baseline study findings and recommendations. acis... · acis project – baseline report cambodia...

“Enhancing adaptive capacity of women and ethnic minority

smallholder farmers through improved agro-climate information in

South-East Asia” (ACIS) - project

BASELINE STUDY

Findings and Recommendations

Miguel Coulier

James Wilderspin November 2016

© J

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Wild

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2016

ACIS project – Baseline report Cambodia – November 2016

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Table of contents

List of tables and figures 3

Acknowledgements 4

Acronyms 5

Executive summary 6

BACKGROUND 10

1. Project overview 10

2. Project location 11

3. Baseline objective and approach 12

3.1 Objective 12

3.2 Approach and methodology 13

3.3 Limitations 14

FINDINGS 17

4. Socio-economic profile 17

4.1 Demographics and other socio-economic data 17

4.2 Assets 17

4.3 Food security 18

4.4 Livelihood profile 20

4.5 Agricultural productivity 22

4.6 Household division of labor and decision-making 23 5. Climate risks and impact 25

5.1 Ratanak Kiri‟s resilience context 25

5.2 Farmer observations on climate hazards and impact 25

5.3 Impact on main cash crops 26

5.4 Adaptation actions 28

6. Current state of the ACIS system 30

6.1 At the institutional level 30

6.2 At the community level 34

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 39

Annexes

41


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List of tables and figures

1 - Location of ACIS project in Cambodia 12

2 - Baseline assessment methodology 13

3 – Household asset ownership, with EM disaggregation 17

4 - Hunger period: length and time of the year 19

5 - Major causes of hunger 19

6 - Main food crops and livestock 20

7 - Main cash crops and livestock 20

8 - Main source of income 21

9 - Livelihood diversification per EM 22

10 - Livelihood productivity 22

11 - Gendered division of labor and decision-making on farming and finances 24

12 - Ratanak Kiri climate resilience context 25

13 - Main climate hazards and their impact on livelihoods, over the last ten years 26

14 - Extent of damage to major crops caused by weather and disasters, over the past ten years 27

15 - Amount of damage to major crops caused by weather and disasters, over the past ten years 27

16 - Average monetary and weight losses over last 2 to 3 years, as described by farmers 28

17 - Current observed ACIS institutional set-up in Ratanak Kiri 31

18 - Institutional users‟ self-assessment of ACIS attitude and practice 32

19 - Current channels for accessing weather information 35

20 - Current channels for receiving farming advice 35

21 - Current channels for training on agricultural techniques 36

22 - Prioritized channels or formats for agro-climate advice 37


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Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the enumerators from the Highlander Association; Ngok

Chrolang, Chanthorng Snai, Leang Sopheap, Kham Sambeoun, Sa Rady, Ang Bun Keuk, Noub Khoub, Nav

Khet, Savid Nangkra; their excellent language skills and local knowledge was invaluable to this study.

Acknowledgement must also be paid to the CEDAC staff; Pol Samath, Thol Chanthea, Heu Rumdoul and to

Soriyon and Sreang Srey Kouy from the Provincial Department of Agriculture (PDA) for their skills and

experience.

Sincere gratitude is also due to CARE field staff; Thuk Bun, Chum Da with a special thanks to Heang Thira who‟s

coordination and translations made this study possible. Finally thanks are also due to Jan Noorlander and Junge

Madsen for their inputs, advice and support.

Most notably the consultants would like to value the time, energy and openness the women and men in Koun

Mom and Lumphat have set aside to share their stories, ideas and aspirations. We hope all of these have been

reflected in this report and will be disseminated widely to benefit the people of Ratanak Kiri as well as others in

Cambodia.

Pictures in the report have been provided by the international consultants.

Miguel Coulier and James Wilderspin

November 2016

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this document are those of the consultant and do not necessarily reflect the policies or

views of CARE International in Cambodia, CEDAC or ICRAF World Agroforestry Centre.


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Acronyms

ACIS Agro-Climate Information Services

CEDAC Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture

DPA Development Partnership in Action

EM Ethnic Minorities

FGD Focus Group Discussions

HA Highlander Association

HHS Household Survey

ICSO Indigenous Community Support Organisation

ICT Information, Communications and Technology

KAP Knowledge, Attitude and Practice

KII Key Informant Interviews

MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

MoE Margin of Error

MOE Ministry of Environment

MOWRAM Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology

NDMC National Disaster Management Committtee

NTFP Non-Timber Forest Products

PDA Provincial Department of Agriculture

PDWRM Provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology

SCW Save Cambodia Wildlife

WEM Women and Ethnic Minorities


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Executive Summary

Cambodia is developing rapidly. However the nation remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia and

there is a growing disparity between urban wealth and rural poverty. Cambodia faces many socio-economic and

development challenges, including extreme poverty, rising inequality, ineffective management of land and natural

resources, a shortage of sustainable agricultural livelihoods, gender inequality and lack of good governance.

Ratanak Kiri province, with its dense forests, fertile lands, unique biodiversity, a tapestry of indigenous and

cultural richness and strategic borders with Viet Nam and Laos, has been at the forefront of all these dynamic

changes and experienced multiple pressures and deterioration from the rapid commercialization of agriculture,

overexploitation of natural resources, hydropower development, land tenure insecurity, Khmer in-migration,

introduction of Buddhism and other social influences. The various indigenous groups living in Ratanak Kiri have

been undergoing all these shocks and stresses for many years and tried to adapt in a variety of ways.

Climate variability and long term change only adds additional shocks and stresses. While individuals and

communities have always dealt with multiple hazards such as droughts, floods, rainfall, heatwaves, landslides

etc., as these become more unpredictable, more frequent and intense, current coping or adaptation actions

become ineffective. Accessing downscaled and actionable agro-climate information is considered as an

important service to improve adaptive capacity of poor ethnic minority women and result in risk-informed

decision-making on livelihoods.

CARE International in Cambodia‟s Project: „Enhancing adaptive capacity of women and ethnic minority

smallholder farmers through improved agro-climate information in South-East Asia’ aims to enhance the adaptive

capacity of female ethnic minority smallholder farmers through improving agro-climate information, utilising both

scientific climate information as well as traditional climate knowledge, to better anticipate and respond to risks

and opportunities from climatic variability with the explicit goal of reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate

change.

This baseline study is the initial step in understanding the context and situation in Ratanak Kiri, and to lay the

foundations of CARE‟s ACIS Project. To enhance the adaptive capacity of women and ethnic minority

smallholder farmers, the baseline study endeavours to understand in great detail the current context of these

vulnerable groups and embed this context into the project and work with the local communities to utilise agro

climate information alongside their strengths and limitations. This study also attempts to frame the interventions

to better anticipate and respond to risks and opportunities from climatic variability. With the overarching goal to

reduce vulnerability caused by the impacts of climate change by using scientific climate information as well as

local/traditional climate knowledge for seasonal planning, this baseline study highlights how CARE‟s ACIS project

can best bring about positive change using meteorological observations and decision making on agricultural

management options.

Key findings from the baseline study are:

Poverty, asset ownership and food security information indicate clear differences among the two main

indigenous groups surveyed, with Tampuen clearly poorer than Krueng. Less Krueng than Tampuen own

radios, bicycles and smart phones; are hungry throughout the year (for twelve months); or are very poor;

Overall, mobile phone ownership is very high with 72.1% owning a normal mobile phone. 19.5% of people

own a smart phone;

18.5% of farmers state there was ever a time over the last year where they had less than three meals per

day, with no significant difference between men and women. While hunger is experience throughout the

year, the peak period is August till October for Krueng, August till January for Tampuen.


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The main reasons for being hungry are related to; 1/ prices of agricultural produce and food bought in the

market; 2/ sickness of one of the household members; and 3/ food crop or livestock failure or loss due to

weather and disasters, and animal or plant diseases;

Major food crops are cassava, rice, soybean, cashew and vegetables such as pumpkin and cucumber.

NTFPs are also consumed but more by Tampuen than Krueng;

The main cash crops grown are cassava, soy bean, cashew and rice. Currently yield in weight is largest for

cassava, but yield in income is highest for cashew. Rice and cassava have the lowest yield in terms of

income. Over the past ten years, in terms of productivity of yield (income and weight); rice and cassava are

declining, soy bean is stable and cashew is unpredictable;

22.5% of households does off-farm work, often low skilled labor. For 1/4th of Krueng and half of the Khmer,

this is also a major income source;

Overall, the level of diversification for food crops (average 7.2) is good while for cash crops much lower

(3.4). 22.6% of farmers has only one crop or livestock as income source, 25% have 2, 25% have 3 and 12%

has 4. 9.4% of farmers have 5 or more;

In terms of division of labor, women have much more workload than men; while men tend to focus on cash

crop cultivation, NTFP collection, timber logging and off-farm wage labor (often away from the house),

women are involved in food and cash crop cultivation closer to home but also in domestic, including caring,

responsibilities. Men more than women; buy agricultural inputs, sell agricultural produce at the market,

negotiate prices with traders and deal with externally hired farming labor;

A majority or 66.2% of women states they want more influence on household decisions on farming, in

contrast to 74.4% of men saying their wife is already very involved in these decisions. For financial decision-

making, both agree that women have a good level of influence: 59.4% of women say they have the same

level of influence as their husband, and 73.6% of men say their wife has the same level of influence;

Out of all hazards experienced, the most damaging are drought, storms, a long period of high temperature,

an unpredictable start or end of the rainy season and a longer rainy season.

When asked about the differential impact of these hazards to men and women; an overall majority believes

women and men are equally impacted, but that widows and children are more impacted than others.

Rice and soybean are most extensively impacted, followed by cassava and cashew and maize/corn the least

impacted. All crops are affected every year.

Adaptation actions such as changing farming techniques, water management, using vaccines, improved

natural resources management ea. are only practiced by very few farmers.

In terms of pesticides (including herbicides and insecticides) and fertilizer use, there is a higher use of

pesticides than fertilizer and significantly more chemical than organic. Farmers use it mainly for their cash

crops, while a minority for both food and cash crops. Krueng more than Tampuen use pesticides and

fertilizer;

48.2% of farmers have a plan or strategy to prevent or reduce the damage or loss to livelihoods due to

weather or disasters, however, still a minority or one third of farmers have.

48.6% of farmers receive weather information, mainly via radio or household members, and to a limited

extent also television and extension workers. More men than women have access to weather info via

extension workers, village leader, radio and television;

32% uses indigenous weather forecasting techniques, which are found by half of the people to be reliable to

somewhat reliable, and useful for their livelihoods;

87.1% farmers have received farming advice and 66.6% agricultural training; with slightly more men than

women. These are considered useful, but not always timely or in the local language;


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In terms of preferred channel or format, radio is clearly preferred above any other formats or channels, for

both weather as well as farming advice. In addition, face-to-face communication through village leaders as

well as various community organizations and using indigenous knowledge are important preferences;

Overall, farmer social capital is limited with only a small minority currently being a member of one or more

community organizations, mainly savings and loans groups. Sharing of weather information or agricultural

advice via community organizations is very limited at the moment, with exchange or discussions on weather

or farming techniques limited to within the household itself.

Concerning the ACIS institutional users‟ capacity and knowledge, there is a general confidence among them

around the understanding of climate change. Knowledge of gendered climate impacts and the need for

customized climate information products for men compared to women is less evident. There is a strong

consensus about the value of agro-climate advisories for farmers, and that advisories should use scientific

as well as farmer information or experience to be effective.

Suggestions to improve the current ACIS system according to institutional users are: more collaboration and

coordination between NGOs and Government; better horizontal and vertical information flow between

departments; and more direct information dissemination directly to farmers.

Based on the comprehensive findings of the study, the report concludes with a set of actionable

recommendations on the ACIS project components.


