How can household adaptation strategies cope with climate hazards but stay compatible with local development objectives and improve local community resilience? The adaptation pathway research project tracks the climate adaptation strategies of households, communities and institutions in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
By Jennylyn P. Jucutan
The research project was recently initiated with a series of meetings with boundary partners to introduce the key aims and obtain their commitment to collaborate in the project.
In the Mekong Region, countries such as Cambodia and Myanmar have suffered from the impacts of droughst and dry-spells. The project research team in Cambodia has had meetings with boundary partners in Prey province and conducted four focus group discussions in villages representing both drought and flood hazards. A number of key informants were interviewed to gather their perceptions about the communities’ experiences and responses during and after these hazards.
In Myanmar, the team had encountered difficulties in collaborating with Yezin Agricultural University. As a replacement, and in consultations with the SUMERNET Secretariat, the project team has identified Mr. Win Htut Aung, Director of Asian Development Research Institute, to lead the Myanmar study. The project activities in the country will begin as soon as the partnership arrangements are completed.
The Philippines team coordinated with the municipal government units in the study sites of Guagua, Pampanga and Paombong, Bulacan; the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, and the National Economic Development Authority Regional Office in Central Luzon Region. The region commonly experience typhoons and flooding that have caused losses and damages amounting to millions of dollars especially in the agriculture sector.
The team received positive feedback from participants in the study sites. These meetings also drew up the main expectations from the project team as well as from the boundary partners that would help with local development.
Future activities of the project in 2015 include conduct of household surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions, and the completion of secondary data collection.