By Kent Helmers and Sanny Jegillos - University for...

Cambodian livelihoods, food security and natural disasters study By Kent Helmers and Sanny Jegillos

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By Kent Helmers and Sanny Jegillos Consultants to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

And the Cambodian Red Cross Society

Phnom Penh, September 2004

This Study was funded by DiPECHO

Linkages between flood and drought disasters and Cambodian rural livelihoods and food

security: “How can the CRC Community Disaster Preparedness Program further enhance livelihood and food security of Cambodian rural people in the face of natural disasters?”


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Executive Summary 3 - Executive Summery – Khmer 10 Introduction and Objectives 23 Introduction to Key Concepts 25 The underlying vulnerability of Cambodian rural people to disaster impacts 29 Village Ecozones - a tool to examine disaster variations between villages 54 The impacts of flood on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security and Potential CRC/CBDP activities for flood mitigation

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The impacts of drought on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security and potential CRC/CBDP activities for drought mitigation

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Implications of the findings for the ongoing development of the CRC CBDP programme

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ANNEXES 117 - ANNEX 1 - ANNEX 2 - ANNEX 1 in Khmer - ANNEX 2 in Khmer - ANNEX 3 A and 3B - ANNEX 4 - ANNEX 5 - ANNEX 6

118 120 123 126 129 131 133 135

Table of Contents


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Purpose and Objectives of the Study The purpose of the study is to contribute to a better understanding of the linkages between seasonal hazards (flood and drought), livelihoods, and food insecurity in Cambodia. The vulnerability of Cambodian rural people to seasonal hazards can be described in livelihood and food security terms. Even before hydro-meteorological disasters occur, many Cambodians are extremely vulnerable. The existence of widespread poverty and food insecurity among rural people is the root cause of vulnerability. Findings from this study will help shape developments of the Cambodian Red Cross’s Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) Program and capacity building for the CRC disaster risk management staff. The study objectives were to:

• Identify the impacts of floods and drought on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security; • Suggest structural (infrastructure) and non-structural (service) interventions for the CRC

CBDP to further promote livelihoods and food security; • Examine the implications of the findings on capacity building for CRC disaster risk

management staff.

Key Concepts The first section of the report and linked annexes provide an introduction to key concepts on livelihoods and food security. It provides a brief overview of the evolution of these ideas since the 1970s. The concepts covered include:

• Livelihood systems—Assets, activities, livelihood stresses and shocks, and coping strategies • Livelihood security—When access to income and resources enable households to meet basic

needs

• Food security—Continuous physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs

• Community based Disaster Management (CBDM) approach—An approach where the local community evaluates their own situation based on their own experiences. The community is also a major player in the decision-making, planning, and implementation process. (Annex 3)

Vulnerability of Cambodian rural populations to disasters The high prevalence of poverty and food insecurity among rural people is the root cause of vulnerability to disasters. These pre-existing conditions threaten people’s ability to meet their daily needs, which leads to severe impacts when a disaster strikes, even though Cambodia experiences relatively moderate flood and drought events, e.g., compared to floods in Bangladesh or drought in the African Sahel. The main factors contributing to vulnerability in rural Cambodia include the following (see pages 31 to 55 in the study for further information):

~ Health and nutrition status ~ Education, knowledge, and skills ~ Access to disaster information

services ~ Ownership of agricultural,

livestock, and domestic assets

~ Access to forests and fisheries ~ Exposure to shock and stresses ~ Coping strategies ~ Overall livelihood system and

environment ~ Food security

Executive Summary Linkages Between Disasters, Rural Livelihoods, and Food Security in Cambodia: Challenges for the CRC


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These characteristics vary greatly between and within different communities. Several tools are available to assess these aspects in individual communities, such as the Hazards, Vulnerabilities, Capacities, and Assessment (HVCA) process. (Annex 6 shows information that may be included in the HVCA.) Village Ecozones: A tool to examine disaster-related variations between villages Village ecozones are simple classifications that help to examine variations in livelihoods, vulnerabilities, and the impacts of flood and drought events. They are based on the geographical setting of the village and the general environmental conditions in the local area. Seven village ecozones are identified for Cambodia:

1) On the banks of the Mekong River or Tonle Sap Lake 2) Lowlands within the floodplain 3) Lowlands outside the floodplain 4) The lowland- upland interface 5) Uplands 6) Coastal 7) Urban settlements

Within these ecozones, the study assessed agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood activities. Another important aspect of ecozones is that they vary in terms of ethnic composition. There are often major variations by gender, for different wealth groups, and for other social groups. Although the study does not fully explore each of these aspects, it does highlight some important factors of flood and drought vulnerabilities for groups such as: young children, pregnant and nursing mothers, people living with HIV/AIDS, women, and poor households as they confront disasters. Impacts of Floods on Cambodian Rural Livelihoods and Food Security The Nature of Floods There are two major flood types in Cambodia:

1. Flash floods—resulting from heavy downpours upstream on the Mekong River, which affect provinces along the Mekong and the southeastern areas of the country (e.g. 2001)

2. Central area large scale floods—resulting from a combination of runoff from the Mekong and heavy rains around the Tonle Sap Lake, which affect the provinces around the lake and the southern provinces (e.g. 1996 and 2000)

In the past, these annual floods produced more benefits than harm, and devastating floods affecting a significant population occurred every five years or more (in 1961, 1966, 1978, 1984, 1991, and 1996). Recently however, harmful floods have occurred every year since 1999, and the worst hit in 2000. Floods seem to be getting worse and more frequent, perhaps to due to climate change and human activities that degrade the environment. Flooding patterns have significantly changed in several provinces, including Takeo, Kandal, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, and Kampong Chhnang. While floods are typically considered in negative terms, they have also played a positive role in Cambodian’s livelihood and food security. Positive impacts include improved soil moisture and fertility for agriculture, groundwater and surface water recharge, and ecological benefits for fisheries and forests.


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Negative Impacts of FLOODS on Cambodian Rural People and Risk Reduction Measures

Impacts Risk Reduction Measures Health and Nutrition • Increased rate of

diarrhea and acute respiratory infections among young children

• Decreased access to safe drinking water and fuel wood

• Decreased access to medical services, markets, food sources

• Include health and nutrition sub-plan in the disaster management planning process

• Maintain good immunization coverage for all children under five

• Children under five and nursing mothers receive high dose vitamin A supplements

• Children under five and pregnant women receive iron, and iodine supplements

• Ensure stocks of oral re-hydration salts and basic medical supplies in flood prone villages

• Implement measures to ensure medical access during floods

• Support infrastructure micro-projects to ensure access to safe water during floods

Information Needs for Livelihoods • Severe lack of radio and

TV mass media disaster information services

• Enhance awareness of flood risks among local population and support disaster preparedness

• Support internet-based MRC Flood Warning data • Radio, TV, and newspapers include information on flood

preparedness • Promote dialogue with mass media organizations to

improve access in rural areas

Agriculture Land, Livestock Assets, and Related Activities • Damage of wet season

crops, particularly rain-fed lowland rice

• Livestock mortality • Livestock stress and

diseases

• Infrastructure works for improved water management • Changing cropping patterns (including non-rice, quick

growth crops) • Cultivate agricultural tree crops, many of which are

flood tolerant and can provide food and income • Cultivate vegetables in raised garden beds, aquatic

plants, or various species in raised soil pots • Improve food processing, preservation, and storage

methods, e.g. drying mango, banana, coconut; dry, smoke, or salt fish and meats

• Establish and manage community livestock safety and feed areas for flood seasons

• Promote aquaculture to increase protein availability, e.g. raise fish fingerlings, shrimp, or frogs in floating cages

Common Property Resources • Decreased access to

forest resources • Decreased access to

fisheries because of need for boat and fishing equipment

• Promote community forestry projects, e.g. planting bamboo, grasses, fruit, fodder, or fuel wood trees

• Ensure an adequate supply of cooking fuel during the flood period, especially among vulnerable households


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Household and Community Assets

• Damage to housing, household assets, and transportation, e.g. bicycles and oxcarts

• Damage to schools and water control infrastructure

• Decreased mobility from damaged roads

• Improve design of infrastructure to better resist flood damage, e.g. raise house foundations, improve training for local tradesmen

• Provide assistance to rebuild and repair housing • Increase household boat ownership • Provide basic household equipment to people affected

by flood

Other Income Generation Activities and Coping Strategies • Decreased opportunities

for wage labor • Decreased access to

markets, lack of customers

• Families unable to fully assist each other leading to social stresses

• Increased reliance on more risky coping strategies

• Increase household incomes and employment opportunities within villages, e.g. Food for Work or Cash for Work programs

• Support more long-term and aid-independent employment

• Improve linkages to external labor markets outside the village, e.g. transport networks

There are major variations in flood impacts by village ecozone. While communities in the Mekong-Tonle Sap ecozone suffer flood impacts, their livelihood systems are relatively adapted to deal with floods. For example, these households grow crops in two seasons—pre-flood and post-flood—every year using either chamcar multi-cropping or flood recession rice-based farming techniques. However, in the neighbouring Lowland Flood Plain ecozone, farmers grow one wet season crop, mainly lowland rice, and floods strike while their crops are still growing in the fields. Impacts of Drought on Cambodian Rural Livelihoods and Food Security The Nature of Drought Drought is not well understood or monitored in Cambodia. There are four characteristics of agricultural drought in the country:

1. Unpredictable delays in rainfall onset in the early wet season 2. Erratic variations in wet season rainfall onset, amount, and duration across

different local areas 3. Early ending of rains during the wet season 4. Common occurrence of mini-droughts of three weeks or more during the wet

season, which can damage or destroy rice crops without irrigation In 2001, Battambang, Pursat, Prey Veng, Kampong Speu, Kampong Cham, and Svay Rieng were affected by drought. Food shortages affected approximately 133,000 families, about half a million people. At the start of 2002, a long dry spell affected eight provinces covering almost 72,000 hectares. The primary negative impact of drought is the shortfall in rain for agricultural crops. Surface water sources for humans and livestock dry up on a large scale, with 80% of agricultural fields lying idle in most areas for six months.


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Negative Impacts of DROUGHT on Cambodian Rural People and Risk Reduction Measures

Impacts Risk Reduction Measures Health and Nutrition • Increased diarrhea due

to dependency on unsafe drinking water

• Decreased food consumption

• Implement many of the same types of measures for reducing flood impacts on health and nutrition

• Train mothers on hygiene and sanitation, drinking water treatment, and diarrhea and acute respiratory infections management

• Improve access to safe water Information Needs for Livelihoods • Lack of weather

information from mass media

• Communes, the usual administrative unit, cannot determine drought status because of a lack of rainfall data at that level

• Improve regular and timely flow of drought information to rural people

• Advocate for meteorological services, e.g. establish and maintain drought monitoring network

• Train rural people on interpreting and using drought information

• Engage in dialogue with mass media organizations to improve drought information and disaster preparedness

Agricultural Land, Livestock Assets, and Related Activities • Declines in soil moisture

and damage to plants • Need for repeated

sowing and cultivation of seedbeds, requiring more seeds and labor

• Decrease in water and grasses for livestock

• Improve data and understanding of drought risks • Improve community water control infrastructure • Emphasize potential for changing cropping patterns and

rice production practices, e.g. rice varieties and soil moisture management

• Plant drought-resistant vegetables and agricultural tree crops

Common Property Resources • Decreased productivity

of forests, scrub, and common agricultural areas

• Decreased fish and other aquatic resources in paddy fields

• Promote more active management of CPRs, e.g. planting bamboo, drought resistant grasses, fruit, and fodder

• Improve management of paddy field fisheries, particularly conservation of refuge habitats

Household and Community Assets • Water supply

infrastructure rendered insufficient

• Increase number of wells • Support micro-projects to increase ability of households

to store domestic water supplies Other Income Generation Activities and Coping Strategies • Decreased local

employment opportunities in agriculture

• Decline in supply or increase in costs for agriprocessing businesses

• Families unable to fully assist each other leading to social stresses

• Increased reliance on risky coping strategies

• Increase incomes and employment within villages • Create more long-term aid-independent employment • Improve linkages to labor and product markets outside

the village


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Three of the seven ecozones face the greatest drought risk: the lowland plains outside the flood ecozone, the lowland-upland interface, and (possibly) the upland ecozone. Drought impacts also occur in the lowland flood plain. Implications for Disaster Risk Reduction Programs The study presents several issues for the ongoing development of CRC’s CBDP:

1. The extensive geographical coverage of the CRC, and its involvement within the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), means that CRC can have a major beneficial impact on livelihoods and food security in Cambodia.

2. Several projects have already reduced vulnerability in communities and should be replicated in other flood and drought-prone areas: Access roads to safe areas; Controlling flood waters and crop protection (i.e. small dams, roads, bridges, water gates, and culverts); Water storage for livestock and dry season cultivation; Digging and rehabilitating canals; and Improving access to markets which improves trading, security for women, food security, and increases income.

3. CRC disaster management activities contribute to building trust, confidence, solidarity, and more adaptive social and attitudinal patterns in target villages.

4. The CBDP would benefit from further clarification of its processes in relation to the proposed Commune Council Disaster Management Committees (CCDM). CRC could further advocate the integration of food security, livelihood and disaster reduction into the mandate of the proposed CCDM.

5. More importance should be placed on agricultural droughts in rural livelihoods and food security. A good start is to consider agricultural drought in site selection, micro-project development, advocacy, and policy activities related to disaster mitigation and management in Cambodia.

6. The village ecozone classification system can support planning and implementation of CBDP’s micro-projects, since they are primarily village-based. This simple method of classification is clearly relevant to analysis of drought and flood risks and impacts.

7. Since many CBDP micro-projects are implemented using manual labour (usually Food for Work projects), they often contribute to income generation in target sites. The benefits, however, are concentrated on the young and the physically fit rather than the most vulnerable families.

8. The CRC would benefit from actively participating in the Food Security Forum whose main objectives are to share information on food security issues and improve coordination.

9. There is a need to improve internal CRC linkages and cooperation between the CRC CBDP and “non-disaster management” departments and programmes. For example, clear advantages can be gained through closer cooperation on health, water and sanitation, CRC disaster relief aid, and HIV/AIDS. Other departments should consider how they address food security and sustainable livelihood issues. Donor agency structures and funding rules, across a number of donor agencies, may inhibit collaboration.


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Capacity Building for Disaster Risk Management Staff Livelihood and food security do not have to be separate or “new” programmes of CRC. Instead, activities should build on current strengths within CBDP, DRR, and other non-DM programmes. The emphasis on ”integrated CRC”, not on “integrated CBDP”, means that each department can contribute to achieving food security and improved livelihoods in Cambodia. Training and establishing partnership linkages. First, CRC should conduct training in the basic concepts of the livelihoods approach and food security, while establishing linkages with local projects on the issue. CRC should also conduct basic skills training and establish linkages with relevant service providers in the following: health, child nutrition, water and sanitation needs of disaster prone communities, and options to address those needs; agriculture; livestock health and nutrition; community forestry; fisheries and aquaculture; weather information and flood warning services; income generation from wage labour and small business Livelihood tools. The CRC should strengthen staff skills in participatory approaches and data collection related to livelihoods. Training should focus on identifying “strengths”, adaptive and coping capacities, or what people do well rather than what they need. In addition, Livelihood Analysis would be useful as part of the HVCA and damage and needs assessment. Livelihood analysis is an approach to help determine how people live or make a living. It incorporates an understanding of how household capabilities, assets, and activities combine within specified environments to achieve household well being in the short and long term.

Strategies to increase social and economic resilience. Some of these strategies include: community mobilization to construct dams, irrigation, safe areas, and access footpaths/roads; increasing opportunities for on and off-farm income-generating activities; business skills and capital, savings mobilization, and the wholesale purchase of seeds. Strategies to increase environmental resilience. These strategies include: developing natural resource management techniques to improve soil fertility and reduce soil erosion; cultivating more land and increasing the efficient use of existing land by using or hiring draft power for those with smaller plots; increasing productivity of vegetable farming activities; and rainwater harvesting or small water impounding system. Other recommendations • A toolkit or guidelines for implementing livelihood programmes would be useful to

ensure consistent capacity building throughout the CRC;

• Contingency planning specific to floods and drought addressing livelihood protection

• Improve knowledge utilization of critical information for programming and decision-making. This includes understanding and analyzing trends in hazards: climate variability and extreme climate events, changing patterns of vulnerability, and changing coping capacities over time;

• Project impact evaluation must consider the impact upon household livelihoods, in contrast to reporting activities and counting numbers;

• Local village leaders, CRC staff, volunteers, and Commune Councils should be closely involved in disaster mitigation planning at the commune/village level.