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BACKGROUND


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BACKGROUND

Short, medium and long term weather variability and change is an essential determinant in how successful

smallholders across the world can sustain or improve a variety of aspects about their lives and livelihoods. It

fundamentally affects people‟s food and nutrition security, health, natural and physical environment, and

importantly the productivity and viability of their livelihoods. Climate change brings an additional set of shocks

and stresses to farmers in the form of severe weather events such as storms and floods which are increasing in

intensity, but also long-term changes to „normal‟ conditions, such as rising sea levels, shifting rainfall seasons,

altered crop patterns and long dry periods. Climate change puts people and resources under pressure and has

the potential to undermine efforts on poverty reduction and socio-economic development.

Climate shocks and stresses have particular adverse impact on the poorest and ethnic minorities. They are not

only exposed to climate risks but also have less capacity or assets to respond to these changes due to

geographical remoteness, poverty and other socio-economic drivers of risk, including limited access to services.

Climate change is also not gender-neutral or gender-blind; issues such as women‟s workloads, their limited

decision-making power in the household and public spheres and unequal access to and control over resources

can prevent Cambodian women from adopting effective strategies to adapt to a changing climate.

Access to regular, understandable, accurate and actionable agro-weather or agro-climate information is

considered as an important service to improve the adaptive capacity of poor women and ethnic minority farmers.

However, the provision of these services is facing lots of challenges, including: (1) Limited technical capacity and

infrastructure for national and local authorities to provide down-scaled forecasts and to interpret information for

application in agriculture; (2) Value and impact of agro-climate information services not well-understood or

accepted; and (3) Low communication infrastructure and capacity, including limited social learning to disseminate

and use information.

1. Project overview

Through a regional project implemented in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia called „Enhancing adaptive capacity of

women and ethnic minority smallholder farmers through improved agro-climate information in South-East Asia‟ or

ACIS, CARE International with ICRAF-World Agroforestry Centre and local partners aim to improve the

information base for women and ethnic minority (WEM) smallholder farmers and agricultural planners to better

anticipate and respond to risks and opportunities from climatic variability with the explicit goal of reducing

vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. In Cambodia, the project is implemented by CARE International in

Cambodia, with ICRAF, the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) and national

and local Government partners.

The project‟s Theory of Change states that: „Institutionalization of equitable access to accurate, relevant, regular

and customized agro-climate information – through multiple user-friendly and complementary Government and

farmer managed channels - leads to better informed decision-making and action on livelihood and ecosystem

planning and management by farmers, Government and private sector.‟

Agricultural and meteorological service providers will work directly with WEM farmers, engaging them in

meteorological observations and decision-making on agricultural management options. Social learning

processes like farmer-learning networks are used for capacity development of farmers and related agencies to

benefit 200,000 farmers by 2018 across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Research will improve the understanding

of farmer decision-making processes with recommendations for up scaling.


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Development objective or goal:

Enhanced adaptive capacity of women and ethnic minority smallholder farmers through improved agro-climate

information in South-East Asia

Outcome 1: Increased capacity of government authorities

to produce and deliver timely and accurate demand-driven

agro-climate information services to smallholder farmers

Outcome 2: Functional farmer learning networks

contribute to participatory and equitable ACIS

The project interventions to achieve this objective

and outcomes have been grouped in five distinct

work packages as indicated in the figure on the

right. Each of these is linked to five clear outputs:

1. Research protocol for developing ACIS

including data analysis;

2. Needs-based action-oriented capacity

development program providing evidence on

adaptation of ACIS;

3. Tried-and-tested agro-climate advisory

products;

4. Functional farmer learning networks ensuring

participatory and equitable ACIS;

5. Evidence and knowledge products on

effectiveness and impact of equitable ACIS.

Primary ACIS users are identified as women and ethnic minority small holder farmers. Secondary users are

agricultural and meteorological service providers (e.g. provincial Department of Water Resources and

Meteorology (PDWRM), Departments of Agriculture (PDA), extension workers), and public sector institutions.

2. Project location

The project is implemented in two districts – Koun Mom and Lumphat - of Ratanak Kiri province, a province

located in the North-Eastern region of Cambodia and sharing a border with Lao PDR (Attapeu province) and

Vietnam (Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces). Ratanak Kiri has a total population of around 183,699 people (2013) -

49.7% male and 50.3% female - with the population nearly doubling between 1998 and 2013 largely due to

internal migration.1 75% of the population is indigenous, representing ethnic groups such as Tampuen, Jarai,

Krueng, Brou, Kawet, Kachok, Pnong, Lun, and others. Khmer make up almost one fifth of the total population.

Although poverty has significantly reduced in the last ten years, it is still significant with a 36.2% poverty rate

compared to a national rate of 18.9% (2012).2

Koun Mom and Lumphat districts have a tropical climate. The wet season or summers have a good amount of

rainfall, while the dry season or winters have very little. The temperature averages 26.3°C and the average

rainfall is 2,171 mm. Precipitation is the lowest in January and the highest in July-August. At an average

temperature of 29°C, April is the hottest month of the year, and December is the coldest with temperatures

averaging 23.6°C.

1 Cambodia Inter-Censal Population Survey 2013. Final Report. National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Cambodia. November 2013. http://www.stat.go.jp/info/meetings/cambodia/pdf/ci_fn02.pdf 2 Cambodia Country Poverty Analysis 2014. ADB, 2014. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/151706/cambodia-country-poverty-analysis-2014.pdf

Abbreviations: Agro-Climate Information Systems (ACIS), monitoring and evaluation (M&E), women and ethnic minorities (WEM, EM), civil

society organisations (CSO)

http://www.stat.go.jp/info/meetings/cambodia/pdf/ci_fn02.pdf

https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/151706/cambodia-country-poverty-analysis-2014.pdf

https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/151706/cambodia-country-poverty-analysis-2014.pdf


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While the larger northern half of the province is part of the Central Annamites ecological zone (highlands, approx.

70% of total population), the smaller southern section is considered part of the Eastern Mekong Basin (lowlands,

approx. 30% of total population). Ratanak Kiri has two main protected areas; Virachey National Park in the North

and Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary in the South. The main rivers and branches running through the province are the

Tonle Sre Pok and Tonle Se San. Both originate in Vietnam and are major tributaries to the Mekong River further

west.

1 - Location of ACIS project in Cambodia 3

3. Baseline objective and approach

This section discusses the „what’ and „how’ of the baseline assessment, elaborating on the principal and specific

objectives, overall approaches and applied methodologies and its limitations. More details are provided in the

baseline protocol (see annex).

3.1 Objective

The baseline study has the following main objectives:

To establish baseline information that serves for before-and-after comparison in final and/or mid-term

evaluations;

Assess the capacity of relevant stakeholders (ethnic minority farmers, particularly female farmers and the

PDA and PDWRM) in order to inform training needs, the design and the planning of the project‟s activities;

To inform designing and planning project‟s activities, with potential adjustment to interventions

Additionally, on top of generating the baseline values for project indicators, the study is expected to provide

analysis, identify interactions and potential barriers of the following areas, as per the Terms of Reference:

3 Source of maps: http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/

Lumphat

Koun Mom

http://www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net/


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User Profile Analysis – To provide an overall picture of existing ACIS, including the existing policies on

ACIS, the role of different stakeholders at the moment and potential role for replication, analyse Knowledge,

Attitudes and Practice (KAP) as the user profile and to provide recommendation for interventions;

Capacity Needs Assessment – To identify capacity needs of female and male farmers and other institutions

and to provide recommendations for interventions;

Farmer networks – To identify existing networks, individual (livelihoods, farmer interest group, micro-

finance, women clubs, village leader or other) which could serve as a channel for information dissemination;

Gender and Ethnic Minorities Analysis – To analyze the key issues contributing to gender inequalities as

well as barriers from ethnic minorities in engaging in socio-economic development activities and in

accessing agro-climate information;

Women Empowerment in climate smart agriculture – To develop an appropriate assessment tool for women

empowerment in climate smart agriculture index to analyze the current women empowerment level, to

inform interventions and to track women empowerment index (including reviewing the women

empowerment in agriculture index);

3.2 Approach and methodology

Overall principles that guided the baseline were: participatory and inclusive with a collaborative exchange of

knowledge and experience; integration of gender in the process, methodology as well as for the findings; building

staff capacity where possible and strengths-based rather than deficit or needs based.

Based on the Terms of Reference, project M&E plan, research questions, initial desk review and further

discussions with the project team, a baseline study framework was developed around key areas of inquiry: socio-

economic profile; climate exposure, impacts and response; current state of the agro-climate information system;

knowledge, attitude and practice of various users on climate change and livelihoods, agro-climate information

and gender; and social capital. These were then matched with a variety of qualitative and quantitative tools to

collect the information needed. In terms of tools, the baseline applied the following mixed-method approach:

2 - Baseline assessment methodology

Desk review See under annexes for a list of documentation consulted;

Preparation and

training workshop

Analysis of existing data and information gaps;

Adaptation of draft tools, finalization of field work facilitation guide (see annex);

Enumerator training: HHS, FGD tools, facilitation skills and data entry;

Logistical preparation.

Household survey

(HHS)

416 people from 15 villages in the 2 project districts, with 9 villages in Koun Mom

and 6 villages in Lumphat;4 5

60% women and 40% men; 35.4% Tampuen, 43.9% Krueng, 10% Khmer, 1%

Cham and 9.8% households with mixed ethnic background;

Villages selected to represent farming systems, poverty levels and ethnic diversity.

Farmers randomly selected but representing age, socio-economic background and

gender diversity – for more details see the baseline protocol in the annexes;

Questions on the following topics: a/ household basic socio-economic profile; b/

food security; c/ livelihoods and agricultural productivity; d/ impact of climate change

on livelihoods; e/ agro-weather information; and f/ community organizations.

Focus group 11 FGDs with farmers in 9 villages; 3 women-only groups and 6 mixed men and

4 Out of which 263 in Koun Mom (63.2%) (Ta Ang and Teun communes; Ta Ang Kate, Ta Ang Pok, Tus, Sec, Ta Kab, Teun, La En, Ta Heuy and Kam Bak); and 153 in Lumphat (36.8%) (Seda commune; Khmei, Patat, Smut Leu, Pom, Norng Hai and Samut Kraom). Women are slightly overrepresented in Koun Moun (65.1% women vs. 34.9% men) compared to Lumphat (51.3% women vs. 48.7% men) 5 With a total population in the 2 districts of 12,414, this makes for a confidence level of 95% and margin of error (MoE) of 4.72%.


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2 - Baseline assessment methodology

discussions (FGD) women – conducted in ethnic language;

6 to 20 people per FGD; participants selected to represent farming systems;

Sessions (with tools): a/ climate change and impact on livelihoods (mapping tree);

and b/ agro-weather information (information mapping); with gender integrated

throughout all the sessions.

Direct observation Village-based assessment of farming systems, livelihood practices and other socio-

economic characteristics.

ACIS institutional stakeholders‟ workshop

18 participants: Farmer Learning Network members, Commune chief, PDA, District Governor, District office of Agriculture, CARE and CEDAC staff;

Sessions on policy mapping, ACIS mapping, capacity self-assessment, interest and influence-quadrant etc.

Key informant

interviews (KII)

5 key informants: PDA, PDWRM, Save Cambodia Wildlife (SCW); Development

Partnership in Action (DPA); and the Teun Commune Chief;

Questions around: major climate risks and impacts, particularly on agriculture;

agricultural productivity; ACIS; Government policies and programs; coordination;

gender and ethnic minorities.

The baseline assessment was led remotely by an evaluation team leader and in-country by an international field

work team leader. The latter led a field assessment team comprised of 3 staff from CARE and 14 local

enumerators from the Highlander Association (HA), CEDAC and the PDA.

In-country preparation, training of the field team and data collection took place between 25th August and 15th

September. HHS data entry and translation of the FGD notes was done by 3rd October; and data analysis and

report writing was done in the first two weeks of October. Further details about the assessment framework,

methodology, team composition as well as schedule can be found in the baseline assessment protocol, see

under annexes.

