (in)security, by demonstrating how farmers’ perceived and de facto land tenure insecurity shapes their decisions to diversify livelihood options to ensure food security. While the paper’s key findings reveal the close interlinkages between land tenure (in) security and food (in)security, we argue that the first does not automatically result in the latter. In contrast, we show how perceived and de-facto land tenure insecurity pushes farmers to explore alternative strategies and avenues to ensure food supply, through farm and non-farm employment. From a policy perspective, the paper highlights the need to put people’s livelihoods at the center of land governance, thus moving beyond the current positioning of land as merely a means for agricultural production or environmental conservation.

In low- and middle-income countries, the management of fecal sludge from on-site sanitation systems has received little attention over many decades, resulting in insufficient or missing regulations to guide investments and management options. To address this gap, this report examines existing and emerging guidelines and regulations for fecal sludge management (FSM) along the sanitation service chain (user interface, containment, emptying, transport, treatment, valorization, reuse or disposal). It also draws empirical examples from guidelines across the globe to support policy-makers, planners, and sanitation and health officers, as well as consultants in low- and middle-income countries in the development and design of local and national FSM guidelines and regulations.

State control of land plays a critical role in producing land dispossession throughout the Global South. In Myanmar, the state’s approach towards territorial expansion has driven the country’s system of land governance, resulting in widespread and systemic land grabbing. This article investigates ongoing land governance reforms as key terrains for contesting such abuses of power. Employing a relational land governance approach, we view reform processes as shaped by changing power-laden social relations among government, civil society, and international donor actors. Legal and regulatory reforms in Myanmar potentially act as sites of meaningful social change but in practice tend to maintain significant limitations in altering governance dynamics. Civil society organizations and their alliances in Myanmar have played an important role in opening up policy processes to a broader group of political actors. Yet, policies and legal frameworks still are often captured by elite actors, becoming trapped in path dependent power relations.

While there is increasing evidence concerning the detrimental effects of expanding rubber plantations on biodiversity and local water balances, their implications on regional hydrology remain uncertain. We studied a mesoscale watershed (100 km2) in the Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The influence of land-cover change on streamflow recorded since 1992 was isolated from that of rainfall variability using cross-simulation matrices produced with the monthly lumped conceptual water balance model GR2M. Our results indicate a statistically significant reduction in wet and dry season streamflow from 1992 to 2002, followed by an insignificant increase until 2006. Analysis of satellite images from 1992, 2002, 2007, and 2010 shows a gradual increase in the areal percentage of rubber tree plantations at the watershed scale. However, there were marked heterogeneities in land conversions (between forest, farmland, grassland, and rubber tree plantations), and in their distribution across elevations and slopes, among the studied periods. Possible effects of this heterogeneity on hydrological processes, controlled mainly by infiltration and evapotranspiration, are discussed in light of the hydrological changes observed over the study period. We suggest pathways to improve the eco-hydrological functionalities of rubber tree plantations, particularly those enhancing dry-season base flow, and recommend how to monitor them.

IWMI, a managing partner of FISH, conducted an assessment of youth participation in SSF, aquaculture and value chains between November 2017 and May 2018. The assessment was conducted in Africa and the Asia-Pacific, with a particular focus on the FISH focal countries of Egypt, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia in Africa and Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Solomon Islands in the Asia-Pacific. The objectives of this study were to (i) assess the participation of youth in fisheries and aquaculture, including opportunities and challenges for participation, (ii) understand what WorldFish and key partners (government organizations, nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] and others) are doing in the focal countries in relation to youth participation, and (iii) (based on the former two points) provide potential areas for further research that could support improved youth participation in aquaculture, SSF and value chains. In this report, definitions of SSF and aquaculture are adopted from WorldFish.

Hydropower development in the Mekong River Basin is occurring at a rapid, though controversial pace, pitting a variety of stakeholder groups against each other at both intranational scale and international scale, and affecting state relations across scales. In this paper, we explore the narratives surrounding hydropower development in this basin, while referring to the concept of hydrosocial cycles as the central tool in our analysis. These look at the processes of socio-political construction of nature, viewing water as a medium that conveys power, and thus sources of both collaboration and conflict. While the Mekong hydropower narratives do, indeed, attempt to conflate the massive regulation of hydrological systems with large-scale social and economic ambitions, they are also intended to obscure a widespread and systemic effort to control and alienate the region’s waters via engineering at multiple scales.

This paper examines land use planning processes in Laos, particularly how they are shaped and reshaped by key actors’ interests and strategies across scales and how they are closely interlinked with state logics of territorialization. It critiques dominant perspectives that view land use planning as a tool for bridging policy and institutional divides to generate holistic land governance. Instead, it presents land use planning as a function of power and a contested arena of power struggle, driven primarily by the development targets of sectoral ministries and the interests of powerful local actors. We show how bureaucratic competition and sectoral fragmentation prevail directly within Laos’s National Land Master Plan formulation process. The paper shows how the logics of land governance in Laos are comprised of a disjuncture between national and local land use planning processes and, a disconnect between formal land use planning and actual land use across scales.

The flood-based farming systems in the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar are changing. Change describes the modification of the flood pattern which is constituted by depth and duration of flooding and is the determining factor for rice cultivation. Flood-induced crop loss poses the major challenge to the farmers in the delta. To understand the flood-based farming systems in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the random forest algorithm was applied to generate rice suitability location models and to create suitability maps. Thus, correlations were observed between the developed definitions for the three rice growing areas based on quantitative interviews with farmers and the physical factors obtained from the input datasets – mainly remote sensing data concerning surface water and vegetation. To underpin the information of the generated suitability maps, human-water dynamics in the Ayeyarwady Delta are exemplified in terms of the pluralistic water research (PWR) framework (EVERS ET AL. 2017). Socio-economic and hydro-climatic drivers control this system and besides determine the suitable location of the three rice growing areas. This concept facilitates an understanding of the relationships and feedbacks of the human-water dynamics and is able to analyse flood risk mitigation in the Ayeyarwady Delta.

With rapidly increasing investment in water control infrastructure (WCI) and a recently ratified agriculture development strategy that promotes integrated farming of high-value products such as fish, agricultural production, already fundamental to Myanmar’s economy, will be central to driving the countries’ socioeconomic transformation. Water planners and managers have a unique opportunity to design and manage WCI to incorporate fish and, in so doing, reduce conflicts and optimise the benefits to both people and the ecosystem services upon which they depend. Results from rice–fish culture experimental trials in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta are providing an evidence base for the importance of integrating fish into WCI, highlighting a range of both environmental and social benefits. By using less than 13% of paddy land area and through best management practices, existing rice productivity is sustained, alongside a 25% increase in economic returns for the same land area from fish. In addition, there are considerably more protein and micronutrients available from the fish produced in the system. Should these farming system innovations be adopted at scale, Myanmar stands to benefit from increased employment, incomes and nutritional value of farm plots (alongside associated reductions in pesticide pollution) and water use benefits.

Hydropower production is altering the Mekong River basin’s riverine ecosystems, which contain the world’s largest inland fishery and provide food security and livelihoods to millions of people. The basin’s hydropower reservoir storage, which may rise from ~2% of its mean annual flow in 2008 to ~20% in 2025, is attenuating seasonal flow variability downstream of many dams with integral powerhouses and large storage reservoirs. In addition, tributary diversions for off-stream energy production are reducing downstream flows and augmenting them in recipient tributaries. To help manage tradeoffs between dam benefits (hydropower, irrigation, flood control, domestic water supply, and navigation) and their consequences for livelihoods and ecosystems, we review observed and projected impacts on river flows along both the Mekong mainstream and its tributaries. We include the effects of diversions and inter-basin transfers, which prior reviews of flow alteration in the Mekong basin have largely neglected. We also discuss the extent to which concurrent changes in climate, water demand, and land use, may offset or exacerbate hydropower-induced flow alteration. Our major recommendations for assessing hydrological impacts in the Mekong and other basins undergoing rapid hydropower development include synchronizing and integrating observational and modeling studies, improving the accuracy of reservoir water balances, evaluating multi-objective reservoir operating rules, examining hydropeaking-induced flow alteration, conducting multi-dam safety assessments, evaluating flow indicators relevant to local ecosystems and livelihoods, and considering alternative energy sources and reservoir sedimentation in long-term projections. Finally, we strongly recommend that dam impact studies consider hydrological alteration in conjunction with fish passage barriers, geomorphic changes and other contemporaneous stressors.

The objective of this research is to develop a fuzzy-based groundwater sustainability index (FGSI) model to evaluate the sustainability of groundwater system at selected cities in Asian. The new Mamdani type fuzzy-based inference system known as FGSI was developed. It contains five components and twenty-four indicators, which covers five dimensions of sustainability, namely, environmental, social, economic, mutual trust, and institutional. The FGSI model offers a novel combination of indicators, which covers aspects of groundwater quality, quantity, and management. An attempt was made to develop a robust index for estimating the groundwater sustainability. The model was evaluated for selected cities in Asian with different difuzzification methods, and compared with the conventional method. The centroid defuzzification method produced well diversified results compared with other methods, including conventional method. The overall groundwater sustainability of Hyderabad of India was estimated as highly sustainable and, Lahore of Pakistan, Bangkok of Thailand, Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam and Yangon City of Myanmar were estimated as moderately sustainable. The FGSI model may help to policy and decision makers to provide a reliable and resilient sustainable management system in the cities by identifying the indicators for the improvement.

Black soldier fly colonies can produce about 100 times more protein per year than chicken or soybeans, not to mention cattle, on the same area of land. The flies can directly feed on different types of organic wastes, leapfrogging closed loop processes within a circular food economy. Also, where no protein is needed, for example, to feed fish or pigs, the larvae can be processed into high-quality biodiesel. However, can this be done at scale? The answer is ‘Yes’. The report showcases some of the leading global businesses in Black Soldier Fly production.

Poor performance of government managed irrigation systems persists globally despite numerous policies over the last four decades to address the problem. I argue that policy efforts to improve irrigation performance in developing countries fail in part because they are often formulated in isolation from the existing agrarian reality. This article uses the example of Indonesia to show the link between irrigation outcomes and the wider agrarian context and highlights how the interface between farmers and irrigation bureaucracies is shaped by the existing agrarian structure.

We examine the patterns and characteristics of private investment in Laos, and how these evolve in relation to the Lao governmentapos;s investment incentive policies in particular, and the wider State policies in general. Our goals are to: 1) systematically describe and analyse the patterns and characteristics of private investment in the country; and 2) analyse investment outcomes in terms of economic growth, poverty reduction and livelihoods. We argue that while private investments in the resource sector have contributed to the economic growth, they have also negatively impacted local resources and communities. From a policy perspective, we highlight the need to examine the actual significance of policy incentives provided by the Lao government, especially with regard to its ability to direct investment decisions, geographically and sectorally.

Groundwater resources are vital for the well-being and livelihoods of most of the ten million people living in the Dry Zone of central Myanmar. Despite this importance, there is remarkably little known or documented on the nature, extent and use of these resources. This contribution has attempted to address this gap by reviewing the literature, gathering data and stakeholder consultations. The study reveals that utilizable groundwater is present across most of the Dry Zone, most notably in the unconsolidated sedimentary aquifers that are present across large portions of the region. However, rates of replenishment appear to be relatively modest, and use is limited by high levels of salinity and arsenic that are naturally present in some areas. The scope to access groundwater is generally good, and development has steadily increased to provide water supply for domestic, agriculture and industry. In broad terms, is would appear that prospects to expand groundwater use for irrigation and other purposes are good in almost all districts. In more hydrogeologically complex settings in particular, a lack of information creates more risk that may add to drilling costs. More detailed assessments and databases are required to support effective resource management.

This paper develops a conceptual framework with an indicator-based approach to assess Climate-Smart Villages (CSVs) and applies it to case study sites in Lao PDR (Ekxang CSV), Cambodia (Rohal Suong CSV), and Vietnam (Tra Hat CSV) in Southeast Asia. The intensification, extensification, diversification, commercialization, alteration of practices, use of common lands, migration strategies that can augment climate resilience, farm income, assets, and food security are assessed based on a composite index of the strategies and key outcome variables. The study demonstrates a method that can be applied widely for assessing climate-smart agriculture strategies and finding possible entry points for climate-smart interventions. The influence of gender in resource control and livelihood strategies is also discussed. It is also evident that the climate-smart interventions can augment different livelihood strategies of farmers and enhance the developmental and climate resilience outcomes. There is a need to prioritize the possible interventions in each case and implement them with the help of donor agencies, local institutions, and government offices.

Land grabbing has transformed rural environments across the global South, generating resistance or political reactions “from below”. In authoritarian countries like Laos, where resource investments are coercively developed and insulated from political dissent, resistance appears absent at first glance. Yet, it is occurring under the radar, largely outside transnational activist networks. In this article, we examine how resistance can protect access to rural lands in contexts where it is heavily repressed. Resistance here occurs with, rather than against the state by foregrounding the contradictions of land use and ownership within state spaces, such as competing goals of large-scale industrial plantations versus smallholder agriculture and national forest conservation. Such contradictions are engaged by using historical, place-based political connections to exploit the scalar frictions of a fragmented state and occupying plantation clearance sites to highlight contested lands in situ. Nonetheless, such strategies remain spatially and socially uneven amongst the Lao peasantry.

The residents of the Ganges and Mekong River deltas face serious challenges from rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion, pollution from upstream sources, growing populations, and infrastructure that no longer works as planned. In both deltas, scientists working for nearly two decades with communities, local governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have demonstrated the potential to overcome these challenges and substantially improve people’s livelihoods. There are cost-effective solutions to improving the totality of ecosystem services and market opportunities for young women and men.

The safe recovery of nutrients from our waste streams allows us to address the challenges of waste management and soil nutrient depletion conjointly. Commercialization of waste-based organic fertilizers such as FortiferTM (fecal sludge-based co-compost) has the potential to generate significant benefits for developing economies via cost recovery for the sanitation sector and the provision of an alternative agricultural input for smallholder farmers. To guide future FortiferTM businesses, this report presents examples of detailed market assessments, based on farmers’ perceptions, attitudes and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a pelletized and non-pelletized FortiferTM co-compost. The research was conducted in the Greater Accra and Western regions in Ghana, and in and around Kampala (Uganda), Bangalore (India), Hanoi (Vietnam), and Kurunegala (Sri Lanka). Cross-country analyses helped to understand the effects of market drivers and, where possible, capture lessons learned for knowledge sharing.

Groundwater contribution to streamflow sustains biodiversity and enhances ecosystem services, especially under monsoon-driven climate where stream baseflow is often the only available water resource during the dry season. We assessed how land use change influences streamflow and its groundwater contribution in a small headwater catchment subject to shifting cultivation in Montane Southeast Asia. Continuous time series of rainfall, reference evapotranspiration, groundwater level, stream discharge and electrical conductivity (EC) of surface and groundwater were monitored from 2002 to 2007. With the rainfall-runoff model GR4J, we investigated temporal changes in the hydrological behaviour of the study catchment to verify consistencies with observed land use change. An EC-based hydrograph separation method allowed estimating the groundwater contribution to 104 stormflow events. Mean soil surface crusting rates corresponding to each of the nine land uses identified in the catchment were determined using 236 standard 1-m2 micro-plots. Mean plant cover for each land use was assessed in 10 × 10-m2 plots. Bedrock topography and soil layers’ structure were assessed by electrical resistivity tomography to determine pathways of subsurface storm flows. Our results indicate that an increase in the catchmentapos;s areal percentage of fallow from 33% to 71% led to a decrease in the annual runoff coefficient from 43% to 26%. The concurrent reduction of soil crusting rate over the catchment, from 48% to 30%, increased rainwater infiltration. Consecutively, groundwater contribution to storm streamflow increased from 83% to 94%, highlighting the protective role of a dense vegetation cover against flash floods. The overall reduction of the annual basin water yield for inter-storm streamflow from 450 to 185 mm suggests that the potential gain in groundwater recharge was offset by the increased root water uptake for evapotranspiration, as confirmed by the drop in the groundwater level. This analysis illustrates how two different land uses with opposite impacts on soil permeability (i/ extensive soil surface crusting under annual crops resulting in limited runoff infiltration or ii/ fallow regrowth promoting both infiltration and evapotranspiration) both inhibit groundwater recharge. The maintenance of strips of fallow buffers between annual crop plots can slow down runoff and locally promote infiltration and groundwater recharge while limiting evapotranspiration.

Impacts of climate change on water resources, especially groundwater, can no longer be hidden. These impacts are further exacerbated under the integrated influence of climate variability, climate change and anthropogenic activities. The degree of impact varies according to geographical location and other factors leading systems and regions towards different levels of vulnerability. In the recent past, several attempts have been made in various regions across the globe to quantify the impacts and consequences of climate and non-climate factors in terms of vulnerability to groundwater resources. Firstly, this paper provides a structured review of the available literature, aiming to critically analyse and highlight the limitations and knowledge gaps involved in vulnerability (of groundwater to climate change) assessment methodologies. The effects of indicator choice and the importance of including composite indicators are then emphasised. A new integrated approach for the assessment of groundwater vulnerability to climate change is proposed to successfully address those limitations. This review concludes that the choice of indicator has a significant role in defining the reliability of computed results. The effect of an individual indicator is also apparent but the consideration of a combination (variety) of indicators may give more realistic results. Therefore, in future, depending upon the local conditions and scale of the study, indicators from various groups should be chosen. Furthermore, there are various assumptions involved in previous methodologies, which limit their scope by introducing uncertainty in the calculated results. These limitations can be overcome by implementing the proposed approach.

In Montane Southeast Asia, deforestation and unsuitable combinations of crops and agricultural practices degrade soils at an unprecedented rate. Typically, smallholder farmers gain income from “available” land by replacing fallow or secondary forest by perennial crops. We aimed to understand how these practices increase or reduce soil erosion. Ten land uses were monitored in Northern Laos during the 2015 monsoon, using local farmersapos; fields. Experiments included plots of the conventional system (food crops and fallow), and land uses corresponding to new market opportunities (e.g. commercial tree plantations). Land uses were characterized by measuring plant cover and plant mean height per vegetation layer. Recorded meteorological variables included rainfall intensity, throughfall amount, throughfall kinetic energy (TKE), and raindrop size. Runoff coefficient, soil loss, and the percentage areas of soil surface types (free aggregates and gravel; crusts; macro-faunal, vegetal and pedestal features; plant litter) were derived from observations and measurements in 1-m2 micro-plots. Relationships between these variables were explored with multiple regression analyses. Our results indicate that TKE induces soil crusting and soil loss. By reducing rainfall infiltration, crusted area enhances runoff, which removes and transports soil particles detached by splash over non-crusted areas. TKE is lower under land uses reducing the velocity of raindrops and/or preventing an increase in their size. Optimal vegetation structures combine minimum height of the lowest layer (to reduce drop velocity at ground level) and maximum coverage (to intercept the largest amount of rainfall), as exemplified by broom grass (Thysanolaena latifolia). In contrast, high canopies with large leaves will increase TKE by enlarging raindrops, as exemplified by teak trees (Tectona grandis), unless a protective understorey exists under the trees. Policies that ban the burning of multi-layered vegetation structure under tree plantations should be enforced. Shade-tolerant shrubs and grasses with potential economic return could be promoted as understorey.