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2. tMbn;kNþalEdlTTYlrgTwkCMnn;FM bNþalmkBI karrYmpSMrvagTwkCMnn;mkBITenøemKgÁ nig TwkePøógEdlFøak;enAtamCMuvijbwgTenøsab Edlb:HBal;eTAelIextþmYycMnYnenACMuvij bwgTenø sab nig enAEb:kxagt,ÚgénRbeTs ¬]>qñaM 1996 nig 2000¦ .

kalBIGtItkal RBwtþikarN_TwkCMnn;RbcaMqñaM RtUv)aneKdwgfa vamanplRbeyaCn_ eRcInCag

karbMpøaj. müa:gvijeTot RBwtþikarTwkCMnn;FM²Edlb:HBal;dl;RbCaBlrdæ KW ekIteLIg 5 qñaMmþg b¤elIs BIenH ¬1961 1966 1978 1984 1992 196 ¦. EteTaHya:gNak¾eday enAeBlfµI²enH RBwtþikarN_eRKaHTwkCMnn;Edlpþl;plb:HBal;ya:gF¶n;F¶r)anekIteLIg Caerogral;qñaMKitcab;BIqñaM1999mk ehIyTwkCMnn;EdlmansPaBF¶n;F¶rbMputKWekIteLIgenAqñaM2000. Cak;EsþgeRKaHTwkCMnn;hak;dUcCaman sPaBGaRkk;eLIg² ehIyjwkjab;eTotpg EdlGacTMngCaBak;Bn§½eTAnwg bMErbMrYlbriyakas (Climate

change) nigskmµPaBepSg²rbs;mnusSEdlbNþal[xUcbrisßan. rUbPaBeRKaHTwkCMnn;mankarERbRbYl KYr[kt;sMKal;enAtambNþaextþmYycMnYn dUcCa taEkv kNþal kMBg;cam kMBg;FM nig kMBg;qñaMg. xN³EdleRKaHTwkCMnn;RtUv)aneKKitfa vapþl;nUvplb:HBal;Ca GviC¢manenaHvak¾)an edIrtYya:gsMxan;mYy


14

CaviC¢manEdlBak;Bn§½nwg CIvPaBrs;enA nig snþisuxes,óg rbs;RbCaCnkm<úCa. plb:HBal;Ca viC¢manBIeRKaHTwkCMnn;mandUcCa eFVI[dImansMeNIm nigmanCIvCatisMrab;dMNaMksikmµ bRgÁb;eLIgvij nUv CatiTwkEdl)at;bg;TaMgenAkñúgdI nig enAEpñkxagelI ehIyvaEfmTaMg manpl RbeyaCn_ EpþkeGkULÚhSI sMrab;BBYkRtI nig rukçCatieTotpg. plb:HBal;CaGviC¢manedaysarTwkCMnn; eTAelIkarRbkbmuxrbrrbs;RbCardækm<úCaenAtamCnbT nig viFankarsMrab; kat;bnßyeRKaHP½y ¬ plb:HBal;TaMgenaH ¦

plb:HBal; viFankarsMrab;kat;bnßy EpñksuxPaB nig GaharUbtßmÖ • begáInkMriténCMgW raKrUs nig

emeraKCMgWpøÚv degðImya:g F¶n;F¶r dl;Rkumkumar

• kat;bnßylT§PaBkñúgkareRbIR)as;Twks¥at nig eQIsMrab;eFVIGus dut

• kat;bnßylT§PaBkñúgkarTTYlykesvakmµ suxaPi)al TIpSar nig RbPB énFnFanGahar

• dak;bB©ÚaleTAkñúgEpnkarsMrab;RKb;RKgeRKaH mhnþraynUv EpñksuxPaB nig GaharUbtßmÖ

• rkSa)annUvkarbnSMnwgCMgWrbs;kumareRkamGayu5qñaM • kumarGayueRkam5qñaM nig RsþIeTIbnwgsMralkUnrYc)an

TTYlRKb;RKan;nUv sarFatuu vItamInGa • FananUv GMbilGUra:lIt nig fñaMsgáÚvepSg²manenAkñúg

pÞHRKb;RKan; • GnuvtþnUvviFankarya:gNaedIm,IbgálT§PaB

[)anTTYlnUvesvakmµsuxaPi)aleBl manTwkCMnn; • KaMRTdl;KMeragrcnasm<½n§xañttUc edIm,IbgálT§PaB[eK

)aneRbIR)as;Twks¥at kñúgkMlug eBlmanTwkCMnn; Bt’manEdlRtUvkarcaM)ac;sMrab;CIvPaBrs;enA • xVHxat viTüú nig esvakmµEpñkRbBn§½

pþl;Bt’mansMrab;eRKaHmhnþray dUcCa TUrTsSn_ CaedIm

• BRgwgkaryl;dwgBIeRKaHfñak;EdlekIteLIgeday sarTwkCMnn; kñúgcMeNamRbCaBlrdæmUldæan nig pþl;karKaMRTdl;skmµPaBeRtombgáaeRKaHmhnþray • KaMRTdl;RbBn½§ internet-based rbs; MRC GMBI

karRbkasCUnBt’manCamun • dak;bBa©ÚlnUvBt’manGMBIeRKaHmhnþray eTAkñúg karpSBV

pSaytamRbBn½§ viTüú TUrTsSn_ nig kaEst • begáInnUvkarBiPakSaCamYy nwgkarerobcMRbB½n§pSBVpSay


15

CaTUeTAenAtamsßab½n EdleFVIkarEpñkpSBVpSayBt’man edIm,IFanafaenAfñak;mUl dæan)anTTYlBt’manRKb;RKan;

épÞdIsMrab;ksikmµ stVBahn³ nig skmµPaB EdlBak;Bn§½epSg²eTot • xUcxatdMNaMepSg² enArdUvvsSa Ca

Biess KW dMNaMRsUvvsSaenAtam tMbn; TMnab

• GRtaénkarsøab;stVBahn³x<s; • CMgW nigbBaðaepSg² cMeBaHstVBahn³

• erobcMehdæarcnasm<½n§ edIm,IedaHRsaybBaðaTwk • pøas;bþÚrrebob rWrUbPaBénkardaMdMNaM ¬bBa©ÚlkardaM

dMNaMrYmpSM epSg² nig dMNaMEdlqab;)anpl¦ • daMdMNaMksikmµepSg²eTot EdlvaGacduHkñúgTwk)an

ehIyGacpþl;Ca Gahar nig lk;)an • daMMbEnørYmpSMepSg²eTot enAtamfñalEdl)anelIk

daMdMNaMEdlGacrs;)annwgTwk nig dMNaM epSg²eTot edaydak;kñúgfU

• BRgwgnUvdMeNIrkarerobcMTukdak;es,óg rebobrkSaTuk ]Ta> eRtomsVayeRkom eck dUg GMbil sac; RtIRbLak;>>

• erobcM nig RKb;RKgelIRbBn§½kargar sMrab;rkSa snþisuxnigkarpþl;cMNIdl; stVBahn³enArdUvTwkCMnn; .

• begáInkarciBa©wmstVmankñúgTwk edIm,IbEnßmnUv Protein

sMrab;CIvit dUcCaciBa©wmRtI kMBws kEgábCaedIm enAkñúgRTug b¤ Ep.

FnFan RTBüsm,t,iEdlsMxan;²epSgeTot • kat;bnßylT§PaBkñúgkarTajykpl

BIéRBeQI • kat;bnßylT§PaBkñúgkarensaT

edaysarkgVHxat TUk nig sMPar³

• BRgwgKMeragdaMedImeQIenAshKmn_ dUcCa b£sSI esµA eQIhUbEpø cMNIstV b¤ k¾eQIsMrab;eFVIGusdut

• Fanafa karpÁt;pÁg;eQI b¤eRbgsMrab;cMGinGahar ¬dut¦ KWRKb;RKan; enAeBlmanTwkCMnn; CaBiessKW sMrab; RkumRKYsargayrgeRKaH

RTBüsm,tþienAtamRKYsar nig shKmn_ • xUcxatpÞH RTBüsm,tþiepSg²kñúg • erobcMBRgwgehdæarcnasm<½n§[)anRtwmRtUv nig rwgmaM


16

RKYsar meFüa)aydwkCBa¢Ún dUcCa kg; reTHeKaCaedIm

• xUcxatsalaeron nig ehdæarcna sm<½n§ sMrab;pÁt;pÁg;Twk

• kat;bnßykarérGgÁassgÁmepSg² bNþalBIkarxUcxatpøÚv

edIm,ITb;Tl;nwgkarxUcxatedaysarTwkCMnn; dUcCa cak;RKwHpÞH bNþúHbNþalBRgwgCMnajdl;QµÜjenA mUldæan

• pþl;karKaMRTdl;dMeNIrkar sagsg; nig CYsCul eLIgvijnUvpÞHEdlxUcxat

• begáInPaBCam©as;karelIKMeragTUkenAtamRKYsar • pþl;nUvsMPar³caM)ac;mYycMnYnedIm,IbMeBjtMrUvkarCa

mUl dæandl;RKYsarEdlrgeRKaHedaysarTwkCMnn; skmµPaBrkcMNUlepSg² nig yuT§saRsþepSg²sMrab;eFVIkarTb;Tl; • kat;bnßy»kassMrab;rkcMnUl

¬sIuQñÜl>>>>>>>>>¦ • kat;bnßylT§PaBrkcMnUlenATIpSar

xVH GtifiCn • minGacCYyKñaeTAvijeTAmk[)an

eBjeljrvagRKYsarnimYy² EdlCa mUlehtunaM eTArkvibtþikñúgsgÁm

• begáInnUvkarrkcMnUl nig »kasrkkargareFVIenAkñúgPUmi dUcCa kmµviFIes,ógBlkmµ fvikasMrab;Blkmµ

• eFVIkmµviFIEdlGacpþl;kargarry³eBlEvg nig minBwg Bak;CMnYy BIxageRkA

• BRgwgnUvkarTak;TgKña eTAnwgTIpSarkargarxageRkA shKmn_ dUcCa bNþajsMrab;kardwkCBa¢Ún

manPaBxusKñaya:geRcInTak;Tgnwgplb:HBal;edaysarTwkCMnn; enAtamPUmi b¤ shKmn_tam RbePTnimYy² (Village Eco Zone). xN³EdlshKmn_mYycMnYnenAtamdgTenøemKgÁ nigTenøsab rgeRKaHedaysarTwkCMnn;enaHRbB½n§skmµPaBsMrab;CIvPaBrs;enArbs;eK KWmanlkçN³sRmbxøÜnsMedA edaHRsaybBaðaEdlekItmanedaysaTwkCMnn; . ]Ta> manRKYsarmYycMnYn RbkbrbrdaMdMNaM dl;eTA 2rdUv KW enAmuneBlTwkCMnn; nig eRkayeBlTwkCMnn; elIsBIenHeTAeTotKWeKdaMdMNaMcMruH (cMkar) b¤ RsUvRbedjTwkGaRs½yeTAelIbec©keTsénkareFVIERscMkarCaerogral;qñaM. TnÞwmnwgenaHenA shKmn_ mYyeTotEdlsßitenAtMbn;TMnablicTwk ksikrenATIenaHdaMdMNaMEtmYyelIkb:ueNÑaH CaBiess KW dMNaMRsUvenAtMbn;TMnab ehIyenAeBlTwkCMnn;mkdl;enaHdMNaMrbs;eKk_enAEtlUtlas;Edr.


17

plb:HBal;éneRKaHraMgs¶ÜteTAelICIvPaBrs;enA nig snþisuxs,ógenAtMbn;CnbTkñúgRbeTskm<úCa eRKaHraMgs¶Üt

eRKaHraMgs¶Üt minTan;mankaryl;dwg nig RtYtBinitü)anl¥RbesIrkñúgRbeTskm<úCa. maneRKaHraMgs¶Üt 4 RbePT enAkñúgRbeTskm<úCa ³

1- minGacBüakrN_)an énkaryWty:avkarFøak;ePøóg enAedImrdUvePøógFøak; 2- ePøógFøak;mineTogTat; cMnYnTwkePøóg ry³eBl eTAtamtMbn;xus²Kña . 3- rdUvePøógFøak;rh½sbBa©b; kñúgeBlrdUvvsSa 4- karekIteLIgCaFmµta énkUnrdUvR)aMg Edlmanry³eBl 3 s)þarh_ b¤ eRcInCag kñúgkMLúgeBl

rdUvvsSa EdlGacbNþaleGayxUcxatpldMNaMepSg² edaysarKµanRbB½n§Farasa®sþ . enAkñúgqñaM 2001 extþ)at;dMbg eBaFisat; éRBEvg kMBg;s<W kMBg;cam nigsVayerog RtUv)anTTYlrg

eRKaHedayeRKaHraMgs¶Üt . kgVHxates,óg )anb:HBal;RKYsarcMnYn 133>000 RbEhlknøHlannak; . enA edImqñaM 2002 rdUvraMgs¶ÜtelIkmYyry³eBlEvg )anb:HBal;extþcMnYn 8 EdlRKbdNþb;eTAelIépÞdI 72/000 hicta . plb:HBal;CaGviC¢manCacMbg éneRKaHraMgs¶Üt KWePøógFøak;ry³eBlxIø kñúgrdUvksikmµ. FnFanTwk sMrab;nusS-stV KWmancMnYnFMeFg . plb:HBal;CaGviC¢manedaysareRKaHraMgs¶Üt eTAelICIvPaBrs;enArbs; RbCaBlrdækm<úCaenAtamCnbT nig viFankarsMrab; kat;bnßy eRKaHP½y ¬ plb:HBal;TaMgenaH ¦

plb:HBal; viFankarsMrab;kat;bnßy EpñksuxPaB nig GaharUbtßmÖ • begáInkMritGRtaénCMgW raKrYs eday

sarbBaðaxVHTwks¥at • xVHes,ógsMrab;briePaK

• GnuvtþviFankardEdl²[)aneRcInbMput edIm,Ikat;bnßy plb:HBal;

• bNþúHbNþalmataTaMgLayGMBI Gnam½ysuxPaB kareRbIR)as;Twks¥at CMgWraKrUs nig karRKb;RKg emeraKCMgWpøÚv degðIm

• begáInnUvlT§PaB kñúgkareRbIR)as;Twks¥at


18

Bt’manEdlRtUvkarcaM)ac;sMrab;CIvPaBrs;enA • xVHxatRbBn§½pþl;Bt’manTUeTAGMBI

GakasFatu • GaCa£FrXMunigrdæGMNac minGacviPaK

nig kMnt;)anBIsßanPaBeRKaHraMgs¶Üt edayehtufaenAfñak;shKmn_ xVHBt’man GMBIePøógFøak;

• eFVI[RbesIrlMhUéndMeNIrkarEckcayBt’mandl; shKmn_enAtamCnbT

• EsVgrkkarKaMRTEpñkesvakmµ]tþúniym ]Ta>erobcM nig EfrkSa nUvRbBn½§RtYtBinitüGMBIeRKaHraMgs¶Üt

• bNþúHbNþalRbCaBlrdæshKmn_ GMBI karviPaKnig eRbIR)as;Bt’manGMBIeRKaHraMgs¶Üt

• P¢ab;TMnak;TMngCamYy karerobcMRbB½n§pSBVpSayTUeTA edIm,I[Bt’manBIeRKaHraMgs¶Üt nig kareRtómbgáareRKaH mhnþraymanPaBTUlMTUlay

épÞdIsMrab;ksikmµ stVBahn³ nig skmµPaB EdlBak;Bn§½epSg²eTot ● kat;bnßysMeNImenAkñúgdI nig bMpøaj dMNaMepSg² ● TamTareGaymankardaMduHeRcIndg RtUv cMNayBUCeRcIn nig cMNay BlkmµeRcIn • kat;bnßyTwk nig esµAsMrab;cMNI

stVBahn³

• BRgwgkarRKb;RKgTinñn½y nig karyl;dwgBIeRKaHfñak; edaysareRKaHraMgs¶Üt

• BRgwgRbBn§½ehdæarcnasm<½n§sMrab;RKb;RKgTwk • ykcitþTukdak;kñúgkarpøas;bþÚr rebob rWrUbPaBénkar

daMduHdMNaMepSg² rYmTaMgdMNaMRsUvpgEdr ]Ta> kaeeRCIserIsRbePTRsUv nigdIdaMduH .

• daMbEnøbgáar nig dMNaMbnÞab;bnSMepSg²eTot EdlGac rs;)ankñúgeBlraMgs¶Üt

FnFan RTBüsm,tþiEdlsMxan;²epSgeTot • karfycuHnUvplitpléRBeQI

éRBre)aH nig tMbn;ksikmµsMxan;² • karfycuHnUvRtI nig FnFankñúgTwk

epSg²EdlmanenAkñúgépÞdIERs

• begáInkarRKb;RKgeTAelIEpñkTaMgenH dUcCa daMedIm b¤sSI daMRbePTesµAEdlRbqaMgnwgkarraMgs¶Üt eQI hUbEpø nig rukçCatiEdlCacMNIstV

• BRgwgnUvrebobensaTenAtamvalERs CaBiessKW kar GPirkSnUvCMrksMrab;BBYkstVkñúgTwk ¬CIvcMruH¦


19

RTBüsm,tþienAtamRKYsar nig shKmn_ • xVHTwkkñúgRbBn§½Fara saRsþ • begáIncMnYnGNþÚgTwk

• pþl;karKaMRTCaKMeragxñattUcedIm,Ipþl;lT§PaBdl; RKYsarkñúgkarpÞúkTwk

skmµPaBrkcMNUlepSg² nig yuT§saRsþepSg²sMrab;eFVIkarTb;Tl; • kat;bnßy»kaskargarEpñkksikmµ • eFVI[ksiBaNiC¢mankarfycuHEpñk

karpÁt;pÁg; b¤ eFVI[tMélekIneLIg • RKYsarminGacCYyKñaeBjelj

CaehtunaMeTArkvibtþikñúgsgÁm

• begáIncMNUl nig kargarenAkñúgPUmi • begáIteLIgnUvkmµviFI ry³eBlEvgEdlminBwgBak;elI

CMnYyEtmYymux • BRgwgTMnak;TMngeTAnwgTIpSakargarexageRkAshKmn_

tMbn;eGkUhSÚn 3 kñúgcMeNamtMbn;eGkUhSÚnTaMg7 EdlRbQmmuxnwgeRKaHraMgs¶Üty:agF¶n;F¶r ³ tMbn;valTMnab EdlminsßitkñúgtMbn;TwkCMnn; tMbn;LÚkLMKñarvagvalTMnabnigx<g;rab . eRKaHraMgs¶Üt k¾ekIteLIgenAtamtMbn; TMnablicTwkpgEdr. karCab;Tak;TgepSg² sMrab;kmµviFIkat;bnßyeRKaHfñak;éneRKaHmhnþray karsikSaenH)anbgðajnUvbBaðamYycMnYn EdlBak;Bn§½nwgdMeNIrkarerobcMkmµviFI CBDP-CRC:

1. karRKb;dNþb;ya:gFMTUlayrbs; CRC nigkarkarcUlrYmCamYynwg NCDM mann½yfa kak)aT Rkhmkm<úCa GacmanTTYlplRbeyaCn_y:agFMeFg elICIvPaBrs;enA nig snþisuxes,óg enAkñúg RbeTskm<úCa .