3.3 Limitations

Several limitations have arisen that should be taken into account when reviewing the findings and

recommendations:

- There were two limitations with regards to the team of enumerators selected to carry out the data collection.

First, there were not enough enumerators available initially. CARE was able to hire an additional nine

enumerators from the indigenous youth project. While this overcame some of the timeframe challenges, the

enumerators lacked experience in data collection. This was overcome with more detailed on-site training and

additional daily debriefs after field research had been conducted.

- Another challenge that arose was the translation of technical terms and concepts into a variety of different

languages, including Khmer and several of the indigenous languages (Kreung, Tampuen). Further,

translating the concepts into the indigenous languages increased the likelihood of terms and concepts

originally explained in English being „lost in translation‟ because they had to first be translated into Khmer

and then translated directly or in many cases described in the indigenous languages. However, this was

overcome because the enumerators were particularly skilled at translation as they were from indigenous

communities and completed their studies in Khmer. Some of the enumerator‟s insights were invaluable to

the shaping of the final data collection tools used in the field research.

- Also due to the limited timeframe, the distance to the target villages, the poor condition of the roads to the

target villages, weather conditions (daily storms) and the fact that target village members would work in their

fields at unspecified times each day, staff in the field experienced some difficulties coordinating a systematic

approach to conducting the HHS and FGDs in the villages. This had to be overcome with the enumerator‟s


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collecting the village data in an unsystematic way and asking potential respondents when was best to come

back to be interviewed (this meant that some HHS were completed over a two day period).

- Finally, the provincial, district and communal capacity around the subject of climate change is low making

some of the respondents of the KII questions, workshop activities and discussions difficult to full engage

with. This was overcome with more time being used for full explanations/definitions and often local examples

provided by the CARE staff to help respondents understand the subject matter. With more time further KII

and additional instructional workshops would allow greater contextual analysis around the subject of ACIS.


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FINDINGS


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FINDINGS

Baseline findings are structured around the key areas of inquiry in the baseline study framework. Where

differences are distinct, findings are disaggregated per ethnic group (Kreung, Tampuen) and/or gender, as

requested by CARE. The full set of data can be consulted in the annexes.

4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE

The following chapter provides a brief snapshot of the two districts‟ socio-economic situation, including on food

security and livelihoods.

4.1 Demographics and other socio-economic data

- Gender: 60% women and 40% men;6

- Age range: from 13 to 85, with an average of 38 and the majority between 20 and 50;

- Ethnic diversity: 4 ethnic groups across the 2 districts, with major groups;

43.9% Krueng (majority living in Koun Moum);

35.4% Tampuen (majority living in Lumphat);

10% Khmer and 1% Cham;7

Most villages are almost exclusively one ethnicity;

- Average household size: 4 to 7, with 31.7% having 7 household members or more;

- Poverty status:8 15.6% very poor („poor 1‟), 44.1% medium poor („poor 2‟) and 40.3% non-

poor, with considerable differences between the 2 main indigenous groups:

Tampuen: 23.2% very poor, 62.7% medium poor and 14.1% non-poor;

Krueng: 9.8% very poor, 30.1% medium poor and 60.1% non-poor;

4.2 Assets

Household ownership of a variety of assets, including communication and transport assets particularly useful for

ACIS, is as follows: a large majority of households have a battery (86.1%), motorbike (78.4%) and a normal

mobile phone (72.1%), while a large minority also owns a radio (41.3%) and a bicycle (27.9%). Household

access to electricity from the grid or other sources is very low to non-existing. Interestingly, 19.5% of households

have a smartphone, which is a potential opportunity for introducing ICT-for-ACIS applications.

For a majority of people (61.2%), phone connection is regular with no significant interruptions, 12.8% says it gets

disrupted only during rainy seasons, and for 12.2% every day.

3 – Household asset ownership, with EM disaggregation – according to the HHS results

Assets – in working condition: Overall Tampuen Krueng

Power: Electricity (from the grid) 1.2% 2.1% -

Electricity (other sources than

grid)

1.9% 0.7% 2.8%

Solar panels 14.2% 14.5% 10.6%

Battery 86.1% 86.9% 88.9%

Generator 7.7% 8.3% 5.6%

Communication: Phone – landline 4.6% 0.7% 6.7%

6 19 household survey respondents (4.8%) are village leaders or village elders, with 6 of them women and 13 men. 7 9.8% of the respondents are from a mixed household, with the majority of them of a mixed Krueng-Khmer and Tampuen-Khmer household. 8 Poverty categories („poor 1‟ and „poor 2‟) are based on the Cambodian Ministry of Planning‟s „Identification of Poor Households Program‟ or IDPoor Program. For more information, see: http://www.idpoor.gov.kh/Data/Kh/Reference/IDPoor_MoP_Brochure_2011-FINAL.pdf

http://www.idpoor.gov.kh/Data/Kh/Reference/IDPoor_MoP_Brochure_2011-FINAL.pdf


18

3 – Household asset ownership, with EM disaggregation – according to the HHS results

Assets – in working condition: Overall Tampuen Krueng

Phone – normal mobile phone 72.1% 71% 71.7%

Phone – smartphone 19.5% 4.8% 27.8%

TV 10.6% 10.3% 10%

Cable /satellite connection (DTV) 2.9% 0.7% 3.3%

Radio 41.3% 32.4% 50.6%

DVD player 18.8% 19.3% 16.1%

Laptop 2.4% 2.1% 2.2%

Transport: Bicycle 27.9% 23.4% 35.6%

Motorbike 78.4% 72.4% 83.9%

Truck or car 6.5% 4.8% 6.7%

Other: Refrigerator 3.8% 5.5% 1.7%

Looking at differences between EM, for the majority of assets, ownership is higher among the Krueng than the

Tampuen; particularly for a smartphone (+23%), radio (+18%), bicycle (+12%) or motorbike (+12%). As

mentioned under the previous section 4.1, this confirms higher poverty levels among the Tampuen compared to

the Krueng.

In terms of productive assets, agricultural inputs most utilized are; seeds (71.4%), chemical pesticides

(including herbicides and insecticides) (62.8%) and tools such as a hoe, spade, plough, saw etc. (56.4%). A

large minority of farmers also uses chemical fertilizer (35%), organic pesticides (27.8%), and water equipment

such as pumps or hoses (27.6%). A small minority of farmers uses water for crops (19.2%), externally hired

farming labor (17.2%), building material for animal cages (16%), water for livestock (15%), vaccines (12.6%),

organic fertilizer (10.3%), livestock feed (9.9%) and tractors (7.9%). All these assets are available for the farmers

who use them.

In terms of differences among EM for utilizing agricultural inputs:

Inputs more used by Tampuen than Krueng: water equipment (+33%), water for crops (+23%) and livestock

(+19%), hired farming labor (+17%); building material for cages (+16%), seeds (+16%) and tractors (+13%);

Inputs more used by Krueng than Tampuen: chemical fertilizer (+15%) and pesticides (+10%), and organic

pesticides (+21%).

4.3 Food security

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and

nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (FAO); it refers

to continuous food availability, food access, food utilization and nutrition levels. For this baseline, indicators such

as lack of three meals per day (in terms of occurrence, length, frequency and period of the year), months of food

shortage and reasons for hunger, were used to describe the food security situation in the project districts.9

18.5% of farmers state there was ever a time over the last year where they had less than three meals per day,

with no significant difference between men and women. However, the number is significantly higher for Tampuen

(27%) compared to Krueng (10.6%). While hunger is experienced throughout the year, the peak hunger period

for Krueng is August till October, whereas for Tampuen it is August till January.

9 Other food security and nutrition indicators used by the Cambodian Government can be consulted here: http://foodsecurity.gov.kh/pages/content/indicators-tools-nstruments

http://foodsecurity.gov.kh/pages/content/indicators-tools-nstruments


19

Out of the people who experienced hunger or food shortage over the last year, 25.4% dealt with hunger the

whole year round, 28.2% for 2 months and 15.5% for 3 months. In terms of EM differences;

Out of the people who experience hunger or food shortage, 27.8% Tampuen and 11.8% Krueng have a lack

of sufficient food throughout the entire year, 22.2% Tampuen and 47.1% Krueng for 2 months, 16.7%

Tampuen and 17.6% Krueng for 3 months, and 13.9% Tampuen for 4 months.

The main reasons for being hungry are related to; 1/ prices of agricultural produce and food bought in the

market; 2/ sickness of one of the household members; and 3/ food crop or livestock failure or loss due to weather

and disasters, and animal or plant diseases. In terms of EM differences;

Food crop failure due to farming labor shortage is also significant for Tampuen;

For Krueng, loss of income due to unexpected non-food costs is the main reason for hunger, and distance to

markets is also a major reason;

10 The peak rainfall season is from May till September (see blue line on left graph).

4 - Hunger period: length and time of the year10

5 - Major causes of hunger

Overall Tampuen Krueng

1. Reduced income due to lower or unstable price

for agricultural produce 62.2% 83.3% 38.9%

2. Price of food the household buys in the market is

too high 60% 77.8% 38.9%

3. A longer period of sickness of one of the

household members 60% 72.2% 44.4%

4. Food crop failure due to weather or disasters 59.5% 77.8% 50%

5. Food crop failure due to plant or animal diseases 49.3% 66.7% 35.3%

6. Food crop failure due to reduced amount of labor

to work on the farm 37.8% 50% 38.9%

7. Loss income due to unexpected non-food costs

(e.g. burial, school fees, asset repair etc.) 26.6% 11.1% 55.6%

8. No facilities to store the food that was produced 19.2% 25% 16.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Time of the year

Tampuen Krueng

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

# months food shortage

Tampuen Krueng


20

4.4 Livelihood profile

The most frequent food crops or livestock are the following – with considerable variations between EM, mainly

on NTFPs, vegetables such as homegarden vegetables and green beans, and cashew:

6 - Main food crops and livestock

Overall: Tampuen Krueng

By a large majority: (+75%)

By a small majority:

(50-75%)

Cassava (69.8%); 63.4% 77.8%

Rain-fed rice (68.1%); 67.6% 77.8%

Soybean (62.5%); 64.1% 65.6%

Cashew (55%); 44.4% 67.8%

Pumpkin (54.5%); 59.9% 57.8%

Cucumber (51.6%); 61.3% 52.2%

Chicken/duck (50.6%); 48.6% 52.8%

By a large minority:

(25-50%)

Pig (42.8%); 42.3% 51.7%

Fruit - mangoes (39.4%); 43.7% 37.2%

NTFP – forest vegetables (33.3%); 51.4% 24.4%

Maize/corn (29.9%); 33.1% 33.3%

NTFP – mushrooms (25.3%); 46.5% 11.1%

Cow/ buffalo (25.3%) 31% 27.2%

By a small minority:

(less than 25%)

Taro (17%); 16.9% 22.8%

NTFP – forest fruit (14.4%); 29.6% 2.2%

NTFP – forest medicine (13.6%); 29.6% 3.9%

Vegetables - home garden (10%); 16.9% 2.8%

River fishing (9.7%); 21.8% 2.8%

NTFP – wild animals (9.7%); 19% 2.2%

NTFP – wild flowers (8.8%); 16.9% 2.8%

Paddy rice (7.8%); 3.5% 13.9%

Rattan (6.3%); 9.9% 3.3%

Within Margin of Error (MoE): Green bean (4.4%) 11.3% 0.6%

Fruit - Rambutan (3.9%) 7% 2.2%

The most prevalent cash crops or livestock are the following – again with considerable variations between EM,

mainly on cassava, cashew, rice, cucumber and pumpkin:

7 - Main cash crops and livestock


By a large majority: (+75%)

By a small majority:

(50-75%)

Cassava (70.3%); 60.1% 80%

Soybean (61.1%); 62.2% 65%

By a large minority:

(25-50%)

Cashew (50%); 37.1% 65.6%

Rain-fed rice (28%); 21.7% 37.2%

9. Our household lives too far from the market where

they sell food 18.6% 8.3% 44.4%

10. Wife or husband spends the family income on

other things than food 9.3% 2.8% 27.8%


21

7 - Main cash crops and livestock


By a small minority:

(less than 25%)

Chicken/duck (23.9%); 28% 23.9%

Pig (22.9%); 25.2% 26.1%

Cow/ buffalo (16.2%) 22.4% 15%

Cucumber (9.9%); 4.2% 15.6%

Pumpkin (9.2%); 4.9% 13.9%

Maize/corn (6.8%); 7% 7.8%

Paddy rice (5.6%); 7.7% 6.7%

Fruit - mangoes (5.1%); 2.8% 6.1%

Within MoE: NTFP – forest vegetables (3.1%); 2.1% 5%

Vegetables - home garden (2.9%); 5.6% 0.6%

Off-farm work – often low skilled labor - is done on average by 22.5% of households in Koun Mom and

Lumphat, with similar numbers for Tampuen (18.7%) as well as Krueng (15.9%). Off-farm work is particularly

common among the Khmer population (52.5%). It‟s also more a considerable source of income for Khmer and

Krueng compared to Tampuen.