To understand the full value of Resource Recovery and Reuse (RRR), a systematic assessment approach that balances complexity with practicality is required. This report highlights the methods available for quantifying and valuing social, environmental and economic costs and benefits of RRR, focusing on Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) as the primary framework. Rather than prescribing a standardized technique for conducting CBA for RRR, this report presents broad frameworks and several examples that can be catered to individual contexts. This results in a suggested eight-step process accompanied with suggested assessment techniques which have to be tailored to the type of question the assessment is meant to answer and related system boundaries.

This study focuses on Laos, a landlocked nation located in South-East Asia with sub-tropical climate and highly seasonal rainfall distribution. Laos is one of the world’s least developed countries, and currently witnesses an unprecedented level of development that is highly reliant on its natural resources, including groundwater. There is currently very limited data and no nationwide assessment of shallow (lt;30 m) groundwater resources to support sustainable management. This study provides a first step towards addressing this issue by (i) identifying the major aquifer units of the country; (ii) integrating localized data and regional maps into an assessment of the groundwater potential; and (iii) producing quantitative maps of key hydrogeological indicators. Eight aquifer units have been described and evaluated: (i) Basement aquifers, (ii) Volcanic aquifers, (iii) Schists, (iv) Paleozoic sedimentary, (v) Karsts, (vi) Limestones, (vii) Mesozoic sedimentary and (viii) Alluvial sediments. The Mesozoic sandstones and the Alluvial aquifers are the most extensive and productive hydrogeological systems in the country. The Volcanic and Karstic aquifers, although poorly known, might also have important potential. This assessment, along with the maps of quantitative aquifer indicators, provide a significant improvement in both spatial resolution and accuracy compared to previously available information. It will likely support improved management plans and the identification of areas with higher potential for groundwater development.

This article analyzes the internal logic of the upeti system in Indonesian irrigation and brings to light how corruption rules are shaped through complex socio-political relationships reflected in the organizational culture of the irrigation agency. Based on 100 interviews with water sector professionals the article highlights: (1) the importance of social relations in shaping institutionalized corruption, (2) how the upeti system justifies corruption practices as the prevailing social norm, and (3) the need for structural change to eradicate corruption. Illustrating how corruption rules are embedded in project management procedures, with projects highly dependent on donor funding, the article highlights the importance of the issue for international agencies and the need to be more politically grounded in promoting their development agenda.

A choice experiment was used to assess households’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for informational attributes (sources of water used to rear sh, and certi cation) of sh products in Hanoi, Vietnam. The study showed that households’ purchasing decisions are in uenced by their access to information of food product attributes and ascribe an economic value to it. The results indicated that households are willing to pay 51% (USD 1.11 per kg) above the prevailing market price of sh for information to know if wastewater is used to rear the sh they consume. Similarly, they are willing to pay 20% above the prevailing market price of sh (USD 0.43 per kg) to know if freshwater is used as a rearing medium. It is important to note that the increased marginal WTP is for information on whether the sh they consume is raised in wastewater over freshwater. This supports the notion of households’ concern over the safety of consuming wastewater-raised sh. Households are also willing to pay 65% (USD 1.42 per kg) above the prevailing market price for certi ed sh. Based on the cost of sh certi cation and WTP estimates, we found a total economic bene t of USD 172 million for the implementation of a wastewater-raised sh business model in Hanoi. The demand for wastewater-raised sh is likely to be affected by households’ perception of certi cation by a trusted government agency, source of water used to raise the sh, age, income and household size.

Regional economic integration has become the dominant development pathway promoted, endorsed, and followed by many developing country governments in South East Asia and globally. Focusing on hydropower development, this article shows how forces of globalization manifested in the Myanmar government’s strategies to promote economic growth are shaping the Salween River basin’s development trajectory. Contesting the general belief that economic development would help the country’s transition to full democracy and achieve peace, it illustrates how hydropower development plans in the basin are closely interlinked with human rights issues. Well known for its long histories of violent conflict involving the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups in various states, hydropower development in the Salween River is not only linked to the ongoing peace process in Myanmar but could also have direct implications on the actual significance of the process. Despite the signing of nationwide ceasefire agreements in 2012, hydropower dam projects could contribute to and trigger reoccurrences of violent armed conflict. Recognizing this conflict-prone and politically fragile condition as the main characteristics of Salween water governance is essential if we are to strive for sustainable and just development.

Study region : In this study, 33 catchments across the Lower Mekong Basin in Southeast Asia are examined to detect historical changes in their hydrological response via a model-based methodology. Study focus : Intensive development over the past half century across Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong Basin has inevitably affected natural resources. Large areas have been converted from forests for subsistence and commercial agriculture, and urban development. We implement an innovative approach to screen hydrologic data for detecting impacts of such large-scale changes on hydrological response. In a first step, temporal changes in the rainfall-runoff relationship were assessed using the parsimonious, two-parameter GR2M hydrological model. In a second step, a distribution-free statistical test was applied to detect whether significant changes have occurred in the wet season (high flow) and dry season (low flow) conditions. New hydrological insights for the region : Our results indicate that the majority of catchments (64% of those considered) with sufficiently long data records exhibited no discernable trends in hydrological response. Those catchments that did exhibit significant trends in hydrological response were fairly evenly split between increasing trends (between 21% and 24%) and decreasing trends (between 15% and 12%) with time. There was a lack of evidence that these changes where brought about by shifts in precipitation or potential evapotranspiration; however, catchments exhibiting significant increasing trends in hydrological behavior were found to have different land cover compositions (lower percentage of forest coverage and subsequently higher paddy rice coverage) than those exhibiting significant decreasing trends. The approach presented here provides a potentially valuable screening method to highlight regions for further investigation of improved mechanistic understanding. Without this connection, we might be blind to future hydrological shifts that can have significant impact on development.

Groundwater from the shallow aquifers of the Vientiane Plain, Laos is used for domestic needs including to some extent for drinking and for household gardening. The objective of this study is to assess the groundwater quality for drinking and irrigation activities and to determine the processes that lead to the presence of major ions in groundwater. Twenty groundwater samples were collected from a village on the Plain in December 2014, January 2015, and May 2015, and analysed for major ions and selected suite of minor ions and heavy metals. Groundwater is largely acidic, fresh and soft in nature. Geochemistry showed dominant Ca–Mg–HCO3 and mixed Ca–Na–HCO3 groundwater. Sodium impacts the suitability of water for irrigation to some extent. Hydrogeochemical processes identified and verified through factor analysis indicate weathering, carbonate dissolution, ion exchange, and anthropogenic sources including salinisation, due to irrigation and use of fertilizers as sources for the occurrence of major ions at such concentrations in this area. Only concentrations of lead and iron were above the permissible limits with arsenic, copper, zinc, mercury, and uranium found to be within safe limits. Background sample (groundwater) collected 5 km from the study area and the bottled water sample were all within suitable limits for drinking. This study is the first to provide a local-level assessment of geochemical processes in groundwater of this area indicating that the groundwater does not pose any threat to human health if used for drinking based on major ions, minor ions and a suite heavy metals except for iron and lead.

Soil erosion delivers an excessive quantity of sediment to rivers of Southeastern Asia. Land use is rapidly changing in this region of the world, and these modifications may further accelerate soil erosion in this area. Although the conversion of forests into cropland has often been investigated, much fewer studies have addressed the replacement of traditional slash-and-burn cultivation systems with commercial perennial monocultures such as teak plantations. The current research investigated the impact of this land use change on the hydrological response and the sediment yields from a representative catchment of Northern Laos (Houay Pano, 0.6 km²) where longterm monitoring (2002-2014) was conducted (http://msec.obs-mip.fr/). The results showed a significant growth in the overland flow contribution to stream flow (from 16 to 31%). Furthermore, sediment yields strongly increased from 98 to 609 Mg km-2. These changes illustrate the severity of soil erosion processes occurring under teak plantations characterized by the virtual absence of understorey vegetation to dissipate raindrop energy, which facilitates the formation of an impermeable surface crust. This counter-intuitive increase of soil erosion generated by afforestation reflects the difficulty to find sustainable production solutions for the local populations of Southeastern Asia. To reduce soil loss under teak plantations, the development of extensive agro-forestry practices could be promoted.

Climate vagaries and the lack of irrigation, frequently combined with coarse-textured sandy and unevenly distributed saline soils, explain low crop yields and the endemic relative poverty of the rural population in Northeast Thailand (NET). Local and regional trends in agriculturally-relevant rainfall variables were investigated using the Mann-Kendall test, modified to account for serial correlation, and applied to 17 stations across NET, and the regional average Kendallapos;s statistic. Limited changes in rainfall frequency, intensity and seasonality are observed at individual stations over the study period (1953–2004). But we found a significant regional trend toward a wetter dry season. Based on an intimate knowledge of the local farming systems, we discuss the cropping systems adaptation to these rainfall changes. If the wetting of the dry season extends in the future, as expected according to most climate projections, households would not find it difficult to adapt, except for the problems caused by temperature rise, mainly due to their renowned adaptive capacity and high mobility that historically produced diverse and resilient rural livelihood systems.

Groundwater recharge remains almost totally unknown across the Mekong River Basin, hindering the evaluation of groundwater potential for irrigation. A regional regression model was developed to map groundwater recharge across the Lower Mekong Basin where agricultural water demand is increasing, especially during the dry season. The model was calibrated with baseflow computed with the local-minimum flow separation method applied to streamflow recorded in 65 unregulated sub-catchments since 1951. Our results, in agreement with previous local studies, indicate that spatial variations in groundwater recharge are predominantly controlled by the climate (rainfall and evapotranspiration) while aquifer characteristics seem to play a secondary role at this regional scale. While this analysis suggests large scope for expanding agricultural groundwater use, the map derived from this study provides a simple way to assess the limits of groundwater-fed irrigation development. Further data measurements to capture local variations in hydrogeology will be required to refine the evaluation of recharge rates to support practical implementations.

This paper serves international water con ict resolution efforts by examining the ways that states contest hegemonic transboundary water arrangements. The conceptual framework of dynamic transboundary water interaction that it presents integrates theories about change and counter-hegemony to ascertain coercive, leverage, and liberating mechanisms through which contest and transformation of an arrangement occur. While the mechanisms can be active through sociopolitical processes either of compliance or of contest of the arrangement, most transboundary water interaction is found to contain elements of both. The role of power asymmetry is interpreted through classi cation of intervention strategies that seek to either in uence or challenge the arrangements. Coexisting contest and compliance serve to explain in part the stasis on the Jordan and Ganges rivers (where the non-hegemons have in effect consented to the arrangement), as well as the changes on the Tigris and Mekong rivers, and even more rapid changes on the Amu Darya and Nile rivers (where the non-hegemons have confronted power asymmetry through in uence and challenge). The framework also stresses how transboundary water events that may appear isolated are more accurately read within the many sociopolitical processes and arrangements they are shaped by. By clarifying the typically murky dynamics of interstate relations over transboundary waters, furthermore, the framework exposes a new suite of entry points for hydro-diplomatic initiatives.

Load estimates are more informative than constituent concentrations alone, as they allow quantification of on- and off-site impacts of environmental processes concerning pollutants, nutrients and sediment, such as soil fertility loss, reservoir sedimentation and irrigation channel siltation. While statistical models used to predict constituent concentrations have been developed considerably over the last few years, measures of uncertainty on constituent loads are rarely reported. Loads are the product of two predictions, constituent concentration and discharge, integrated over a time period, which does not make it straightforward to produce a standard error or a confidence interval. In this paper, a linear mixed model is used to estimate sediment concentrations. A bootstrap method is then developed that accounts for the uncertainty in the concentration and discharge predictions, allowing temporal correlation in the constituent data, and can be used when data transformations are required. The method was tested for a small watershed in Northwest Vietnam for the period 2010–2011. The results showed that confidence intervals were asymmetric, with the highest uncertainty in the upper limit, and that a load of 6262 Mg year-1 had a 95 % confidence interval of (4331, 12 267) in 2010 and a load of 5543 Mg an interval of (3593, 8975) in 2011. Additionally, the approach demonstrated that direct estimates from the data were biased downwards compared to bootstrap median estimates. These results imply that constituent loads predicted from regression-type water quality models could frequently be underestimating sediment yields and their environmental impact.

Challenges of governance often constitute critical obstacles to efforts to equitably improve livelihoods in social-ecological systems. Yet, just as often, these challenges go unspoken, or are viewed as fixed parts of the context, beyond the scope of influence of agricultural, development, or natural resource management initiatives. What does it take to get governance obstacles and opportunities out in the open, creating the space for constructive dialogue and collective action that can help to address them? We respond to this question by comparing experiences of participatory action research (PAR) in coastal and floodplain systems in four countries (Zambia, Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, and Cambodia) with a focus on understanding how to build more equitable governance arrangements. We found that governance improvement was often an implicit or secondary objective of initiatives that initially sought to address more technical natural resource or livelihood-related development challenges. We argue that using PAR principles of ownership, equity, shared analysis, and feedback built trust and helped to identify and act upon opportunities to address more difficult-to-shift dimensions of governance particularly in terms of stakeholder representation, distribution of authority, and accountability. Our findings suggest that the engaged and embedded approach of researcher-facilitators can help move from identifying opportunities for governance change to supporting stakeholders as they build more equitable governance arrangements.

The doubling of global food demand by 2050 is driving resurgence in interventions for agricultural intensification. Globally, 700 million people are dependent on floodplain or coastal systems. Increased productivity in these aquatic agricultural systems is important for meeting current and future food demand. Agricultural intensification in aquatic agricultural systems has contributed to increased agricultural production, yet these increases have not necessarily resulted in broader development outcomes for those most in need. Here we review studies of interventions that have sought to improve productivity in aquatic agricultural systems in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Zambia. We review evidence of development outcomes from these interventions and the particular role of participatory approaches in intervention design and deployment. There was evidence of increases in productivity in 20 of the 31 studies reviewed. Yet, productivity was only measured beyond the life of the intervention in one case, income and food security improvements were rarely quantified, and the social distribution of benefits rarely described. Participatory approaches were employed in 15 studies, and there was some evidence that development outcomes were more substantial than in cases that were less participatory. To explore the impact of participatory approaches further, we examined five empirical cases. Review and empirical cases provide preliminary evidence suggesting participatory approaches contribute to ensuring agriculture and aquaculture interventions into aquatic agricultural systems may better fit local contexts, are sustained longer, and are more able to deliver development benefits to those most in need. A worthy focus of future research would be comparison between outcomes achieved from interventions with differing levels of participation, and the social differentiation of outcomes.

To promote pro-poor payments for environmental services, it is necessary to identify institutional options that reduce transaction costs and organisational problems associated with establishing and maintaining contracts with small-scale environmental service providers. This study examined the dual functionality of state forest enterprises (SFEs) in the implementation of the Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) Program in Vietnam. We considered whether SFEs’ involvement in the programme could reduce transaction costs and organisational problems. Data were collected from Tu Ly SFE in Hoa Binh province, northern Vietnam and from implementing agencies at various institutional levels. A survey of households participating in the SFE loan programme, and two stakeholder workshops were executed in 2014. The results revealed that Tu Ly SFE plays an important role in the livelihood of many farmers. A SWOT analysis exhibited SFEs’ advantage over other state agencies in implementing national forest management programmes as there are fewer parties involved with greater autonomy and outreach in the district. This study proposes the acknowledgment of SFEs as environmental service providers in their own forestlands and to use SFEs as intermediaries in the Payments for Forest Environmental Services Programme activities.

The humid tropics are exposed to an unprecedented modernisation of agriculture involving rapid and mixed land-use changes with contrasted environmental impacts. Afforestation is often mentioned as an unambiguous solution for restoring ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity. One consequence of afforestation is the alteration of streamflow variability which controls habitats, water resources, and flood risks. We demonstrate that afforestation by tree planting or by natural forest regeneration can induce opposite hydrological changes. An observatory including long-term field measurements of fine-scale land-use mosaics and of hydrometeorological variables has been operating in several headwater catchments in tropical southeast Asia since 2000. The GR2M water balance model, repeatedly calibrated over successive 1-year periods and used in simulation mode with the same year of rainfall input, allowed the hydrological effect of land-use change to be isolated from that of rainfall variability in two of these catchments in Laos and Vietnam. Visual inspection of hydrographs, correlation analyses, and trend detection tests allowed causality between land-use changes and changes in seasonal streamflow to be ascertained. In Laos, the combination of shifting cultivation system (alternation of rice and fallow) and the gradual increase of teak tree plantations replacing fallow led to intricate streamflow patterns: pluri-annual streamflow cycles induced by the shifting system, on top of a gradual streamflow increase over years caused by the spread of the plantations. In Vietnam, the abandonment of continuously cropped areas combined with patches of mix-trees plantations led to the natural re-growth of forest communities followed by a gradual drop in streamflow. Soil infiltrability controlled by surface crusting is the predominant process explaining why two modes of afforestation (natural regeneration vs. planting) led to opposite changes in streamflow regime. Given that commercial tree plantations will continue to expand in the humid tropics, careful consideration is needed before attributing to them positive effects on water and soil conservation.

Maintaining indigenous nutrient supply and positive nutrient balances are key factors in sustaining rice yields. Irrigation systems act as conveyers for water, sediments and nutrients throughout landscapes, especially in mountainous, cultivated tropical areas where erosivity is usually high. Contributions of erosion and irrigation to the nutrient balance of paddy fields, however, are rarely assessed. In this study, a turbidity-based method was used to quantify sediment-associated organic carbon and nitrogen as well as dissolved nitrogen inputs from erosion and irrigation to a 13 ha rice area in Northwest Vietnam. The irrigation source is a surface reservoir, and both reservoir and irrigation channel are surrounded by permanent upland maize cultivation on the steep slopes. Additionally, organic carbon and nitrogen loads in paddy outflow were determined to obtain nutrient budgets. Irrigation contributed 90 % of sediment-associated organic carbon inputs and virtually all nitrogen inputs. Analysis of ammonium and nitrate in total nitrogen loads showed that 24 % of the total N inputs from irrigation to the rice area, or 0.28 Mg ha-1 a-1, were plant-available. Loads measured at the outlet of rice fields showed that paddies were a trap for sediment-associated nutrients: balancing inputs and outflow, a net load of 1.09 Mg ha-1 a-1 of sediment-associated organic carbon and 0.68 Mg ha-1 a-1 of sediment-associated nitrogen remained in the rice fields. Sediment-associated organic carbon and nitrogen inputs thus form an important contribution to the indigenous nutrient supply of rice in these maize-paddy systems, while the rice fields simultaneously capture nutrients, protecting downstream areas from the effects of land use intensification on surrounding slopes. These results underscore the importance of upland-lowland linkages in tropical, mountainous, erosion-prone areas.