2. KMeragCaeRcIn)ancUlrYmkñúgkarkat;bnßyrYcCaeRscnUvPaBgayrgeRKaH enAtamshKmn_ ehIy EdlKYrEtcMlgyknUvdMeNIrkarenHsMrab;eRbIR)as;enAtamtMbn;epSg²eTotEdlRbQm muxnwgeRKaH TwkCMnn;nigraMgsÜ¶Üt. KMeragTaMgenHmandUcCa ³ pøÚvsMrab;eq<aHeTAkan;TITYlsuvtßiPaB KMerag sMrab; RKb;RKgkarliclg;edaysarTwkCMnn; nig karBardMNaMepSg² ¬ TMnb;tUc² pøÚv s<an TVaTwk nig lUTwk¦ karpÞúkTwksMrab;stVBahn³nigkardaMduHenArdUvR)aMg karCIk b¤ sþareLIgvijnUv RbLayTwk begáInlT§PaBTIpSasMrab;BRgwgvis½yBaNiC¢kmµ suvtßiPaBdl;RsþI snþisuxes,óg nig begáIncMNUl.


20

3. skmµPaBRKb;RKgeRKaHmhnþrayrbs; CRC KW CaviPaKTanQandl;karksagCMenOTukcitþ PaBeCOCak; samKÁIPaBsgÁm nig karsMrbsMrYlEpñksgÁm nig Gkb,kiriya enAkñúgPUmieKaledA

4. kmµviFI CBDP nwgkan;EtmanplRbeyaCn_EfmeTot enAeBlEdl eFVIkarCamYynwg KN³kmµkar RkumRbwkSaXMusMrab;RKb;RKgeRKaHmhnþrayEdl)anerobcM. CRC GacbnþEsVgrkkarKaMRT edIm,I eFVIsmahrNkmµKMeragsnþisuxes,óg nig CIvPaBrs;enA rYmTaMgkargarkat;bnßyeRKaH mhnþray pgEdr eTAnwgGaNtþi rbs;KN³kmµkarRkumRbwkSaXMusMrab;RKb;RKgeRKaHmhnþray.

5. vamansar³sMxan;Nas;EdlRtUvEtKitKUGMBIksikmµsMrab;tMbn;raMgs¶Üt edIm,IeFVIeGayCIvPaBrs;enA rbs; RbCaksikrFana)annUvsnþisuxes,og. edIm,Icab;epþImGnuvtþ)anl¥nUvkmµviFIsnþisuxes,ogenaH CaCMhandMbUg RtUvKitbBa©ÚlnUvksikmµ edaypþl;nUvRbB½n§ehdæarcnasm<½n§xñattUc ehdæarcnasm<½n§ sMrab;GPivDÆn_kmµviFIEsVgrkkarKaMRTeKalkarN_skmµPaBTaMgLayNaEdlmanTMnak;TMng eTAnwg kmµviFIkat;bnßy Tb;sáat;plb:HBal;éneRKaHmhnþrayepSgenAkm<úCa.

6. RbBn§½énkarcat;RbePTPUmieTAtamtMbn;epSg²Kña GacCYydl;kareFVIEpnkarnigGnuvtþKMeragxñattUc (Micro-project) sMrab;kmµviFI CBDP CaBiessKWenAPUmi. RbBn§½énkarcat;RbePTPUmieTA tamtMbn; epSg²Kña enHKWva)anbBa¢ak;ya:gc,as;las;nUvkarTak;TgnwgkarviPaKelIeRKaHfñak;edaysareRKaH raMgs¶ÜtnigTwkCMnn; .

7. edaysarEtKMeragxñattUcCaeRcInRtUv)anGnuvtþtamry³kareRbIR)as;kMlaMgmnusSpÞal; b¤ edayéd ¬PaKeRcInKWKMeragEpñkes,ógBlkmµ¦. dMeNIrEbbenH KW CaviPaKTanmYyEdl)anCYydl;karrk cMNUl enAtamtMbn;eKaledA . EteTaHCaya:gNakþIdMeNIrkarEbbenHKW va)anRtwmEt pþl;plRbeyaCn_dl;mnusSeBjkMlaMg b¤Rkumekµg²Etb:ueNÑaH pÞúyeTAvijKW vamin)anpþl;nUvkar CYysMralkarlM)akdl;RKYsarEdlgayrgeRKaHenaHeT .

8. CRC nwgTTYlplRbeyaCn_BIkarcUlrYmevTikarepSg²EdlTak;Tgnwgsnþisuxes,ógedIm,IpSBVpSay nUvBt’manGMBIsnþisuxes,óg nig edIm,IBRgwgkic©sMrbsMrYlrvagsßab½nnimYy² .

9. vamansar³sMxan;Nas;kñúgkarBRgwgeLIgvijnUvkarTak;TgKñanigkic©shRbtibtþikarrvag kmµviFI CRC-CBDP CamYynwg naykdæanepSg²eTotEdlminmankmµviFIRKb;RKgeRKaHmhnþray. ]Ta> vamanRbeyaCn_ya:geRcInkñúgkareFVIkic©shRbtibtþikarnigkmµviFI suxPaB Twks¥at eGds_>>>. naykdæan d¾éT²eTotKYrEtBicarNapgEdrfaetI eKGaccUlrYmedaH RsaybBaðasnþisuxes,óg nig CIvPaBrs;enAmYyEdlmannirnñrPaB . Pñak;garEdlCarcnasm<½n§epSg² rbs;m©as;CMnYyGacnwgraraMg


21

karBRgwgsmtßPaBdl;mRnþIEpñkkmµviFIRKb;RKgeRKaHmhnþray mincaM)ac;begáItkmµviFIfµImYyeT sMrab;kmµviFIEpñkCIvPaBrs;enA nig snþisuxes,óg. kargarenH

KYrEtGnuvtþedayeRbIR)as;nUvcMnucxøaMgEdlmanRsab;énkmµviFI CBDP nig naykdæanepSg² eTotEdl minmankmµviFIRKb;RKgeRKaHmhnþray. cMnucEdlKYrykcitþTukdak;enaHKW “kareFVIsmahrNkmµ naykdæanepSg²rbs; NCDM/CRC ” minEmn “eFVIsmahrNkmµelI kmµviFI CBDP ” eT. vamann½y fa naykdæannimYy²rbs; CRC GaccUlrYmviPaKTansMrab;GnuvtþkmµviFI livelihood and food security

edIm,IsMerc)aneCaKC½yenAkm<úCa .

karbNþúHbNþalnigkarerobcMTMnak;TMngnwgédKUkargar Cabzm NCDM/CRC RtUveFVIkarbNþúHbNþalsþIBIkaryl;dwgCamUldæan elIEpñk CIvPaBrs;enA nig snþisuxes,ógCamunsin enAkúñgxN³EdlkMBg;EtbegáItnUvTMnak;TMngCamYyKMeragkúñgRsuknana enAelIbBaðaenH . kak)aTRkhmkm<úCaKYrEtkarbN þúHbN þalCMnajepSg²CamUldæanRKwH ehIynigbegáIt nUvTMnak;TMngCamYyGñkp þl;nUvesvaEdlBak;B½nænwgdUcCa ³ esvakmµsuxPaB GaharUbbzmkumar Twks¥at nigGnam½yEdlRtUvkarsMrab;shKmn_EdlTTYlrgeRKaHedayeRKaHmhn þray nigCMerIs epSg²edIm,I eqøIytbeTAnwgtMrUvkarTaMgenaH ksikmµ suxPaBstVciBa©wm ehIynigGaharUbbzm éRBeQI shKmn_/ nasaTnigClpl ¬Clksikmµ¦ BüakrN¾]t þúniym nig esvakmµp þl;B’tmanCamunGMBITwkCMnn; R)ak;cMnUl EdlTTYl)anBIkarlk;kMlaMgBlkmµ nig BIGaCIvkmµ . ]bkrN¾sMrab;ciBa©wmCIvit ³ kak)aTRkhmkm<úCaKYrEtBRgwgnUvCMnajrbs;buKÁlik eTAelIkarcUlrYmenAkúñg karRbmUlnUvB’tmanEdlTak;TgeTAnigCIvPaBrs;enA karbN þúHbN þalKYrep þateTAelIkarkMnt;nUv :cMnucxøaMg : smtßPaBEdlGac bnSaM nig karRbQmuxeTAnwgeRKaHmhn þray b¤ k¾ep þateTA elIGVIEdl BYkeKGaceFVI)an vaRbesIrCagGVIEdlBYkeKRtUvkar . bEnßmelIenHeTAeTot karviPaKeTAelICIvPaBrs;enA KWCaEpñkmYyd¾sMxan;sMrab;karGnuvt þn¾ HVCA nigxUcxat nigkar):an;Rbman tMrUvkar . karviPaKnUvCIvPaB rs;enAKWCakk þamYyCMrujenAkarkMnt;GMBIrebobrs;enA b¤ k¾CIvPaBrs;enA . varYmshRbtibt þkarN¾ nUvkaryl;dwgBIsmtßPaBrs;enArbs;RbCaCn RTBüsm,t þi ehIynigskmµPaB rYmKñaCamYynigsßanPaB Cak;lak;mYy edIm,ITTYl)annUvkarRbRBwt þirbs;RbCaCnenAkúñgry³eBlEvgnigxøI


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viFIsaRs þenAkúñgkarBRgwgPaBxøaMgrbs;sgÁm nig esdækic© ³ viFIsaRs þEdl)anrYmbBa©ÚlmYycMnYn ³ karcgRkgshKmn_ edIm,IsagsgTMnb; RbB½næFarasaRsþþ TITYlsuvtßiPaB elIkpøÚvlM begáInnUv »kasepSg² sMrab;EdlGacdaMdMnaM)an b¤bBa¢b; nUvskmµPaBEsVgrkR)ak;cMnUl CMnajGaCIvkmµ nig edImTun kareKogKrR)ak;snSM ehIykarTijnUvRKab;BUC . viFIsaRsþedIm,IbegáInnUvsßanPaBmYyEdll¥RbesIr ³ viFIsaRsþþTaMgenHrYmbBa©ÚlTaMg³ karGPivDÆn¾nUv bec©keTsenAkúñgkarRKb;RKgFnFanFmµCati edIm,IBRgågnUvKuNPaBdI nigkarkat;bnßykareRcaHdI/ dIEdleFVIksikmµeTAelIdIbEnßm nigbegáInnUvRbsiTæPaBenAelIkareRbIR)as;dIFøI EdlmanRsab;edaykar eRbIR)as; nigkarCYlnUvkMlaMgGUsTajbEnßmsMrab;dIEdlmanbrimaNtUcCag begáItnUvTinñpl énkar plit énskmµPaBepSg²éndMNaMksipl ehIynigkarRcUtkat;rdUvePøógFøak; b¤RbB½næTb;TwkxñattUc . Gnusasn_epSg²eTot ³ • Gnusasn_epSg² b¤ esck þIENnaMsMrab;karGnuvt þkargar KYrEtmansar³sMxan;edIm,IFananUvkar

BRgwgsmtßPaBy:agBitR)akd tamry³kak)aTRkhm . • EpnkarskmµPaBbMrugCak;lak;sMrab;TwkCMnn; nigraMgs¶Üt EdlRbQmmuxeTAnigkarkarBarCIvPaB

rs;enA . • BRgwgnUvcMeNHdwgBIkareRbIR)as;nUvB’tmansMxan;² sMrab;kmµviFI nig karsMercci tþþ . TaMgenHrYm

bBa©ÚlTaMgkaryl;dwg nig karviPaKnUvmuxsBaØabgáreRKaHmhn þray ³ TiTæPaBénPaB gayrg eRKaH nig RBwt þkarN¾y:agGaRkk; ²/ pøas;b þÚrKMrYénPaBgayrgeRKaH ehIynigkarsmt ßPaBEdl Tb;Tl;eTAnigkarpøas;b þÚrbEnßm .

• karvaytMéleTAelIplb:HBal;eTAelIKMerag RtUvEteFVIkarBicarNaeTAelIplb:HBal;eTAelI CIvPaBrs;enACaRbcaMrbs;RbCaCn/ pÞúymkvijeFVIkarraykarN¾eTAelIskmµPaBepSg² nig lTæplkargar .

• cMnYnGñkdwknaMenAkñúgshKmn_ buKÁlikrbs;kak)aTRkhmkm<úCa nig RkumRbwkSaXuMKYrEtmanTMnak; TMngy:agCitsñitCamYy nig mRnþIfñak;PUmi nig XuM.


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Background Since 1998, the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC) has implemented a Community Based Disaster Preparedness Programme (CBDP). In 2003, the International Federation secured a grant from the European Commission (DIPECHO) to further develop the CRC CBDP programme. The period for the expenditure of the grant is from 1 May 2003 to 20 June 2004. The Hong Kong RC, British RC and DFID co-finance the CBDP programme. In the context of growing concerns over food security1, the ongoing impact of seasonal disasters on livelihoods and the wider debate of mainstreaming disaster risk reduction into development strategies, the International Federation and CRC recognise the need to:

1. Better understand vulnerability of rural Cambodian people to seasonal disasters; and to detail the impact this has in terms of livelihoods (with a particular focus on food security)

2. Identify the most appropriate community level risk reduction activities that will

address such vulnerability and increase people’s capacity to cope with disasters. On the basis of these key issues, the International Federation has commissioned a study drawing on local and regional level expertise. The International Federation will ensure that the study is coordinated with the Food Security Forum that forms the basis of the Technical Working Group. 2.0 Purpose and scope of the study 2 The purpose of the study is to develop a discussion paper that will contribute to a better understanding of the linkages between seasonal hazards, specifically flood and drought, and livelihood and food insecurity in Cambodia. Implications will be discussed in terms of contributing ideas for the ongoing development of the CRC CBDP programme interventions and capacity building of CRC disaster risk management staff. 3.0 Methodology The study will be carried out by a team consisting of two technical specialists: a food security and a disaster risk management consultant. The study will involve interviews with key informants, a literature review and discussions with IFRC and CRC project management and staff. The study should seek to draw on current good practice in disaster risk management and frame the community level issues in the context of livelihood approaches. In addition to ensuring a comprehensive overview of the study subject, the paper should make recommendations along the following lines:

1 National food supplies are barely adequate for reasons ranging from natural disasters to inadequate agricultural policies. As a result, there are huge problems in distribution and access for a significant and growing portion of the population. Malnutrition, especially in rural Cambodia, is widespread, particularly among children under five years and among expectant and nursing women. The country’s malnutrition rates are among the highest in Southeast Asia. (WFP) 2 The study is funded by DIPECHO and will help inform the fourth round of DIPECHO activities

Introduction and objectives


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Food security and livelihood security interventions focused towards disaster risk reduction (disaster preparedness, mitigation & prevention) as well as disaster response - field level and policy level (including advocacy)

Recommendations to focus on, but not be limited to, structural and non-structural measures that can be incorporated into CRC's Community-based Disaster Reduction Programme (essentially Disaster Risk Reduction trainings and relatively small-scale community-based flood or drought risk reduction micro-projects).

4.0 Study Objectives 4.1 Identify the impacts of flood on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security.

Suggest structural (infrastructure) and non-structural (service) interventions for the CRC CBDP to further promote livelihood and food security.

4.1.1 The Nature of Flood in Cambodia

4.1.2 Impacts of Flood on Rural Livelihood Security and Food Security

4.1.4 Recommended Interventions for the CRC CBDP

4.2 Identify the impacts of drought on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security.

Suggest structural (infrastructure) and non-structural (service) interventions for the CRC CBDP to further promote livelihood and food security.

4.2.1 The Nature of Drought in Cambodia

4.1.2 Impacts of Drought on Rural Livelihood Security and Food Security

4.2.4 Recommended Interventions for the CRC CBDP

5.0 Examine the implications of the above findings for the ongoing development of the

CRC CBDP programme. 6.0 Examine the implications of the above findings in terms of capacity building of CRC

disaster risk management staff.


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This study is about linkages between floods and droughts and livelihoods and food security. To explore these issues we first need to explain what these terms mean. Flood and droughts are defined as the starting point of discussion in the sections on each of those types of disasters. However, the concepts of food security and livelihoods (or more strictly livelihood security or sustainable livelihoods) are each concepts with which some CRC staff may not be completely familiar. Also the relationship of these two concepts needs to be defined. At this point we also need to include a basic definition of the Community Based Disaster Management Approach (CBDM) and it is also appropriate here to present the objective of CRC’s CBDP Programme. It is therefore useful for CRC and the CBDP to begin this report with an orientation to the ideas of livelihoods and food security and how they have come to be so important in current efforts to try to help rural people lead better lives. To do this, a short definition of key terms is presented below. This is supplemented by more detailed definitions with examples in Annex 1 to this report. Annex 2 gives an overview of the evolution and changes in ideas about food security and livelihoods that have occurred since the 1970’s. This is important background to current thinking. Useful information on these concepts, including in Khmer language, are to be found on the new website by the Cambodian Agricultural Research Council (CARD) and the GTZ Food Security and Nutrition Policy Support Project (GTZ FSNPSP) (www.foodsecurity.gov.kh) A Definition of Livelihood Security “The adequate and sustainable access to income and other resources to enable households to meet basic needs. This includes adequate access to food, potable water, health facilities, educational opportunities, housing, and time for community participation and social integration/” (CARE, 2002) “Livelihood insecurity”: This exists where these conditions are not met. That is, where households do not have enough income and resources at all times to meet all the basic needs listed in the definition. Components of livelihood systems3: People: their livelihood capabilities. Assets: tangible (resources and stores) and intangible (claims and access) which provide material and social means to make a living. Livelihood Activities: what people do to make a living. Gains or outputs: a living- or what they gain from what they do. Livelihood Stresses: “Stresses are pressures typically continuous and cumulative, predictable and distressing”. 3 These livelihood component definitions are taken from Chambers and Conway (1992), “Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century, IDS Discussion Paper 296, University of Sussex, UK. Cambodian examples added by this author.