Out of the above livelihoods, the main or priority sources of income are:

8 - Main source of income

Tampuen Krueng

Soybean (47.9%) Cashew (63.3%)

Cassava (40.3%) Cassava (59.4%)

Cashew (27.1%) Soybean (41.7%)

Other noteworthy income sources but to a lesser extent than the above:

Rice (20.1%) Off-farm work (23.3%)

Livestock (15.7%) Rice (15.8%)

Maize/corn (15.3%) Maize/corn (15.6%)

22.6% of farmers has only one crop or livestock as income source, 25% have 2, 25% have 3 and 12% has 4.

9.4% of farmers have 5 or more.

Overall, the level of diversification for food crops (average 7.2) is good while for cash crops much lower (3.4).

Tampuen have a slightly higher level of food crop diversification (8.2) than Krueng (7), mainly because of the

much higher use of NTFPs for consumption. Krueng on the other hand have a slightly higher level of cash crop

diversification (3.9 for Krueng vs. 3.4 for Tampuen).


22

9 - Livelihood diversification per EM

4.5 Agricultural productivity

For the main crops rice, cassava, maize/corn, cashew and soybean, average yields in terms of income and kilos

over the last 2-3 seasons are indicated in the table below.11 Income and yields from these crops are considered

by the large majority of farmers as unpredictable (29.6%) or unclear (45.7% „I don‟t know‟). Rice and cassava

tend to decrease in income and yield, while soybean remains the same.

10 - Livelihood productivity

Averages over the

last 2-3 seasons: Land size (ha) Yield (kg) Income (KHR) Income (USD)

Rice 1.33 2,525 3,045,434 1,027

Cassava 1.46 11,511.7 3,636,140 2,208

Maize / corn 1.24 2,406.8 5,611,209 -

Cashew 1.59 1,958.2 20,683,307 16,400

Soybean 1.54 2,726.1 6,770,336 4,286

11 Numbers are averages, and based on HHS data. All numbers stand should be compared per column, not horizontally.

15.5% 15.6%

25.4% 27.8%

22.5%

36.1%

21.8%

16.7% 14.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Tampuen Krueng

Livelihood diversification - Food crops

3 or less 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 to 12 13 or above

68.3% 56.1%

19.0% 30.0%

8.5% 11.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Tampuen Krueng

Livelihood diversification - Cash crops

3 or less 4 to 6 7 to 9 10 to 12 13 or above

6.7% 21.2%

7.2%

21.1% 20.7% 11.1%

13.4%

41.7% 34.7%

8.8%

32.5%

30.4%

29.2% 36.9%

83.7%

46.1% 32.6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Rice Cassava Maize Cashew Soybean

Predictability of income and yields from livelihoods (over last 2-3 seasons)

Same Increasing Decreasing Unpredictable Don't know


23

In terms of pesticides (including herbicides and insecticides) and fertilizer use, there is a higher use of

pesticides than fertilizer and significantly more chemical than organic; 62.8% of farmers state that they use

chemical pesticides and 35% chemical fertilizer, compared to 27.8% using organic pesticides and 10.3% organic

fertilizer. Krueng more than Tampuen use pesticides and fertilizer; chemical (55.9% vs. 43.2%) as well as

organic (23.2% vs. 12.5%).

A large majority of farmers uses chemical pesticides and fertilizer once per season (44.7%) or very often

throughout the season (38.2%). For Tampuen it is mainly once per season (59.8%) while for Krueng very

often throughout the season (47%);

A small majority of farmers (54.2%) uses pesticides and fertilizers only for their cash crops, while a minority

(23.4%) for both food and cash crops. Only a small minority (9.9%) uses it for food crops only, more among

the Krueng than the Tampuen.

4.6 Household division of labor and decision-making

Household‟s division of labor for domestic and non-domestic tasks as well as decision-making on livelihoods and

finances is very variable per household but also heavily influenced by social and cultural norms, education, the

livelihood itself, improved infrastructure and mobility, individual‟s agency, role of influential community agents,

level of social capital, external influence such as media, Government or non-Government programs etc. An in-

depth analysis of all these issues was not the focus of this baseline, so only a narrow snapshot of current farming

roles and related decision-making can be provided.

Key findings from a 2012 gender and power analysis relevant for this baseline are:12

- The improvement of roads has been viewed positively by both men and women and with positive benefits.

Village pump wells and rice milling machines were attributed to reducing women‟s workload;

- A growing cash crop economy is has increased the control of men over decision-making within the

household. This may have negative implications on families as men‟s spending priorities are not always

directed at household needs. However, a more participatory style of decision-making between husbands and

wives was also witnessed, but more likely resulting from advances in gender equality and women‟s

empowerment than a result of changes in livelihoods;

- Both men and women are engaging in income generating activities and sales and many felt their standard of

living has improved through diversified livelihoods;

- The promotion of women‟s rights and gender equality has meant some men were sharing housework duties.

Attitudes in young men and women towards shared domestic workload are also changing positively;

Observations from focus group discussions for this baseline confirm that women have much more workload than

men; while men tend to focus on cash crop cultivation, NTFP collection, timber logging and off-farm wage labor

(often away from the house), women are involved in food and cash crop cultivation closer to home but also in

domestic, including caring, responsibilities. In the majority of cases, women‟s mobility is restricted to the home or

village space. Both women and men see improvement with higher involvement of women in community

meetings, including planning, and more discussion at home for the majority of decisions. Still, all participants

agree that men have the final decision-making power.

From the HHS, in terms of farming division of labor; while the majority of people – with no significant differences

between gender or EM - mention a sharing of roles between husbands and wives for most farming roles, there is

a clear indication that men more than women; buy agricultural inputs, sell agricultural produce at the market,

negotiate prices with traders and deal with externally hired farming labor.

12 Gender and Power Analysis, Report for Marginalized Ethnic Minority Program, Ratanakiri. C. Strickler for CARE Cambodia, 2012.


24

On decision-making, we can see a similar trend as with the division of labor: a majority indicating joint decision-

making, but with a tendency towards men having more decision-making influence on all farming decisions, while

women more on decisions regarding household finances. Looking at EM differences:

Although a majority says decision-making on farming is done jointly; a higher proportion of Krueng compared

to Tampuen states that men make most decisions, while more Tampuen than Krueng state that the decision-

making is done jointly;13

In terms of decision-making on household finances, Krueng clearly indicate it is more the women than the

men who make the decisions, while Tampuen indicate it is done more jointly.

When asked if women should have more influence on farming and financial decision-making, a significant

majority or 66.2% of women states they want more influence on household decisions on farming, in contrast to

74.4% of men saying their wife is already very involved in these decisions. For financial decision-making, both

agree that women have a good level of influence: 59.4% of women say they have the same level of influence as

their husband, and 73.6% of men say their wife has the same level of influence.

11 – Gendered division of labor and decision-making on farming and finances

(with gender disaggregation)

Roles in farming:

Buys agricultural input 9.2%

(W 13%; M 3.1%)

51.6%

(W 51.2%; M 51.9%)

23.1%

(W 18.7%; M 30.2%)

Sells agricultural produce at markets 13%

(W 14.9%; M 9.2%)

43.4%

(W 44.2%; M 42.3%)

24%

(W 24%; M 27%)

Hires and pays outside labor to work

on the farm

8.6%

(W: 11.5%; M 4.3%)

20.8%

(W 17.2%; M 26.5%)

22.5%

(W 23.4%; M 21%)

Negotiates prices with middlemen or

traders

5.9%

(W 7.5%; M 3%)

18.4%

(W 16.7%; M 21.3%)

32.7%

(W 31.3%; M 35.4%)

Attends farmer groups or cooperatives 14

8.4%

(W 11.2%; M 3.8%)

21.1%

(W 21.9%; M 19.6%)

13.6%

(W 7.4%; 22.8%)

Decision-making on farming:

Decides what to plant 12.7%

(W 19.8%; M 1.8%)

54.4%

(W 56.4%; M 51.8%)

22.2%

(W 16.5%; M 31.1%)

Decides when to plant 14.6%

(W 21.9%; M 3.1%)

60.1%

(W 59.1%; M 62.3%)

22.8%

(W 15.7%; M 33.3%)

Decides when to harvest 11.7%

(W 17.1%; M 3.1%)

58.7%

(W 56.3%; M 62.3%)

26.6%

(W 22.9%; M 32.7%)

Decides what agricultural inputs are

needed

10%

(W 14.8%; M 2.5%)

54.6%

(W 53.4%; M 56.2%)

27.4%

(W 21.2%; M 37%)

Decides the main things on household

finances (how to spend money, who

can spend it and how)

28.6%

(W 30.5%; M 25.6%)

39%

(W 37.8%; M 40.9%)

18.4%

(W 17.5%; M 19.5%)

13 This can indicate more joint decision-making among Tampuen than Krueng, but also a higher level of gender equality and women‟s empowerment among Krueng than Tampuen, leading to more accurate or „honest‟ opinions (rather than confirming what is socially acceptable). 14 13.9% of respondents states that no-one is buying agricultural input; 15.7% that no-one sells agricultural produce; 47.2% that no-one hires outside labor to work on the farmer; 39.8% that no-one negotiates with middlemen or traders, and 55.8% that no-one is attending farmer groups or cooperatives.


25

5. CLIMATE RISKS AND IMPACT

This section provides a brief overview of the complex climate resilience dynamics in Ratanak Kiri. After, it looks

into the main climate hazards as observed by the farmers, how these impact their livelihoods and main cash

crops, and how farmers have been responding or adapting so far.

5.1 Ratanak Kiri’s resilience context

Climate change impacts results from the dynamic interplay between climate hazards, exposure and sensitivity

and variable levels of adaptive capacity. These climate risks and impacts are positively or negatively affected by

the dynamic interaction with structural drivers of risk such as poverty, gender inequality, governance and unequal

access to resources, as well as socio-economic influences like modernization of agriculture, market pressures,

increased connectivity, environmental degradation and improvement of services. Altogether this makes for a

complex resilience context in Ratanak Kiri (see figure below).

5.2 Farmer observations on climate hazards and impact

Community members‟ observations gathered from focus group discussions predominantly state that drought,

uncertainty about start and end of the rainfall season, storms with lightning and strong winds, and high

temperature are the main climate hazards they experience during the course of a year. Looking at the extent on

how these and other climate hazards cause damage to crops over the last ten years reveals the following:

Experiences among households are very location and livelihood specific;

The least experienced are landslides (94.7% did not experience), slow onset flooding (75.3%), flash floods

(68.4%), hot spells (61.7%) and forest fires (53%);

The most damaging are drought (39.7% major and 15.2% minor damage), heavy storms (33.1% major and

17.2% minor damage), and a longer period of hot temperature (29.7% major and 7.3% minor damage);

Unpredictable rainfall seasons equally causes major or minor damage, depending on the household and

their livelihoods (24.8% major and 23.3% minor damage).