Composite agricultural systems with permanent maize cultivation in the uplands and irrigated rice in the valleys are very common in mountainous southeast Asia. The soil loss and fertility decline of the upland fields is well documented, but little is known about reallocation of these sediments within the landscape. In this study, a turbidity-based linear mixed model was used to quantify sediment inputs, from surface reservoir irrigation water and from direct overland flow, into a paddy area of 13 ha. Simultaneously, the sediment load exported from the rice fields was determined. Mid-infrared spectroscopy was applied to analyze sediment particle size. Our results showed that per year, 64Mgha-1 of sediments were imported into paddy fields, of which around 75% were delivered by irrigation water and the remainder by direct overland flow during rainfall events. Overland flow contributed one-third of the received sandy fraction, while irrigated sediments were predominantly silty. Overall, rice fields were a net sink for sediments, trapping 28Mgha-1 a-1 or almost half of total sediment inputs. As paddy outflow consisted almost exclusively of silt- and clay-sized material, 24Mgha-1 a-1 of the trapped amount of sediment was estimated to be sandy. Under continued intensive upland maize cultivation, such a sustained input of coarse material could jeopardize paddy soil fertility, puddling capacity and ultimately food security of the inhabitants of these mountainous areas. Preventing direct overland flow from entering the paddy fields, however, could reduce sand inputs by up to 34 %.

In Laos, hydropower development is occurring at rapid, though controversial pace. While hydropower development could in principle contribute to the country’s development objectives to promote economic growth and reduce poverty, it also impacts people’s livelihoods especially local communities living along the river. Focusing on the transition of Nam Gnouang River into a reservoir, this article looks at the process of resettlement of four neighboring villages in Bolikhamxai Province, Laos into one resettlement site, Ban Keosengkham. Conceptualizing hydropower development as a ‘technology’ of power, it illustrates how power relations between villagers, local government authorities, and dam developers determine resettlement processes and outcomes.

By altering evapotranspiration and influencing how water is routed and stored in a basin, natural and agrarian ecosystems affect river flow. To quantify the impact of ecosystems on streamflow in two large river basins in Asia and Africa, simple statistical relationships were calculated, enabling flow characteristics to be ascertained from basic catchment features. This approach allows the impact of specified land-use change on streamflow to be determined. For example, it shows that extending paddy areas in the Mekong River Basin reduces downstream low flows, while conversion of forests to crops increases the magnitude of downstream floods in the Volta River Basin. The approach could assist river basin planners to better account for flow-related ecosystem services.

Low-impact development (LID) comprises a broad spectrum of stormwater management technologies for mitigating the impacts of urbanization on hydrological processes. Among these technologies, green roofs are one of the most adopted solutions, especially in densely populated metropolitan areas, where roofs take up a significant portion of the impervious surfaces and land areas are scarce. While the in situ hydrological performance of green roofs—i.e., reduction of runoff volume and peak discharge—is well addressed in literature, less is known about their impact on stormwater management and reuse activities at a catchment or city scale. This study developed an integrated urban water cycle model (IUWCM) to quantitatively assess the effect of uniform green roof deployment (i.e., 25, 50, and 100% conversion of traditional roofs) over the period 2009–2011 in the Marina Reservoir catchment, a 100-km2, highly urbanized area located in the heart of Singapore. The IUWCM consists of two components: (1) a physically based model for extensive green roofs integrated within a one-dimensional numerical hydrological-hydraulic catchment model linked with (2) an optimization-based model describing the operation of the downstream, stormwater-fed reservoir. The event-based hydrological performance of green roofs varied significantly throughout the simulation period with a median of about 5% and 12% for the catchment scale reduction of runoff volume and peak discharge (100% conversion of traditional roofs). The high variability and lower performance (with respect to temperate climates) are strongly related to the tropical weather and climatic conditions—e.g., antecedent dry weather period and maximum rainfall intensity. Average annual volume reductions were 0.6, 1.2, and 2.4% for the 25, 50, and 100% green roof scenarios, respectively. The reduction of the stormwater generated at the catchment level through green roof implementation had a positive impact on flood protection along Marina Reservoir shores and the energy costs encountered when operating the reservoir. Vice versa, the drinking water supply, which depends on the amount of available stormwater, decreased due to the evapotranspiration losses from green roofs. Better performance in terms of stormwater reuse could only be obtained by increasing the time of concentration of the catchment. This may be achieved through the combination of green roofs with other LID structures.

The need for enhanced environmental planning and management for highland aquatic resources is described and a rationale for integrated action planning is presented. Past action planning initiatives for biodiversity conservation and wetland management are reviewed. A re ective account is given of integrated action planning from ve sites in China, India and Vietnam. Eight planning phases are described encompassing: stakeholder assessment and partner selection; rapport building and agreement on collaboration; integrated biodiversity, ecosystem services, livelihoods and policy assessment; problem analysis and target setting; strategic planning; planning and organisation of activities; coordinated implementation and monitoring; evaluation and revised target setting. The scope and targeting of actions are evaluated using the Driving forces, Pressures, State, Impacts and Responses framework and compatibility with biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development objectives are assessed. Criteria to evaluate the quality of planning processes are proposed. Principles for integrated action planning elaborated here should enable stakeholders to formulate plans to reconcile biodiversity conservation with the wise use of wetlands.

Canal irrigation and the way it has been managed continue to be at the central stage of irrigation development debates. This article looks at Irrigation Management Transfer policy processes in the seven interconnected irrigation systems in Kulon Progo district, Yogyakarta province, Indonesia. It focuses on the government’s attempt to transfer funds for irrigation system operation and maintenance, so-called “stimulant funds,” from the irrigation agency to Federation of Water User Associations. Illustrating the transformation of the stimulant funds, from a policy measure to empower farmers to a tool to transfer rent-seeking practices, it urges the need to develop autonomous local organizations that are accountable to farmers and look beyond infrastructureoriented development as a basic foundation for irrigation policy reform.

After introducing the objectives and outcomes of Humidtropics, and some institutional constraints the research program faced, this chapter offers a synthesis of achievements, gaps and challenges of agricultural research for development activities implemented in the Humidtropics Central Mekong Action Area, as well as a discussion of the challenges faced. This chapter provides lessons learned from implementing agricultural research for development in this region, and offers insights and recommendations that could support integrated agricultural systems research in the Mekong region and elsewhere.

After reviewing the main causes and effects of land degradation and erosion in the uplands of mainland Southeast Asia, this chapter presents several case studies of recent land-use changes governed by economic, political and institutional transitions, the expansion of teak and rubber tree plantations in northern Laos and southwest China, respectively, and of monocropping coffee in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. We explain how these environmental disturbances are altering water and soil resources across different geographic scales, from the agricultural plot to the headwater catchment. Examples of coping strategies combining field trials and participatory approaches are illustrated with several case studies taken from research for development activities conducted in Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam and the Yunnan Province of China. These activities were part of the CGIAR Research Program on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) in the Central Mekong Action Area. We propose solutions for sustainable agricultural intensification to diversify income, improve dietary diversity and improve natural resource management. The accomplishment of these objectives requires longterm involvement with ethnic minority communities that have been the particular focus in the target areas. The three-anda-half-year lifespan of Humidtropics in the Mekong region was a short period. It would require extension to maintain the carefully built and nurtured relationships with local implementation partners and local farming communities, and reach its full promise.

Vietnam has pilot-tested a payment for forest environmental services (PFES) program in an effort to restore and protect forest areas, some of which have been severely degraded by the excessive cutting of trees by small-scale farmers planting annual crops on steep, sloping lands. The pilot program implemented in southern Vietnam seems to be successful, yet the program in northern Vietnam has not produced the desired rates of planting and maintaining forest areas. The reasons for these mixed results include differences in socio-economic characteristics and also the production and marketing opportunities available to rural households in the project areas. To gain insight regarding program participation, we examine the household-level opportunity costs of planting and maintaining small plots of forest trees in northern Vietnam. We find that small-scale farmers in Hoa Binh Province, with limited financial resources, prefer the annual revenue stream provided by crops such as maize and cassava, rather than waiting for 7 years to obtain revenue from a forest planting. Farmers in Son La Province, with limited access to markets, prefer annual crops because they are not able to sell bamboo shoots and other forest products harvested from their small plots. In both provinces, the payments offered for planting and maintaining forest trees are smaller than the opportunity costs of planting and harvesting annual crops. Thus, most households likely would choose not to participate in the PFES program, at current payment rates, if given the opportunity to decline.

On-site sanitation systems, such as septic tanks and pit latrines, are the predominant feature across rural and urban areas in most developing countries. However, their management is one of the most neglected sanitation challenges. While under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set-up of toilet systems received the most attention, business models for the sanitation service chain, including pit desludging, sludge transport, treatment and disposal or resource recovery, are only emerging. Based on the analysis of over 40 fecal sludge management (FSM) cases from Asia, Africa and Latin America, this report shows opportunities as well as bottlenecks that FSM is facing from an institutional and entrepreneurial perspective.

In this study, we focus on water quality as a vehicle to illustrate the role that the water, energy, and food (WEF) Nexus perspective may have in promoting ecosystem services in agriculture. The mediation of water quality by terrestrial systems is a key ecosystem service for a range of actors (municipalities, fishers, industries, and energy providers) and is reshaped radically by agricultural activity. To address these impacts, many programs exist to promote improved land-use practices in agriculture; however, where these practices incur a cost or other burden to the farmer, adoption can be low unless some form of incentive is provided (as in a payment for ecosystem services (PES) program). Provision of such incentives can be a challenge to sustain in the long term, if there is not a clear beneficiary or other actor willing to provide them. Successfully closing the loop between impacts and incentives often requires identifying a measurable and valuable service with a clear central beneficiary that is impacted by the summative effects of the diffuse agricultural practices across the landscape. Drawing on cases from our own research, we demonstrate how the WEF Nexus perspective—by integrating non-point-source agricultural problems under well-defined energy issues—can highlight central beneficiaries of improved agricultural practice, where none may have existed otherwise.

This study examines the institutional design and actual performance, of payments for ecosystem services (PES) in Vietnam. Taking Payments for Forest Environmental Services Program (PFES Program) implementation in Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province as a case study, it brings to light how PES program design and implementation contributed to the central governmentapos;s objectives to: (1) involve stakeholders in forest management; (2) reduce the governmentapos;s budget burden for forest protection; and (3) maintain political control over forest resources. In Vietnam, the PFES Program is implemented in a top-down manner. Participating households act as government-induced forest guards rather than forest owners. Incomplete design at the central-level results in poorer performance at lower levels and, the lack of strategic management makes it difficult to know whether the program has actually improved ecosystem services and forest management. While the PFES Program complements other institutions at the national- and local-levels, some institutional incompatibilities exist in terms of customary practices. It is unlikely, however, that these will develop into an institutional conflict.

As hydropower dam construction in rapidly growing economies dislodges communities, rural development experts must help the displaced make their livelihoods in new lacustrine environments. One question is whether the dam infrastructure can directly benefit those who remain within the vicinity of the reservoir. Integrated water resource management seeks to concurrently consider hydrological, socioeconomic, and ecological factors, yet water managers lack the information needed to include livelihoods in their analyses. The objective of this paper is to develop tools and plans for coordinating hydropower reservoir operation and management for rural livelihoods. Specifically, this study investigates how dam management may accommodate vegetable farming on the banks of a reservoir. The intervention investigated is to lower water levels during the cultivation period in order to expose shoreline gardens. Based on the recession agriculture rule, evaluated through simulation of a dam in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the average annual hydropower production was reduced by between 0.4 and 8.1%, depending on the agricultural goal, with the loss to power occurring mainly in the months April to June. By focusing on hydropower reservoir systems, the techniques developed in this study have the potential to be applied to support communities throughout the world that farm on the shorelines of water reservoirs.

As in other developing countries, solid waste management (SWM) remains a crucial environmental issue in the Philippines. In the year 2000, the Philippine Congress released a new waste management legislation, the Philippine Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (Republic Act 9003). This law mandates Local Governments to implement suited measures for waste avoidance, materials recovery and recycling in order to reduce waste disposal and to enhance residual waste management through alternative technologies or sanitary landfills. The total municipal waste generation in the country is estimated at more than 25 Mio tons/year, with organic waste components representing the main fraction with around 50% in cities and up to 70% in rural areas. Although RA 9003 mandates a waste diversion rate of at least 25 % to be realized by municipalities in 2006, most of them fail to implement the waste legislation properly mainly due to budget limitations, lack of know-how and conflicting interests that delay priority setting and political decision-making. In this context, the Philippine government entered into a bilateral official development program with the German government provided through the Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) through its development program Solid Waste Management for Local Government Units (SWM4LGUs) during the time period 2005-2012. As part of this program an in-depth and year-long analysis of main factors that relate to success and failures in municipal SWM was conducted. As main outcome of this development program, the National Solid Waste Management Commission integrated these experiences and developed the new National Solid Waste Management Strategy for the years 2012 to 2016 in order to facilitate implementation of RA 9003.

To establish and operate reliable Solid Waste Management (SWM) systems, efficient technologies, stable organizational structures, skilled personnel, sound operational management and appropriate financing concepts are required. In order to sustain such systems, the implementation of suited legal framework conditions and economical instruments are considered as key success factors. Proper financial management allows to determine the real costs of SWM and to design local policies that provide the needed mechanisms to conduct Solid Waste Management on community level and to formulate rules and user fees that are not only acceptable by residents and users but likewise secure participation of stakeholders and transparency for the public [1, 3]. As in other developing countries, financing SWM remains a severe issue also in the Philippines. Cost recovery is an important requirement for sustainable waste management, but it does not always correspond with political priorities, the willingness of the population or the capacities of the administration to implement it. Fees to cover SWM costs are either not asked for, or existing fee mechanism are not effectively implemented or being utilized by the authorities in charge. However, policies that address cost recovery will directly affect the capacity and willingness of service recipients to pay as well as the maximum level of refinancing that can be achieved. The lower the level of cost recovery, the higher the resulting risk of poor services rendered or ultimately service interruptions. Hence, sustainable financing of SWM by local means is imperative. In Bayawan City, Philippines the local government recognized the opportunities arising with establishing a new SWM system as required by national waste legislation [5]. During SWM planning various issues surfaced that were taken up by the local authorities to design apos;taylor-madeapos; new local policies that integrate cost recovery mechanism through user fees and revenues for material recovery. Main positive effects of cost recovery resulted from introduction of a prepaid sticker system that requests to pre-pay a fee for collection of residual waste and bio-waste. Besides, the introduction of an environmental fee claimed with the regular water bill propelled cost recovery from initial 3% to more than 15% of annual SWM budget after only 3 years operation of the new system whereas income for the latter is mainly used for cleaning of septic tanks and processing of recovered sludge at the newly established municipal waste management center. Results of this case underline that enhancing SWM systems is possible also in developing countries with innovative technologies and approaches that integrate local conditions and provide suited mechanism to enhance motivation and ownership of local decision-makers and users likewise [2-4].

Riverbank filtration (RBF) is a process during which river water is subjected to subsurface flow prior to abstraction wells, often characterized by improved water quality. The induced infiltration of river water through the riverbed also creates a clogging layer. This decreases riverbed permeability and abstraction rates, particularly if the river water has high turbidity, as in Thailand. As Chiang Mai Province is one of the most favorable sites for future RBF construction in Thailand, two sites, Mae Rim and San Pa Tong, were selected to simulate clogging by using a channel experiment. The mobile experimental apparatus was set up at the bank of the river in order to use fresh river water. Riverbed sediment was used as channel bed and filling material for the columns. The aim was to simulate riverbed clogging using river water with high turbidity and determine the effect of clogging, which can be quantified using vertical hydraulic conductivity (Kv). An increase in channel flow velocity caused partial removal of a clogging layer in only the top 0.03 m of the sediment column. The combination of low channel flow and high turbidity leads to much more clogging than high channel flow and low turbidity. A complete manual removal of the external clogging layer led to an increase in Kv, but the initial Kv values were not recovered. The external clogging had a lower effect on Kv than internal clogging. For planning new RBF sites along high-turbidity rivers, reduction in Kv to estimate RBF well yield cannot be calculated based only on initial Kv but requires field experiments.

The decrease of pervious areas during urbanization has severely altered the hydrological cycle, diminishing infiltration and therefore sub-surface flows during rainfall events, and further increasing peak discharges in urban drainage infrastructure. Designing appropriate waster sensitive infrastructure that reduces peak discharges requires a better understanding of land use specific contributions towards surface and sub-surface processes. However, to date, such understanding in tropical urban environments is still limited. On the other hand, the rainfall–runoff process in tropical urban systems experiences a high degree of non-linearity and heterogeneity. Therefore, this study used Genetic Programming to establish a physically interpretable modular model consisting of two sub-models: (i) a baseflow module and (ii) a quick flow module to simulate the two hydrograph flow components. The relationship between the input variables in the model (i.e. meteorological data and catchment initial conditions) and its overall structure can be explained in terms of catchment hydrological processes. Therefore, the model is a partial greying of what is often a black-box approach in catchment modelling. The model was further generalized to the sub-catchments of the main catchment, extending the potential for more widespread applications. Subsequently, this study used the modular model to predict both flow components of events as well as time series, and applied optimization techniques to estimate the contributions of various land uses (i.e. impervious, steep grassland, grassland on mild slope, mixed grasses and trees and relatively natural vegetation) towards baseflow and quickflow in tropical urban systems. The sub-catchment containing the highest portion of impervious surfaces (40% of the area) contributed the least towards the baseflow (6.3%) while the sub-catchment covered with 87% of relatively natural vegetation contributed the most (34.9%). The results from the quickflow module revealed average runoff coefficients between 0.12 and 0.80 for the various land uses and decreased from impervious (0.80), grass on steep slopes (0.56), grass on mild slopes (0.48), mixed grasses and trees (0.42) to relatively natural vegetation (0.12). The established modular model, reflecting the driving hydrological processes, enables the quantification of land use specific contributions towards the baseflow and quickflow components. This quantification facilitates the integration of water sensitive urban infrastructure for the sustainable development of water in tropical megacities.

Recent research on payments for environmental services (PES) has observed that high transaction costs (TCs) are incurred through the implementation of PES schemes and farmer participation. TCs incurred by households are considered to be an obstacle to the participation in and efficiency of PES policies. This study aims to understand transactions related to previous forest plantation programmes and to estimate the actual TCs incurred by farmers who participated in these programmes in a mountainous area of northwestern Vietnam. In addition, this study examines determinants of households’ TCs to test the hypothesis of whether the amount of TCs varies according to household characteristics. Results show that average TCs are not likely to be a constraint for participation since they are about 200,000 VND (USD 10) per household per contract, which is equivalent to one person’s average earnings for about two days of labour. However, TCs amount to more than one-third of the programmes’ benefits, which is relatively high compared to PES programmes in developed countries. This implies that rather than aiming to reduce TCs, an appropriate agenda for policy improvement is to balance the level of TCs with PES programme benefits to enhance the overall attractiveness of afforestation programmes for smallholder farmers. Regression analysis reveals that education, gender and perception towards PES programmes have significant effects on the magnitude of TCs. The analyses also points out the importance of local conditions on the level of TCs, with some unexpected results.