Introduction to Key Concepts:


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Livelihood Shocks: “Shocks are typically sudden, unpredictable and traumatic events”. Coping Strategies: The ability to avoid or more usually to withstand and recover from stresses and shocks”. Any definition of livelihood sustainability has to include coping strategies. 1. Adaptive Coping strategies: These coping strategies allow people to cope with stresses or shocks without damaging their livelihood situation significantly in the future. 2. Risky Coping Strategies: These coping strategies allow people to cope with stresses or shocks but with the risk of damaging their livelihood situation significantly in the future. Most Recent Developments in the Livelihoods Approach The Livelihoods approach has itself been evolving in recent years. One issue that is being emphasized more now is the linkages between household livelihoods and wider society, particularly in terms of relations with social institutions through policies. That is, causes of livelihood insecurity are found in the nature of these relationships and it is recognized that changing these relationships can improve household livelihood security. A second issue has been the growing emphasis placed on the human rights aspects of livelihoods. People suffering from livelihood insecurity are very often suffering from conditions that are a deprivation of basic human rights. Adequate access to food, shelter health, education and other basic needs for life are basic human rights. A Definition of Food Security “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (World Food Summit, 1996, FAO). “Food insecurity”: This exists where these conditions are not met. That is, where people do not have enough good food to eat to meet their dietary needs at all times. Components of Food Security There are three generally recognized components of food security or food insecurity. Definitions vary somewhat. Also the level of food security being examined (e.g. household, village, commune) can vary. The components below are described for the household level. Food Availability The quantity and dietary quality of the range of foods directly produced to eat by households themselves thorough their own production activities. This includes farming activities such as crop food production and raising livestock. In Cambodia, the gathering of wild foods from forest, scrub and paddy areas and fisheries is also an important part of food availability. Some examples of wild foods include forest fruits, leaves, insects, bamboo shoot, forest tubers, crabs, shrimps, aquatic plants and a range of fish species.


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Food Access The ability of households to access food needs (quantity and dietary quality) that they cannot produce themselves through exchange mechanisms. The major exchange mechanism in Cambodia is buying food for cash on the market. Other examples exchange mechanisms which are less common include food for work, receiving food gifts, borrowing rice paddy, non-cash exchange for foods (e.g. rice for prahok fish paste, resin for rice, labor for rice). Food Utilization This examines patterns of how households use the food that they are able to get to satisfy human dietary and nutrition needs of household members. Important issues examined here include the nutritional adequacy of diets (including micro-nutrients and vitamins), the role of infectious diseases in reducing nutrition intake, child nutrition status, pregnant and nursing mothers nutrition status, and mother- child nutrition and health practices. The relationship between livelihood security and food security The above two definitions show the relationship between the two concepts. Basically, food security can be considered nowadays as one part of livelihood security. The fact that many different aspects of livelihood security affect the food security status of households and their members is now broadly accepted. Among those agencies that now basically accept this principal are DFID, OXFAM, CARE and UNDP. Discussions of food security issues are now mostly discussed as one aspect of broader issues of livelihood security4. The Community based Disaster Management (CBDM) Approach Another key concept for this study is the Community based Disaster Management (CBDM) Approach. This approach is already familiar to many of those working in disaster management. For those who wish to read more on this key concept Annex 3 of this report contains a review of the concepts of CBDM. The following extract from Annex 3 provides a summary of the CBDM approach: The CBDM approach provides opportunities for the local community to evaluate their own situation based on their own experiences. Under this approach, the local community not only becomes part of creating plans and decisions, but also a major player in its implementation. Although the community is given greater roles in the decision-making and implementation processes, CBDM does not ignore the importance of scientific and objective risk assessment and planning. CBDM approach acknowledges that as many stakeholders as needed should be involved in the process, with the end goal of achieving capacities and transferring of resources at the community level who would assume the biggest responsibility over disaster reduction.

4 See DFID/FAO, 2000, Proceedings from the Forum on Operationalizing Sustainable Livelihood Approaches, Siena, Italy; FAO, 2004, Local institutions and Livelihoods, Guidelines for Analysis, FAO, Rome.


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The Objective of the Cambodian Red Cross Community - based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) Programme The CRC CBDP’s objective is defined as “the initiation of the process of community participation, empowerment and problem solving undertaken by the community to prepare for and respond to the natural disasters that may affect them. It involves addressing or decreasing their vulnerabilities (e.g. damaged infrastructure, livelihood, shelter needs etc.) and increasing their capacities (knowledge and skills) to deal with natural disasters.”


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This paper examines the relationship of flood and drought disasters with livelihoods and food security. As a starting point, the vulnerability of Cambodian rural people to impacts from floods and droughts as well as other shocks or crises must be described in livelihood and food security terms. This provides the context for how the impacts of drought and flood events become disaster impacts in terms of people’s lives and is one of the basic aims in the study TOR. The key point here is that before flood and drought events occur, many Cambodian rural people are already vulnerable in many ways to adverse impacts from them. Floods and droughts are events which occur in Cambodian rural communities that are already characterized by the existence of widespread poverty, livelihood insecurity and food insecurity5. The existence of widespread livelihood and food insecurity among rural people can be though of as the root cause of vulnerability to disasters. It can be argued that this prevalence of poverty, livelihood insecurity and food insecurity is the main problem threatening the ability of many rural people to meet their daily needs for food, income and other basic needs. The negative impacts from flood and drought in the past are two causes, among many others, of existing vulnerability to events threatening food and livelihood security in the future. Moreover, these threatening events of the future will undoubtedly include the reoccurrence of further flood and drought events. A summary of the main characteristics of Cambodian rural households that make them vulnerable to shocks such as flood and drought is presented in the following sections. Examining these issues from a livelihoods perspective requires looking a wide range of characteristics of Cambodian rural households. After discussing this very important background of vulnerability to shocks of rural Cambodian households we are in a better position to examine the specific impacts of flood and drought and looking at what CRC CBDP might do to help in following sections of this report. The basic nature of disaster impacts in Cambodia seems to be the occurrence of relatively moderate events of flood and drought combined with a high level of vulnerability and high limitations in the ability of rural people to cope with the impact of these events on their livelihoods. Cambodia does not face flood risks of the magnitude and intensity of Bangladesh, nor does it face droughts of the magnitude and intensity of countries in the African Sahel. Yet, the more moderate magnitude and intensity of droughts and floods that are encountered in Cambodia are enough to threaten livelihoods and to cause widespread suffering among rural people. To help put the vulnerability of Cambodian rural people in a comparative context, through this discussion some international comparisons are made with the situation of peoples in neighboring countries of the Mekong Basin (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam), and other countries in Asia that suffer from disaster risks (India, Bangladesh, Philippines and Malaysia). The disaster risks in these other countries are different in some ways to the risks in Cambodia. However, these comparisons do serve to highlight the important issue that Cambodian rural people, along with those in Laos, seem to be among the most vulnerable people to potential disaster impacts on livelihoods in the Asian region.

5 An overview of many of these issues is found in Council of Social Development, 2002, National Poverty Reduction Strategy 2003-2005, usually referred to as the “NPRS” for short.

The underlying vulnerability of Cambodian rural people to disaster impacts: the high prevalence of poverty, livelihood and food insecurity


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While some of the concepts and terms related to “livelihood security” and “food security” may be a little unfamiliar to readers, most of the issues that are raised in the discussion will be very familiar indeed to readers in CRC who are working to try to assist Cambodian rural people. Livelihoods and food security approaches in one sense simply provide a way of documenting and organizing these well known issues for analysis and opening ways to look at linkages between characteristics that ultimately can help us to help Cambodian rural people in their struggle for a better future. Here is the list of topics we will be looking at to find what rural household characteristics might make them vulnerable to flood and drought events or other disasters:

1. Health and nutrition status; 2. Education, knowledge and skills; 3. Access to disaster related information services; 4. Ownership of agriculture and livestock assets; 5. Access to forest and fisheries (Common Property Resources); 6. Ownership of Household domestic assets; 7. Livelihood activities; 8. Exposure to shocks and stresses; 9. Coping strategies; 10. The broader environment of livelihoods; 11. Vulnerabilities in terms of food security concepts (availability, access, utilization);

Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to health and nutrition status Health and nutrition issues are closely linked in many ways. Poor nutrition has negative affects on a person’s health status. Poor health can also be a cause poor nutrition, for example, having intestinal worm infections leads to less nutrients being absorbed by the body. The Cambodian rural population suffers from widespread and severe health and nutrition problems, particularly among young children. Their poor health and nutrition status before the onset of events such as flood or drought make them more vulnerable to negative impacts from those events. The pattern of Ill-health among adults reduces the household’s labor power, which is a key resource used to meet household needs including food. Ill-health among adults and children also increases necessary expenditures, reducing cash available to buy food and other needs, and too often leads to indebtedness and the forced sale of assets.


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Some major indicators of poor health among Cambodian rural people include the following: Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to health status6 Poor Health • Rates of severe illnesses and infections are high, including rates of T.B. and malaria,

and a wide range of other forms of severe ill health. • A high level of 2% of the population (169,000 people) suffers from a disability such

as being an amputee, blindness, deafness, or polio related disability. • Nationally in 2002, 170,000 Cambodians, including 12,000 children, were living with

HIV/AIDS. This represents 2.7% of the adult labor force. Currently only about 15% of people with HIV/AIDS have access to treatment medication (ARV’s).

• Only 40% of children aged one to two years have been fully immunized against common diseases and only 57% received Vitamin A supplements.

• Children aged under five years suffer from high rates of severe infections. Acute respiratory infections, the leading cause of child mortality, affect 20% of these children and 19% have diarrhea in any two week period.

• Under five year old child mortality rates are the highest in Southeast Asia. The infant mortality rate (first year of life) is 96 per thousand births and the under 5 year age child mortality rate is 138 per thousand births.

It is important to examine what the high rates of child mortality in Cambodia mean in terms of the actual number of children who die before reaching the age of five years. One reason is that this number of deaths can then be directly compared with disaster statistics which usually record casualties in numbers of persons. The morality rate for children under five was of 138/ 1000 live births means that over 200,000 Cambodian children die every five years, or an average of over 40,000 die each and every year, largely from preventable infections and diseases and malnutrition7. One in seven Cambodian children born dies before their fifth birthday. While this tragic problem is recognized, it is rarely recognized in terms of a “disaster” or “emergency” or “catastrophe” and does not form the basis of mass media attention, the launch of emergency appeals for assistance or a flurry of disaster impact assessment activities and disaster response interventions. If 40,000 children died in a flood or drought in Cambodia last year the response would likely have been very different indeed. It seems that high child mortality in Cambodia, in its own right, can be considered a disaster, that occurs each and every year, but which remains mostly invisible. Cambodian children are also likely to be more vulnerable to disaster impacts than children in other countries of the region that also face risks of disasters of various kinds. Comparing the under five year old child mortality rate in Cambodia with those of other countries for 2001 gives the following results. Under five child morality rates per thousand live births: Cambodia 138, Laos 100, Vietnam 38, Thailand 28, Philippines 38, Malaysia 8, Bangladesh 77, India 938. In other words, the comparative proportion of children dying before their fifth birthday are: Cambodia 1 death for every 7 children born; Laos 1 death for every 10 children, Vietnam 1 death for every 26 children, Thailand 1 death for every 36 children, Philippines 1 death for every 26 children, Malaysia 1 death for every 125 children, Bangladesh 1 death for every 13 children, India 1 death for every 11 children born. 6 Sources for health and nutrition data are Johnson K., Sao S. & Hor D., Cambodia 2000 Demographic and Health Survey; Helen Keller International, 2000, Initial Findings of the 2000 Cambodia Micronutrient Survey; and 2002 statistics from the UNICEF Cambodia website. 7 Calculated by the author based on the 1998 Census statistics of a total population of 11.438 million of which 12.8% are children aged 0-4 years and 138/1000 mortality under five year morality rate. 8 All country comparison health statistics here taken from UNDP, 2003, Human Development Report.


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An important health issue for health and particularly during drought and flood events is access to safe drinking water. Comparing the percentage of rural people with access to safe water sources in Cambodia with those of other countries for 2001 gives the following results. Percentage of rural people with access to safe drinking water: Cambodia 26, Laos 29, Vietnam 72, Thailand 81, Philippines 79, Malaysia 94, Bangladesh 97, India 79. The general Cambodian population also seems highly vulnerable in terms of other health indicators compared to other nations in the region. Comparing the number of TB cases in Cambodia with those of other countries for 2001 gives the following results. TB cases per 100,000 people: Cambodia 560 (734 for 2002), Laos 143, Vietnam 93, Thailand 100, Philippines 226, Malaysia 67, Bangladesh 211, India 199. Comparing the number of malaria cases in Cambodia with those of other countries for 2001 gives the following results. Malaria cases per 100,000 people: Cambodia 476, Laos 759, Vietnam 95, Thailand 130, Philippines 15, Malaysia 57, Bangladesh 40, India 7. Comparing average life expectancy at birth in Cambodia with those of other countries for 2001 gives the following results. Average Life Expectancy at birth in years: Cambodia 57, Laos 54, Vietnam 69, Thailand 69, Philippines 69, Malaysia 73, Bangladesh 60, India 63. A related problem is the high prevalence of malnutrition in the Cambodian population, particularly among young children. These patterns of malnutrition clearly indicate that young children are highly vulnerable to further disruptions to food security and household livelihood security from disaster impacts. The fact that one in seven young Cambodian children are already suffering from acute malnutrion when a flood or drought event occurs is one of the clearest and most disturbing examples of vulnerability to disaster impacts. Women in general and pregnant and nursing mother in particular are also commonly suffering from nutritional deficiencies as flood and drought events are encountered. Some major indicators of inadequate nutrition include the following: Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to nutrition status of children Prevalent malnutrition among children: • Many children are already suffering from malnutrition. Nationally in 2002, 45% of

children under five years of age are stunted (chronic malnutrition) 45% are underweight (chronic malnutrition) and 15% are wasted (acute malnutrition).

• Many children are deficient in micronutrients. Among children under five years 63% suffer anemia (Iron deficiency) and Vitamin A deficiency is very common (Vitamin A is crucial to the body’s immune system function). Iodine deficiencies are also common and are linked to impairment of intellectual development.

• Anemia (iron deficiency) affects 58% of all women and 68% of pregnant women. Among all women 45% are suffering chronic energy deficiency/ low weight (BMI). This lack of energy makes mothers prone to fatigue, more emotionally vulnerable and negatively affects their capacity to care for children. Vitamin A deficiency is also common among women.

A final health problem to recognize and highlight is that of increased emotional stress associated with events such as flood. There is very little research on this subject. Cambodian rural people, like people everywhere in difficult circumstances, and living with a great deal of uncertainty about having enough food and income to meet their needs, are living with a great deal of emotional stress. This is tiring and heightens the potential for conflict between family members and within communities. When such conflicts occur they can often lead to reduced food and income. One disaster impact to recognize is the impact on levels of emotional stress in the community.


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Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to education, knowledge and skills Cambodian rural adults, the decision makers in rural households, have very often not had the opportunity to gain a basic education or to become literate during their youth. This is particularly true for women. This is a legacy of prolonged war and the Khmer Rouge era and gender inequalities of the past in access to education. Some major indicators of education and literacy status of adults are as follows: Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to education, knowledge and skills Limits in education, knowledge and skills • A recent national study of Cambodian adults aged over 15 years found that 62.9% of

adults are functionally illiterate (74.2% of women and 52.4% of men).9. • Associated with the widespread lack of education, other studies commonly find that

many adults lack knowledge in basic life skills including, health education, hygiene and sanitation, and mother- child care and nutrition practices.

• People’s knowledge is also limited in terms of technical skills to improve crop and livestock husbandry, labor skills and marketing skills.

• The basic cause of lack of knowledge among rural adults is that they have not had the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills through accessible adult education and training services.

This lack of literacy and education is clearly a major cause of vulnerability to livelihood insecurity and food insecurity in general and to the coping with flood and drought events. The implications can be seen when we examine what people who are functionally illiterate cannot do as defined in the recent national survey on this topic. Functional illiteracy means that these adults were assessed as not being able to “apply basic reading, writing and numeracy skills to solve problems in everyday life” nor are they able to “study independently and (be) able to read all kinds of materials, search for new knowledge and apply it to improving their lives and their communities.’’ Clearly this is a major limitation for many rural people in preparing for and coping with disasters. At the same time it is important to recognize the talents and skills that Cambodian rural people do possess which they use to maintain their livelihoods and cope with disasters. They have very well developed survival skills which have enabled most of them to survive 30 years of war, the Pol Pot era and the period of international isolation in the 1980’s. They continue to struggle to meet their needs in difficult and risky circumstances with few resources. They have developed technical skills in agriculture and livestock husbandry under risky conditions. They have a great deal of skill in using forests and fisheries to meet needs, and are active in seeking new opportunities in wage labor and business. They also have a keen willingness to learn where opportunities are available and the learning is useful for them.

9 Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, 2000, The Report on the Assessment of the Functional Literacy Level of the Adult Population in Cambodia, MOEYS/UNESCO/UNDP, Phnom Penh. Results as presented and reviewed by So Chunn & Saphote Prasertsri , CDRI Cambodia Development Review Volume 4 No. 2 2000.