12 – Ratanak Kiri climate resilience context

RATANA KIRI RESILIENCE CONTEXT

Socio-economic influences:

Modernization agriculture:

pesticide, mechanization,

commercialization (ELC)

Market pressure: Vietnam

(cashew, rubber, cassava)

Environmental degradation

and overexploitation of natural

resources: forest, soil, water

Hydropower development

Improvement of services

(health, education)

Increased connectivity (roads,

mobile phone)

Structural drivers of risk:

Poverty

Unequal access to resources

(incl. land tenure insecurity)

Illiteracy, school drop-out

Malnutrition

Gender inequality

Governance, lack of voice and

representation

IMPACT:

Livelihoods (food and cash crops, livestock)

Community and household assets

Health and food nutrition security

Ecosystem health, including ecosystem services

Risk

Climatic

hazards:

Drought

Storms (incl.

lightning

and

whirlwinds)

Shifting

rainfall

seasons

Longer

period of hot

temperature

Vulnerability:

Sensitivity:

Weather-dependent livelihoods: rain-fed rice,

cassava, soybean, cashew, maize, rubber,

vegetables, fruit, livestock

Quality of community and households assets

and infrastructure

Ecosystems: tropical high and lowland,

riverine, biodiversity, NTFP

Adaptive capacity:

Availability and use of assets: natural, physical,

financial, social, human, political, psychological

etc. – variable for village, household or individual

Exposure: location people, assets and livelihoods


26

13 – Main climate hazards and their impact on livelihoods, over the last ten years

Detailed impacts described by farmers gathered from FGD, KII and field observations are as follows;

Livelihoods: livestock deaths due to disease (foot-and -mouth disease), lack of water and lightning strikes;

damage to crops due to high temperatures, lack of water and insects/pests; injury to animals; trees falling

down due to strong winds.

Natural resources: no water supply; difficulty planting crops in hard soil.

Health: loss of lives; injury to people; stress and uncertainty; difficulty breathing due to high

temperatures/humid conditions; not enough drinking water.

Assets: damage or total destruction to houses due to storm conditions or flooding.

When asked about the differential impact of these hazards to men and women; an overall majority believes

women and men are equally impacted, but that widows and children are more impacted than others.

5.3 Impact on main cash crops

A detailed comparative analysis of extent and frequency of damage and losses from weather or disasters over

the past ten years evidences that rice and soybean are most extensively impacted, followed by cassava and

cashew and maize/corn the least impacted. All crops are affected every year.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Rain earlier

Rain later

Rain Longer

Storm

Landslide

Flash flood

Slow onset Flooding

Drought

Forest Fire

Hot spell

Long hot temp

Major damage Minor damage No damage Have no experience of these I don‟t know


27

14 – Extent of damage to major crops caused by weather and disasters, over the past ten years

Rice crops have experienced the highest aggregate percentage of major damage and minor damage with a

50.3% and 35.4% respectively. Soybeans are the second most effected of the main cash crops with 38.7% major

damage and 39.1% minor damage caused by weather. Cassava and cashew are also affected, but mainly

causing minor damage. Maize/corn are the least overall damaged crop relative to the other cash crops with major

(6.3%), minor (20.3%) and no damage (14.9%).

Rice crops have experienced the most loss due to impacts of weather with 33% of farmers stating that they had

lost their entire crop, and a further 34.7% stating they had lost half or more. To a lesser extent, 36.8% indicated

they had lost half or more of their cassava crops and an additional 31.1% stating they had lost small to medium

amounts of their cassava crops. Both cashew and soybeans have large minorities of 33.4% and 34.9% that

indicate they have lost half or more of these crops. Maize/corn has the lowest aggregate percentages in terms of

damage or loss.

15 – Amount of damage to major crops caused by weather and disasters, over the past ten years

50.4%

35.5%

2.5%

19.1%

43.6%

7.4% 6.4%

20.4%

13.4%

20.4%

40.0%

14.9%

38.8% 39.2%

10.8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Maj

or D

amag

e

Min

or D

amag

e

No

Dam

age

Maj

or D

amag

e

Min

or D

amag

e

No

Dam

age

Maj

or D

amag

e

Min

or D

amag

e

No

Dam

age

Maj

or D

amag

e

Min

or D

amag

e

No

Dam

age

Maj

or D

amag

e

Min

or D

amag

e

No

Dam

age

Rice Cassava Maize/Corn Cashew Soybean

33.0% 34.7%

20.5%

4.5% 6.1%

36.8%

31.2%

6.9%

2.1%

11.7%

16.6% 15.2%

8.0%

33.5%

26.7%

11.2%

21.2%

34.9%

12.3%

4.8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Eve

ryth

ing

Hal

f or

mor

e

Sm

all t

o m

ediu

m a

mou

nt

I don

‟t lo

se a

nyth

ing

Eve

ryth

ing

Hal

f or

mor

e

Sm

all t

o m

ediu

m a

mou

nt

I don

‟t lo

se a

nyth

ing

Eve

ryth

ing

Hal

f or

mor

e

Sm

all t

o m

ediu

m a

mou

nt

I don

‟t lo

se a

nyth

ing

Eve

ryth

ing

Hal

f or

mor

e

Sm

all t

o m

ediu

m a

mou

nt

I don

‟t lo

se a

nyth

ing

Eve

ryth

ing

Hal

f or

mor

e

Sm

all t

o m

ediu

m a

mou

nt

I don

‟t lo

se a

nyth

ing

Rice Cassava Maize/Corn Cashew Soybean


28

In terms of the frequency in which the main cash crops are impacted by weather; the crops are all affected every

year causing damage and loss of income to livelihoods. Those who grow rice stated that their crops are impacted

upon every season (24.1%), every year (28.2%) or every two years (28.6%). Similarly, the frequency in which

cassava crops are impacted by weather every year is 23.3% or every two years (27.8%). Maize/corn is impacted

less frequently with 34.8% stating that their crops are impacted by weather once every ten years. Cashew and

soybeans both have large minorities of 34.4% and 37.1% (respectively) stating that their crops are impacted

every year by the weather.

The average yield losses in monetary value and weight, according to farmers is:

16 - Average monetary and weight losses over last 2 to 3 years, as described by farmers

Climate hazards Income loss (KHR) Yield loss (Kg)

Most damaging

Drought 2,516,857 2,570

Storms 3,252,349 1,7134

Long hot temperatures 1,346,200 2,820

Earlier rains 3,097,513 57,132

Later rains 20,911,100 13,866

Least experienced or damaging

Longer periods of rain 13,851,308 4,903

Forest fires 2,518,522 2,594

Hot spell 1,117,462 1,360

Flash floods 2,723,966 2,420

Slow onset flooding 381,802 448

Landslides 2,673,375 1,881

5.4 Adaptation actions

Overall very few farmers have taken steps to adapt their agricultural techniques.

- In terms of adapting farming techniques, seeds, and livestock breeds, the majority of farmers stated that

they have not changed their practices; 74.6% stated that they did not change their farming techniques and

82.4% did not change their seed or livestock breed. 84.2% hasn‟t made improvements to their livestock‟s

enclosures or cages;

- In terms of farmers working to improve water management and using a pump to access ground water, the

majority of respondents stated that they have not, with 95.4% who stated that they do not work to improve

their water management and 91.1% who stated that they do not access ground water through pumps;

- The majority of farmers stated that they have not adapted by administering vaccinations to their livestock to

prevent any diseases with a large majority of 79.5% respondents who do not use preventative vaccinations;

- For other actions, there is a large majority of 81.2% who have not hired outside labor and majority of 70.1%

that have not implemented or established community rules and boundaries to protect forest areas. Similarly,

the majority stated they have not started stocking seeds or animal feed (66%), not bought new agricultural

equipment (55.9%), and not taken a loan (65.3%). Additionally large majorities of 92.1% stated they are not

collecting more NTFPs and 92.8% stated that they do not migrate over the short or long term to find work

elsewhere;

- Concerning applying weather forecasts and seasonal calendars, the majority of respondents indicated

that they do not consult a weather forecast (70.5%). However, when asked if the farmers have changed their


29

farming calendar - 53.9% stated that they have changed their calendar whereas 46% stated that they did not

change their farming calendar. There is also a divide in how many respondents choose to plant more of a

variety of crops instead of one main. A large minority of 40.5% indicated that they do plant more varieties of

crops, whereas a majority of 59.4% indicated that they do not. 79.4% stated they do not plant trees in-

between their crops;

- Regarding seeking advice and joining farmer groups as an adaptive technique there are large majorities

of 84% that stated they have not joined farmer groups, 87% who do not ask other farmers for advice, and

88.1% as well as 89.1% who do not seek advice from government extension workers or other organizations

such as NGOs (respectively).

- When asked if they conduct traditional ceremonies (including praying) a large minority of 39.4% said they

do use traditional ceremonies and 60.5% said that they do not.

- When asked if their household has any plan or strategy to change what they grow or the way they do it, to

prevent or reduce the damage or loss because of weather, a majority or 51.8% says they don‟t, while a

combined 34% says they do for the next season (22%) or the coming years (12%).


30

6. CURRENT STATE OF THE ACIS SYSTEM

This chapter provides an in-depth overview of the current state of the agro-climate information services, at the

institutional level as well as the community or farmer level.

6.1 At the institutional level

The following section looks at institutional users‟ current understanding of various ACIS components in terms of

their knowledge and understanding of relevant existing policies and programs, ACIS roles and responsibilities

and institutional set-up, users‟ attitude, practices and capacities. 15 The section concludes with a brief description

of the existing hydro-meteorological infrastructure.

Policies and programs

Government representatives identified a number of national Government policies and programs relevant to ACIS;

- Agricultural Extension Policy (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)); to improve the

agriculture sector, focusing on improving ability of the agriculture sector through land reform, mine

exploration, fisheries and forestry reform;

- Strategy for Agriculture and Water Resources (2009-2013, MOWRAM); focuses on extending and building

community infrastructure through water resources management and irrigation systems;

- Disaster Preparedness and Response (National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC)); which focuses

on preparing material to save crops, seeds and technology;

- Water Emergency Response Strategy (PDWRM); to deal with droughts

- Agricultural trainings (PDA); by Community Extension Workers - for example on short term rice cropping,

organic fertilizer from pig waste, vaccination of livestock, climate change

Relevant non-Government projects/programs at sub-national level were also identified; 1) Indigenous Community

Support Organisation‟s (ICSO) Women Economy Empowerment project which establishes saving groups16; 2)

CARE and CEDAC‟s own ACIS project, supported by the PDA; and 3) SCW‟s program on drought-tolerant rice.17

Major challenges or needs around the aforementioned policies and programs were also identified: a shortage of

provincial Government staff; more capacity and techniques to conduct analysis and planning over longer

timeframe are required; more variety of crops and expertise on different crops is required to match the market

place; a need for further more in-depth market analysis; and weak or inconsistent information streams from the

Government to the communities and among different departments.

Specifically for NGO projects: a need to create more saving groups; an established disaster preparedness

budget for buying crop seeds as well as maintaining crops following disasters; and a need for more direct

information dissemination directly to people in their communities.