In Northeast Thailand, about 80% of the 20 million inhabitants are engaged in rainfed agriculture. Climate vagaries combined with coarse-textured sandy and unevenly distributed saline soils explain low agriculture yields and the endemic relative poverty of the population. We conducted an in-depth analysis of change in the rainfall pattern using daily records (1953-2010) from 18 gauging stations scattered across Northeast Thailand. Based on an intimate knowledge of the local farming systems, particularly their strategies to deal with climate variability and their evolution during the past decades, we analyse and discuss how the cropping systems can adapt to the detected rainfall changes. We used the Mann–Kendall trend detection test, modified to account for serial correlation at each individual station, and the regional average Kendall’s statistic designed for the detection of regional trends across the entire studied area. On-farm surveys carried out during the past two decades in both the upper and lower parts of Northeast Thailand provide a detailed understanding of the functioning of the agricultural production systems and their diversity. The analysis reveals very limited changes in rainfall frequency, intensity and extremes during the humid monsoon and therefore little change in the existing climatic constraints to agricultural production (early dry spells in the wet season and risk of floods at its peak in September). But we found a significant regional trend toward a wetter dry season that could offer new limited opportunities for agricultural production. The paper will discuss the implications of these findings and compare them with recently published research results. Differences in statistical significance between local and regional rainfall trends are also interpreted. If these trends extend, households would not face many difficulties because of their renowned adaptive capacity built over centuries of facing highly variable rainfall patterns, and due to the diversity of their resilient farming systems.

Inefficient use of irrigation water threatens coffee production in Vietnam, the second largest producer worldwide after Brazil. This paper examines the irrigation issues that constrain sustainable coffee production in Vietnam. The period from January to April is a crucial time in the growth of the coffee crop. It requires irrigation, because rainfall only provides 25% of the potential crop evapotranspiration demand. According to crop phenology, this period also requires induced water stress, because it coincides with breaking the dormancy of flower buds and initiation of cherry development, which is crucial for achieving high yield. This paper proposes an irrigation supply of 120 or 150 mm between January and April in a year preceded by good or average rainfall respectively, in November and December. This is equivalent to 364 or 456 liters/plant/round in 3 rounds/year, which is only 70% of the locally recommended level by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Synchronizing this irrigation supply with the management of other inputs could increase average yield up to 4000 kg/ha, from the present level of 2400 kg/ ha making coffee production both sustainable and economically viable. In order to achieve this, building capacity of farmers to follow the irrigation and input application schedules is crucial.

Hydropower development in the Lower Mekong Basin is occurring at a rapid pace. With partial funding from international financial institutions has come pressure on the riparian governments to ensure that the potential environmental and social impacts of hydropower projects are properly considered. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the primary environmental management tools being proposed to fulfill these obligations. This article highlights some of the challenges that are inherent in applying EIA in the Mekong context through critical analysis of both its conceptual and institutional aspects. The main argument of the article is that while EIA application indicates a certain degree of environmental consideration, it is not necessarily sufficient to ensure good environmental practices. Lending institutions such as the World Bank have identified lack of implementation capacity as the biggest constraint to effective EIAs. Focusing on Laos, we show how EIA application should be equipped with necessary institutional arrangements and a transparent public participation process. This will ultimately require a shift within the region to allow environmental and social issues to be given significant weight.

Mekong hydropower is developing rapidly. Laos is at the forefront of this development. While hydropower development supports the country’s economic growth, many observers have highlighted the potential negative impacts for people’s livelihoods. Taking the Nam Mang 3 hydropower project as a case study, we examine the impacts of hydropower development on farming households of differing livelihood assets and resources, and how they have responded to these impacts. Linking livelihood asset substitution with livelihood outcomes, we examine factors constraining livelihood adaptation and how these shape rural households’ strategies to cope with socioeconomic and environmental impacts from hydropower development. We conclude that while asset substitution generally can improve people’s livelihoods, access to land continues to play an important role in the process of livelihood reconstruction and the shaping of livelihood outcomes.

The humid tropics are exposed to an unprecedented modernization of agriculture involving rapid and highly-mixed land-use changes with contrasted environmental impacts. Afforestation is often mentioned as an unambiguous solution for restoring ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity. One consequence of afforestation is the alteration of streamflow variability controlling habitats, water resources and flood risks. We demonstrate that afforestation by tree planting or by natural forest regeneration can induce opposite hydrological changes. An observatory including long-term field measurements of fine-scale land-use mosaics and of hydro-meteorological variables has been operating in several headwater catchments in tropical Southeast Asia since 2001. The GR2M water balance model repeatedly calibrated over successive 1 year periods, and used in simulation mode with specific rainfall input, allowed the hydrological effect of land-use change to be isolated from that of rainfall variability in two of these catchments in Laos and Vietnam. Visual inspection of hydrographs, correlation analyses and trend detection tests allowed causality between land-use changes and changes in seasonal flows to be ascertained. In Laos, the combination of shifting cultivation system (alternation of rice and fallow) and the gradual increase of teak tree plantations replacing fallow, led to intricate flow patterns: pluri-annual flow cycles induced by the shifting system, on top of a gradual flow increase over years caused by the spread of the plantation. In Vietnam, the abandonment of continuously cropped areas mixed with patches of tree plantations led to the natural re-growth of forest communities followed by a gradual drop in streamflow. Soil infiltrability controlled by surface crusting is the predominant process explaining why two modes of afforestation (natural regeneration or planting) led to opposite changes in flow regime. Given that commercial tree plantations will continue to expand in the humid tropics, careful consideration is needed before attributing to them positive effects on water and soil conservation.

We explore processes that enable effective policies and practices for managing the links between water, energy, and food. Three case studies are assessed at different scales in the Mekong River basin, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. We find that there are considerable opportunities for improving outcomes for sustainable development by finding solutions that accommodate multiple objectives in the nexus. These include making data more publicly available, commissioning independent experts to advise on contested issues, engaging under-represented stakeholders in decision-making, sharing benefits, exploring different perspectives in forums where alternative development options can be tested and engaging decision-makers at different scales.

In the Dry Zone of Myanmar, improved access to water is widely acknowledged as being vital for livelihood enhancement and the general well-being of around 10 million people, most of whom depend on agriculture. Thus, expanding the sustainable use of groundwater is of great importance for socioeconomic development. According to this study, opportunities for accessing groundwater are generally good, and development of the resource has steadily increased over the years. However, there still appears to be good prospects for expanding groundwater use for irrigation, with a view to increasing agricultural production. Provision of affordable mechanical technologies for drilling wells and support with credit facilities to purchase small-capacity motorized pumps for irrigation could improve food security and livelihoods, where there is potential to expand groundwater use. Replenishable groundwater resources of the Dry Zone are likely to be less than previously thought. Thus, it is important to find the right balance between increasing development of the resource for enhanced irrigation, while also protecting its existing beneficial use for communities and the environment.

Hydropower development is occurring at a rapid, though controversial, pace in the Mekong. We highlight the role of scientific assessment in shaping the Mekong hydropower debate, taking the strategic environmental assessment of the twelve planned mainstream dams as a case study. While environmental impact assessments are designed as science-based decision-making tools, they have often been criticized in practice as a political means to justify already made development decisions. In this case we demonstrate how the Mekong River Commission, operating in a constrained political environment, has instead used environmental impact assessment as a way of providing political space and opening the discussion on dams to a wider public. The main argument of this paper is that scientific assessment can be politically maneuvered to shape governance alliances at both national and transboundary levels, and to a certain extent democratize decision-making processes.

This paper assessed water management by households from three ethnic groups in two contrasting ecological settings (upland and lowland) in the Upper Ping River Basin in Northern Thailand. Important gender differences in the use and management of water were identified. Women are major users of water for agriculture in the uplands, but less so in the lowlands. In the lowlands irrigation is viewed as a masculine activity. In the uplands the role of women is more widely accepted, with women frequently being members of water user groups. Men, however, dominate ‘decision-making’ positions in communitybased and state-led water organisations in both upland and lowland areas. Perceptions of contributions to daily tasks, and behavioural traits important to governance roles, differed between men and women, and sometimes also across eco-cultural contexts, underlining the complexity of factors influencing gender relations in water governance.

Bac Lieu is a coastal province the Mekong River Delta (MRD), Vietnam. Aside from salinity intrusion from the sea, the province is strongly affected by acidic pollution as 58% of the area (250,000 ha) is overlaid with acid sulphate soil (ASS). Previous studies showed that the eminent sea level rise (SLR) would influence the hydrology and salinity of the canal networks in the province. This study, using the previously validated hydraulic and water quality model VRSAP-ACIDITY (Vietnam River Systems And Plains, coupled with ACIDITY Module), aimed at quantifying impacts of different SLR scenarios (SLR = 17, 30, 50, or 75 cm) on acidic pollution in the province. Under the present sea level, widespread acidic pollution (pH lt; 5) of surface water occurred at the start of the rainy season, due to leaching of acidity from canal embankments and fields in ASS. The acceleration of SLR reduced the area of acidic polluted water. The lessening in acidic pollution was attributed to (1) SLR that raised the water level in the Mekong River, increasing the amount of fresh water flowing into the study area; and (2) the amount of water drained out of the study area increased, bringing with its acidity. It concluded that SLR has a positive effect on acidic pollution in the ASS coastal area.

Analysis of the role of courts in shaping access to justice in Indonesia has emphasised the role of judges and the incentives created for them by courtsapos; institutional design. Alternatively, it has focused on individual justice-seekers and their capacities to choose between alternative pathways through the legal repertoire. In this paper, we suggest that ‘support structures for legal mobilisation’ (SSLMs) have also played an important role in shaping access to justice by influencing both the potential for legal mobilisation and the type of justice sought. In making this argument, we focus on a recent Constitutional Court case on ‘international standard schools’. In this case, a group of parents were able to mobilise for legal action only because NGOs provided the required technical expertise and financial resources while the central involvement of an anti-corruption NGO in the SSLM shifted the focus from parentsapos; concerns about discrimination to corruption.

Poor performance of government-managed irrigation systems persists globally. This paper argues that addressing performance requires not simply more investment or different policy approaches, but reform of the bureaucracies responsible for irrigation management. Based on reform experiences in The Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan, we argue that irrigation (policy) reform cannot be treated in isolation from the overall functioning of

Vietnam’s irrigation development policy directions are divided between the objective to continue increasing rice production through agricultural intensification and to improve farmer’s livelihoods through crop diversification and integrated farming. While the first objective requires the construction of new large-scale irrigation system in deeply flooded area of the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta, the latter demands the modification in management of existing irrigation physical infrastructure for non-rice crops, in particular brackish aquaculture in the coastal zones. This article looks at Vietnam’s irrigation policy formulation processes in the last three and half decades in relation to the idea of polycentric governance. It discusses the current shortcomings and potential role of polycentric governance networks to capture stakeholders’ interests at multiple governance levels essential for future policy development. It partially sheds light on the dark side of water governance, bringing to light the fragmented polycentric decision-making processes in Vietnam’s irrigation development policies.

Developing models to predict on-site soil erosion and off-site sediment transport at the agricultural watershed scale represent an ongoing challenge in research today. This study attempts to simulate the daily discharge and sediment loss using a distributed model that combines surface and sub-surface runoffs in a small hilly watershed (lt; 1km2). The semi-quantitative model, Predict and Localize Erosion and Runoff (PLER), integrates theManning–Strickler equation to simulate runoff and the Griffith University Erosion System Template equation to simulate soil detachment, sediment storage and soil loss based on a map resolution of 30m 30m and over a daily time interval. By using a basic input data set and only two calibration coefficients based, respectively, on water velocity and soil detachment, the PLER model is easily applicable to different agricultural scenarios. The results indicate appropriate model performance and a high correlation between measured and predicted data with both Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (Ef) and correlation coefficient (r2) having valuesgt;0.9. With the simple input data needs, PLER model is a useful tool for daily runoff and soil erosion modeling in small hilly watersheds in humid tropical areas.

This paper examines perceived climate risks, their impacts, and existing adaptation practices at the local level, including the role of local institutions. The analysis focuses on two selected areas in Vietnam and Thailand. The paper is based on the information collected through key informant interviews at provincial and district level, focus group discussions at village level, and household survey. Several adaptation practices exist at local level to deal with the perceived risks of drought, floods, and salinity intrusion. Most of the adaptation practices were autonomous focusing on coping with short-term risks rather than structural longterm climate risks. Some adaptation practices, such as crop insurance and regulatory measures included in the literature and practiced in other places, did not exist at local level in the case study countries, but some local practices such as farmers’ annual fair could be an important addition to the inventory of potential adaptation measures. Local institutions have facilitated adaptation in different ways. They (1) lead and support unique adaptation practices suitable to the local context; (2) act as a catalyst to help people to adapt some practices by providing technical and material support; and (3) act as the bridge between local people and the governmental and non-governmental agencies. But several factors constrain the effectiveness of locally practiced adaptation measures. Thus, to enhance the adaptive capacity of households and the local community, it is necessary to: (1) improve the technical capacity of farmers; (2) create effective mechanisms for strengthening, promoting, and disseminating locally initiated efforts; (3) subsidize and improve access to credit services; (4) improve links between production and markets; and (5) establish effective mechanisms for coordination.

Acidic pollution can cause severe environmental consequences annually in coastal areas overlain with acid sulfate soils (ASS). A water quality model was used as an analytical tool for exploring the effects of water management options and other interventions on acidic pollution and salinity in Bac Lieu, a coastal province of the Mekong Delta. Fifty eight percent of the provincial area is covered by ASS, and more than three-fourths (approximately 175,000 ha) are used for brackish-water shrimp culture. Simulations of acid water propagation in the canal network indicate that the combination of opening the two main sluices along the East Sea of the study area at high tide for one day every week in May and June and widening the canals that connect these sluices to the West Sea allows for adequate saline water intake and minimizes the acidic pollution in the study area. On the other hand, canal dredging in the freshwater ASS area should be done properly as it can create severe acidic pollution.

International river basins cover a vast majority of the land surface, international cooperation is therefore important for the proper management, and to assure equitable and effective use in the basins. Key elements to improve international cooperation are common understanding of the issues in the basin, understanding upstream-downstream impacts and sharing a common vision for the future. This article focuses on the role of games in international basin cooperation to create awareness and to support policy development. The paper analysed the effects of the game in creating awareness and upgrading knowledge amongst water and related professionals and in designing procedures for cooperation in transboundary river basins. This was analysed during the implementation of the game with 28 participants from the four Lower Mekong countries. The impact on creating awareness and upgrading knowledge was evaluated through the use of questionnaires and pre- and post evaluation questions and for the design of policies, a SWOT analysis was used to evaluate the usefulness of the policies and frameworks as well as to identify possible improvements to the framework. The game implementation proved to be an appropriate tool to provide a practical way for stakeholders to become acquainted with the administrative and technical tools available in the Lower Mekong Basin. Pre- and post test shows that participants gained substantial knowledge on transboundary cooperation and use of tools. The game was part of a longer training programme addressing all the issues, however, the participants gained additional knowledge and insight by playing the game, well above what they had learned during the earlier training workshops. Playing the game proved an important aspect in training and education of such complex systems. The study also shows the role games can play in policy analysis, in particular the way the game provided insight in the design of the policy and the development of procedures, and their function to review and update policies and procedures. A number of recommendations have been made to strengthen the role in both training and education as well as in design of procedures.

Since the early 2000s, governance has been at the core of the international water agenda. This has elicited calls for reforms in the irrigation sector, including efforts to address the problem of corruption. Nevertheless, the history of policy reform in the irrigation sector is one of repeated institutional refinements, which have hardly materialized into grounded policy measures and practices. Though international donors, policy makers, irrigation scholars and practitioners have long agreed to invest in the ‘soft issues’ of irrigation, most policy interventions have retained a focus on infrastructure-oriented development. This paper identifies decisive factors that preserve the status quo in irrigation development. We draw our analysis on empirical data from countries with a recent (Ghana, West Africa) and long (Indonesia) irrigation history. Beyond the idiosyncrasies of the two case studies that highlight that everyday practices are embedded in, and constrained by, existing institutional rules and mechanisms, but also contribute to shaping these, we make a broader theoretical point. We argue that the ‘business-as-usual’ trajectory that characterizes the irrigation sector is also rooted in the very concept of governance, which is fundamentally about “governing”, that is a practice aiming at steering people towards defined ends, and through different means such as infrastructure, management practices and policies.

In the Dry Zone of Myanmar, variability in water resources and insufficient capacity to manage that variability is one of the main causes of food insecurity. Seasonal water scarcity is widely acknowledged to be a key constraint to livelihoods and peoples’ wellbeing. This paper describes analyses conducted as a contribution to a detailed water resource assessment of the Dry Zone of Myanmar, which sought to provide information on current water availability and its use in agriculture. A key unknown is the area of dry season irrigation. The paper describes an attempt to estimate the actual area irrigated during the dry seasons (2011-2012) and to determine effective irrigation volumes by differentiating actual evapotranspiration (ET) in irrigated and rain-fed areas. The results indicate that 256,578 ha were irrigated. This contrasts with the total irrigable area of 344,257 ha as stated by the Irrigation Department (ID), the JICA estimate of 382,110 ha, and the FAO estimate of total irrigated area of 685,246 ha. ET in rain-fed and irrigated areas in conjunction with potential evapotranspiration (PET) were compared between three different areas located in the north, the center and the south of the Dry Zone. Actual water volume utilized by crops is much smaller than the volume of water diverted for irrigation, suggesting significant scope for improving irrigation efficiency.

This research study uses a qualitative approach to examine the implementation of the ‘Five Million Hectare Reforestation Program’ (the 5MHRP) in Vietnam, and to explore the underlying reasons for local people’s participation in the program. The study also uses a transactional model to examine the private transaction costs borne by farmers when carrying out forest management activities under the program. The study reveals that: (i) the implementation of the program was generally characterized by a top-down process, (ii) the principal contribution to household benefits derived from forest management activities was the collection and sale of non-timber forest products, not the subsidy provided by the government, (iii) the main challenges faced during implementation of the program were the low and fixed subsidies provided, the improper types of trees being planted, poor access to the forest, and a lack of awareness among local people towards the benefits to be derived from participation in the forest management program, and that (iv) under the program’s community contracts, attending meetings (52%) and self-monitoring activities (35%) constituted the largest proportion of total time spent on forest management, while under the individual contracts, self-monitoring activities (98%) were the main component. Participating in the planting and protection of forests under the program brought greater benefits to households than when involved in forest protection activities alone. The main implications of this study are that an increase of payments under both types of contract, and especially the community contract, as well as the provision of higher quality seedlings and fertilizers, need to be taken into consideration in future initiatives. In addition, local communities and authorities should be further empowered, and their contribution should be taken into consideration in future programs.