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Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to a lack of information services Cambodian rural people suffer from a severe and generalized lack of services providing good quality, timely and relevant information that they need to make decisions to help them meet livelihood basic needs and to cope with disasters. Crucially this includes a lack of information services by government and the private sector through the mass media (radio, TV and newspapers) which are the only media channels accessible to rural people confronting disaster hazards. This severe lack of information needs to be highlighted in a context of disaster management, as it is not sufficiently emphasized as an important factor in disaster and general livelihood vulnerability. Results of an initial investigation of this information dimension of vulnerability are provided in the table below. The focus is on disaster related information availability through Khmer language mass media radio, TV, and newspaper information services. The findings would benefit from further cross-checking but seem to represent the overall picture on this important dimension of vulnerability. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to mass media information services for rural people

• Weather reports are restricted to reporting the days weather events in a few provinces. • There are no weather forecasts either short term, or monthly, or seasonal, for

rainfall, temperature or winds either nationally or by province or by climatic zone within provinces.

• There is no regular reporting of the Mekong River Commission Mekong Flood Warning System via radio, TV, or print mass media.

• Related to the above findings there are no services via the mass media providing regular information or forecasting services for events such as floods, droughts, or pest or disease epidemics.

• There are no seasonal forecast services for crop and livestock production conditions or market trends for these products.

• There are no regular mass media information and forecast services for fisheries. • Regular mass media information services for economic and market news, such as

price shifts in commodities and foods, are limited to some print and TV based comparisons of current prices of some products between provinces. There are no forecasts or market analyses.

• There are no formal regular mass media information and forecast services for labor and employment market trends.

• There is a lack of mass media information on changes in policy and law. • Some reporting on the above issues does occur on an ad hoc basis. Among the very limited existing range of mass media services, there are several problems with the design and quality of content and presentation as follows10: • Overall the information services that do exist are low on style and content and are

not specifically targeted for communication to rural audiences. • Weather or flood related information on TV and radio is presented in a very dull and

uninteresting way. • The language used is overly technical and not targeted to enable rural people to

understand the content. It is reported that this causes rural women to mentally turn off and not listen, despite their interest in what is being discussed, because they can’t understand the language.

• Scheduling of existing messages is poor, lacking consideration of what times of the day rural people are likely to be listening, and some broadcasts are ad hoc.

• There are no “signature tune” introductions to alert people that either a routine or emergency weather or flood broadcast is about to be issued.

10 These additional insights were contributed by Andrew Oliver-Smith, consultant to CRC CBDP.


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One cause of this situation is that there is simply insufficient information available to enable such reports from government agencies and the large non-government agencies supporting their development. This reflects a lack of resources and capacity among information providers in government agencies11. Beyond this, there is also a lack of awareness, vision, direction and planning at management levels to improve disaster information services for rural people via the mass media. Information of the types mentioned in the above table are produced in Cambodia to some extent but they are not being made accessible to rural people through radio, TV or print mass media. Information systems which are based on the assumption that rural people facing disaster risks are the primary audience who need disaster information first and foremost would be based on mass media. They would place a central focus getting disaster information regularly disseminated to rural people by radio and TV broadcasts and through newspaper reports. A priority would be building linkages between information providers, mass media outlets and rural people as information consumers. Disaster information products and services would be designed for mass media use and a regular, often daily flow of information would occur, for example from weather stations to radio broadcasters. The extremely low levels of functional literacy, particularly among women, is a challenge to be addressed through appropriate design and targeting of mass media disaster information services for rural people. It also points to the need to raise awareness and to build rural people’s skills in interpreting information from such services. It is a mistake to conclude that low levels of literacy mean that rural people are not interested in disaster information and do not need disaster information services on the radio and TV. It is clear that government agencies, the development community and rural people all need better disaster information services. However, information dissemination systems now in Cambodia are very lopsided in favour of bureaucratic needs and channels of communication (e.g. passing information up and down through government internal channels back and forth between Phnom Penh, provinces, district and communes; government/IO/NGO stakeholder meetings and working groups in Phnom Penh; exchanging information by reports, email and internet mostly in English). As a consequence available disaster information is not reaching or servicing rural people. The results are shown in the above table. In this situation rural people have to make decisions to cope with disaster risks exclusively based on their knowledge of previous similar events, their unfolding experience of the current potential disaster event, and through informal information systems based on fragmentary, ad hoc information by word of mouth from who you know. These informal information systems are sometimes accurate and efficient, but can also be based on no more than rumor, guesswork or interpretation of super-natural events. So we may conclude that two factors related to a lack of disaster information services make Cambodian rural people more vulnerable to disaster impacts and contribute to food insecurity and livelihood insecurity more generally. The first factor is a lack of disaster information and analysis. The second factor is the lack of dissemination of available information to rural people through accessible mass media channels. These issues are further examined in particular reference to flood and drought information systems in the following sections. In terms of international comparisons with other neighbouring and disaster prone countries of the region, it is difficult to draw ready comparisons based on statistics. However it does seem to be the case, and it is important to recognize, that Cambodian rural people face disaster risks far less disaster information produced by government and international

11 Many of these resource and capacity limitations are discussed in the NPRS.


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agencies and disseminated through the mass media. Rural people facing disaster risks in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Bangladesh or India have far more developed disaster information services and can get readily get information they need from regular radio, TV and newspaper reports. The severe lack of meteorological information for rural people for disaster management: As indicated above, there is a severe lack of meteorological information important for disasters management in Cambodia. Here are some further characteristics of meteorological services in Cambodia that deserve to be highlighted and that have been identified in a preliminary investigation for this report. These observations require further checking and validation by the Department of Meteorology, Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRM) and others with meteorological expertise:

• The current NPRS does not discuss the lack of meteorological services in any detail in the text, but the NPRS objectives matrix does include an objective for improving meteorological services. This objective recognizes that meteorological services have lacked funding and resources in the past and aim to have a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standard system of weather stations in operation by the end of 200412. Progress toward this objective since 2001 seems to be unreported in general reviews of development and is totally unclear.

• The NPRS objective does not specify the need, or any performance criteria, for

mass media dissemination of disaster information from this improved service.

• According to the NOAA list of global weather stations, Cambodia has a network of 11 weather stations run by MOWRM (Battambang, Kampot, Kompong Som, Kompong Chhnang, Kompong Cham, Koh Kong, Krakor, Pochentong, Siem Reap, Stung Treng and Svay Rieng). Other sources identify an extra station in Takeo, making a total of 12 weather stations

• Only two of these weather stations seem to be functioning at a reasonable level.

These are Siem Reap and Pochentong which fulfill meteorological needs for air traffic as well as general weather monitoring functions. Neither of these two stations seems to report more than basic daily weather via radio and TV. No forecasts are included in TV and radio broadcasts, although five day forecasts from these stations are available at the MRC site on the internet (www.mrcmekong.org). Daily weather information for Battambang, Kampot, and Kompong Som, including five day forecasts, are also available on the internet at the MRC site and others, but these forecasts also do not seem to be reported in radio and TV broadcasts.

• Mass media weather reports by radio TV and newspapers do not seem to include any

flood or drought warning services for rural people. This is despite the existence of a very useful Flood Early Warning System at the MRC site on the internet and various regional long-term monsoon rainfall forecasts.

• Further and more specific discussion of these weather information issues is found in

the following sections on flood and drought.

12 , NPRS/ National Poverty Reduction Strategy 2003-2005.


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Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to agricultural land and livestock assets Agricultural land and livestock are two of the most important assets that Cambodian rural people use to make a living. Yet ownership of these assets at the household level is often limited. Further, the productivity of land and livestock that households do own is often limited. This lack of land and livestock assets and the limitations to their productivity makes it more difficult for households to make income and get food from the assets they own. People are made more vulnerable to disaster impacts because of the low availability and productivity of land and livestock assets. Land and livestock assets are also directly at risk from disaster impacts. The agricultural land assets that Cambodian rural people use to produce food and to make income are clearly limited in a number of ways, including land quantity (small land area per household) and land quality (soil fertility limits, dependency on rain fed production with erratic rainfall). Livestock holdings of households are also limited in number and are prone to livestock diseases and stress. Some major indicators of household land and livestock assets are as follows: Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to agricultural land and livestock assets Agricultural Land • Agricultural land holdings average only 1.0 hectare per household, 25-33% of

households have only 0.01-0.5 hectares per household and 12% are landless. • Increasingly, households are becoming landless due to distress sales of land assets. • Over 80% of crop production by area is rain fed, dependent on erratic rainfall without

irrigation for crop growth. Production of crops is mostly confined to the wet season. • An estimated 50% of soils have fertility limitations affecting crop growth. • Most rural households do not have formal legal title to their agricultural land. Livestock • Cambodian rural households commonly raise livestock including cattle or buffalo, pigs

and poultry. However, the number of head owned by households is small, usually 0-2 cattle, 0-2 pigs and around 10 poultry per household.

• Only slightly more than half of rural households own two mature cattle or buffalo, the requirement for household agricultural draft power.

• Livestock holdings, including plough animals, must sometimes be sold in distress sale conditions to meet household immediate cash needs.

• Livestock are at high risk of disease which leads to high rates of premature mortality. • Livestock are often stressed by a seasonal lack of feed and water. • Veterinarian and livestock extension services are generally insufficient. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to access to Common Property Resources Cambodian rural people have traditionally utilized forests and fisheries to meet their needs for food and income. These types or resources are now referred to as “Common Property Resources”. Common Property Resources (CPR) include forests and scrub areas, fisheries and land and water areas around agricultural areas that are not privately owned but are usually used in common by all villagers. Many studies have found the importance of


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CPR’s to Cambodian rural people as a source of food and income. They have also shown that how CPR’s are used varies a lot between communities according to the local availability of forests and fisheries. In recent history two types of changes have occurred which have substantially reduced the availability of forest or fishery products to rural people. The primary cause has been over-exploitation of forests and fisheries by private commercial interests, often on an illegal or semi-legal basis. The first problem is that the productivity of forests and fisheries has been substantially reduced by destruction and overexploitation of the resource base itself. Commercial forest logging has clear-felled forest areas converting them to far less productive scrub areas. Commercial fishing operations catch fish of all sizes leaving a much depleted breeding stock of fish for the future. The second and associated problem is that these commercial interests typically prevent access of rural people to the forests and fisheries areas that they are exploiting, often through the posting of armed security personnel. These events have made rural people more vulnerable to not meeting their livelihood needs. Livelihood insecurity and food insecurity are increased as rural people can no longer expect to use forests and fisheries to help meet their food and income needs to the extent they could in the past. They are made more vulnerable to disaster impacts as the exploitation of forests and fisheries was a typical coping strategy to help meet needs during and following floods and droughts. Major CPR characteristics are summarized as follows: Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to access to Common Property Resources’ Forests and common land areas • Cambodian rural people have always exploited common lands around fields, and

scrub and forest areas as an important source food and other products and have a great deal of skill and knowledge in this area. The presence of such resources varies a lot between communities.

• Over-exploitation of forest resources, particularly through commercial logging have damaged the ecology of forests reducing the availability of food, fuel wood for cooking, and other forest products in many areas. Substantial areas of forest have been reduced to far less productive scrublands.

• The access of rural people to forests has often been blocked by logging security forces. Illegal commercial logging has now been curtailed to an extent. Enforcement of the logging ban has sometimes had the effect of blocking access to forests by rural people, for purposes other than logging.

Fisheries • Commons fisheries are very important as they provide the staple source of protein in

the diet of rural people and a number of products for consumption and sale. • Many rural communities are located away from permanent rivers and water bodies

and fisheries activities here are restricted to wet season paddy field fisheries. • Communities on the major river systems are confronted by decreasing fish stocks

through overexploitation, mainly by commercial fishing interests. • The operation of large scale fishing leases has excluded rural people from important

riverine fisheries until recently. These leases have now been overturned by law but informal enclosure of fisheries by private interests may still limit access.

Management of CPR’s by the government was judged as poor in the past. There have been some important improvements at the level of policy and law in recent years. Concerning forestry, some commercial forest leases have been overturned and a logging ban has been


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implemented which has curtailed, but not suspended, illegal commercial logging activities. Efforts to establish community forests have recently been given a legal basis at law. Concerning fisheries, a number of large commercial fishing lot leases have recently been overturned and work is underway on a new fisheries law. While these legal and policy changes are progressive, there remain a numerous problems with implementation of new laws and policies. For rural people, much of the damage to forests and fisheries has already been done, and there are still incidences of private enclosure and over-exploitation of local forest and fisheries areas. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to a lack of household domestic assets Household domestic assets are also used by rural people for livelihood including meeting their food needs. These household assets include housing, safe water sources and latrines, machinery and transport assets and stores of food and cash. Many Cambodian rural people are made more vulnerable to disasters by the limitations to these household assets that they use to make a living. Some major indicators of household domestic assets are as follows: Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to a lack of household domestic assets Household Domestic Assets • Mains electricity supply, mains water supply and sewerage are not present in the vast

majority of villages. • Rural housing is most commonly of temporary or mixed materials and not strongly

constructed to meet hazards such as wind storm or flood. • Very few households have their own source of safe drinking water and a very small

minority own latrines. • Only a wealthier minority of rural households own any motorized basic equipment

such as motorcycles, hand tractors, rice mills, water pumps or motor boats. • Only around 50% of households own oxcarts, and only a small proportion of

households have non- motorized boats. • Poorer households can lack even the most basic assets such as water jars, hand hoes,

bicycles, mosquito nets and shoes and clothing. • Many households do not have a store of rice sufficient for the whole years rice needs.

In the hungry season (during the wet season) most households have already consumed the rice they have stored for food.

• A limited amount of fish is stored in the form of prahok, but fruit and vegetables are not usually preserved or stored.

• Many households have very limited cash savings or gold reserves to help meet needs. Poor people have virtually no cash reserves, even from day to day.

Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to livelihood activities Livelihood activities are what rural people do to make a living, including activities to get food and income from their labor and assets. The livelihood activities of Cambodian rural households are typically diverse. Individual activities are often risky in that they may not produce enough food or income to meet needs despite spending labor to undertake them13.

13 A review of many issues related to Cambodian rural sources of income and livelihood strategies are to be found in Helmers K, Gibson J and Wallgren P, 2004, Rural Sources of Income and Livelihood Strategies Study, World Bank, Phnom Penh. This study includes a main report and three further component reports.


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Three tables below look at issues of vulnerability to disaster impacts related to livelihood activities. The first table presents some important general livelihood activity characteristics, the second table looks at agricultural and CPR activities and the final table looks at wage labor, business and social relations activities. Overall, it can be seen that there are many characteristics of activities that Cambodian rural people undertake to meet needs that make these activities vulnerable to the impacts of disasters in the future. The first table shows some of the general characteristics of these activities. Here we see the basic pattern of Cambodian rural livelihood activities that are diverse and risky and that produce low household incomes relative to household expenditures for basic needs. A critical issue in terms of disaster vulnerability and rural poverty is highlighted in this table. This is the fact that many Cambodian rural households simply lack sufficient income from whatever source to be able to be able to spend enough money to meet their basic needs and to save some money as a reserve to meet any shocks such as disaster impacts. For poor households this lack of income can affect their livelihoods and ability to eat from day to day or even from meal to meal during one day. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to livelihood activities-general General characteristics of livelihood activities • The livelihoods of Cambodian rural people involve a diverse range of activities to

meet needs. These include agriculture, forest and fisheries (common property resource) activities, wage labor, business micro-enterprise, and claims through social relations.

• Many of these activities are risky as they are exposed to disruption by shocks leading to major income failures or losses or increased expenditures.

• Household incomes are low, estimated at $700-$900/ year to meet on average the needs of five or six household members.

• Households are constantly faced with expenditures to meet basic needs. Many households have to buy at least some or even most of their food needs each year. Poorer households often have to buy or gather from the forest most of their food needs. Expenses for other basic needs, notably health care, can be a major burden.

• A critical basic need for many Cambodian rural households is more cash income from whichever source.

In the second table below we take a closer look at the vulnerabilities found in activities related to agriculture and livestock. Clearly the vulnerability of these activities is related to the characteristics of the assets being used as just described in the previous section on land and livestock assets. As we examine these activities, droughts and flood enter as direct causes of vulnerability in agricultural and livestock activities along with other vulnerability characteristics. Vulnerabilities in agriculture include high risk & low productivity in the main wet season lowland rice crop, a lack of crop diversification in the lowlands and a lack of agricultural extension services to support farmers to adapt and diversify cropping systems. Livestock production depends on limited ownership of stock with high risks of disease and stress and a lack of livestock services.


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Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to agriculture and livestock activities Agricultural Activities • Rice production, the major staple food crop, is characterized by low yields and

vulnerability to drought, flood and pest damage. Most rice production is rain-fed and confined to the wet season. The wet season is also the flood season and erratic rainfall during the wet season causes drought damage. The most common types of rice produced, mainly medium but also long duration rice varieties, are in their growth stage through the flood and drought season in the lowland plains.

• There is a lack of agricultural crop production diversification in the lowlands except directly along the banks of the Mekong system, with cropping patterns heavily based on rice and only limited cultivation of non-rice crops. Home garden production is also limited. This means that households often do not produce enough to meet their own needs for foods for a balanced diet, particularly vegetables and other sources of vitamins.

• Many rural communities lack sufficient agricultural extension services to support them change farming practices to reduce risks and to increase production for consumption and sale.

Livestock Activities • As described for livestock assets. Livestock are an important source of income, a

store of wealth and provide draft power. Yet livestock are vulnerable to fatal diseases and their productivity is reduced by stress through disease and a seasonal lack of feed and water. Livestock health and extension services are generally inadequate.