15 The findings in this section are primarily based on workshop discussions and self-assessments with 15 provincial, communal, and district level representatives from Koun Mom and Lumphat districts, with a full list of attendees with information on gender, ethnic group, department and administrative level included in the annexes. While a more in-depth policy mapping and analysis needs to be carried out to fully understand the current ACIS set-up, the findings in this chapter provide an accurate reflection of the Government stakeholders‟ knowledge and understanding. 16 For more information on ICSO‟s Ratanakiri program, see: http://www.icso.org.kh/what-we-do/village-organizing-program/ 17 Local NGOs to further explore partnerships with were mentioned by key informants as follows: NTIP, HA, CPA, ICSO - Indigenous Community Support Organisation, AIDC – Agricultural Industrial Development Community, ICC - International Cooperation Cambodia. Similarly, on women‟s empowerment the following INGOs were mentioned for potential collaboration: Can Do, Hellen Keller, Etea Foundation and PYD (Paz Y Desarrollo).

http://www.icso.org.kh/what-we-do/village-organizing-program/


31

ACIS institutional set-up

Government stakeholders‟ current understanding of various ACIS roles and responsibilities, is visualized in the table below;

17 – Current observed ACIS institutional set-up in Ratanak Kiri

Nat

ion

al

Weather Information Agricultural Information Technical Support to Farmers Policy Framework

Pro

vin

ce

Dis

tric

t C

om

mu

ne

and

villa

ge

Suggestions to improve the current ACIS system are: more collaboration and coordination between NGOs and Government; and better horizontal and vertical information flow

from each department, not just top down information dissemination.

No weather forecasts

generated locally and

very general forecasts

(more as early warning)

around storms provided

by Ministry of WRM.

PDWRM: provide info on height of

water in the reservoirs

District and Commune Committee

of Disaster Management:

operating the loudspeaker system

PDWRM: provide medium and long

term climate change scenarios PDA: provide agricultural information

(seasonal calendar)

Ministry of Information

is responsible for

distributing agro-climate

information over the TV

and radio station PDA: responsible for;

Develop legal framework (policies

and regulations) for

implementation in the province;

Develop long term agricultural

strategies, plans, investments;

Approving long term agricultural

strategies, plans and investments

PDA: mentoring farmer interest

groups, community based

organizations etc.

Ministry of Agriculture and

partner with NGOs: technical

livelihood training to farmers

Provincial Department of

Women Affairs and PDA provide

training on gender to farmers

Agricultural extension office:

Collect farmer experience or

good practice on livelihoods

Organizing large awareness

raising campaigns on climate

change

PDA also uses TV and

radio station as a channel to

disseminate additional info

NGOs: build on traditional seasonal

calendars used by farmers when

providing farming advice or training

Institutional users’ knowledge, skills, attitude and practice

Based on institutional users‟ self-assessment of ACIS-related attitudes and practice (see table below);

- Regarding climate change and gender; there is general confidence in the understanding of climate change

and its impact on each of participants own sectors.18 However, knowledge of gendered impacts is less

apparent with 42% strongly agreeing that men and women are impacted in the same way. Additionally, there

is a divided response that either men or women know better how to protect their crops or livestock from

climate impacts, and a large majority or 92% agree or strongly agree that when providing advice or

information to farmers, men should be prioritized;

- In regards to valuing ACIS; 100% agree or strongly agree that agro-climate advisories are useful for farmers

to manage their livelihoods. A large majority believes the format of agro-climate advisories should be the

same for all farmers and that if resources for ACIS are limited, that the Government needs to prioritize agro-

climate information for WEM farmers;

- Concerning farmer engagement; 58% agree that there is a lot of knowledge to be gained from farmers for

Government planning, and 78% believes that agro-climate advisories should use scientific as well as farmer

information to be more effective. However, there is a divide over whether farmers are able to accurately

measure rainfall and temperature for themselves.

- In terms of institutional roles and responsibilities, and use of weather forecasts for planning; a large majority

strongly agree (18%) or agree (54%) that their departments utilize weather forecasts and climate scenarios

to inform plans and programs. Furthermore, 63% agree that they have enough agro-climate information to

plan for the next season and 50% to inform longer term sectoral planning. Similarly, 33% agree and 50%

strongly agree that agro-climate information is received in a timely manner with sufficient time to take action.

However, all participants agree that sharing of agro-climate information between departments and at

different administrative levels needs to improve;

- On the content of the current agro-climate information; there is a divide, with 35% agreeing the information

they receive from other departments is too technical or not understandable, while 54% disagrees and finds it

understandable. 38% agrees and 30% strongly agrees that this information is not specific or detailed enough

for their locality;

18 – Institutional users’ self-assessment of ACIS attitude and practice

STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NO OPINION DISAGREE

STRONGLY

DISAGREE

My department has a good understanding of climate

change and how it can impact our sector of work 36% 36% 0 27% 0

Men and women in the communities are impacted by

climate change in the same way 42% 28% 28% 0 0

Men in the communities know better than women

how to protect crops from climate change impacts 38% 23% 0 38% 0

Women in the communities know better than men

how to protect livestock from climate change impacts 21% 50% 0 28% 0

Farmers are able to accurately measure rainfall or

temperature themselves 16% 25% 0 25% 33%

The dept. I‟m currently working for uses weather

forecasts and climate scenarios to inform the content

and implementation of Govt. plans and programs

18% 54% 9% 9% 9%

My department has enough agro-climate information 9% 63% 9% 9% 9%

18 As strong knowledge of climate change in the instructional capacity is vital for the ACIS project, further capacity needs assessments are required to ascertain true level of knowledge around climate change and impacts.


33

18 – Institutional users’ self-assessment of ACIS attitude and practice

STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NO OPINION DISAGREE

STRONGLY

DISAGREE

to plan for the next season

My department has enough agro-climate information

to inform our long term sectoral planning 25% 50% 8% 8% 8%

The agro-climate information my department

receives from other departments or higher level is

timely to be able to take action

50% 33% 0 8% 8%



too technical and not understandable

27% 9% 9% 45% 9%



not specific or detailed enough for my locality

30% 38% 7% 15% 7%

Sharing agro-climate information between different

departments and administrative levels should

improve

27% 72% 0 0 0

Agro-climate advisories are useful for farmers to

manage their livelihoods 76% 23% 0 0 0

My department has adequate human resources to

reach out to farmers to discuss agro-climate

information, e.g. discussing what to do every season

38% 38% 7% 15% 0

Farmers have a lot of knowledge on farm

management or livelihood planning that is useful for

Government planners

8% 50% 8% 25% 8%

When providing advice or information to farmers, we

should prioritize the men in the household 21% 71% 0 0 7%

Agro-climate advisories should use scientific as well

as farmer information to be effective 28% 50% 14% 7% 0

The format of agro-climate advisories should be the

same for all farmers 30% 61% 0 7% 0

If resources for ACIS are limited, Government needs

to prioritize agro-climate information for WEM

farmers

50% 50% 0 0 0

For institutional users‟ current levels of knowledge and skills as well as capacity needs, a rapid self-

assessment indicates good knowledge and skills on:19

1) Working with ethnic minority farmers;

2) Participatory tools to work with communities;

3) Technical training on agriculture and livelihoods;

4) Cost-benefit analysis; and

5) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).

19 A total of 17 different areas were offered with respondents able to select as many different areas they felt their department had good knowledge and skills. Full list and results can be found in the annexes.


34

Areas respondents state that their department needs to improve or needs training in are as follows;

1) Participatory tools to work with communities;

2) Working with ethnic minority farmers;

3) Technical training on agriculture and livelihoods;

4) Communication and awareness raising, in particular on climate change; and

5) Facilitation skills.

It should be noted that „climate change‟ was selected in both good knowledge and areas needed for

improvement during this activity, perhaps indicating a divide between the different administrative levels capacity

on climate change. As previously stated, further and on-going capacity needs assessment should be conducted

around required knowledge areas for ACIS.

Effective training techniques suggested include; trainer of trainers; using local trainers to conduct the training;

and the size of the training events must be proportional to number of attendees. Furthermore, training within the

communities has been seen to be more effective if it targets key farmers in the communities or leaders at the

village level; is conducted in local languages; and if they are based on collected and documented experiences of

farmers that are shared and frequently followed up and updated.

Current hydro-meteorological infrastructure

A new automatic weather station was installed at the PDWRM offices in Ban Lung, Ratanak Kiri in late August

2016. It is the first of its kind in the province. The new station has been installed with weather-proof enclosure

containing the data logger (connected to a computer in the office), rechargeable battery, telemetry and the

meteorological sensors with an attached solar panel or wind turbine mounted upon a mast, thermometers,

anemometer for measuring wind speed, wind vane for measuring wind direction, hygrometer for measuring

humidity and a barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure (for pictures, see annexes).

The station is operational with information already being re-laid automatically to Phnom Penh. Up to this point

temperature and humidity have been taken manually every day at 7am and documented and reported to the

MOWRAM in Phnom Penh. However, in terms of staff and staff capacity, technical capacity to use and interpret

the information that is now available is very low. Key informant interviews with PDWRM staff indicated that they

are understaffed and have not received training on how to interpret and utilise the data from the new automatic

weather station.

6.2 At the community level

This section focuses on the primary users of the agro-climate advisories, the farmers. It examines existing

availability of weather and agricultural information, and maps out needs in terms of agro-climate advisory

content, channels, format, and frequency. It also looks at current levels of social capital to inform the shaping of

the farming learning networks.

Availability of weather information

Weather information is available for almost half of the people, mainly via the radio and through another

household member, and to a limited extent also via television and through Government extension workers. Only

1.7% of people says to measure rainfall or temperatures themselves at their farm or near their house.

More men than women have access to weather info via extension workers, the village leader, radio and

television. More Krueng than Tampuen access it via radio as well as household members, while more Tampuen

than Krueng access this information through their village leader. Other channels such as loud speakers, mobile

phones or other community organizations are used by less than 10 per cent of all people.


35

19 - Current channels for accessing weather information

Overall Women Men Tampuen Krueng

Radio 48.6% 45.6% 54% 38.6% 58.3%

Other household members 39.3% 42.7% 34.2% 36.4% 44.6%

Television 16% 12.9% 21.1% 14.3% 17.1%

Govt extension workers 15.6% 10% 24.2% 18.6% 14.3%

Village leader 14.8% 11.6% 19.9% 21.4% 12.6%

Farmers‟ groups 14.3% 12.9% 15.5% 17.1% 13.1%

Weather information received through these channels is considered by a majority of people (technically) easy to

understand and useful for crop planning, but not always timely to be able to take action. 24.7% of people find it

never timely and for 21.1% of people it is never useful.

Indigenous weather forecasting

When asked whether they use traditional ways of forecasting the weather a large minority or 32% say they do,

with men slightly more than women (36.3% vs. 29.5%) and Tampuen considerably more than Krueng (47.9% vs.

21.1%). Of those who use the traditional techniques, 48.2% indicate that they use it for their livelihoods, to help

decide what and when to plant, how to protect crops from disasters or bad weather etc. When asked whether the

traditional techniques were reliable to predict the weather, 33% stated they are always reliable, 20.1% said they

are sometimes reliable sometimes not, 17.3% said not reliable and 29.6% who didn‟t know.

An extensive list of examples of these indigenous weather forecasting techniques or so-called „rules of thumb‟

has been provided in the annexes. They range from observing animal behavior (birds, insects, amphibians,

reptiles, wild animals) and human behavior; looking at the number of fruits or flowers in trees, growth rate and

smell of NTFPs (e.g. mushrooms), visual observations of the sky including clouds, and traditional believes or

superstition.

Availability of farming advice

A large majority or 87.1% of all farmers states to receive advice on their farming (information on what and when

to plant, how to treat livestock, when to harvest etc.). This advice is primarily focused on: 1/ rice; 2/ cassava; 3/

livestock; 4/ soybean and 5/ cashew.

In terms of channel, for most part this is through Government extension workers and to a lesser extent husband

or wife, NGO workers, the village leader or the Women‟s Affairs Department. Farming advice through other

channels such as farmers‟ groups, other community groups, private companies, agricultural input providers or

researchers is very limited.

More men than women receive advice from NGO workers, while more women than men through another

household member. More Krueng than Tampuen receive farming advice from any source, particularly from

Government extension and NGO workers, and to a lesser extent also more through other household members.