Notions of benefit sharing play an increasingly important role in shaping the debate around the merits of existing and future hydropower development in the Mekong region. In this paperwe assess how the concept of benefit sharing is articulated and applied in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. We discuss the conceptual strengths and weaknesses of benefit sharing, within the broader context of land and water resources and environmental governance. We argue that while benefit sharing provides an entry point for placing the current debate on hydropower development within the perspective of social justice, better understanding of governance structures and processes is needed. Our primary message is that innovations in policies and programs should not be analyzed in isolation from the wider governance structure, processes, and outcomes. To this end, we are pleased also to introduce this Special Issue of Water Resources and Rural Development, in which several authors analyze current benefit sharing programs in the Mekong region, with a focus on governance, process, and policy implications.

This article identifies some of the multiple processes of capitalist development through which access to common property resources and their utility for communities are undermined. Three sites in upland Asia demonstrate how patterns of exclusion are mediated by the unique and selective trajectories through which capital expands, resulting in a decline of common property ecosystems. The process is mediated by economic stress, ecological degradation and political processes such as state-sanctioned enclosure. The first case study from Shaoguan, South China, indicates how rapid capitalist industrialization has depleted the aquatic resource base, undermining the livelihoods of fishing households yet to be absorbed into the urban working class. At the second site, in Phu Yen, Vietnam, capitalist development is limited. However, indirect articulations between capitalism on the lowlands and the peasant economy of the uplands is driving the commercialization of agriculture and fishing and undermining the utility of communal river and lake ecosystems. In the third site, Buxa in West Bengal, India, there is only selective capitalist development, but patterns of resource extraction established during the colonial period and contemporary neoliberal ‘conservation’ agendas have directly excluded communities from forest resources. Restrictions on access oblige them to contribute subsidized labour to local enterprises. The article thus shows how communities which are differentially integrated into the global economy are excluded from natural resources through complex means.

This study reviewed trends, issues and constraints affecting investments in agricultural water management in Cambodia. Informed by a review of current programs and the literature, workshops were convened in March 2013 to explore four keys areas: investments in irrigation, local institutions for managing irrigation, use of groundwater for irrigation and impacts of intensification on rice-field fisheries. We present some conclusions and unresolved questions here to promote a more broadly based debate around irrigation policy and investment in Cambodia. Drawing on the results of these workshops, policy briefs were compiled and published in English and Khmer.

In this study, a spatial dynamic model was developed, to simulate nitrogen dynamics in Van Hoi commune, Tam Duong district, Vietnam, for different soil and land use types, under different irrigation and fertilizer regimes. The model has been calibrated using measured nitrogen concentrations in soil solution in March and August 2004 and validated for data from March and August 2005. Lateral flow was low in this level area. Percolation was the main process leading to high nitrogen leaching losses to ground water. Calculated annual leaching losses varied from 88 to 122 kg N ha–1 in flowers, 64 to 82 in vegetables of the cabbage group, 51 to 76 in chili, 56 to 75 in vegetables of the squash group, and 36 to 55 in rice.

Payments for ecosystem services often are viewed as an innovative approach toward improving natural resource management, while also providing opportunities for enhancing incomes and livelihoods. Yet not all PES programs are designed and implemented in ways that reflect voluntary transactions between buyers and providers of well-defined, measurable ecosystem services. When third-party interests, such as donors or governments, design PES programs to achieve goals that lie outside the conceptual scope of payments for ecosystem services, the improvements in resource management and enhancements in livelihoods can fall short of expectations. We examine this potential dissonance in PES program implementation, taking the case of PES in the forestry sector in Vietnam. We question whether PES in Vietnam has the potential to enhance forest protection and watershed management. We highlight the importance of institutions and governance (i.e., the policies, rules, and regulations) in determining program significance and we illustrate how PES programs are implemented as part of the governmentapos;s subsidy scheme. We conclude that in the absence of a competitive market structure and appropriate regulations, governments can reshape PES programs to function primarily as tools for strengthening state control over natural resources.

At a farm level, economic returns are the single most important attributes that drive farmers to adopt agricultural technologies. This study was carried out at the Naphok and Veunkham villages, Lao PDR,to evaluate the yield response of a maize mono-cropping system to soil amendments and analyze the economic return of such interventions. The amendments were rice husk biochar, bentonite clay, compost, clay-manure compost, and rice husk biochar compost, in isolation and in various combinations. Over a period of two cropping seasons (2011–2012),the enhancement of maize yield due to soil amendments ranged from0.77 to 3.79tha-1 at Naphok and from 1.21 to 5.14tha-1 at Veunkham, resulting in net revenues ranging from -794 to 841 and -331 to 1391 US$ha-1 , respectively. Soils amended with low-cost amendments such as compost, rice husk biochar, rice husk biochar compost, and clay-manure compost were economically viable within the first cropping season. In contrast, soils amended with higher-cost amendments such as bentonite clay requires up to five years to be economically viable. Such variations indicate that taking into account maize yield revenues only does not provide sufficient incentives to farmers to adopt higher-cost soil amendments conclude that there is a possibility to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and improve the income of smallholders using locally available low-cost soil amendments. Our findings provide important information for decision makers to promote the adoption of low-cost soil amendments, and,thereby,to contribute to productivity growth and food security through sustainable intensification.

We assessed the potential impact of climate change on the yield of rainfed rice in the lower Mekong Basin and evaluated some adaptation options, using a crop growth simulation model. Future climate projections are based on IPCC SRES A2 and B2 scenarios as simulated by ECHAM4 global climate model downscaled for the Mekong Basin using the PRECIS system. We divided the basin into 14 agro-climatic zones and selected a subcatchment within each zone for the model and assessed the impact for the period of 2010–2030 and 2030–2050. In general, the results suggest that yield of rainfed rice may increase significantly in the upper part of the basin in Laos and Thailand and may decrease in the lower part of the basin in Cambodia and Vietnam. The increase is higher during 2030–2050 compared to the period of 2010–2030 for A2 scenario. For B2 scenario, yield increase is higher during 2010–2030. The impact is mainly due to the change in rainfall and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. We have tested widely used adaptation options such as changing planting date, supplementary irrigation, and reduction in fertility stress and found that negative impact on yield can be offset and net increase in yield can be achieved.

One challenge to overcome in implementing payment for environmental services (PES) in Vietnam is the high transaction cost associated with many contracts with small scale ecosystem service providers. In order to promote pro-poor PES, it is necessary to identify institutional options that reduce transaction costs and organizational problems. State Forest Enterprises (SFEs) play an important role in the forestry sector and the livelihoods of many rural poor in the country. The government of Vietnam has issued Decree 200 in December 2004 to develop provincial SFE reform plans. SFEs were given much greater autonomy and the government expected an increase in land managed directly by households (and possibly communities) under district level administration rather than the provincial level aimed at improving economic and social opportunities in the locality of SFEs. The main challenges to implement the reform were availability of government funds and availability of loans for SFEs (EASRD, 2005). The Development Assistant Fund recently increased interest rates and introduced more stringent lending criteria making access to financing difficult for SFEs. By linking available revenue sharing funds from hydropower dam projects to SFEs, these SFEs may be able to expand and implement PES programs cost-effectively. Therefore, we are looking into the policy and legal framework of SFEs in Vietnam as well as its operational procedures to look into potential application of benefit sharing through PES. The study undertakes three stages: First, a review on policy and legal frameworks of SFEs enables us to determine if the system is conducive to managing benefit sharing of hydropower dam projects. Second, on-going SFE models in Vietnam are reviewed and evaluated in terms of benefit sharing applicability within the hydropower dam context. Finally, empirical data from Tu Ly SFE is analysed to draw on a mechanism of benefit sharing through PES. Households who participated in the loan program of the Tu Ly SFE are interviewed to elicit information on household characteristics, cost and benefits of joining the Tu Ly SFE loan program, and their loan use. In addition, individuals paid by the Tu Ly SFE to plant and manage the forest are interviewed. Finally, the study presents a framework of benefit sharing of hydropower dam projects through payments for environmental services managed by SFEs developed from the above analysis with an assessment of advantages and challenges in its implementation.

To meet rising demands for food and energy, the number of hydropower dams is growing rapidly and irrigation schemes will likely expand, in the Mekong Basin. The cumulative hydrological effect of planned water resources development has previously been assessed at the Mekong Basin scale. This paper analyzes how water control structures modify the balance between water demand and water supply along the Nam Ngum River, a Mekong tributary in Lao PDR. The Nam Ngum Basin, already containing both irrigation schemes and hydropower dams, has the potential for significantly enlarged river-fed irrigation, as well as additional upstream hydropower dams. We analyzed flow data recorded since 1962, in combination with a reservoir system optimization model, to assess changes in monthly river flows induced by existing and planned hydropower dams. Current and potential irrigation water demands were assessed from satellite images, cropping calendars and simple crop water balance. Our results indicate that, by the 2030s, if eight hydropower dams are completed in the Nam Ngum Basin, dry season river flow could increase by more than 200% and wet season flows could decrease by 20%. In the absence of dam storage, current irrigation water demand would compete with minimum environmental flow requirements during dry years. In contrast, full hydropower development allows current irrigation water demand to triple, to reach the potential levels of development, whilst maintaining environmental flows. The contribution of the Nam Ngum Basin to the Mekong River flow at Kratie, a few hundreds kilometers upstream of the Tonle Sap Lake, has changed from 5 to 15% in April, since hydropower dams started developing in the Mekong Basin, suggesting that the effect of water control development in the Nam Ngum Basin impacts water resources further downstream. Beyond the effects on water resources, there are a number of other impacts on fisheries, sediment, biodiversity, ecosystems, and population resettlement that should be considered in order to better understand the environmental and socioeconomic costs and benefits of these hydropower dams.

Floods are one of the most frequent and widespread natural hazards in the world. A recent example is the 2011 floods in three of the four Lower Mekong Basin Countries (Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam) that caused severe impacts in terms of loss of life and damage to infrastructure. Several studies have highlighted the increasing importance of developing spatio-temporal flood hazard databases to understand flood dynamics more systematically at a range of spatial scales within South East Asia (SEA). This study is proceeding on two distinct fronts: the first focusses on ranking and prioritization of impacts across SEA, whilst the other examines an approach to flood monitoring that evaluates the feasibility of implementing possible mitigation strategies that still provide for the degree of flow variability needed to maintain ecosystems. Firstly, long-term time-series data from multiple sources (e.g. EM-DAT, DFO, Sentinel Asia) was used in identifying flood hotspots including their frequency, intensity/severity and societal impacts. This will also help in evaluating and improving hydrological modeling predictions and provide better information for more effective flood hazard, flood risk and preparedness studies. Flood hotspots were further investigated taking into account of agricultural extent loss, populations at risk and economic loss. The results from the hotspot analysis suggest more climate risk investments are needed to minimize risk and are likely to have the biggest payoff in terms of reduced losses. The nature of those investments and the associated cost-benefits are being revealed. Secondly, a new approach is being developed for flood monitoring from time-series MODIS data acquired from 2000 to 2012. This approach will help in identifying basin to regional-scale temporal changes in inundated area; duration of inundation cycles between large-medium-small scale floods. Thus satellite-based mapping of flood risks areas will help in identifying prospective areas for floodwater harvesting in the upstream areas to reduce negative impacts downstream.

The growing regional demand for electricity in Southeast Asia has made Laos a key player in hydropower development since the 1990s. The country’s rivers contribute around 35% of the Mekong’s flow and have been estimated to have 18,000 MW of exploitable hydropower potential (International Rivers, 2008). While the projects provide revenue for the government of Laos from electricity exports to neighboring countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and China, the hydro boom has not necessarily been good news for Lao villagers affected by these dam constructions. Among others, displacement, land shortages, lack of livelihood opportunities, fisheries losses, flooding and erosion are the main negative impacts that Lao villagers reported in past studies. Thus far, little attention has been given to the impact of hydropower dam constructions on the changes of livelihood activities of affected households. This study contributes to filling this gap by looking into the livelihood changes of villagers residing upstream and downstream of the Nam Gnouang Dam in Laos. After several focus group discussions in the study site, an in-depth livelihood survey was conducted in 2011 covering 110 households living upstream of the Nam Gnouang Dam project and 100 households living immediately below the dam (headpond). Based on households’ perceptions, we identify what households considered to be the major positive and negative impacts to their livelihoods brought about by the hydropower development. Using logit/probit regression analysis, we further determine the factors that bring negative or positive changes in the livelihoods of the affected households. A comparative analysis of the effects of the two areas, upstream and headpond, is tested. It is important to investigate the different facets of impact from hydropower dam constructions on affected households. Negative or positive changes in the livelihoods of affected households may depend on the household composition and past livelihood activities. Location of the resettlements may also be an important factor. By taking into account these different factors, we will contribute to the existing literature on hydropower dam interventions. Enhanced, improved or alternative livelihood options with strong adoption potential may well be identified by looking into the determinants of the impact of hydropower dam projects.

We question whether payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs have the potential to enhance natural resource management in Vietnam, where the state essentially designs and implements the programs. In such settings, the welfare gains achieved through PES programs will be determined by how the state incorporates the programs into national development strategies and aligns them with other land use and environmental policies. We consider also whether PES programs can be relied on to reduce poverty and enhance livelihoods, either alone or in combination with other policy interventions. To these ends, we trace the development of PES programs within the context of forest conservation policies and in relation to watershed management. Taking Vietnam as our case study, we illustrate how PES programs are implemented within the context of a monopsonistic, non-competitive market. We conclude that in the absence of a competitive market structure and with appropriate regulations governments can reshape PES programs so that they function primarily as tools for strengthening state control over natural resources.

There is increasing concern over projected changes in the magnitude and timing of streamflow due to the construction of hydropower dams in the Mekong basin and elsewhere. We compare a suite of indicators for their ability to reflect changes from pre-dam flow regimes. Using two case studies, we illustrate the differences in hydrologic alteration that take place downstream of dams that are used for (i) in-stream power production (Nam Ngum 1 Dam) and (ii) diverting water to off-stream production sites (Nam Theun-Hinboun Project). We show that dams for in-stream power production reduce wet season flows, increase dry season flows and attenuate both high- and low-flow extremes. In contrast, dams constructed for off-stream power production mildly reduce flood peaks when diversions are possible during extreme high flow conditions while dry season streamflow declines sharply due to the priority placed on hydropower production. Our analysis summarizes the effects of dams on the frequency, duration, timing and rates of change of discharge at sites downstream of dams. We then review the relevance of metrics of hydrologic alteration for assessing impacts of hydropower dams on livelihoods dependent upon the natural variability of the flow regime in monsoonal climate zones.

In the last two decades, international donors have promoted Irrigation Management Transfer (IMT) as an international remedy to management problems in government irrigation systems in many developing countries. This article analyses the political processes that shape IMT policy formulation and implementation in Indonesia. It links IMT with the issue of bureaucratic reform and argues that its potential to address current problems in government irrigation systems cannot be achieved if the irrigation agency is not convinced about the need for management transfer. IMT’s significance cannot be measured only through IMT outcomes and impacts, without linking these with how the irrigation agency perceives the idea of management transfer in the first place, how this perception (re)defines the agency’s position in IMT, and how it shapes the agency’s action and strategy in the policy formulation and implementation. I illustrate how the irrigation agency contested the idea of management transfer by referring to IMT policy adoption in 1987 and its renewal in 1999. The article concludes that for management transfer to be meaningful it is pertinent that the issue of bureaucratic reform is incorporated into current policy discussions.

Research and policy debates over natural resource management in developing countries have largely focused on identifying the set of institutions that best supports resource sustainability and poverty alleviation. We argue that beyond finding the right institutional fit for a social-ecological system, it is equally important to understand how context affects the design and outcomes of institutional reforms. We propose a refined conceptualisation of context, based on a revision of the Institutional Analysis and Development framework. We defend a systematic analysis of context, distinguishing between contextual factors affecting the fitness to local socio-ecological conditions and contextual factors that mobilise power such as political-economic interests and prevailing discourses. We illustrate our argument with empirical research on land-tenure reforms that have been implemented since the 1980s in northern Vietnam. The proposed analytical framework and conceptualisation of context allows a more pervasive understanding of contextual factors, enabling the incorporation of the forms of power that give meaning and legitimacy to institutional change.

The Northern Uplands of Vietnam form one of the largest ecological regions in the country, characterized by complex biophysical conditions and a high diversity in ethnic minorities, cultures, and farming systems. The Doi moi (“renovation”) program has, since the early 1980s, resulted in significant changes in agriculture production and related economic trends. However, poverty, low agricultural productivity, and land degradation are still major problems. This article illustrates the factors that drive these problems by analyzing agricultural land use in Suoi Con, a small agroforestry watershed in the Northern Uplands. We first identified the current land-use systems and analyzed constraints on agricultural production. The results indicate that although low soil fertility and land degradation are considerable problems, availability of household capital, low technology levels, and land fragmentation are major constraints on agricultural development. These constraints were analyzed from different points of view to identify mismatches between the implementation of top-down government policies and specific conditions that may explain why actual land-use change in the Northern Uplands deviates from the governmentapos;s development plans. Results of land-use analysis in the Suoi Con watershed suggest that participatory and bottom-up approaches are needed to better understand problems and opportunities in household agricultural production in order to develop appropriate land-use plans and policies.

Inefficient use of groundwater perils Vietnam’s coffee production, the second largest of the world after Brazil. Unsustainable coffee production in Vietnam has both national and global ramifications. Nationally, it is so crucial that coffee is the second largest export-earning crop after rice, and the production supports livelihoods of significant rural agricultural population with small land holdings. Internationally, Vietnam’s coffee exports meet the rapidly growing demand, and account 19% of world’s coffee exports in 2010, up from only 2% in 1990. This paper examines groundwater irrigation issues that constraint sustainable coffee production in Vietnam. January to April is a crucial period of coffee crop growth: it requires irrigation, because rainfall meets only 25% of the potential crop-evapotranspiration demand. According to crop phenology, this period also requires induced water stress, because it coincides with breaking the dormancy of coffee buds and initiation of cherry development, which is crucial for higher yield. The paper recommends irrigation supply of 120 to 150 mm/ha between January and April in a year preceded by good or average rainfall respectively in November and December. This is equivalent to 456 liters/plant/round in 3 rounds/year, which is a significant reduction from the recommend level of 650 liters/plant/round. Synchronizing this irrigation supply with other inputs could increase average yield up to 4,000 kg/ha, from the present level of 2,400 kg/ha. These require experimental studies to understand the timings of irrigation rounds and other inputs, capacity building of farmers to follow the irrigation and input application schedules, and public awareness campaigns to raise the importance of improved irrigation management methods.