In the next table we take a closer look at the vulnerabilities found in activities related to CPR forest and fisheries activities. The vulnerability of these activities is related to the characteristics of the resources being used as just described in the previous section on land, livestock and CPR assets. As we examine activities, drought and flood enters as direct causes of vulnerability in agricultural and livestock activities along with other vulnerability characteristics. Forest and fisheries activities suffer from environmental degradation and CPR private enclosure (i.e. private interests claiming rights to CPR’s and denying public access to them usually through intimidation or even by the use of armed guards). These problems are being addressed to a limited extent by community forestry and aquaculture project but their scale is very limited. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to CPR activities Forestry and common land activities • As described in the assets section, forests and common land areas are important

sources of food and income. The productivity of these resources is reduced by overexploitation, and rural people can find their access to these areas blocked by private interests.

• Some community forestry projects have been established but their current scale is too small to overcome the widespread problems of forest degradation and enclosure.

Fisheries Activities • As described in the assets section, and as for forest and common lands, fisheries are

important sources of food and income. The productivity of these resources is reduced


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by overexploitation, and rural people can find their access to these areas blocked by private interests.

• Some household and community aquaculture projects have been established but their current scale is too small to overcome the widespread problems of fisheries degradation and lack of access. The termination of fishing leases has not yet led to community ownership and control of fisheries.

The final two tables examine the characteristics of some livelihood activities which we have not discussed so far. These activities include wage labor, business micro-enterprise and social relations activities and claims. Given the limited assets of rural households and the high risks involved in agricultural and CPR based activities, these other activities become particularly common and important sources of income for rural households. In turn this income is often used to buy food as well as other basic needs. Several different surveys have found that wage labor is among the three most important sources of household cash income for between 37-76% of the sampled rural households in each survey. Many more households gain at least some income from wage labor. Most wage labor undertaken by rural people is casual and low wage employment in sectors such as agriculture and construction. Much of this employment must be sought through seasonal and often long term migration, as local village economies do not provide enough employment opportunities to meet demand14. Various surveys have also found that business micro-enterprises are among the three most important sources of household cash income for 25-61% of the sampled rural households in each survey. More households gaining at least some income from these activities. A wide variety of businesses are operated by households, but in common, they are generally small scale, lack capital, involve cyclical indebtedness and often produce low net income. They are vulnerable to market shifts in consumer demand and supply15. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to wage labor and business activities Wage labor Activities • Wage labor is an important activity through which many rural households gain

additional cash income for food and other needs. • Most wage labor employment for rural is insecure as it is casual employment, quite

often on a daily basis. • Most wage labor is low paid, for example 4,000 riel per day for agricultural labor,

making it difficult to save money. • Wage labor employment opportunities within villages are typically limited and not

enough employment is available to meet demand. • Much wage labor employment is sought through migration. With migration, more

expenditure is involved for travel and accommodation, and risks of not getting casual employment may be high. Wage rates remain low. Other risks increase such as being cheated of earnings, unsafe conditions of work, and exposure to HIV/AIDS.

• Meanwhile back home in the migrant’s village, stress is increased by absence of the member from the family and village life, worries over their welfare and an increased workload for those at home, with gender dimensions to such stresses16.

Micro-enterprise Activities • Rural households commonly undertake business micro-enterprises to earn income.

14 Helmers, Gibson and Wallgren 2004.and cited studies therein, 15 Helmers, Gibson and Wallgren 2004 and cited studies therein. 16 This point contributed by Andrew Oliver Smith in a review of an earlier draft of this report.


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These include various trading, agro-processing, manufacturing or service enterprises. They are often very small scale and lack capital. Profits are variable but are often small. These enterprises are vulnerable to changes in economic conditions affecting customers demand and changes to the cost and availability of inputs. Many of these enterprises operate on the basis of cyclical credit which can lead to problems of indebtedness.

The next table looks at vulnerabilities in livelihood activities based on social relations and claims that rural people utilize for support to gain food and income and other basic needs. These activities are very common indeed, but part of the vulnerability of Cambodian rural people is the limited extent to which claims lead to actual help. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to social relations and claims Social relations activities and claims • Rural people use claims on relatives and friends and community leaders to seek

assistance for food, money and other social support. While helpful, this assistance is often limited as is not always forthcoming.

• Claims are also made on government for assistance. Government resources with which to respond are typically limited, targeting is often lacking and problems can occur in terms of slowness and appropriateness of responses.

• Claims are also made on NGO’s and other institutions. The capacity of NGO’s to assist are restricted by resource limits and by institutional policies targeting only particular types of assistance to specific areas and populations over a particular time period.

• Rural people seldom use claims under formal laws and legal structures to defend their rights. This can result from a lack of faith that claims will lead to positive results, negative results from previous claims and sometimes unfamiliarity with those rights. A further issue can be a lack of awareness of responsibilities among rural people and local authorities in relation to the law17.

• Democratic reforms notably in the form of national and commune level elections have

strengthened the ability of rural people to choose their leadership and to hold leaders accountable. Also welcome have been the adoption of more participatory practices of rural development planning at the local level.

Psycho-social and social organizational vulnerabilities to disaster Social relations also include psychological and social organizational dimensions of vulnerability to disasters. The Red Cross HVCA participatory community assessment tool recognizes the importance of vulnerabilities and capacities in these areas, and their gender differences, for disaster mitigation. Research into these dimension of vulnerability in Cambodia have been limited. However, these important issues deserve to be highlighted here. The HVCA examines psycho-social issues related to disaster mitigation in terms of an assessment of “motivational and attitudinal” characteristics of communities. Issues examined here include attitudes to change, initiative, confidence, self reliance, cohesiveness, cooperation, unity and solidarity. In the Cambodian context it is commonly recognized that rural people of adult age have typically been exposed to trauma through years of war and the excesses of the Pol Pot regime. Many adults are often still stressed

17 This point includes contributions by Andrew Oliver-Smith in a review of an earlier draft of this report.


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and worried about meeting their basic needs from day to day. At the same time mental health and counseling services are extremely limited. The CRED study 2002 found symptoms of clinical levels of anxiety, depression and Post Traumatic Stress were very common in a large sample of adults in Kampong Cham. Clearly the high prevalence of these conditions are going to have an effect on the capacity of people to respond to disasters, and more generally, will affect how they function in society. Psychological issues likely to bear here on coping with disasters include feelings of helplessness, lack of confidence and self esteem, lack of trust, social withdrawal or an increased likelihood of anti-social behaviors (e.g. over-consumption of alcohol or domestic or other forms of violence, particularly among men)18. The HVCA also examines broader “social/ organizational” capacities and vulnerabilities of communities related to disaster mitigation. Issues examined here include family structures, community leadership, decision-making structures and degree of community participation, divisions and conflicts, community organization capacities, and relations with government agencies. In terms of social/ organizational issues, a general view in a Cambodian context is that community social organizational capacities typically lack strength and effectiveness across the board19. Once again this reflects the turbulent and difficult history of Cambodia over recent decades, which has prevented development of a range of civil society institutions at the local level. Recent changes such as the establishment of elected Commune Councils, the adoption of more participatory methods of community development and the establishment of community level organizations are positive achievements. Overall the Cambodian context is one of a high level of psychological and social organizational vulnerability to disasters. Attention needs to be given to addressing these social vulnerabilities for disaster risk reduction and impact mitigation. Community level disaster preparedness organization and activities are a positive social process in this regard as well as a means to address material vulnerabilities to disasters. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to characteristics of shocks and stresses affecting livelihoods Drought and flood are two types of shock among many different types of shocks and stresses that rural households experience and with which they are trying to cope. Often, households are trying to cope with the cumulative impacts of multiple shocks at the same time20. Furthermore, these shocks occur in addition to a range of commons stresses with which households are simultaneously experiencing and with which they are trying to cope. In short, the pattern here is one of “a progression of increasing vulnerability and further entrenchment of chronic vulnerability”21. This pattern of trying to cope with multiple shocks and ongoing stresses simultaneously is quite typical in the livelihoods of many rural Cambodian households. This clearly makes households more vulnerable in coping with the future impacts of floods and drought

18 See also Transcultural Psychological Organization, 1997, Community Mental Health in Cambodia, TPO, Phnom Penh. This book is available in Khmer language and the book and this organization are a valuable resource for CBDP staff on these important community development issues. 19 Andrew Oliver-Smith in a review of an earlier draft of this report. 20 A very good study concerning shocks/crises, coping strategies and Cambodian rural livelihoods in general is Chan S & Archarya S, 2002, Facing the Challenge of Rural Livelihoods, CDRI Working Paper 25, CDRI, Phnom Penh. 21 Quote from Andrew Oliver-Smith in a review of an earlier draft of this report.


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events. Furthermore, the impacts floods and droughts of the past form part of the shock and stress regime from which rural households are already trying to recover. These patterns do of course vary by individual household and within households over time. In the table below the first point summarizes some of the common shocks which impact rural households and which often occur in various combinations at the same time. The second point in the table lists a number of stresses which commonly affect rural households and which must be coped with in addition to the impacts of shocks. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to shocks and stress patterns Having to cope with the impact of multiple shocks and stresses • Drought and flood impacts occur along with other shocks which might include any

combination of the following: sudden accident or illness, crop damage from pest strike, premature livestock mortality, theft, banning of access to forest or fisheries areas, clear felling of forest, over-fishing of a local fishery, loss or failure to get wage employment. Households are often trying to cope with the impact of more than one of these shocks at the same time, in addition to any direct drought and flood impacts.

• Households are also commonly dealing with stresses which can include: having more children to look after, having a chronically sick household member, degradation of forest and fisheries productivity, lack of income, under-employment (working hard for little income), rising cash expenses to meet needs, lack of cash savings and indebtedness.

Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to coping strategies Cambodian rural households respond actively to try to cope with shocks and stresses they encounter. They use a range of coping strategies to do so. Coping strategies are particular kinds of activities that are undertaken in response to shocks and stresses. Some of these coping strategies are adaptive in that they meet household needs arising from the impact of shocks and stresses without the household risking losing their means of making a living for their future livelihood. Other coping strategies are risky activities, in that they may or may not meet needs and/or could lead to the household losing their existing means of making a living in future. The key point in terms of vulnerabilities in coping strategies among Cambodian rural people is that many have to depend mainly on risky coping strategies to cope with previous impacts from shocks and stresses. This is because many households lack sufficient resources to successfully meet needs just by using adaptive coping strategies. Sometimes these risky coping strategies work in terms of helping to meet household needs and assisting recovery from shocks and in dealing with stresses without damaging their means of livelihood. However, sometimes these coping strategies also lead to households having to sell the assets by which they make their living to meet their short term basic needs, and so make their livelihoods in future even less secure. A further key point to bear in mind when considering vulnerabilities to disaster impacts in future, including flood and drought, is that many households will encounter the next disaster event while already engaged in coping strategies to meet other previous cumulative shock and stress impacts. This is another important dimension of vulnerability to disaster impacts.


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The following table lists common coping strategies adopted by households to meet the impacts of shocks and stresses. They are sub-divided into adaptive and risky types of coping strategies. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to coping strategies Adaptive Coping Strategies • Spend cash or gold reserves to meet needs. • Reduce non-essential consumption (NOT including food and other basic needs). • Reallocate labor within the same type of activity (e.g. replant a destroyed rice

seedbed, collect more firewood to sell as well as to use at home). • Reallocate labor temporarily to a different activity (e.g. gathering foods from the

forest, start selling fish, look for local wage labor employment). • Reallocate labor and capital to start a new long term and relatively low-risk livelihood

activity (e.g. start weaving mats to sell every season). • Migrate from the village for work, where employment prospects are secure. • Seek temporary help from friends or relatives or a government or NGO institution. Risky Coping Strategies • Reduce consumption of foods and/or cut expenditures to below the levels needed to

meet basic food and other needs. This is referred to as “stinting”. • Sell assets such as agricultural land or livestock for income to buy basic short term

needs such as food or medical treatment. • Start to use unproductive forest or fisheries areas (or productive areas out of season)

to try to get food to eat or products to sell. • Start to use agriculture land or forest areas with land mine/UXO hazards to get

firewood, livestock forage, food or products to sell. • Reallocate labor and capital to start a new long term but high-risk livelihood activity

(e.g. sell land to start a moto-taxi service in an insecure area). • Borrow money from a moneylender at high interest rates (15%+ per month) to buy

basic short term needs such as food or medical treatment. • Borrow rice paddy for food from rice lenders at high interest (100%/season). • Migrate from the village in search of employment, but with no certainty that

employment will be secured. • Accept low paid or dangerous work in order to get at least some income (e.g. forest

work in malaria areas, work on unsafe construction sites, low paid domestic work or participation in sex work).

• Pull children out of school to provide extra labor (particularly girls). Vulnerabilities related to strategic environmental changes in disaster risks in Cambodia The years just prior to 2003-2004 were periods when severe disasters occurred in Cambodia. The World Disaster Report22 published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) categorized Cambodia as the third (3rd) most disaster affected country in the entire world in years 2000 and 2001. This was computed in terms of percentage of population affected by disasters in relation to the total number of population. Conditions could potentially be more severe in the future as climate change will impose significant stress on resources and population of Cambodia. Hazards of climatological origin such as local windstorms, flood and drought are predicted to change in patterns and

22 Based on CRED-EM-DAT


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behavior23. For instance, it is observed that the years of severe flooding in Cambodia coincided with the cold episodes (La Nina), while years of dryer conditions of less than normal rainfall coincided with the El Nino warm episodes of ENSO. It appears that these extreme climate events (ECE) now have a shorter return period compared to their history before this decade24. Although there is no specific study in Cambodia, disaster management professionals in the region believe that Cambodia is vulnerable to climate change variability and extreme climate events. There are also other international or trans-boundary issues that may well affect the vulnerability of Cambodia to disaster events. A classic example of these issues today is the river dam projects proposed or underway for the Mekong River catchment, in China, Laos and Vietnam25. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to the broader context of livelihoods A final dimension of vulnerability of Cambodian rural households to disaster impacts is very broad indeed and relates to the general social, political, economic and ecological environment within which rural people make their livelihoods. These broader conditions are very important to livelihood security and food security of Cambodian rural people. We a brief review of these in summary is presented in the table below. The key point is that, in general, many characteristics of this broader environment contribute to increasing the vulnerability of Cambodian rural people to the impacts of shocks and stresses that threaten their livelihoods by reducing their ability to cope with and recover from these events. There are also some important positive dimensions to this broader environment which are also recorded in the table. These positive dimensions will tend to support rural people better to sustain their livelihoods and benefit from development in the future.

23 Technical Summary; Climate Change 2001, Impacts, Adaptation, Vulnerability, IPCC 24 ENSO Quick Look July 15, 2004 iri.Columbia.edu.climate/climate/forecast. Presented in Annex 3B. 25 Andrew Oliver-Smith, comments on a earlier draft of this paper.


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Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts related to the broader environment of livelihoods The external environment of rural livelihoods is changing • Policy: Many changes to policy and to laws have been made, or are underway, in

Cambodia which aim to reduce poverty and to improve Cambodian rural livelihood security and food security. However, there remain major limitations as the policy and legal framework is still being developed and there problems with a lack of resources, capacity and implementation.

• Social: Cambodia is a post-conflict society in the process of recovering at all levels from under-development in the colonial era, the social impacts of war, Khmer Rouge rule and slow recovery up to the time of the UNTAC elections. The development of social/ organizational capacities at the community level have been limited in these conditions. A major progressive social change was the end to war nationwide in 1998 after 30 years of fighting.

• Economic: The economy has shown quite strong, but unbalanced national growth since the early 1990’s. Rural poor people have benefited less from growth than wealthy urban people. Challenges remain for the further the development of markets and a major challenge is the capacity of the economy to generate employment.

• Political: A number of major progressive political achievements have been made. Government at the national and now commune level is based on democratic elections. Peace was finally achieved in 1998 after 30 years of fighting with the Khmer Rouge. The achievement of good governance has been set as a goal but further progress is still needed in areas such as transparency, accountability and human rights. Government salaries remain inadequate for staff to undertake their work fully and capacity and resource limitations need to be addressed. Problems with corruption have been identified and have been shown to affect many aspects of Cambodian rural people’s livelihoods.

• Environmental: A previous section has discussed Cambodia’s vulnerability to climatic change. In addition we can add that Cambodia’s forestry and fisheries resources have been over-exploited mainly by commercial interests. The productivity of these resources has declined substantially and access to forests and fisheries has often been prevented. Changes are underway in the Mekong watershed which will affect the flow of the river and its flood patterns.

• Infrastructure: The country inherited a generally under-developed economic and social infrastructure at independence which was then further damaged by war and then neglected for lack of resources for many years. Infrastructure improvements are required across the board. Some progress has been made, but much remains to be done, particularly at the village and commune level.

• Demography: According to the last population Census in 1998 Cambodia now has a population of over 11.4 million which is overwhelmingly rural (84%) and young (42% are children aged 0-14 years). The population growth rate is quite high at 2.49%. The population is 54% female and 26% of households are headed by women.