20 - Current channels for receiving farming advice


Govt extension workers 53% 52.2% 53.8% 39.8% 68.4%

Other household members 34.9% 38.1% 30.4% 30.1% 38%

NGO workers 34.1% 29.6% 41.1% 27.1% 42.7%

Village leader 25.1% 25.7% 24.7% 23.3% 29.2%

Women‟s Affairs Dept. 19.4% 21.2% 16.5% 18.8% 22.8%

Nobody receives 12.9% 11.9% 13.9% 9.8% 11.7%


36

A small majority of people or 59.9% says the farming advice is (technically) easy to understand, 28% says

sometimes, and 12.1% says it isn‟t. 46.2% finds it timely to be able to take action, 20.5% sometimes and 33.3%

says it is never timely. 43.4% says the advice is in the respondents‟ native language, 29% says sometimes, while

27.6% says the advice never is in the native language. Percentages are similar when asking specifically about

advice provided by Government extension workers.

Access to training on farming techniques

A significant majority of people or 66.6% of farmers states to have received technical training on agricultural

techniques in the last two years, with slightly more men than women benefiting from such training. More Krueng

than Tampuen have received training (72.4% vs. 64.3%); with among Krueng more women than men and among

Tampuen more men than women.

In terms of channel, for the people that did receive training, a large minority or 39.4% of respondents does not

remember who provided the training. For the ones who do, 29.5% says it was provided by NGOs, for 24.3% by

Government extension workers and for 6.8% by a private company. More men than women benefit from training

provided by NGOs and Government extension workers.

21 - Current channels for training on agricultural techniques


NGOs 29.5% 21.1% 36.8% 27.1% 25.6%

Govt extension workers 24.3% 17.1% 30.7% 22.4% 26.3%

Private company 6.8% 4.6% 7.9% 8.2% 3%

I don‟t remember 39.4% 40.1% 31.6% 51.8% 30.1%

Nobody receives 33.4% 38.7% 27.5% 35.7% 27.6%

A small majority of people say the trainings are (technically) easy to understand, with 33.5% saying they are

sometimes easy and 12.4% saying they are never easy. 50.2% says the trainings are useful for crop or livestock

planning, 19.7% says they are sometimes, and 30% they are never useful. 33.3% says trainings are provided in

the respondents‟ native language, 29.6% says sometimes and 37.1% says they never are.

Farmer preferences on agro-climate advisories

Priority crops or livestock for agro-climate advisories are: 1/ rice (rain-fed and irrigated); 2/ livestock; 3/ cassava;

4/ soybean, 5/ trees and 6/ cashew.

Agro-climate advice is best delivered to farmers pre-season: with no significant differences on gender or EM:

64.8% of farmers prefer to receive weather forecasts pre-season and 29.1% also during the season;

42.3% of farmers prefer to receive agricultural advice 2 to 3 months before the season starts, 35.6% one

month before and 21% 2 weeks before. In addition, 23.6% of farmers like to receive this advice also during

the season.

In terms of channel or format, radio is clearly preferred above any other formats or channels, for both weather as

well as farming advice. In addition, face-to-face communication through village leaders as well as various

community organizations and valuing indigenous knowledge:


37

22 - Prioritized channels or formats for agro-climate advice

Weather information: Agricultural advice:

1/ radio - 57.5% 1/ radio - 41.6%

2/ village leader - 40.3% 2/ paper – in indigenous language – 37.9%

3/ community organizations - 31.3% 3/ village leader – 28.8%

4/ farmers‟ group - 30.8% 4/ NGOs – 28.3%

5/ Government extension workers - 29.5% 5/ farmers‟ group – 22.2%

6/ TV – 20.3% 6/ Government extension workers - 21.4%

7/ paper – in Khmer language – 20%

8/ community organizations – 19%

There are no particular differences between men and women, but among EM; radio is more preferred among

Krueng than Tampuen, and the village leader - and to a lesser extent also NGOs, community and farmers‟

organizations - are more preferred among Tampuen than Krueng. Paper using indigenous knowledge is equally

highly valued by both.

The chief from Teun commune in Koun Mom confirms the value of radio combined with face-to-face. He listens

to the radio “3 times per week (because its) the most reliable source provided by the provincial office of

information. It’s good because it helps the communities to prepare and keep us connected”. He also encourages

people to listen to the radio and Government announcements about weather so that it will help them to plan

better. But he describes a major weakness of the Government as the information is not frequent enough. He

believes Government extension workers should visit people‟s homes and through village meetings, local

language on the radio and training provided by NGOs help communities better plan using weather forecasts. A

DPA representative on the other hand stresses the importance of automated information, for example through

phone, loudspeaker systems, radio, internet20 and social media, the latter targeted at youth in the villages.

Social capital and farmer learning networks

Social capital or membership of community organizations is very limited in Ratanak Kiri with a small minority or

only 18.8% of people currently being a member of one or more community organizations; 15.7% of women and

22.8% men; and 26.6% of Tampuen and 16% Krueng. The large majority of them are member of a savings and

loan group, with very limited membership of women‟s groups, farmers‟ groups, cooperatives or other groups.

Main reasons stated for not participating in such groups are:

1. Limited time (30.6%);

2. No interest (23.6%);

3. Groups not existing in the village (17.8%); or

4. The group meeting place is too far (11.8%).

Sharing of weather information or agricultural advice via community organizations is very limited at the moment,

with only 17.3% of people sharing weather info and 21% sharing farming advice through community

organizations. Slightly more farmers, 34% for weather info and 28.1% for farming advice, share the information

with other farmers but outside a community organization.21 Exchange or discussions on weather or farming

techniques is clearly limited to within the household itself.

More men than women and more Tampuen than Krueng share weather and farming information with other

farmers. Tampuen more than Krueng also discuss this information with the village leader.

20 A good example to start from is (but limited to 3 days forecasts): http://cambodiameteo.com/map?menu=3&lang=en 21 Discussing weather and agricultural info with the village leader is even more limited, with only 9.7% sharing weather info and 13.2% sharing farming advice with the village leader.

http://cambodiameteo.com/map?menu=3&lang=en


38

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS


39

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The findings of this baseline study have surfaced some significant conclusions. With regards to household

assets, a large majority of households have access to a battery, motorbike and mobile phone whereas a minority

of households has access to a radio, bicycle and smartphones. The radio in combination with face-to-face, both

in indigenous knowledge, are the preferred format or channels for farmers to receive weather information and

farming advice. Furthermore, in terms of major assets, the ownership of smartphones, radios, bicycles,

motorbikes is higher among the Kreung than the Tampuen. This finding confirms that there are higher poverty

levels among the Tampuen compared to the Kreung. Moreover, the difference in levels of poverty are apparent

again in terms of food security with the findings indicating that less Tampuen have less than three meals a day

compared to the Kreung.

This baseline study also found that the main crops which include rice, cassava, maize, cashew and soy bean are

considered by the large majority of the farmers as unpredictable or uncertain in terms of their expected yields.

Additionally, rice and cassava tend to decrease in their income and yields while soy beans remain stable. There

is high use of pesticides and fertilizers – mostly for cash crops - and significantly more pesticides and fertilizers

are used than organic methods, more by Krueng than Tampuen.

In terms of major climate risks and impacts, community members predominantly state that drought, uncertainty

about start and end of the rainfall season, storms with lightning and strong winds, and high temperature are the

main climate hazards they experience during the course of a year. The most damaging are drought, heavy

storms, and a longer period of hot temperature. For the major cash crops; rice and soybean are most extensively

impacted, followed by cassava and cashew and maize/corn the least impacted. All these crops are affected

every year.

The findings around ACIS indicate that weather information is available to almost half of the people mainly via

radio and through another household member. More men than women have access to weather information via

extension workers, village leaders, radios and television with the Kreung having more access to the radio than

the Tampuen and the Tampuen having greater access to information through their village leaders.

Interestingly, more than a quarter of respondents use traditional ways of forecasting the weather and of those,

nearly half indicate that they use the traditional forecasting for their livelihoods. A third of people who use it state

that they are reliable techniques. Other adaptation actions such as adapting farming techniques, water

management, using vaccines, improved natural resources management ea. are only practiced by very few

farmers. A majority of farmers has no plan or strategy to prevent or reduce the damage or loss to livelihoods due

to weather or disasters, however, still a minority or one third of farmers have.

In terms of findings around gender, women have much more workload than men; while men tend to focus on

cash crop cultivation, NTFP collection, timber logging and off-farm wage labor (often away from the house),

women are involved in food and cash crop cultivation closer to home but also in domestic, including caring,

responsibilities. In the majority of cases, women‟s mobility is restricted to the home or village space. Men more

than women buy agricultural inputs, sell agricultural produce at the market, negotiate price with traders and deal

with externally hired farming labor. Notably, a significant majority of women want more influence on household

decision making regarding farming

Overall, farmer social capital is limited with only a small minority currently being a member of one or more

community organizations. If they are a member, it is primarily of savings and loans groups. Sharing of weather

information or agricultural advice via community organizations is very limited at the moment, with exchange or

discussions on weather or farming techniques is limited to within the household itself.


40

Concerning the institutional capacity and knowledge, there is a general confidence among institutional users

around the understanding of climate change, however this needs further research to test more in-depth and

verify. Knowledge of gender impacts from climate change and the need for tailored climate information products

for men compared to women is less evident in the institutional users. Furthermore, there is a strong consensus

among institutional users that agro-climate advisories are useful for farmers to manage their livelihoods. These

agro-climate advisories should use scientific as well as farmer information or experience to be effective.

In terms of current agro-climate information for agricultural planners, agro-climate information is received in a

timely manner however the majority agrees that agro-climate information between departments and

administrative levels needs to be improved. A noteworthy finding is that a proportion of the institutional users

believe that the agro-climate information that they are currently receiving is not specific or detailed enough for

their locality. Suggestions to improve the current ACIS system according to institutional users are: more

collaboration and coordination between NGOs and Government; better horizontal and vertical information flow

from each department, not just top down information dissemination; and more direct information dissemination

directly to farmers.

Recommendations:

These consolidated findings give rise to the following recommendations which are suggested to move the ACIS

project forward;

Household technology: the project should initially focus on households with the following assets; batteries,

normal mobile phones, smart phones and radios as they provide an opportunity for quick immediate reach

and potentially introducing ICT-for-ACIS applications. Strong gender considerations should be made to

ensure the technology is also managed by or benefiting women equally as men;

Combination of channels: technology should be combined with face-to-face interactions by Farmer

Learning Network representatives. Priority should be given to capacitating community members to play a

key role in their communities rather than going through extension workers;

The project should work with the office of information to disseminate information at appropriate times.

Radio messages should be broadcasted at a time of day that is useful and relevant for the farmers, for

example early in the morning before they go to the field;

The Farmer Learning Networks should build on the savings and loan groups, but also find ways to better

engage men.

Invest more structurally in building social capital, through heavily focusing on farmer-driven social learning

processes.

The project should look into the experience of Community Radio Stations or programs, and aim to

demonstrate a similar community/indigenous group-driven social learning, that will have a larger reach than

discussion through community organizations;

The project should work to record and document the traditional weather observation techniques and

stories with the communities. This type of experiential weather observations should be integrated into the

agro-advisories. By working with what the farmers know, and combining it with other forecasting and

seasonal calendars, demand for the ACIS can be gained in the target communities;

Direct information: According to the findings, there is a need for more direct information dissemination

directly to the people in their communities. The project should work with and through local farmers for

example through farmer-to-farmer training and disseminate information through village leaders;

Time and workload of farmer champions should be continuously monitored in order to avoid overburdening

them or causing decreased motivation;

Collaboration: There should be better horizontal and vertical information exchanges between NGOs and

government departments rather than top-down information dissemination;


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A more in-depth testing of the institutional ACIS users’ knowledge is required to better understand their

knowledge and skills on climate change, agro-weather information, risk mapping and probability, gender etc.