The in-depth knowledge on management and reducing annual acidic pollution is important for improving the sustainable livelihood of people living in areas with acid sulphate soils (ASS). This study involved a long-term (2001–2006), large-scale canal water quality monitoring network (87 locations) and a field experiment at nine sites to quantify the dynamic variability of acidic pollution and its source in a coastal area with ASS in the Mekong River Delta of Vietnam. Widespread acidic pollution (pH lt;5) of surface water occurred at the beginning of the rainy season, while pH of the canal water remained high (7–8) at the end of the rainy season and during the dry season. The study identified canal embankment deposits, made of ASS spoils from canal dredging/excavation, as the main source of acidic pollution in the surrounding canal network. The findings suggested that there was a linkage between the amount of acidic loads into canal networks and the age of the embankment deposits. The most acute pollution (pH ~ 3) occurred in canals with sluggish tidal water flow, at 1–2 years after the deposition of excavated spoils onto the embankments in ASS. The amount of acidic loads transferred to the canal networks could be quantified from environmental parameters, including cumulative rainfall, soil type and age of embankment deposits. The study implied that dredging/excavation of canals in ASS areas must be carried out judiciously as these activities may increase the source of acidic pollution to the surrounding water bodies.

In the context of ecological and economic change, this paper identifies the impact of ongoing transformations in young peopleapos;s labour contribution in four natural resource-dependent regions in India, Vietnam and China. Childrenapos;s work is important to maximise household labour productivity, while also endowing them with the ecological knowledge necessary to sustain key productive livelihood activities. However, today, an increased emphasis on education and the out-migration of youth is reducing their labour contribution, particularly in the more economically developed case study communities in Northern Vietnam and China. While selective in its extent, these changes have increased the labour burden of older household members and women, while the economic opportunities young people aspire to following schooling or migration frequently prove elusive in a competitive liberalised economy. Another implication of young people diverting their labour and learning away from traditional natural resource-based livelihood activities is the loss of valuable ecological knowledge.

Groundwater in coastal zones around the globe is a critical asset in securing water, food and general development for millions of people. Particularly, in the Asia-Pacific region, such resources are significantly depended on in rural as well as urban areas for a wide range of uses, often as the only water source, which is exemplified by small island states. Present and future stresses on these significant, but often vulnerable systems, from human development, urbanization, climate change, and extreme events call for better understanding and awareness of these resources, their protection and best management approaches. The present chapter deals with the current level of knowledge of coastal groundwater systems in continental and island settings in the Asia-Pacific, their uses, vulnerabilities and hazards from various sources. The objective of the paper is to propose through an integrated framework approach how sustainable and resilient groundwater management can be promoted and enhanced. The work is partially based on the case of the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and the immense challenges but also opportunities it entailed for local and higher level groundwater management.

By comparing the successful story of a hydrodynamic model (based on its contribution to policy changes, management options and livelihood improvement) with other modelling cases in the Mekong River Delta, five success factors are identified. These are (1) simulated phenomena relevant to and understandable by policy makers; (2) response to the needs of policy setting; (3) developed and handled by national modellers with direct links to the policy process; (4) availability of input data; and (5) long application history. These success factors provide higher opportunities for engaging modelling activities with policy setting.

Water flow and solute transport in soils forms an essential part in many groundwater hydrology studies. This is especially true for Northeast Thailand, where the agricultural land is affected by the soil salinity, which is a widespread and an increasing phenomenon affecting 25% of the agricultural land. Salinization appears as scattered discrete patches of 10–100 m2 in the lowlands, illustrated by white efflorescences during the dry season and bare soil during the cropping season. A field study was undertaken in farm plots to measure the water flow and solute transport within the soil surface and the vadose zone, both inside and outside a saline patch. The water flow was measured on the soil surface with lysimeters and infiltration rings, and was derived in the soil from the hydraulic gradients measured with tensiometers placed at different depths. The salt transport was evaluated with water traps also placed at different depths, where the soil water’s electrical conductivity was measured throughout the rainy season. Field study results demonstrated that the accumulation of saline solutions in rain fed paddy fields, occurred mainly during the rainy season while the soil surface remained flooded. During this period the saline water table rose towards the soil surface independently of infiltration into the soil. It happened in specific places where the compacted soil layer, generally ubiquitous in the area at a depth of 40–50 cm, is interrupted. Therefore salinity appeareds in discret points as patches. Artesian upward flow already described in this area (Haworth et al., 1966; Williamson et al., 1989; Imaizumi et al., 2002) is most probably responsible for this water table rise, thereby affecting crop productivity. Numerical modelling of water flow using HYDRUS-3D further supported these results and showed that managing the depth of flooding within the plot can significantly reduce the outbreak of these saline plumes.

Asia accounts for 70% of the world’s irrigated area and is home to some of the oldest and largest irrigation schemes. While these irrigation schemes played an important role in ensuring food security for billions of people in the past, their current state of affairs leaves much to be desired. This paper takes forward the IWMI–FAO–ADB (Asian Development Bank) recommendation of a five pronged approach for revitalizing Asia’s irrigation and provides a region specific road map for doing this. The underlying principle of these multiple strategies is the belief that the public institutions at the heart of irrigation management in Asia need to give up comfortable rigidity and engage with individual users’ needs and the demands placed by larger societal chang.

This paper develops a hydro-economic optimization modeling framework to assess the economic consequences and potential trade-offs of various infrastructure development and policy pathways in the Nam Ngum Basin (Lao PDR). We considered whether large shifts in water resource demands in a relatively water abundant basin could induce meaningful economic trade-offs among water uses, including hydropower generation, irrigation expansion, flood control, and transboundary water transfer objectives. We constructed a series of sensitivity scenarios under dry, average, and wet hydrologic conditions with varying levels dam development, irrigated agricultural expansion, agricultural returns, flood control storage restrictions, and water diversions to Northeast Thailand. We also considered how flows into the Mekong would be affected by these collective developments. In general, results indicate that tradeoffs between hydropower production, irrigation, and flood control are modest. Hydropower and agricultural expansion are found to be complimentary under high levels of water availability, even with the most ambitious level of irrigation expansion. Allowing for flood control by maintaining reduced storage levels in the reservoir that is largest and furthest downstream on the Nam Ngum (NN1) has a minimal effect on economic output and decreases total system hydropower by less than 1%. However, economic outcomes are highly dependent on water availability and economic returns to irrigated agriculture. System hydropower was greatly reduced, and inter-basin transfer projects induced large economic costs under dry conditions. These results on seasonal impacts illustrate the importance of accounting for climate variability and potential hydrologic change in cost-benefit analysis of infrastructure projects, even in watersheds that are relatively water abundant.

Rice submergence is the condition by which the water level rises above the rice crop canopy. In general, rice plant response to submergence is to elongate its shoots above the rising water level. This costs in energy and eventually has a direct impact in terms of reducing yields. A specific gene, called Sub1, when introgressed into popular rice varieties by Marker Assisted Back-crossing, nearly stops the natural elongation process and permits a given local rice variety to sustain submerged conditions for a generally recognized period of about 2 weeks. Plant breeders now look for well-identified and location-accurate submergence areas in order to disseminate such improved local rice varieties. Remote sensing is proposed to provide surface water maps at high temporal resolution, determining a percentage of occurrences of surface water for a given pixel. Occurrence is defined as the count of days of identified surface water within a given period, returned in a percentage on that period. Rice area maps and knowledge of crop calendars are proposed to add to the assessment of submergence prone areas in two study areas, the Northeastern Thailand and Nueva Ecija in North Central Philippines.

Wood charcoal production provides affordable energy in many developing countries and has substantially contributed to the economy through the provision of rural incomes. In several countries, charcoal production leads to overexploitation of forests due to inefficiencies in processing. This study was undertaken in central Laos to (1) examine and document traditional charcoal production systems; (2) investigate the production capacity, recovery efficiencies and economic gains of existing traditional charcoal production methods; (3) characterize the chemical properties of wood charcoal and investigate the potential for soil restoration and (4) investigate local charcoal producers’ perception on forest degradation and their species preferences. Through a socio-economic survey, a cost-based method for economic valuation was undertaken on a range of charcoal production methods currently being used. Laboratory chemical analyses were performed on wood charcoal samples. Results indicated that the traditional mud charcoal mound was used by the majority (82%) of charcoal producers. Total charcoal production per production cycle varied between 400 (produced from 2.7 m3 of wood) and 1600 kg (produced from 18 m3 of wood), with a mean of 938 kg (120) for traditional mud charcoal mounds. The volume of the traditional mud charcoal mounds correlated positively and significantly with total charcoal production (R2 = 0.45, p = 0.03), whereas correlated negatively and significantly with the recovery efficiency (R2 = 0.58, p = 0.01). On average, the local producers receive a total net benefit of 457,272 Lao kip (USD 57.2) in 17 days. We also identified a rice husk mound method of charcoal production, which may not encourage further deforestation while producing rice husk biochar that can be used for soil restoration. Furthermore, we found that there are significant differences (p lt; 0.05) between the sampled wood charcoals in chemical properties, indicating that the potential of using wood charcoal for the restoration of degraded soils varies from charcoal to charcoal.

This article analyses policy trends in Indonesian irrigation, particularly during the last five decades, from the perspective of dominant narratives, as authored, suggested and pushed by international donors. It argues that international donors’ adherence to ‘deferred maintenance’ as the core element of irrigation policy problem framing does not match with farmers’ and the irrigation agency staff perceptions and practices. The logic of obscuration and the discursive manoeuvers that maintain it are analysed. The article concludes that there is space for more profound conceptual contestation and for alternative actions pathways even within the ‘dominant paradigm’ to address management problems more effectively.

In this paper we present a framework for analysing transboundary water governance complexes, illustrated in the Mekong Region. In this region, the sharing of waters between countries adds a critical dimension to decision making about producing food and energy, maintaining vital ecosystems, and sustaining livelihoods. Hydropower, dams, diversions, expanding cities and irrigation schemes are all in the mix. The key elements of the framework are: context, drivers, arenas, tools, decisions and impacts. The use of deliberation, technical and advocacy tools is explored and normative governance improvements are suggested.

Media stories often speak of a future dominated by large-scale water wars. Rather less attention has been paid to the way water conflicts play out at local levels and form part of people’s everyday lives. Based on case study studies from Vietnam, Bolivia and Zambia, this paper examines the strategies of poor households in local water conflicts. It is shown how such households may not only engage actively in collaborative water management but may also apply risk aversion strategies when faced with powerful adversaries in conflict situations. It is further shown how dependency relations between poor and wealthy households can reduce the scope of action for the poor in water conflicts. As a result, poor households can be forced to abstain from defending their water resources in order to maintain socio-economic and political ties with the very same households that oppose them in water conflicts. The paper concludes by briefly discussing how the poorest can be supported in local water conflicts. This includes ensuring that alternative spaces for expressing grievances exist and are accessible; facilitating that water sharing agreements and rights are clearly stipulated and monitored; and working beyond water governance to reduce the socio-economic dependency-relations of poor households.

Governments, NGOs and financers invest considerable resources in rural domestic water supplies and irrigation development. However, elite capture and underuse, if not complete abandonment, are frequent. While the blame is often put on apos;corrupt, lazy and indisciplinedapos; communities, this article explores the question of how the public water sector itself contributes to this state of affairs. Four case studies, which are part of the research project Cooperation and Conflict in Local Water Governance, are examined: two domestic water supply projects (Mali, Vietnam); one participatory multiple use project (Zambia); and one large-scale irrigation project (Bolivia). It was found that accountability of water projects was upward and tended to lie in construction targets for single uses with already allocated funding. This rendered project implementers dependent upon the village elite for timely spending. Yet, the elite appeared hardly motivated to maintain communal schemes, unless they themselves benefited. The dependency of projects on the elite can be reduced by ensuring participatory and inclusive planning that meets the project’s conditions before budget allocation. Although such approaches are common outside the water sector, a barrier in the water sector is that central public funds are negotiated by each sector by profiling unique expertise and single livelihood goals, which trickle down as single use silos. The article concludes with reflections on plausible benefits of participatory multiple use services for equity and sustainability.

As we enter an era of increasing water scarcity, there is a growing interest to find ways to capture and put water to more productive uses. Substantial increases in the productivity of water in agriculture are needed to meet the demands for food and ensure environmental security, and to satisfy the demands for non-agricultural uses. However, increasing water productivity in rice-dominated agriculture is a function of the irrigation infrastructure, advances in rice-plant breeding, and the physical, institutional and socioeconomic environments. This paper first describes the potential ways in which increased water productivity can be achieved in the context of rice production in Asia. It then illustrates the ways in which the differences in the environmental context affect the ability to increase water productivity, the approaches used and the incentives to do so. This is explained using two ‘case studies’ reflecting the experiences of Taiwan and the Philippines over the past half-century.

Thailand’s naturally high seasonal endowment of water resources brings with it the regularly experienced problems associated with floods during the wet season and droughts during the dry season. Downstream-focused engineering solutions that address flooding are vital, but do not necessarily capture the potential for basin-scale improvements to water security, food production and livelihood enhancement. Managed aquifer recharge, typically applied to annual harvesting of wet season flows in dry climates, can also be applied to capture, store and recover episodic extreme flood events in humid environments. In the Chao Phraya River Basin it is estimated that surplus flows recorded downstream above a critical threshold could be harvested and recharged within the shallow alluvial aquifers in a distributed manner upstream of flood prone areas without significantly impacting existing large-medium storages or the Gulf and deltaic ecosystems. Capturing peak flows approximately 1 year in four by dedicating around 200 km2 of land to groundwater recharge would reduce the magnitude of flooding and socio-economic impacts and generate around USD 250 M/year in export earnings for smallholder rainfed farmers through dry season cash cropping without unduly compromising the demands of existing water users. It is proposed that farmers in upstream riparian zones be co-opted as flood harvesters and thus contribute to improved floodwater management through simple water management technologies that enable agricultural lands to be put to higher productive use. Local-scale site suitability and technical performance assessments along with revised governance structures would be required. It is expected that such an approach would also be applicable to other coastal-discharging basins in Thailand and potentially throughout the Asia region.

Soil management practices that produce optimal grain yields while preserving the ecosystem services of agricultural systems are essential in the face climate variability. This study was undertaken in central Laos to investigate the impacts of organic and clay-based soil amendments, and their combination on maize yield. Structured field experiments were established at Veunkham and Naphok sites with 10 treatments each in Randomised Complete Block Design with three replications in 2011. The treatments were rice husk biochar (applied at a rate of 10 t ha-1), Bentonite (10 t ha-1), compost (4 t ha-1), claymanure compost (10 t ha-1), rice husk biochar compost (10 t ha-1), and their combinations. Significantly (p lt; 0.05) higher maize yield was detected in soils amended with organic and clay-based soil amendments when compared to untreated control. At Veunkham, differences between the control and amended soils in maize yield ranged from 1.5 to 5.8 t ha-1 whereas differences at Naphok were varied between 0.4 and 3.6 t ha-1. The sizeable differences between the control and amended soils in maize yield can be logical consequences of nutrient use efficiency and soil properties improvements resulting from organic and clay-based soil amendments. Interestingly, soils amended with rice husk biochar compost showed maize yield increase of 72 and 45% against soils amended with rice husk biochar at Veunkham and Naphok respectively. Our results demonstrated that organic and clay-based soil amendments have a significant positive effect on the improvement of maize yield and thereby contributes to the improvement of crop water productivity.

Modern bioenergy systems are attracting increasing attention from governments in Asia as a potential solution to a range of policy problems related to energy security and sustainable development. Despite growing interest in bioenergy systems, there is still a limited understanding of how their expansion could impact on natural resources such as water. This paper aims to shed some light on the relationship between modern bioenergy development and water depletion using a case study on the biofuel sector in Thailand. This case study also includes an assessment of the impact of biofuel developments on water quality in water systems proximate to bioenergy production facilities in Thailand.

Rice submergence is the condition by which the water level rises above the rice crop canopy. In general,rice plant response to submergence is to elongate its shoots above the rising water level. This costs in energy andeventually has a direct impact in terms of reducing yields. A specific gene, called Sub1, when introgressed intopopular rice varieties by Marker Assisted Back-crossing, nearly stops the natural elongation process and permits agiven local rice variety to sustain submerged conditions for a generally recognized period of about 2 weeks. Plantbreeders now look for well-identified and location-accurate submergence areas in order to disseminate suchimproved local rice varieties. Remote sensing is proposed to provide surface water maps at high temporalresolution, determining a percentage of occurrences of surface water for a given pixel. Occurrence is defined as thecount of days of identified surface water within a given period, returned in a percentage on that period. Rice areamaps and knowledge of crop calendars are proposed to add to the assessment of submergence prone areas in theNortheastern Thailand.

As water is perhaps the most important element in climate change adaption, in particular as related to agriculture, IWMI has focused considerable resources on the topic of climate change and has been at the forefront of climate change science as related to agricultural adaption in the developing world. IWMI’s climate work has been focused on 1) better information to understand the impacts of climate change on farmers, 2) understanding the range of storage options-from natural wetlands, groundwater aquifers, and ponds to large scale dams-that can help farmers adapt to changing water supply as well as extreme events, and 3) understanding how changes in water governance can increase farmer options and improve outcomes. Of particular relevance is work conducted in the Mekong Delta on issues associated with changing salinity as a consequence of sea level rise, and a recent synthesis of the relationship between climate change, water and agriculture in the Mekong sub-region. This paper will highlight how existing work can be applied to the issues of Myanmar and promising directions for future work, especially as related to the Ayeyarwady Delta.

A crop growth simulation model was used to study the impact of climate change for the period 2010–2050 on water productivity of rainfed rice. In general, the results suggest that water productivity of rainfed rice may increase significantly in the upper basin in Laos and Thailand and may decrease in the lower basin in Cambodia and Vietnam. Significant net increases in water productivity can be achieved by applying simple adaptation options such as shifting the planting dates, applying supplementary irrigation, and increasing fertilizer inputs.

The subject of change detection in climate time series has recently received greater interest as the perception of a human-induced change in the climate is now widely accepted. However, changes in regional precipitation and temperature remain uncertain. This study characterizes projected fine-scale changes in precipitation and temperature in continental Southeast Asia over the period 1960–2049. Twenty four annual variables were derived from grid-based daily precipitation and temperature produced by the PRECIS regional climate model under A2 and B2 scenarios. These time series, capturing precipitation intensities (classified as low, medium and high), seasonality and extremes in precipitation and temperature, were subjected to the modified Mann-Kendall trend detection test accounting for long-term persistence. The results indicate that temperature increases over the whole region with steeper trends in higher latitudes. Increases in annual precipitation, mainly restricted to Myanmar and the Gulf of Thailand, result from increases in high precipitation during the wet season. Decreases are observed mainly over the sea and caused by a reduction of low precipitation. Changes in the occurrence of the monsoon affect the low-latitude sea areas only. By showing that significant precipitation change are minor over land areas, these results challenge most of the previous studies that suggested significant precipitation changes over Southeast Asia, often mixing up multi-decadal variability and long-term unidirectional trends. Significant changes in precipitation and temperature may induce higher agricultural yields as steepest temperature and precipitation increases will predominantly affect the coldest and driest land areas of the region.