Again it is worth comparing the situation in Cambodian with those of other disaster prone countries in the region in terms of the comparative vulnerability of people to disasters. This is difficult to do using formal statistics but some general points can be made. A general comparison can be put forward in terms of national infrastructure. When comparing national infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water control works it would seem to be the case that Cambodia together with Laos has far less national infrastructure in good condition than is found in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, India or Bangladesh. For example, on can point to better developed all-weather road


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networks, or the extension of the electricity grid even to village level in many of these countries, or the large scale water and flood control works in Bangladesh and Vietnam. A recent report on the condition of Cambodia’s road system found that 62% of the total national road system by length was in condition rated as “poor to bad”26. The same case can arguably be made concerning the availability of government services to the population, including disaster related services. Rural health services are likely to be far better quality and more accessible in most of these countries than in Cambodia with the exception of Laos. Good quality rural education services are also more likely generally available with the exception of Laos and with the further exception of access issues related to the poor and girls in rural India and Bangladesh. Finally, information systems and services related to meteorology, agriculture, markets and disaster early warning are likely to be far more developed in most of these countries. This concludes a review of the dimensions of Cambodian rural livelihoods in relation to vulnerability to disaster impacts in general, and which includes vulnerabilities to flood and drought impacts. Overall it can be seen that many Cambodian rural people confront many dimensions of livelihoods insecurity including food insecurity in their daily lives. This is an essential background to really be able to examine the impacts of floods and droughts on their livelihoods and food security, because this background is the livelihood context within which future flood and drought events will occur. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts in food security terms The issue of food insecurity is one aspect of the broader and inseparable issues of livelihood insecurity which we have just discussed. In this section we can summarize the vulnerabilities to disaster impacts that we have discussed in livelihood security terms, but this time grouping them in a different way by using the concept of food insecurity and the three components of food security analysis: food availability, food access and food utilization. The issues themselves do not change, but rather food security analysis groups them differently and focuses, naturally, more specifically on the issues of food. It is useful to think about food security in relation to specific types of foods, because food security conditions can be different for different types of foods. We can think in terms of fish food security, rice food security, vegetable food security, fruit food security and even micro-nutrient food security (vitamins and minerals). We can’t examine these issues too specifically here, but the point remains useful to consider in examining food security issues. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts specifically related to food availability Food availability in food security terms means the availability of food that can be produced by households themselves to eat through activities such as growing crops, raising livestock, fishing and gathering wild foods. The above discussion shows that the capacity of Cambodian rural households to produce a sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to meet their dietary needs is limited and food production activities are often risky. The key point in terms of food availability is that many Cambodian rural households will not be able to produce and adequate quantity and diversity of food to meet daily needs for a healthy diet throughout the year. This is the common situation before the impacts of future droughts and floods are considered. 26 Chhin Kong Hean, Director General, Ministry of Public Works, quoted in The Cambodia Daily, 3rd August 2004.


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Research results confirm this finding. Two recent surveys, of over 1,000 households each, reported the proportion of households that gained most of their food needs from their own production activities. These production activities included agricultural production and CPR activities. Separate questions were asked about different foods (rice, fish and fruit and vegetables) in different seasons (wet and dry seasons). The results for the wet season were that household rice production was the main source of rice for 41-42% of households, fishing the main source of fish for 31-66% of households, and own crop production/CPR gathering the main source of fruit and vegetables for 28-57% of households. In terms of considering disaster impacts, this is the season where both floods and droughts impacts will occur. The results for the dry season were that household rice production was the main source of rice for 74-78% of households, fishing the main source of fish for 13-23% of households, and own crop production/CPR gathering the main source of fruit and vegetables for 17-23% of households. In terms of considering disaster impacts, this is the season where households will try to recover from flood and drought impacts. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts specifically related to food access Food access in food security terms means the ability of households to access food to eat through exchange rather than production. The main method of exchange is to buy food. Access to food therefore depends on the ability of households to buy the foods they need. The issue of access to food through exchange is important in circumstances where rural people commonly cannot produce all their food needs. This is the case for many Cambodian rural households for at least part of the year. The above discussion indicates that Cambodian rural households typically undertake a whole range of different activities to earn income. Many of these activities are risky in that the activities people do may or may not produce the amount of income that is hoped for and needed. Overall, households typically have low household incomes from all the activities they do. This means they have only a limited amount of cash to buy food and to buy other basic needs. Meanwhile many Cambodian rural households are getting most of their food needs of various types through exchange for at least part of the year. The two surveys mentioned above reported the proportion of households mainly dependent on buying food of different types in different seasons. The results for the wet season were that buying rice was the main source of rice for 50-57% of households, buying fish the main source of fish for 34-69% of households, and buying fruit and vegetables was the main source of these foods for 43-72% of households. In terms of considering disaster impacts, this is the season where both floods and droughts impacts will occur. The results for the dry season were that buying rice was the main source of rice for 25-29% of households, buying fish was the main source of fish for 77-87% of households, and buying fruit and vegetables was the main source of these foods for 67-82% of households. In terms of considering disaster impacts, this is the season where households will try to recover from flood and drought impacts. It is clear that food access, or the capacity to buy food, is very important to many rural households for different types of foods in different seasons. As described many rural people have to buy food needs from low household incomes and generate income from risky activities.


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Another important issue here is changes that can occur in the price of food that people need to buy. Households who depend on buying food and who have low income and insecure sources of income are vulnerable to price rises in foods. A review of the Cambodian national Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Phnom Penh from 2000 up to September 2003 shows only mild increases in food prices averaging 2.1% per year over this three year period. Increases in the CPI for all food and non-food items in the provinces over the same period have also been mild, averaging 2.7% per year. CPI rises since September 2003 may be higher due to rising fuel prices which can flow on to the costs of bought food. Meanwhile the CPI data does not indicate a substantial or rapid rise in the price of food costs. To understand vulnerabilities in food access we should also know the trends affecting household income along with the trends in food prices. While we know the general situation is one of low and risky household incomes, we lack a lot of trend information on recent changes to household income. Some data is available on income trends for a few wage labor and business activities27. The trend in daily wages from 2002 to 2003 for rice field workers, a very common type of labor activity, varied substantially by month. Rice worker daily wages in May 2003 fell 28% compared to May 2002, wages in August 2003 rose 20% compared to August 2002, and wages in November 2003 rose 5% compared to November 2002. Overall then, rice field workers wage rates fell 3% in 2003 but with wide monthly variations. The average daily rate by November 2003 was 4,450 riel ($1.10) per day. Trends for small vegetable sellers, a common business activity, give an indication of trends in small business daily earnings. Compared to 2002 these sellers had small declines in earning for the months of May (-0.6%) and August (-0.3%) and a larger decline in November (-6.4%). Overall then, earning of vegetable sellers fell 7% in 2003. Their average daily earnings by November 2003 were 6,700 riels ($1.67) per day. So what we seem to have in terms of trends in access to food through buying it at the market is a moderate increase in the cost of food of about 2% per year and declines in household incomes of around 3-7% per year from the examples of wage labor and small business activities given above. There are likely to have been more substantial decreases in rural incomes (or necessary increases in expenditures to buy more food) due to the larger than normal impacts of droughts and floods on wet season crop production since 2000. It is also likely that rural people in general are getting less income now than in the past from forestry and fisheries activities. Overall then, it seems likely that many rural households have been finding it harder to be able to buy foods with the cash income that they are able to generate than a few years ago. Several events in 2004 are likely to further reduce the capacity of Cambodian rural households to earn income and/or to increase the costs of food. There are serious potential consequences in terms of food security arising from these events:

• Food costs have been increasing as a result of high oil prices. • There has been a drastic decline in fish supply in Cambodia this year. Fish is being

imported. The price of fish has risen out of reach of many households. • This has caused people to substitute meat for fish in their diets. This increased

demand has now also increased the price of meat. Increased demand for beef exports to Thailand and Vietnam are also playing a role in meat supply and prices.

• The Avian Bird Flu is again threatening poultry supply. 27 CDRI Economy Watch: Indicators of Average Daily Earnings of Vulnerable workers, January-March 2004.


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• The future viability of the garment industry is under threat from the suspension of preferential tariff agreements in December 2004. Currently the garment industry is the largest industrial employer in the country with a labor force of 200,000 (mainly women, many from rural areas). There are serious concerns that the industry is uncompetitive without these preferential agreements and that some or even most employment might be lost in this sector from the beginning of 2005.

Flood or drought events in 2004 will occur in the wider context of the events just described. In this context many rural people are increasingly vulnerable to impacts from flood or drought that will either reduce their incomes further or will increase their necessary expenditure for food. Vulnerabilities to disaster impacts specifically related food utilization Food utilization in food security terms looks at patterns of how households use the food that they are able to get to satisfy human dietary and nutrition needs of household members. Important issues examined here include the nutritional adequacy of diets (including micro-nutrients), the role of infectious diseases in reducing nutrition intake, child nutrition status, mother- child nutrition and health practices, and nutrition status of women especially pregnant and nursing mothers. This is the third important dimension of food insecurity and is particularly important for young children. We have already reviewed issues related to food utilization above, under the section about health vulnerabilities to disaster impacts. The key points were:

• Many Cambodian children are suffering from malnutrition including micro-nutrient deficiencies.

• The prevalence of infectious diseases that reduce child nutrition intake is high. • Mother- child nutrition and health practices need to be improved to improve child

health including better diets, child vaccinations, better health and sanitation practices, and health education.

• Women and particularly pregnant and nursing mothers commonly suffer from a lack of nutrition and specific micronutrients.

• While some progress is being made, there is a need for substantial improvement in health services to adequately support mothers supplement their knowledge of the health and nutrition of their children and their own health status. Important issues here include breast feeding, weaning and feeding practices.

Recognizing variations in livelihood insecurity and food insecurity in rural Cambodian communities The above discussion has highlighted the many dimensions of livelihood insecurity and food insecurity affecting Cambodian rural people that make them vulnerable to disasters and that will affect how they are impacted by drought or flood events. At the same time, it is also clear that these characteristics vary a lot among Cambodian rural people in different communities. It is useful to have tools to help examine these variations between and within different Cambodian rural communities. Such tools can help with planning and implementing disaster management interventions in communities. This need is recognized in the CBDP and tools to examine these variations are included in the existing Hazards, Vulnerabilities, Capacities and Assessment (HVCA) process.


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Here in exploring variations in vulnerabilities in rural Cambodian communities we suggest some enhancements to the existing HVCA tools. In terms of variations between different types of villages, a village ecozone classification system is proposed to enhance the current village location classification used in the HVCA. In terms of recognizing variations within villages, some suggestions are made to supplement the existing list of vulnerable groups in the HVCA process (Annex 6). These enhancements can help us examine how different types of villages and different groups of people within villages are vulnerable to and impacted by events such as flood and drought.


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A simple classification of villages can be made to help examine variations in livelihoods and vulnerabilities and impacts of flood and drought events in rural Cambodia. This classification is based on the geographical setting of the village and the general agro-ecological characteristics of the local environment around the village. Agro-ecological characteristics include agricultural resources and activities and natural resources such as water, forest and fisheries and associated activities. These characteristics can be grouped at the village level and we can classify villages according to their agro-ecological zone, or village “ecozone” for short. The village is the community level where people’s livelihoods and flood or drought events are most closely linked. Larger administrative units such as provinces, districts, or communes can contain very different villages in terms of ecozones. This can often be true even at the commune level. The idea of classifying villages by such criteria is already a part of the existing HCVA, where the geographic location of the village is identified. Five categories are identified (close to the river/creek; on the highland or hill, on the flood plains as a whole, on the flood plains as a part, others). The typology proposed here can be seen as a potential enhancement of the existing HVCA categories in the following ways:

• All villages in Cambodia can be classified using this system. • The classification may be an improvement for non-flood disaster assessments. • The classification is based on the environment around the village that people use

for livelihood rather than the physical location of village houses and buildings. • The lowland areas where many villages are located are split into inside/outside the

flood zone. • Important variants or sub-categories of village type are recognized within the some

of the seven major ecozones, related to differences in major village production activities.

The simple typology of village ecozones proposed here is based on field experience in Cambodia and should be easily recognizable to Cambodian field staff and villagers. A similar typology has already been used in social assessment research to classify and find clear variations in 2,010 villages in northeast Cambodia28. The villages can be classified into one of seven different types of ecozone that can help examine variations in livelihoods, food security and disaster vulnerabilities and impacts. This village ecozone classification is presented in the following table.

28 Helmers, K., 1999, Preliminary Social Assessment for the Northeast Development Project, World Bank, Phnom Penh.

A tool to examine disaster variations between villages: Village Ecozones


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General Village Ecozone Typology for Rural Cambodia Zone Basic geographic characteristics Distinct variants/ Remarks River or lakeside villages

Villages located either in or on the banks of The Mekong Tonle Sap river and lake system during the non-flood season.

- Floating villages; - Chamcar villages; - Flood recession /dry season rice villages.

Lowland flood plain villages

Villages located on the lowland plains within the boundary of the MRC flood zone.*

This can be determined from MRC flood maximum extent data.

Lowland villages outside the floodplain

Villages located on the lowland plains outside the boundary of the MRC flood zone.*

This can be determined from MRC maximum extent data.

Lowland-upland interface villages

Villages located on the lowland plains but close to mountain and upland areas.

Villages near upland rubber plantation areas. Villages near natural upland forest and scrub areas.

Upland Villages Villages located in upland areas. Villages in upland rubber plantation areas. Ethnic Khmer villages in natural upland forest and scrub areas. Ethnic upland minority villages.

Coastal Villages located on the coastal fringe and islands.

Remoteness and proximity of upland areas.

Urban Settlements

Urban centres at the district, province and national level.

Urban centre size and local economy.

* The MRC (see mrcmekong.org) shows maps of the maximum historical flood extent in Cambodia based on the combination of the 1995,1996 and 2002 flood maximum extent of inundation. This is an appropriate boundary to split the vast lowland plain area by flood risk. With villages grouped according to this classification we can begin to look at variations in livelihoods between these different types of villages. Much remains to be done in formally researching these differences. The gaps in the meantime can be filled to quite some extent by field experience and general insights from a range of studies. The following table suggests variations in livelihoods between villages of the seven different village ecozones. Activities are split into two classes, agricultural and non- agricultural activities. These variations are necessarily generalized, however examining these differences does serve to highlight how different livelihoods are in these ecozones in important ways. This means that vulnerabilities and impacts of events like flood and drought can be expected to vary considerably according to the ecozone a village is located in. We will use the village ecozones to explore these particular issues further when examining drought and flood impacts.


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Variations in Common Livelihood Activities by Village Ecozone for Rural Cambodia Zone Agricultural Non-Agricultural River or lakeside villages

Chamcar multi-cropping agriculture. Flood recession rice production. Two cropping seasons/year. Pre-flood and post- flood crops are grown. Livestock production.

Riverine fishing. Other CPR gathering activities in rivers and water bodies as well as around rice fields and flood prone scrub and forest areas. Micro-enterprise and local wage labor especially related to processing and trade of fish and non-rice crop products.


Wet season rain fed rice production. Limited non-rice rain fed crop production. One cropping season during the year, during the wet/flood/drought season. Livestock production.

Paddy field fisheries. CPR gathering activities mainly in common areas around rice fields. Casual wage labor-very common Micro-enterprise-very common.


(very similar to lowland villages in the flood plain) Wet season rain fed rice production. Limited non-rice rain fed crop production. One cropping season during the year, during the wet/flood/drought season. Livestock production.

Paddy field fisheries. CPR gathering activities mainly in common areas around rice fields. Casual wage labor-very common. Micro-enterprise-very common.


Wet season rain fed rice production. Non-rice rain fed crop production a larger role than in the lowlands. One cropping season during the year, during the wet/flood/drought season. Livestock production, probably a larger role than in the lowlands.

Paddy field fisheries. Forest activities a larger role than in the lowlands. Casual wage labor likely less common than in the lowlands. Micro-enterprise especially based on forest products.

Upland Villages

Either: upland chamcar agro-forestry systems based on mixed annual crop and tree crop production. Or upland minority swidden agro-forestry systems. One main annual cropping season during the year, during the wet/flood/drought season. Lowland rain fed rice production can still be important in local low lying areas. Livestock.

Forest activities very important role in livelihoods, many forest products utilized including aloe vera resin collection. Fishing (limited). Casual wage labor (common in rubber areas uncommon in other upland villages). Micro-enterprises in crop processing and trade (rubber areas) or processing and trade of forest products (other villages).

Coastal Sometimes lowland agriculture, mainly wet season rice production and livestock raising.

Fisheries activities along the seaboard and in coastal estuaries. Forest activities (variable). Casual wage labor (variable). Micro-enterprise (variable).

Urban Settlements

None or very limited. Livelihoods based on micro-enterprise and wage employment in market activities or employment in government service.


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Another important characteristic of the village ecozones is that they vary in terms of their ethnic composition. Helping to recognize these variations helps to apply the Red Cross humanitarian principle of impartiality in assistance for disaster management and other activities. This area lacks formal research but some probable general associations can be presented. Ethnic Associations of Village Ecozones for Rural Cambodia Zone Ethnic Associations River or lakeside villages

Mainly ethnic Khmer but with probably the largest proportion of Cham and Vietnamese (Kinh) and possibly Kampuchea Krom who are involved in fishing and chamcar activities in this zone. Among the village subtypes, fishing villages are mainly Cham and Kinh, while fishing-farming, chamcar and flood recession rice villages are mainly Khmer29. In the Northeast some upland minority and Lao settlements are located on riverbanks such as those along the Sesan and Srae Pok rivers.


Mainly ethnic Khmer but in some cases including Cham settlements. Kampuchea Krom likely present in Khmer villages in the southeast.


Mainly ethnic Khmer and occasionally Cham villages in the Southeast. In the Northeast can include Lao settlements.


Mainly ethnic Khmer but can also include upland minority settlements.

Upland Villages In natural forest uplands mainly upland minorities but sometimes includes ethnic Khmer settlements. In rubber plantation areas Khmer with some Kinh and Cham.

Coastal Mainly ethnic Khmer, but likely to include Kinh, Cham and Kampuchea Krom communities (Lacks research).

Urban Settlements All ethnic groups represented mainly Khmer, but with a greater proportion of Khmer Chinese, Kampuchea Krom, Cham and Kinh than in lowland rural areas.

Examining variations in vulnerability within villages People who work in rural Cambodian communities and rural people themselves recognize that there are large differences in the life situations of different households within each village. The Cambodian Red Cross and CBDP work to help the most vulnerable in rural communities. The HVCA process already seeks to identify the numbers of vulnerable households in villages. A review of the HVCA and some suggestions for enhancements are included in Annex 6. 29 Gum, 2000, Inland Aquatic Resources and Livelihoods in Cambodia, OXFAM, Phnom Penh.