The project should utilize the new automatic weather station by developing the capacity of the hydro-

meteorology office staff in Ban Lung to interpret and disseminate the weather information that they now have

access to;

Farmers and local civil society organizations such as the Highlander Association should also be engaged to

the maximum extent possible in co-research;


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Annexes

1. Terms of Reference for baseline study;

2. Baseline protocol, including assessment framework, methodology, team and schedule;

3. Household Survey questionnaire (English-Khmer);

4. Focus Group Discussion guide and note taking formats (English-Khmer);

5. Key Informant Interviews – guiding questions;

6. ACIS institutional users‟ workshop, including attitude and practice mapping and capacity needs

assessment – and list of participants;

7. Comprehensive dataset, including household survey data and analysis, and notes from the focus group

discussions, ACIS workshop and interviews;

8. Literature reviewed

9. Pictures of automatic weather station, recently installed in Ratanak Kiri;

10. Inventory of traditional weather forecasting „rules of thumb‟;

11. Summary sheet of key findings from the baseline study


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Annex 8 - Literature reviewed

In addition to project documentation provided by CARE Cambodia:

Baird, I. G., Reflecting on changes in Ratanakiri province, northeastern Cambodia. Watershed Vol. 12

No. 3, 2008.

Cambodia Climate Change Network policy brief, CCCN, 2014.

CARE International in Cambodia, Land-grabbing in Cambodia – Issue brief , CARE, 2013

CARE International in Cambodia, Rapid Policy and Institutional Analysis with reference to CARE‟s

Marginalised Ethnic Minorities (MEM) Impact Group. 2010.

Decision-making for climate resilient livelihoods and risk reduction: A Participatory Scenario Planning

Approach. CARE Adaptation Learning Programme for Africa. 2015

Fraiture, C. D., Farmers‟ Perspectives on Risk and Adaptation Strategies in the Mekong, Cambodia,

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, 2016.

Good Practice Framework on Gender Analysis. CARE. 2012.

IOM, Mapping vulnerability to natural hazards in Ratanakiri, 2009.

Maffii, M., Changes in Gender Roles and Women‟s Status among Indigenous Communities in

Cambodia‟s Northeast. In: Living on the Margins: Minorities and Borderlines in Cambodia and

Southeast Asia. 2009

Marx S. M., Weber E. U. ea., Communication and mental processes: Experiential and analytical

processing of uncertain climate information. Global Environmental Change 17, 47-58, 2007.

Mauney R., Gender-based Violence in Ethnic Minority Communities. Ratanakiri Province. CARE

International in Cambodia, 2015.

Ministry of Environment of Cambodia, UNDP Cambodia, Cambodia Human Development Report 2011.

Building Resilience: The Future of Rural Livelihoods in the Face of Climate Change. 2011.

Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Health of Cambodia, Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey 2014.

DHS Program, 2015.

Nang P., Sam S., Lonn P., Ouch C., Adaptation Capacity of Rural People in the Main Agro-Ecological

Zones in Cambodia, CDRI, 2014.

Ruohomaki, O., Encounters in Borderlands: Social and Economic Transformations in Ratanakiri,

Northeastern Cambodia, Moussons 7, 2004.

Sanara, H., The Transition of Farming Systems Causing Forest Degradation in Ratanakiri Province,

Cambodia. 2014.

Simms, R., The Struggle for Indigenous Land Security in Ratanakiri. Strategizing a Role for CARE

Cambodia. 2015.

Tall A, Hansen J, Jay A, Campbell B, Kinyangi J, Aggarwal PK and Zougmoré R. 2014. Scaling up

climate services for farmers: Mission Possible. Learning from good practice in Africa and South Asia.

CCAFS Report No. 13. Copenhagen: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and

Food Security (CCAFS).

Towards Actionable Agro-Climate Information Systems in Southeast Asia. Draft CCAFS working paper,

not yet published

Women‟s Empowerment Impact Measurement Initiative (WEIMI). CARE. 2012.

Women‟s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI). USAID, IFPRI, Oxford University. 2012 (including

materials from application in Uganda)


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Annex 9 – Pictures of automatic weather station, recently installed in Ratanak Kiri

A new automatic weather station was installed at the PDWRM offices in Ban Lung, Ratanak Kiri in late August

2016. It is the first of its kind in the province. The new station has been installed with weather-proof enclosure

containing the data logger (connected to a computer in the office), rechargeable battery, telemetry and the

meteorological sensors with an attached solar panel or wind turbine mounted upon a mast, thermometers,

anemometer for measuring wind speed, wind vane for measuring wind direction, hygrometer for measuring

humidity and a barometer for measuring atmospheric pressure (for pictures, see annexes).

© James Wilderspin


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Annex 10 - Inventory of traditional weather forecasting ‘rules of thumb’

The following traditional techniques for forecasting the weather are quotes that were gathered from the FGDs,

field observations notes and HHS. The examples have been translated from Khmer, Krueng and Tampuen

languages.

1 “Looking for flying birds, bees and dragonflies. If they are present there will be no rain.”

2 “If the bees are flying low it means rain is coming.”

3 “If the dragonflies are flying low there will be rain but if they are flying high it will be a drought.”

4 “If a yellow bellied lizard comes out of the forest then it means there will be a drought.”

5 “If there is a pregnant woman without a wedding it means there will be a drought.”

6 “If the tree provides less fruits there will be a drought.”

7 “If a kite flies around the community/village, the village will face a storm with lightening.”

8 “We look at the tail of wild animals, if the tails are yellow it means there will be a long drought; if the tail is

black it means there will be a lot of rain.”

9 “If the wild trees have a lot of fruit it means it will be windy and have rain.”

10 “By looking at the bird nests, if the bird nest is on the high branches of the tree it means there will be

strong winds.”

11 “By watching the activity of the ants. When the vast majority of the ants suddenly move their eggs quickly

from its current shelter to another, it warns us that the heavy rain or some time flood would be possible to

come soon”.

12 “If the mushrooms grow lower than normal there will be no rain”.

13 “Wild mushrooms grow in the dry season and if its smell worse than unusual, the rainfall will come.”

14 “If wild mushrooms grow and smell worse than unusual, there will be rainfall this year. But when they grow

in the hot season, the weather will be hotter and maybe there will be a drought”.

15 “When we burn the candle and it melts quickly, we will have rain”

16 “When the sky has looked clear for 2 or 3 months the weather will be hotter and hotter”.

17 “When seeing the dragonfly flying very high, the weather would be hotter”.

18 “If the mushroom grow higher than the normal, it will rain a lot”.

19 “If the candle is quickly burn it will rain a lot. But is the candle slowly burn, it will drought.”

20 “If the mushroom grow lower than normal there will no rain”.

21 “If the lizard tail is black and big it will more rain, but if tail is white it will no rain”

22 “If the mushroom grow a lot it will keep raining”.

23 “If the sky becomes red, there will be drought. But if the sky is dark there will be rain”.

24 “If the scorpion head is blue, it will rain a lot”

25 “If the frogs cry, it will rain”.

26 “If the lizard has a long tail, it will rain. But if the lizard‟s tail is short, there will be a drought.”

27 “The years when bamboo trees bear less fruit, there will be less rainfall.”

28 “By watching the iguana body. If its body has white colour in the middle, it‟s a warning that a drought will

happen during the cultivation period.”

29 “Wild tree flowers. If its flower the vast flowers in both village and forests, it tell us that in the rainy season

would have a lot of rainfall.”

30 “When the iguana has a tail with a big black colour, it confirms that the rainfall will have a lots but if it's

white, we would have less rainfall for the whole year.”

31 “Listening to the frogs crying. When they cry everywhere we know that the rain comes soon and also the

flood would be happened too.”

32 “We predicted based on the wild fruit trees, particularly Pongroh and Khuy fruits. When both of these tree


46

bear a lot of fruit, we note that our farming crops in this year would increasingly get more yields compared

to last year. Through noticing the wild mushroom. If it grows with a long stem, its tells us that this year the

level of water would be a high level. But when its grows with short stem, we predict that the level of water

would be smaller or a shallower level”.

33 “Based on the Khuy fruit (a kind of wild fruit), if it bear a lot of fruit, it means that this year would have a lot

rainfall.”

34 “At the beginning of the season, if the trees like mango, tamarind and jambolan plum were full of flowers,

this year would access a lot of rainfall.”

35 “Usually take notice the weather in May. If it rain at the beginning of May and then after the raining the

weather become hotter and hotter, it will access long period of drought.”

36 “Based on the tamarind fruit. When its bear a lot of fruit, it would have to much rainfall since the beginning

to the end of the year”

37 “Once the red ants makes it nest in the low level, it will have storm or flood because of the heavy rainfall.

But when its nest in the high level or at the top of the tree, it would have no storm or have less rainfall.”

38 “When wild hens lay their eggs on the bank of the river, there will be less rainfall while they lay theirs on

the hill, it would have a huge water level or may have a flood.”

39 “If the crab cries, it will rain”

40 “Before we had traditional techniques, but today we do not have them since the wild animals and forests

are decreasing.”

41 “When the tail of pupa worm exist less soil, it would have less rainfall while would have a lot of rainfall

once it exists more soil at its tail.”

42 “If geckos cry, it might tell us that the rainfall will come”.

43 “Based on watching at cloud. When the cloud is stay very high, today is no rain.”

44 “Through watching the wild grapes”

45 “Watching the sky, stars and wild mushrooms”


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Annex 11: Summary sheet of key findings from the baseline study

Tampuen Krueng Poverty: Very-poor 23.2% Very-poor 9.8% Medium-poor 62.7% Medium-poor 30.1%

Food security: 27% experience hunger 10.6% experience hunger

12 months 27.8% 12 months 11.8% 3 months 16.7% 3 months 17.6% 2 months 22.2% 2 months 47.1%

Main food crops: Main cash crops: Main income source:

1. Cassava 2. Rice 3. Soybean 4. Cashew 5. Pumpkin/Cucumber

1. Cassava 2. Soybean 3. Cashew 4. Rice 5. Chickens

1. Cassava 2. Soy Bean 3. Cashew 4. Rice 5. Off-farm labor

Currently yield in kilo largest for cassava, but in income largest for cashew.

Rice and cassava have the lowest yield in terms of income

Productivity trends: with household variations: Decrease in income and yield: rice and cassava Stable income and yield: soy bean Unpredictable income and yield: cashew

Most damaging hazards:

Most impacted crops: (red: major damage; orange: minor damage; green: no damage; grey: I don‟t know)

1. Drought 2. Storms 3. Long period of

high temperature

4. Unpredictable start or end of rainy season

5. Longer rainy season

Rice Soybean

Cassava Cashew Maize/corn

ACIS assets: Weather info: Farming advice: Agricultural training 72.1% households own

a normal mobile phone 41.3% a radio 19.5% a smart phone 78.4% a motorbike

48.6% people receive - mainly via radio or household members, - and to a limited extent also television and extension workers

87.1% farmers have received farming advice

66.6% agricultural training

More men than women have access to weather info via extension workers, village leader, radio and television.

More men than women receive advice from NGOs, while more women than men through household members.

Slightly more men (72.5%) than women (61.3%) received training.

Limited membership of community organizations, with only 18.8% of people, mainly savings and loan groups

32% uses indigenous weather forecasting techniques, which are found by half of the people to be reliable to somewhat reliable

48.2% farmers has a plan or strategy to change what they grow, to prevent or reduce damage or loss because of weather, for the next season

66.2% women want more influence on household decisions on farming vs. 74.4% men saying their wife is already very involved

In terms of preferred channel or format, radio is clearly preferred above any other formats or channels, for both weather as well as farming advice. In addition, face-to-face communication through village leaders as well as various community organizations and using indigenous knowledge are important preferences

50.4% 35.5%

2.5% 11.7%

38.8%

39.2%

10.8%

11.3%

19.1%

43.6%

7.4%

20.2%

20.4%

40.0%

14.9%

24.7%

6.4%

20.4%

13.4%

59.9%

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