Several water policy principles considered to be modern and internationally sanctioned have recently been adopted by Vietnam. This article focuses on the establishment of the Red River Basin Organization but expands its analysis to the wider transformations of the water sector that impinge on the formation and effectiveness of this organization. It shows that the promotion of integrated water resource management icons such as river basin organizations (RBOs) by donors has been quite disconnected from existing institutional frameworks. If policy reforms promoted by donors and development banks have triggered changes, these changes may have come not as a result of the reforms themselves but, rather, due to the institutional confusion they have created when confronted with the emergence of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE). For the MoNRE, the river basin scale became crucial for grounding its legitimacy and asserting its role among the established layers of the administration, while for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, RBOs became a focal point where power over financial resources and political power might potentially be relocated at its expense. Institutional change is shown to result from the interaction between endogenous processes and external pressures, in ways that are hard to predict.

Successful identification and mapping of different cropping patterns under cloudy conditions of a specific crop through remote sensing provides important baseline information for planning and monitoring. In Vietnam, this information is either missing or unavailable; several ongoing projects studying options with radar to avoid earth observation problems caused by the prevailing cloudy conditions have to date produced only partial successes. In this research, optical hyper-temporal Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) VEGETATION (SPOT VGT) data (1998–2008) were used to describe and map variability in irrigated rice cropping patterns of the Mekong delta. Divergence statistics were used to evaluate signature separabilities of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) classes generated from the iterative self-organizing data analysis technique algorithm (ISODATA) classification of 10-day SPOT NDVI image series. Based on this evaluation, a map with 77 classes was selected. Out of these 77 mapped classes, 26 lasses with prior knowledge that they represent rice were selected to design the sampling scheme for fieldwork and for crop calendar characterization. Using the collected information of 112 farmers’ fields belonging to the 26 selected classes, the map produced provides highly accurate information on rice cropping patterns (94% overall accuracy, 0.93 Kappa coefficient). We found that the spatial distributions of the triple and the double rice cropping systems are highly related to the flooding regime from the Hau and Tien rivers. Areas that are highly vulnerable to flooding in the upper part and those that are saline in the north-western part of the delta mostly have a double rice cropping system, whilst areas in the central and the south-eastern parts mostly have a triple rice cropping system. In turn, the duration of flooding is highly correlated with the decision by farmers to cultivate shorter or longer duration rice varieties. The overall spatial variability mostly coincides with administrative units, indicating that crop pattern choices and water controlmeasures are locally synchronized. Water supply risks, soil acidity and salinity constraints and the anticipated highly fluctuating rice market prices all strongly influence specific farmers’ choices of rice varieties. These choices vary considerably annually, and therefore grown rice varieties are difficult to map. Our study demonstrates the high potential of optical hyper-temporal images, taken on a daily basis, to differentiate and map a high variety of irrigated rice cropping patterns and crop calendars at a high level of accuracy in spite of cloudy conditions.

There is growing concern about the potential effects of climate change on the natural resources of the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMB). It is therefore no surprise that climate change adaptation has become one of the focal points of current development discussions in the region. Here we examine the impact of climate change on the rice cultivation of the LMB and its consequences for overall food security and possible adaptation options. Rice is the main staple food for the population and the demand for food is expected to grow due to increase in population. Variability in water cycle driven by climate change is considered likely to impact rice production in the near future. Thus, rice cultivation faces greatly increased demands for food on the one hand, and several threats to production due to climate change on the other. Against this background, it is important to examine the adaptation options to reduce the vulnerability of Mekong food security to impact of climate change and population growth.We have assessed the impact on the productivity of rice grown in the basin using a crop simulation model – AquaCrop. In general, the results suggest that productivity of main rainfed rice, predominant crop in the basin, may increase significantly in the upper part of the basin in Laos and Thailand and may decrease in the lower part of the basin in Cambodia and Vietnam. Irrigated rice may not be affected by climate change if increased irrigation requirements are met. We have tested widely used adaptation strategies such as shifting planting date, supplementary irrigation and reduction of fertility stress and found that negative impact on the yield can be offset and net increase in yield can be achieved. Hence food security of the basin is unlikely to be threatened by the increased population or climate change.

Variability in water cycles driven by climate change is considered likely to impact rice production in the near future. Rice is the main staple food for the population in the lower Mekong Basin and the demand for food is expected to grow due to increase in population. This paper examines the impact of climate change on rice production in the lower Mekong Basin, evaluates some widely used adaptation options, and analyses their implications for overall food security by 2050. Climate change data used in the study are the future climate projection for two IPCC SRES scenarios, A2 and B2, based on ECHAM4 General Circulation Model downscaled to the Mekong region using the PRECIS (Providing Regional Climates for Impact Studies) system. In general, the results suggest that yield of rainfed rice may increase significantly in the upper part of the basin in Laos and Thailand and may decrease in the lower part of the basin in Cambodia and Vietnam. Irrigated rice may not be affected by climate change if increased irrigation requirements are met. Negative impact on the yield of rainfed rice can be offset and net increase in yield can be achieved by applying widely used adaptation options such as changing planting date, supplementary irrigation and increased fertilizer input. Analysis of the projected production, considering population growth by 2050, suggests that food security of the basin is unlikely to be threatened by the increased population and climate change, excluding extreme events such as sea level rise and cyclones.

In Lao PDR, one of the less developed countries, water represents a valuable natural resource via the development of hydropower dams and irrigation schemes. In the lower part of the Nam Ngum River Basin, the Vientiane plain is one of the largest food production areas of the country and the largest irrigated area in Lao PDR. While food demand is expected to continue to increase in the future, hydropower dams are under rapid development in the upper part of the basin, modifying the seasonal distribution of the river flow regimes. This study aims at assessing the current water supply and agricultural water demand in the Vientiane Plain and concluding whether the water resource is or may become a limiting factor for food production. The agricultural water demand is assessed from two types of data (characteristics of large-scale pumping stations and official statistics on irrigated areas) and using remote sensing analyses. Flow measurements of the Nam Ngum River were used to quantify the water supply. A 43-year time series (1962-2004) of daily river discharge was reconstructed from actual discontinuous data recorded in the river reach where most of the pumping stations are found. Distinctions in the water resource assessment were made between pristine conditions (before the construction of the hydropower dams) and current conditions of water infrastructure development. A comparison of the water supply and demand indicates that during the 4 driest months of the year (January to April) when the river reaches its minimum level and the irrigation water demand is the highest, pumped volumes represent less than 30% of the river discharge. This ratio should decrease as new hydropower dams are built, storing and releasing more water during the wet and the dry season, respectively. These figures indicate that the availability of water in the Nam Ngum River is not a limiting factor for irrigation, even during the dry seasons of exceptionally dry years. The water demand could exceptionally exceed the water supply in the case of an extreme scenario of irrigation development with irrigated areas 3-fold larger than the current ones. Next analyses will consist in assessing how this water balance will be altered by the development of new hydropower dams and irrigation projects. Possible uses of water surplus will be prioritized, depending on their economic viability and benefits.

In Southeast Asia, agricultural production is highly constraint by climate cycles typically characterized by the regular alternation of the wet and dry seasons, and by unpredictable droughts or rain storms. For hundreds of decades, farmers have adapted to these climate vagaries by growing various cultivars, mainly during the rainy season, with different cropping calendars, thus limiting the risk of total agricultural losses in the case of extreme events. In response to increased population and food demand, cropped land and inhabited zones are expanding to flood- and drought prone areas, resulting in higher frequency of flood and drought related damages. Climate change may magnify the severity of agricultural losses with more contrasted seasons and more extreme climate events (longest droughts and flashier floods). Communities living in flood and drought prone areas are generally the poorest and therefore the most vulnerable to natural disasters. Reducing the vulnerability of these people to the negative impacts of floods and droughts should improve their standard of living and assist them to climb out of poverty. One solution consists in forecasting and characterizing extreme climate events through the use of “early warning systems” and “monitoring tools”, giving time for the population to take appropriate actions in order to minimize damages and possible casualties. The Flood Management and Mitigation Center of the Mekong River Commission is a good example of successful early warning system although some improvements, especially at the action/local levels are required. The monitoring of droughts and the prevention of their negative effects on agricultural yields is more difficult to implement as droughts are occurring at large spatial scales, affecting the society as a whole. However, recent progresses in remote sensing technologies and telecommunication systems are promising at the conditions that institutional and management supports strengthen, especially when trans-boundary coordination is required.

As soil engineers, earthworms play a key role in soil organic matter turnover and ecosystem functioning. Numerous studies have shown their positive influence on plant growth and soil quality. At the same time, organic matter inputs in compost or vermicompost, produced in the presence of earthworms, are valuable soil amendments that may increase plant growth. However, whether the combination of earthworm activity and organic matter amendments can be a successful approach for soil rehabilitation remains insufficiently studied. The aim of the present study was to determine the interactions between Dichogaster bolaui , an endogeic earthworm species, and compost or vermicompost produced by Eisenia andrei , an epigeic earthworm species, in a degraded tropical soil. We assessed nutrient availability and natural vegetation recovery. Treatments with and without D. bolaui earthworms were compared. The incorporation of both types of organic matter improved soil quality (i.e., higher pH, more C and nutrients) and led to the recovery of vegetation growth (i.e., development of seedlings and higher above- and belowground biomass). Mineral nutrients, on the other hand, had no effect on vegetation development and led to more pollution of groundwater (i.e., higher concentrations of N-NH 4 +, N-NO 3 - , K and P). Although we could not draw definite conclusions about whether vermicompost had a more positive effect on plant growth than compost, this substrate improved soil chemical properties compared with compost. Dichogaster bolaui enhanced leaching of N-NH 4 + , N-NO 3 - and K when mineral nutrients were used. However overall, D. bolaui had a neutral impact on plant growth when combined with compost, but a negative effect when in combination with vermicompost inputs. In conclusion, this experiment demonstrated that organic matter amendment is an interesting alternative for the rehabilitation of tropical soils. However, negative interactions can occur between local endogeic earthworms and vermicompost.

There has often been a gap between policy intentions and outcomes in the field of natural resource governance. Analysing the factors for these discrepancies requires multi-level approaches that relate policy decisions formulated at the national and international level with the decisions of local resource users. A key asset of the Institutional Analysis and Development framework is precisely its ability to link multiple governance levels. Yet most commons literature has been limited to the study of collective action among local communities without considering higher institutional and government levels. To overcome this limitation, I posit for a methodological development of the framework, which bridges the gap between institutional analysis, power-centred and historical approaches, and discourse analysis. The application of the extended framework to the study of state afforestation policies in Vietnam highlights the need to simultaneously consider institutions, the politico-economic context and discourses across governance and government levels. As illustrated in this paper, such a framework does not only facilitate the analysis of policy shortcomings but also supports the design and dissemination of policy recommendations.

The dynamics of aquatic resources in the canals of Bac Lieu Province, in southern Vietnam, are detailed and synthesized in this study. Nekton and eight environmental parameters were monitored in this province between 2004 and 2006, at 14 sites sampled three times a year. The study area, located along the coastal zone, is characterized by a variable environment subject to saline, freshwater and acidic pulses. The spatiotemporal dynamics of aquatic resources and their relationships with environmental parameters are detailed. The dominance of either freshwater or estuarine fauna, the dynamics of assemblages and the catches of fishers appear to be largely influenced by the management of sluice gates built along the coastal zone.

The BayFish–Bac Lieu model presented in this chapter is a Bayesian model that aims to identify optimal water control regimes and trade-offs between water uses in order to improve management of water-dependent resources in the inland coastal area of Bac Lieu Province, Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The model was developed between 2004 and 2007 and integrated local databases, outputs from the Vietnam River Systems and Plains (VRSAP) model and stakeholder consultations. The model facilitates analyses of the consequences of different water management scenarios (quantitative and qualitative) on rice, fish, crab and shrimp production in the province. However, beyond production, trade-offs between household income, food security or environmental protection were also identified during the model development process. Subsequently, the BayFish–Bac Lieu model allows detailing of: (i) annual production probabilities in the case of a baseline scenario; (ii) outcomes of four different sluice gate operation modes; and (iii) trade-offs between household income, food security and environment outcomes for each scenario. The model shows that through improved shrimp farming and fish production, total household income benefits directly from open sluice gates allowing saline intrusion. However, this has the opposite effect on rice production, and on food security. Results suggest that a suitable compromise involving at least one sluice gate open at all times should be adopted for optimized outcomes.

Earthworms play an important role in soil fertility because of their effects on soil properties, and especially the creation of casts that usually have different properties than the surrounding soil. If the influence of earthworms on soil properties and plant growth has been extensively studied in aerobic ecosystems, their effects remain largely unknown in partially flooded environments such as paddy fields. The aim of this study was to describe the potential influence of earthworms on soil properties and rice yield in Northeast Thailand.Westudied the abundance of aboveground casts produced by Drawida beddardi in two paddy rice systems (transplanting: TP and direct seeding: DS) and we measured the soil physicochemical properties of casts and their influence on rice growth and yield. Cast abundance was low (250 casts per ha) and not different in TP and DS. Casts appeared as patches of fertility with more fine particle sizes and organic matter contents, a higher CEC, as well as a much higher concentrations of mineral elements (N, P and K). As a consequence, our results suggest that earthworm activity lead to a significant higher rice yield. These results stress the importance earthworms could have in the regulation of rice productivity in paddy fields. More research is now needed to understand the ecological mechanisms that regulate earthworm abundance and activity in these environments.

This work focuses on a new approach to quantify the effects of above-ground earthwormapos;s activity on soil erosion in steep slope ecosystems such as in Northern Vietnam. In these areas and in many others in the world, soil erosion becomes a major issue while the factors that determine it are still misunderstood. Earthwormapos;s activity is believed to influence soil erosion rate, but we are still unable to precisely quantify their contribution to soil erosion. In this study, we used Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to quantify the proportion of soil aggregate in eroded soil coming from earthworm activity. This was done by generating NIRS signatures corresponding to different soil surface aggregates (above-ground soil casts produced by earthworms vs. surrounding topsoil). In order to test the proposed approach, we compared the NIRS-signature of eroded soil sediments to those of earthwormsapos; casts and of the surrounding soils. Our results strongly supported that NIRS spectra might be used as “fingerprints” to identify the origin of soil aggregates. Although earthworms are generally assumed to play a favorable role in promoting soil fertility and ecosystem services, this method shows that cast aggregates constitute about 36 and 77% of sediments in two tropical plantations, Paspalum atratumand Panicum maximum plantations, respectively. In light with these results, we estimated that earthworms led to an annual loss of 3.3 and 15.8 kg of carbon ha-1 yr-1, respectively in P. atratum and P. maximum agroecosystems.

This report synthesizes findings from the CPWF project number 71 titled “Commune Agroecosystem Analysis to Support Decision Making for Water Allocation for Fisheries and Agriculture in the Tonle Sap Wetland System.” The Project on Commune Agroecosystem Analysis to Support Decision Making for Water Allocation for Fisheries and Agriculture in the Tonle Sap Wetland System was undertaken with the aim of improving fisheries considerations in the Commune Agroecosystem Analysis (CAEA) process undertaken in Cambodia, to facilitate better planning at the commune level. Under this project a number of changes were made to the CAEA tools and process and pilot tested in an adaptive, iterative manner in four communes – two that had conducted a CAEA previously and two that had not. Results and analyses indicated that the project had significantly strengthened the manner in which livelihoods, water resources and fisheries are now addressed by CAEA. The revised CAEA guidance manual has also shown potential for having wider uptake, and a number of tools have been used by several other projects within Cambodia.

Many farms in tropical countries suffer from droughts in the dry season and sometimes even in the rainy season. In order to significantly increase the capacity to store water, the grassroots Farmer Wisdom movement in Northeast Thailand innovated pond construction on homesteads. This Working Paper first documents how pond water is mainly used to irrigate crops and fruit trees, and is also used for livestock or fish, and for domestic uses, even if ample piped water is available. Households were also found to harvest rainwater from roofs; take water from canals and streams; lift water manually from shallow wells and with electric pumps from deep wells; channel run-off from roads to paddy fields; use precipitation as green water on fields; and buy bottled water. Most households combine at least six of these nine water sources. The second part describes scenarios and some outcomes of a new simulation model, BoNam. This model provides guidelines for the optimal size and site of such ponds according to biophysical factors (weather, soil and crops), socioeconomic factors (prices, availability of labor and off-farm income) and household aspirations.

Although farmers are often seen as wasting water and getting a disproportionate share of water, irrigation is losing out in the competition for water with other sectors. In cases of drought, water restrictions are overwhelmingly imposed on irrigation while other activities and domestic supply are only affected in cases of very severe shortage. All over the world, farmers have been responding to the challenge posed by both short- and long-term declining water allocations in many creative ways, but these responses have often been overlooked by policy makers. This paper examines how farmers have adapted to water scarcity in six different river basins of Asia and the Middle East. It inventories the different types of adjustments observed and shows not only their effectiveness in offsetting the drop in supply but also their costs to farmers and to the environment and their contribution to basin closure. The conclusion calls for a better recognition of the efforts made by the irrigation sector to respond to water challenges and of its implications in terms of reduced scope for efficiency gains in the irrigation sector.

An increasing amount of scientific information is available on water pollution and its effect. Water pollution management for pollution control seldom considers the scientific information. The main objective of this paper is to review the water pollution management in Bangkok and link the entire process to the cause and effects of water pollution. Existing approaches for water pollution control primarily focuses on enforcing various standards. Respective local authorities in Bangkok have also set their own surface water quality requirement. However, the entire management approach requires further analysis in line with the present situation. This paper attempts to review the entire management approach and suggests reduction strategies, control measures/treatment systems and some preferred solutions to the water pollution management. It also covers other important measures for control. The conclusion proposes some policy recommendations on reducing pollution through effect management approach.

Report submitted to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) under the project, “Comparative assessment of water usage and impacts arising from biofuel projects in South East Asian Countries”, commissioned by the Letter of Agreement No LOA/RAP/2009/38.Thailand and Malaysia are two south East Asian countries with rapidly growing biofuel demand. Increasing use of biofuel envisages reducing dependence of petroleum products for transport and mitigating environmental impacts by reducing carbon emissions. It also expects to contribute to rural development and poverty reduction. However, the impacts of expanding production of feedstock for biofuel on water supply are not well understood. This paper assesses the water footprints and impacts of sugarcane molasses and cassava based bioethanol in Thailand, and palm oil based biodiesel in Malaysia. The water footprint of a commodity or service is the water depleted in its life cycle of its production or consumption.The total water footprints of sugarcane molasses and cassava bioethanol production in Thailand are estimated to be 1,646 and 2,304 m3/tonne, respectively, and of palm oil biodiesel in Malaysia is 3,730 m3/tonne. However, the contributions from irrigation are only a small fraction --9.0, 0.7 and 0.3%-- of the total water footprints of molasses and cassava bioethanol, and palm oil biodiesel respectively. In terms of irrigation water use,cassava is a better feedstock for bioethanol production than sugarcane molasses.In Thailand, the total annual irrigation water footprints in bioethanol production --54 million m3 (mcm) for molasses and 15 mcm for cassava-- is only 0.02% of the total renewable water resources. In Malaysia, total annual irrigation water footprint of palm oil biodiesel production is only 0.001% of the total renewable water resources. A significant spatial variation of irrigation water footprints of molasses based ethanol exists across provinces in Thailand, indicating potential for reducing water footprints.The total irrigation water footprints in biofuel production in the future in both countries will also be negligible in comparison to total water availability. However, the impact of wastewater generated in the production processes can have significant impacts on quality of local water resources. A part of the waste water, called ‘spent wash’, is applied as fertilizer, and over use of it can affect soil and neighboring water resources. The proposed plans on biofuel production in the future can generate more ‘spent wash’ than that can be used in crop fields as fertilizer. Spent wash has found to have high PH value, temperature, biological and chemical oxygen contents etc. The usual practice of storing spent wash in a pond for a long period near a plant can have detrimental impact on soil, streams’ and groundwater quality.In sum, this study concludes that from the perspective of quantity of irrigation water use, the increasing biofuel production does not pose a major problem in Thailand

As climate change unfolds, media stories often speak of a future dominated by large-scale water wars. Rather less attention has been paid to the way water conflict already plays out a local levels and form part of people’s everyday lives. Based on case study studies from Zambia, Vietnam and Nicaragua, the paper examines the strategies of poor households in local water competition. It is shown how poor households will engage actively in collaboration where possible, but that they may apply risk minimization strategies when faced with powerful adversaries in conflict situations. This includes refraining from explicit, direct opposition, drawing instead on other approaches such as relying on more influential parties to act in their interest. The paper further shows how dependency relationships between poor and wealthy households may limit the scope of action for the poorest, who are forced to refrain from defending their water resources in order to maintain wider socioeconomic ties with the very same households that oppose them in water conflicts. The paper concludes by briefly discussing the implications for local water governance from an equity perspective.

The Vietnamese Mekong River Delta (MRD) has a total area of four million hectares for more than 18 million inhabitants in 2009 with abundant water resources (Can, 2000). Due to high seasonal variation with over 90% of rainfall and surface water concentrated during the flood season from May to November, the great potential for agriculture and aquaculture production in the MRD is only exploited if flood is controlled and irrigation in the dry season is improved. Therefore an extensive network of canals comprises of over 14,000 km of principal and primary canals, 27,000 km of secondary canals and 50,000 km of tertiary canals, and more than 20,000 km of protection dykes were built in the last 300 years. In 1985 Vietnam was still a net rice importing country, but in 1989 and 1999 it exported 1.4 and 4.6 million tons, respectively, of which the contributed more than 90%. This remarkable increase in rice production is related to the rapid growth of rice planted area in the past 35 years aided by the expansion and increased density of the irrigation and drainage system.

This paper explores two examples from the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food research on resilience along the green-to-blue water continuum. A threatened floodplain wetland of the Mekong Basin has been shown to provide many direct and indirect benefits and services that are more resilient and less vulnerable to shocks than externally introduced agricultural systems of various types and intensity occupying the same land–water interface. Multiple-use water systems (MUS) assessed in five large basins show that, wherever water is available, people use water for greater resilience, domestic and productive purposes, including livestock watering, horticulture, irrigation, tree growing or small-scale enterprise.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium vivax parasites can predict the origin and spread of novel variants within a population enabling population specific malaria control measures. We analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of 425 P. vivax isolates from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Ethiopia using 12 trinucleotide and tetranucleotide microsatellite markers. All three parasite populations were highly polymorphic with 3–44 alleles per locus. Approximately 65% were multiple-clone infections. Mean genetic diversity ( H E ) was 0.7517 in Ethiopia, 0.8450 in Myanmar, and 0.8610 in Sri Lanka. Significant linkage disequilibrium was maintained. Population structure showed two clusters (Asian and African) according to geography and ancestry. Strong clustering of outbreak isolates from Sri Lanka and Ethiopia was observed. Predictive power of ancestry using two-thirds of the isolates as a model identified 78.2% of isolates accurately as being African or Asian. Microsatellite analysis is a useful tool for mapping short-term outbreaks of malaria and for predicting ancestry.

A small-scale field experiment consisting of surface infiltration tests was conducted at Ban Nong Na, located in Bangrakum District, Phitsanulok Province, situated in the Lower Yom River Basin. The shallow groundwater in this area has been heavily pumped for growing rice all year round, and within the past decade static water levels within the gravel, sand and silt aquifers have decreased to a depth of up to ten meters below the ground surface. Research is currently being conducted to investigate the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge by surface ponding methods in the Lower Yom River Basin. This study, which forms one component of the broader project, aims to assess infiltration processes and clogging effects at the laboratory (column) scale and at the small scale (25 m2) in the field. The laboratory experiment consisted of two main components: 1) physical, chemical and biological analyses of raw water and the ambient groundwater and 2) soil column testing under constant head conditions over a period of 100 hours. The field experiment consisted of three main components: 1) characterization of the physical and hydraulic properties of the unsaturated and saturated media 2) pretreatment design considering levels of turbidity removal using synthetic poly and sand filter, and 3) infiltration testing under constant head conditions over a period of 30 hours. These works are intended to provide the design criteria for establishing a larger scale (1,600 m2) pilot recharge system at the study site. Average infiltration rates for the laboratory experiment for source waters with mean turbidities of 0.5 and 100 NTU were found to be 3.27 and 0.15 m/d respectively. The infiltration rate from the field experiment with an average turbidity 50 NTU was 2.53 m/d; a magnitude commensurate with the lab study. Since infiltration rates in excess of 1 m/day are desirable for the pilot trial, the turbidity of the raw canal water used for recharge will be controlled to be less than 50 NTU. Whilst both the laboratory and field experiments were brief and longer test periods needed, more extensive investigations will be performed over the 2010 monsoon season during the full-scale pilot trial.

In this paper the challenges in developing sustainable ASR operations in unconsolidated, low permeability aquifers, where operational problems such as well clogging tend to be more acute, are explored from the viewpoint of two case studies; one from Australia, the other from Thailand. Both studies were undertaken independently over different time-frames and brought together for comparative purposes. The Australian case study involved injection of wetland-treated urban stormwater into a low transmissivity, fine-grained siliceous aquifer; whereas the Thai case study involved injection of advanced-treated canal water into a colluvial/alluvial aquifer with high fines content. Although the design and execution pathways for the two trials were substantially different, ultimately the same endpoint (trial abandonment) was reached. This examination of the causative factors of failure, which were mainly related to poor recharge water quality for the Australian case, and poor hydraulic performance brought about by poor site selection for the Thai case study, lead to a number of key lessons being derived that could prove helpful to those considering ASR in similar environments.

The Red River (China/Vietnam, A=155,000 km²) is a typical humid tropics river originating from the mountainous area of Yunnan Province in China. Based on information on daily discharge (Q) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration between 1960–2008 for the SonTay gauging station (outlet of the River and entry to the Delta) provided by the National Institute IMHE-MONRE, the mean annual SPM flux was estimated at 90 Mt/yr, corresponding to a sediment yield of 600 t/km²/yr. The temporal variability of annual SPM fluxes (ranging from 24 to 200 Mt/yr) is strongly related to the interannual hydrological conditions. However, some years of high water flow were not associated with high sediment fluxes, especially after 1989 when the HoaBinh dam came into operation. Therefore, the median discharge pre- (3389 m3/s) and post 1989 (3495 m3/s) are similar indicating there was little or no change between both periods. Sediment rating curves (power law-type; SPM=aQb) were fitted for both periods (1960–1989; 1990–2008). The analysis of the pre- and post-1989 sediment rating parameters (a, b) suggests a downshift of b-parameter values after 1989, attributed to a decrease of the sediment supply due to the commissioning of the HoaBinh dam. A single sediment rating curve derived from 1960–1989 data was used to simulate the annual variability of former sediment delivery, generating excellent cumulative flux estimates (error ~1%). In contrast, applying the same rating curve to the 1990–2008 data resulted in systematic and substantial (up to 109%) overestimation. This suggests that the HoaBinh dam reduces annual SPM delivery to the delta by half, implying important metal/metalloid storage behind the HoaBinh dam.

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.

The Indochinese section of the Mekong Basin has been subjected to major environmental disturbances over the last half century. The Vietnam War is invoked as a central explanation for the extensive deforestation in specific areas while conflictinduced exoduses caused the abandonment of cultivated lands, followed by forest regeneration. Although the socio-economical consequences of these episodes have been analysed, their hydrological impacts remain unknown. This paper investigates hydrological changes in two catchments of the lower Mekong Basin that were either heavily bombed (in southern Laos) or depopulated (in northern Laos). This analysis is based on the widely and independently recognized fact that vegetation, via evapotranspiration, is a central driver of basin water yield. The analysis of the most complete Vietnam War air mission database and of available hydro-meteorological data over the period 1960–2004 reveals a sharp runoff increase in the southern catchment when bombing climaxed in the early 1970s while no hydrological change is observed in the northern catchment over the same period. From 1995 onwards, the northern and southern catchment’s runoff productions are significantly lower and higher than in the pre-war conditions, respectively. Although causalities could not be ascertained because of data limitations, these short- and long-term hydrological shifts were found to be consistent, in terms of occurrence, spatial distribution and magnitude, with the expected changes in the vegetation cover, either denser in the north (in response to abandonment of cultivated lands) or sparser in the south (as a result of bomb-induced deforestation and soil degradations).

The report aims to provide critical input to the Mekong River Commission’s (MRC) regional Climate Change and Adaptation Initiative (CCAI) which was launched shortly after the formulation of this project. The CCAI is a collaborative regional initiative designed to address the shared climate change adaptation challenges of LMB countries in response to the potential effects of climate change on the socio-economic characteristics and natural resources of the LMB region. MRC has identified need for a more informed understanding of the potential impacts from climate change. To contribute to this aim, the purpose of this report is: 1. To present the framework of climate change analysis and its application to the Basin Development Plan (BDP) Scenarios; 2. To present the results from the application of the Decision Support Framework (DSF) models of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in order to analyse the impacts of climate change and selected BDP Scenarios on flow regimes; 3. To present climate change impacts on floods and fisheries in the LMB; 4. To present the impact of climate change on the productivity of major crops grown in the basin and their consequences on the overall food security of the basin considering future population growth. 5. To present the results of applying simple adaptation strategies related to agriculture and food security; and 6. To determine further studies necessary to identify suitable adaptation strategies for dealing with such impacts.

This paper aims to summarise in detail the results of the analysis under the CSIRO-MRC project of quot;Reducing vulnerability of water resources, people and the environment in the Mekong Basin to climate change impactsquot; by providing the basic findings on the impacts of climate change and development on the Mekong River flow regimes. The paper aims: To present the framework of climate change analysis and its application to the BDP Scenarios; To present the results from the application of the DSF models of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in order to analyse the impacts of climate change and selected BDP Scenarios on flow regimes; To determine further studies necessary to identify suitable adaptation strategies for dealing with such impacts. The framework of the climate change scenario analysis is introduced in Chapter 2. A brief introduction to the DSF is presented in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents the processing of the PRECIS data for the provision of climate inputs for the analysis. The results of model runs for the Baseline Scenario with observed and PRECIS data are presented in Chapter 5. Changes in the flow regime due to both development and climate change are discussed in Chapter 6. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for further studies are presented in Chapter 7.

A new acidity module has been developed and coupled successfully into an existing hydraulic and salinity model for simulating acidity movement in canals under the controlled marine water intake in the coastal land with acid sulphate soil (ASS). The model allied with the Camau peninsula, Mekong Delta, Vietnam indicates that the most suitable option for improving the acidity condition is to open main sluice gates one day every week when difference of tide amplitude of between the East and West seas is highest and to widen the canals connected to the West sea.

Improving access to clean water has the potential to make a major contribution toward poverty reduction in rural communities of Lao P.D.R. This study focuses on stream water quality along a Mekong basin tributary, the Houay Xon that flows within a mountainous, mosaic land-use catchment of northern Lao P.D.R. To compare direct water quality measurements to the perception of water quality within the riparian population, our survey included interviews of villagers. Water quality was found to vary greatly depending on the location along the stream. Overall, it reflected the balance between the stream self-cleaning potential and human pressure on the riparian zone: (i) high bacteria and suspended load levels occurred where livestock are left to free-range within the riparian zone; (ii) very low oxygen content and high bacteriological contamination prevailed downstream from villages; (iii) high concentrations of bacteria were consistently observed along urbanized banks; (iv) low oxygen content were associated with the discharge of organic-rich wastewater from a small industrial plant; (v) very high suspended load and bacteria levels occurred during flood events due to soil erosion from steep cultivated hill slopes. Besides these human induced pollutions we also noted spontaneous enrichments in metals in wetland areas fed by dysoxic groundwater. These biophysical measurements were in agreement with the opinions expressed by the majority of the interviewees who reported poor and decreasing water quality in the Houay Xon catchment. Based on our survey, we propose recommendations to improve or maintain stream water quality in the uplands of northern Lao P.D.R.

The report focuses on the establishment of the Red River Basin Organization (RRBO) in Vietnam, but expands its analysis to the wider transformations of the water sector that impinge on the formation and effectiveness of this organization. A few reflections on the policy process are drawn from this analysis, albeit in a tentative form given the relatively limited period of time considered here. The report shows that the promotion of IWRM icons such as RBOs by donors has been quite disconnected from the existing institutional framework. However, the establishment of RBOs might eventually strengthen a better separation of operation and regulation roles. Institutional change is shown to result from the interaction between endogenous processes and external pressures, in ways that are barely predictable.

In low- and middle-income countries, people need water for drinking, personal hygiene and other domestic use. But they also use it for livestock, horticulture, irrigation, fisheries, brickmaking, and other small-scale enterprises. Multiple-use water services (MUS) are best suited to meeting people’s needs. However, most water services are designed only for domestic water or only for agriculture, and fail to reflect its real-life use. The action research project ‘Models for implementing multiple-use water supply systems for enhanced land and water productivity, rural livelihoods and gender equity’ developed case studies in eight countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, South Africa, Thailand and Zimbabwe) involving 150 institutions. The project analysed two models: homestead-scale and community-scale MUS and developed a ‘multiple-use water ladderapos; to show how better livelihoods flow from increased access to water. This book shows how livelihoods act as the main driver for water services and how access to water is determined by sustainable water resources, appropriate technologies and equitable ways of managing communal systems. Climbing the water ladder requires a small fraction of total water resources, yet has the potential to help people climb out of poverty. Local government can be the pivot to make this happen. But, it needs support to implement its mandate to meet multiple-use demand and to become more accountable to people in communities.

Using survey data collected from 250 farmers, this paper evaluates the impact of the Soil Remediation Research Project (SRRP) undertaken by International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Northeast Thailand during 2002–2005. SRRP has demonstrated and promoted the application of clay as a quick and low-cost means for improving the fertility and water holding capacity of sandy soils. The impact evaluation suggests that the SRRP has a net present value (NPV) of US$0.7 million with a benefit–cost ratio (BCR) of 3.1 for the sample context and an NPVof US$99.5 million with a BCR of 317.7 for the larger context of the region.

Based on two case studies conducted at local sites in Northern Thailand and Lao PDR, the objectives of this paper are (i) to assess whether conditions for the establishment of PES at the watershed level exist in the uplands of mainland SE Asia and (ii) to examine and discuss limitations that are likely to impinge on direct transfer of the PES concept as well as the institutional adaptations and support that are required for the successful implementation of PES markets in this regional context. The study’s main findings are that: (i) acceptance of PES principles and constraints are directly related to stakeholders’ perception of their land rights irrespective of their actual rights; (ii) willingness to pay (WTP) is very low among local stakeholders, making any PES market unlikely to emerge without external support; (iii) the classical scheme for watershed services hardly applies in its original form because environmental service (ES) providers and buyers are generally the same people; (iv) where potential ES buyers feel that ES providers are better-off or wealthier than them, they do not have any WTP for ES; (v) good governance, including a strong liaising at various levels between people and the authorities is a strong prerequisite for the successful establishment of PES markets, even without direct government funding.

Paddy fields in north-eastern Thailand are heterogeneous agro-ecosystems that can be described as mosaics of paddy rice plots, dykes and termitemounds. The aim of this study was to determine if this heterogeneity influences soil macrofauna biodiversity. While biodiversity did not vary as a result of different rice management practices (direct seeding and transplanting), dykes and mounds were vital to the maintenance of soil macrofauna biodiversity. Diversity and density were higher in termite mounds and field dykes, compared to rice plots, especially during the rainy season. Consequently, termitemounds and dykes can be considered to be biodiversity hotspots that behave as refuges for other soilmacrofauna during the rainy and dry seasons, providing protection against flooding and dryness. The importance of these patches of biological activity in terms of ecosystem functioning and services are discussed.

This article identifies drivers of forest transition in a province of Northern Vietnam between 1993 and 2000 by applying geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis to remotely sensed and statistical data. The regression model highlighted the spatial variation of the relationship between the percentage of land afforested and its proximate causes. Factors identified as having a major impact on afforestation are: the presence or proximity of a wood-processing industry, the distance to highways, and land allocation to households. Whereas the two former variables are in most areas of the province positively correlated with afforestation, an unexpected negative correlation was observed for the latter. The analysis of these results, supported by an in-depth knowledge of the area and of the political context, leads to the conclusion that, during the time period considered, afforestation was largely driven by state organisations on protected state-owned land, and forestry was not a significant component of household economic activities.

A baseline epidemiological survey for parasite infections was conducted between December 2007 and January 2008 in 155 villagers in a rural commune in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam. The prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and hookworm infection was 13.5%, 45.2% and 58.1%, respectively. At least one of the parasites was detected in 72.3% of the samples. We found no association between infection with A. lumbricoides or T. trichiura and engagement in agriculture, while hookworm infection was more prevalent in populations having frequent contact with soil. Agricultural use of human faeces was not correlated with any of the infections. We suggest that the consumption of vegetables that are commonly fertilized with human faeces in the community has led to the high infection rates with A. lumbricoides and T. trichiura, rather than the manipulation of faeces in farming activity. This also explains the high infection prevalence, despite high latrine coverage (98.1%) in the study population. The presence of latrines alone is not sufficient to reduce the prevalence of helminthiasis in a rural agricultural community if fresh faeces are used as fertilizer.

Declining productivity of agricultural soils in Northeast Thailand is a challenge facing land managers and farmers. A program was initiated in 2002 to investigate the potential role of incorporating clay-based materials into degraded soils as a means of enhancing productivity. This research report attempts to provide an ex-post assessment of the field level impact and economic viability of this approach, using the empirically derived estimates of the average income impacts that the application of bentonite or clay technology has generated among farm communities in Northeast Thailand. From an exclusive IWMI perspective, the impact evaluation suggests that the program has a net present value (NPV) of US$0.41 million with a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 2.44 for the sample, and a NPV of US$21 million with a BCR of 75 for the region.