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The Nature of Flood in Cambodia The UN WFP in Cambodia and the Ministry of Planning state 30 that there are two major types of floods in Cambodia:

• Flash floods resulting from heavy downpours upstream on the Mekong River and affect the provinces along the Mekong and in the southeastern areas of the country (ex. 2001 flood). Unlike in other Southeast Asian locations, like the Northern and Central Vietnam flash flooding, the predictability of these “flash floods” in Cambodia is higher. Capacities for early warning and dissemination have increased due to ongoing cooperation of different countries under the Mekong River Commission (www.mrcmekong.org)

• Central area floods are large floods that result to a combination of runoff from the Mekong and heavy rains around the Tonle Sap Lake. Waters affect the provinces around the lake, but also flow heavily down the Tonle Sap and the lower portion of the Mekong to flood the southern provinces (1996, 2000, worst flooding in 70 years).

These categories are given priority attention by the stakeholders in the country since they would affect large areas and population at any given season. Due to lack of domestic resources, floods meeting these criteria will often necessitate a declaration of state national calamity and mobilization of local and international assistance. However, it should not be ignored from the perspective of household level livelihoods and food security that there were” flash floods31” and other types that affected a smaller group of population and areas. Although they may not fall under the category and definition provided by the MOP and WFP, families suffer invariably according to their proximity to hazards and vulnerability. The flooding occurring every year is the result of wet season monsoon climate in interaction with drainage patterns from the upstream Mekong River watershed. In the past

30 Poverty and Vulnerability Analysis Mapping in Cambodia of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Planning March 2003 31 More localised flash floods happen in Kampot, Kampong Speu, Pursat and Kampong Thom recently. These types of flash floods are different from those categorized by MOP and WFP. In these cases, early warning system are limited or do not exist at all and movement of water are rapid and damaging compared to those experienced in the Mekong river areas.

The impacts of flood on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security


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these annual floods would normally produce more benefits than harm and devastating floods did not occur annually. At the national level, historical records indicate that the return period of devastating floods that created serious impacts affecting significant number of population used to be every five years or more (in 1961, 1966, 1978, 1984, 1991, and 1996). Recently however, harmful floods have occurred every year starting in 1999, and the worst was felt in 2000. Perhaps32 to due to climate change and human interaction with environment, floods seem to be getting worse and more frequent. A theory33 exposed in Takeo province where flooding pattern has significantly changed is the construction of dams in the Vietnamese border. Construction was done in stages, it was completed in 1999 and the final stages in 2000. The villagers believe that the problematic flooding coincides with the completion of the dams. The villagers assert that the type of flooding is different from what they normally experience - with water rising faster than before, staying longer and receding slower, a pattern consistent with the movement of water by a dam. A similar theory can be mentioned about the environmental effects of the construction of the Phnom Penh-Kampong Cham road completed in 1999. It is believed that the road, although producing positive benefits have also severely affected the hydrological pattern of flooding across parts of 4 provinces (Kandal, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom & Kampong Chhnang). Thus some villages that hadn’t experienced disaster in 1996 floods subsequently experienced it in slightly lower level 2000 floods. Conversely, some villages that experienced flooding in 1996, didn’t in 2000.] The flooding in Cambodia in 2000 was reportedly the worst in more than 70 years. The official report compiled by the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) on 16 November 2000, put the death toll at 347 (80 percent of whom were children). Of the 750,618 families (3,448,629 individuals) affected by flooding, about 85,000 families (387,000 individuals) had to be temporarily evacuated. Furthermore, 317,975 houses were “damaged”, while 7,068 were “destroyed”. Based on this NCDM report, the Council of Ministers estimated total physical and direct damage at US$157 million, a sum nearly 30% of the development aid that the country receives in pledges that year. The flood of 2000 was more serious than previously recorded in Cambodia, when severe flooding in the country occurred in 1961, 1966, 1978, 1984, 1991, and 1996.

HISTORY OF DISASTERS IN CAMBODIA IFRC World Disaster Report: 2003 1983-1992 1993-2002 Total no. of people reported killed 100 1,123 Total no. of people reported affected 900,000 15, 456, 614

In 2001, the same vast numbers of areas were flooded such as those that were flooded in the previous year. The flood damage included-

• Victims affected: 429,698 families, equivalent to 2,121,952 people; • Affected population who had food shortage caused by flood: 192,284

families, equivalent to: 945,665 people.

It was estimated that the total direct damages of disasters in 2001 were US$36 million. Many of these affected areas where the same ones damaged by the 2000 flood.

32 There is no comprehensive standard hazard and vulnerability mapping in the country. Thus, analysis of situations are not systematically done, nor compared to a standard baseline. 33 Brown S, 2003,.Farming and Flooding in Takeo, Responses to External Pressures, CCK and OXFAM GB, Cambodia Development Review


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Impacts of Flood on Livelihood Security and Food Security and Potential CRC/CBDP activities for their mitigation

Recognizing the positive impacts of floods on Cambodian livelihood and food security 1. While flood events are typically considered in negative terms as potential disasters it is

very important to also highlight the positive and important role of flood events to livelihood security and food security of Cambodian rural people. Indeed, if it were possible to stop flood events from occurring in Cambodia entirely, the lack of annual floods would have many important negative impacts on livelihoods, and in fact, would represent a different type of disaster. Recognizing the fact that flood events have both positive as well as negative impacts highlights the key issue of improved water management.

2. The table below summarizes the positive impacts of flood events on Cambodian rural

livelihoods and food security: List of major positive impacts of floods on livelihoods and food security in Cambodia 1. Improves agricultural soil fertility through nutrient deposition increases crop

production. 2. Provides agricultural soil moisture for crop growth for a period after flooding. 3. Contributes to the recharge of groundwater aquifers. 4. Flooding is intrinsic to the ecology of Cambodian fisheries, both riverine and paddy-

field fisheries, and the diversity and amount of fisheries products available for food and income.

5. Flooding is intrinsic to the ecology of Cambodian and flooded forests, lowland floodplain forest and scrub areas and the diversity and amount of forest products available for food and income.

6. Flooding is intrinsic to the ecology of Cambodian agricultural commons areas of the floodplain and the diversity and amount of products available for food and income.

7. Contributes to recharge of existing surface water sources (e.g. ponds, lakes). 8. Represents a vast resource for increased surface water storage for agriculture, if

water management is improved and reservoirs or dams are constructed with due regard to ecology.

9. The successful improvement of flood water management at the community level has the potential to have important social benefits. These benefits include establishing new community institution and groups, and reinforcing confidence, trust and solidarity in communities34.

Putting the negative impacts of floods in a national perspective 3. The negative impacts of flood need to be placed in perspective. Floods impact only

some, not all, communities in Cambodia. Flood disaster impact statistics at the national level are presented in raw numbers rather than in proportion to relevant national statistics. As part of this study an analysis of the impacts of the 2000 floods, the worst in 70 years, in proportion to relevant national statistics, was undertaken by this consultant. The analysis itself is presented in Annex 4 and the outcome is presented here.

4. The analysis raises some challenges commonly accepted assessments of the extent to

which the 2000 floods, the worst in 70 years, did in fact have such “devastating” impacts at the national level. If we look at the flip side of the flood impact statistics in a national context we can see that 71% of people were not flood affected at all, and

34 This point from Andrew Oliver-Smith, review of an earlier draft of this paper.


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97% were not displaced, 70% of the rice crop area suffered no flood damage whatsoever, 85% was not destroyed, and the shortfall in national rice food needs was only 4% of national needs estimates. The economic loss of rice production surplus to food needs is not included as a flood impact here but does probably represent a large national economic loss. Meanwhile impacts such as the human death toll (while of course tragic for individual families involved), livestock deaths, and destruction of housing were negligible at the national level.

5. At the same time, the analysis does indicate the high level of impact among the 29% of

the population that were flood affected. By definition this sub-national population absorbed all of the impacts described. When the impacts are related to them only, we can observe that rice crop damage was probably almost universal, two thirds suffered the destruction of their rice crop, and one in ten people were displaced. These high levels of impact consistent with the findings of local assessments in flood affected villages in relation to the 2000 floods.

6. What this analysis indicates is that flood impacts are primarily sub-national and are

therefore uneven, and that impacts among the affected population can be severe and widespread. This emphasizes the importance of recognizing where and who is being impacted by floods in the Cambodian rural population. An analysis of these variations will be undertaken here using the village ecozone and vulnerable group tools described earlier in this report. This will be done after first looking at the general impacts of floods on livelihood security and food security and what CRC and the CBDP might do to mitigate these impacts.

7. The reported death toll from the 2000 floods was 347 people of whom 80% were

children. The same year around 40,000 Cambodian children died mostly from preventable diseases and malnutrition.

The negative impact of floods on livelihood security and food security

1. The negative impacts of flood on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security are explored in the following sections. Each section deals with a different aspect of livelihoods and food security, following the topic list of vulnerabilities to flood impacts presented earlier. Floods have negative impacts on the different components of livelihood systems such as people and their capabilities, assets, livelihood activities, shocks and coping strategies. These flood impacts on livelihoods affect household outcomes in terms of gains (or losses) of food, income and other basic needs achieved by households.

2. The task of CRC and CBDP is to support communities to mitigate the types of

negative impacts that we will be describing. Because there are a range of different negative impacts it is best to give specific recommendations on what CRC and CBDP might do to mitigate these impacts as we go along and in response to these identified negative impacts.

Negative impacts of floods on health and nutrition

1. Research on the negative impacts of floods on health in Cambodia is very limited. There are no accurate general statistics on changes in the prevalence of infectious diseases during floods primarily due to population’s lack of access to health services and a lack of effective disease surveillance35. However a study undertaken by CRED

35 Health, Nutrition and Mental Health: Floods 2002, CRED and NIPH


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and NIPH in relation to the 2000 flood reports infectious disease prevalence rates (including general rates of fever and illness) were 2.68 times higher in flooded areas compared to the non-flooded areas. Meanwhile CARE Cambodia also reported that 5 to 32% of affected families in 2000 were sick (diarrhea, respiratory infections, skin rashes, fever) due to the flood.36

2. While research is lacking in Cambodia, it can safely be assumed that floods will

increase the incidence of ill-health among children and adults in flood zones. This impact of floods is commonly recognized among development agencies37. One simple reason is the decline in access to sources of safe drinking water and water for sanitation during floods which will almost certainly increase the rate of diarrhea among children as well as adults.

3. For children we can link these affects to existing health vulnerabilities described

previously to get a better idea of overall flood impacts. Rates of diarrhea, other water-related diseases and acute respiratory infections are likely to increase among a population young children where one in five are already suffering diarrhea or acute respiratory infections in any two week period and where only 40% are fully immunized against common diseases. More generally, many children are already suffering from weakened immunity due to health and nutritional deficiencies.

4. A general health impact of flood is to substantially reduce or cut off access to

health care services and medicine sellers who are usually located outside the village. Even where linkages are not cut, transport costs (by boat) become more expensive. Sick children and adults are less likely to be treated by health staff and the availability of medicines is curtailed.

5. A less direct, but important impact on child health is the restrictions in mobility

that are imposed on women, and mothers in particular, by floods. Men tend to take over (more risky) transport and movement activities in flood conditions while women are more often confined to the home looking after children. So mothers are less able to get to the market to buy the foods and medicines that the children under their care need. There is also a major loss in child care support networks for mothers, as the usually common practice of moving children to the temporary care of friends or relatives now involves the risks of moving children through flood waters within the village38.

6. A particular concern is the impact of flood induced restrictions to health services

for those people with severe chronic illnesses such as TB or HIV/AIDS.

7. We can get a rough estimate of the number of people with HIV/AIDS that live in flood prone areas by taking the 29% of the population affected by flood in 2000 and applying it to the national estimates of HIV/AIDS prevalence. This would give an estimate of about 50,000 people with HIV/AIDS who are living in flood risk areas including about 3,500 children, increasing at 2.6% per year.

8. One issue is that a greater proportion of these illnesses will remain undiagnosed

during flood periods and therefore will remain untreated. A related issue for people with HIV/AIDS is that they need rapid and effective treatment of opportunistic infections to help prolong their lives. Flood clearly impedes the possibilities for such treatment.

36 Risk Mitigation and Disaster Management in Rural Communities of Cambodia, CARE 2001 37 The Sphere Project, 2004, Humanitarian Charter & Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, ICRC/OXFAM/coalition of many NGO’s, Geneva, p 56. 38 Oliver-Smith A, 2002, Flood Impact on Women and Girls, CARE/ OXFAM/DipECHO, Phnom Penh


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9. Another issue is that many TB and HIV/AIDS programmes are based on either the patient visiting the hospital or a health worker visiting the patient to ensure patients take their medicine and follow the treatment. This requirement can be on a monthly or even be on a daily basis. What happens to treatment for TB or HIV/AIDS in flood times when these patients cannot easily reach the hospital and outreach health workers cannot reach them? Is a store of medicine given for the flood period in flood risk zones under these programs or not?

10. An impact of floods worthy of investigation in the context of visit-based treatment

regimes for HIV/AIDS or TB is the questions of whether the programs are offered in flood zones and can patient join where home of hospital visit schedules may not maintained in the flood period? There is also a recognized need to extend TB and HIV/AIDS treatment programs. Currently only 15% of people with HIV/AIDS have access to treatment medication (ARV’s). How can such services be effectively extended in flood zones?

11. Floods are also likely to impact health in terms of increasing emotional stress

among flood affected households according to some findings. Floods can be frightening events and induce increased uncertainty. They threaten personal safety through the risk of collapsed or inundated housing and increased risk of necessary movement in flood waters.

12. An interesting study by CARE explored the impacts of flood on women and girls and

includes examples of how their stress levels are affected by flood39. Their level of stress was typically increased and some acknowledged this increased stress affected their ability to take care of young children. A contradictory result is found in CRED’s more clinically rigorous study of the impacts of floods on mental health status which found that “floods did not impact the mental health of the adult population of the province (Kampong Cham)”. However this study seems to have focused more on impacts on the flood effects on prevalence of symptoms of clinical psychiatric disorders (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression and anxiety requiring clinical treatment).

13. Floods are likely to negatively impact the nutrition of many households for the

several reasons associated with declining access to food and which are identified in many studies of flood impacts. Once again, there is a lack of routine accurate general statistics and research and analysis on the issue of impacts of flood on nutrition status. The above CRED study researches, but does not support, the linkage between floods and negative impacts on nutritional status. However the results may not be applicable generally due to characteristics of the study40. UNICEF should be consulted on this issue, given the lack of research.

14. We can examine the likely negative impacts of floods on the nutrition of households

as identified in most studies by looking at the changes to the three components of food security (food availability, food access and food utilization) that occur as impacts of floods.

39 Oliver-Smith/CARE (2002) 40 The 2001 CRED study concluded that the 2000 and 2001 floods “did not negatively impact the health status of the general population of Kampong Cham” including children. This is and interesting study and the approach to study of this topic was rigorous. However their flood zone village sampling appears to be mostly of Chamcar villages on the riverbanks (15 of 24 flood zone villages according to their sample site map) rather than the villages in the lowland flood plain zone. This may explain their conclusion that negative flood impacts on nutrition were not found due to adaptive flood coping strategies and flood benefits to irrigation. They also identified a high availability of food aid. These characteristics may well mean that the findings are not valid as a general finding on the relationship between flood and nutrition status in Cambodia.


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15. Food availability to households becomes more limited in a number of ways. Submergence of agricultural land for up to two months can potentially destroy or damage rice crops (depending on depth and duration of flooding) and gardens providing a source of fresh vegetables, vitamins and minerals and are submerged. Also forest and scrub areas containing wild foods, livestock fodder, fuel wood for cooking and products for sale are submerged or mobility to access areas of scrub and forest that are not submerged is greatly limited. The ability of most rural people to catch fish is reduced by the lower density of fish in flood waters, and the necessity to have boats and nets which many rural people do not own and do not need to fish out of flood season.

16. The impacts of floods on food access, (mainly through buying food) is a very

important aspect of flood impacts on overall food security. Many rural households have already consumed the rice that they have been able to store from last harvest by the August to October flood season and are dependent on buying rice to eat. During floods they cannot easily access forest foods or fisheries to further supplement their diets. If they want to consume vegetables and fish many will have to buy most of these foods that they want to eat for a balanced diet. Meanwhile access to markets where these foods are sold, mainly outside the village, is reduced or cut off by flood waters.

17. Households with sufficient cash savings will buy these foods to store but only small

stores can be made where little cash savings are available. Small stores mean that more money has to be spent in more frequent trips to buy food to be stored and less food can therefore be bought with available cash.

18. While food expenditures go up during floods, it is probably typical that household

incomes that provide the cash to buy food decrease during floods. Further, access to cash or in-kind credit declines and credit rates tend to go up. Households in flooded areas are therefore temporarily caught between rising expenditures and declining incomes to meet food and other needs during floods. This may be partly offset by household members who have migrated out of the village and the flood zone and have gained employment, or claims on relatives outside the flood zone for assistance.

19. Floods are also likely to negatively impact food utilization by households. Where

foods have to be bought and where cash available to buy food is limited it is very likely that many households will reduce food consumption in terms of both the quantity and diversity of foods consumed to conserve food stores and to save expenditure (this risky coping strategy is known as stinting). This can reduce the dietary intake of children in these households. One study found that in most households the pattern of stinting was that the mother and female care givers would stint first, followed later by adult males (particularly where they were doing energy demanding tasks)and that children were often the last to be stinted41.

20. To recap the vulnerability context of flood impacts reducing food security among

children: 15% of young children are already suffering from acute malnutrition, 45% are already suffering from chronic malnutrition and the majority of these children are already suffering vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

41 Oliver-Smith/CARE, 2002.


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Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of flood impacts on health and nutrition

1. The disaster management planning process should include developing a component health and nutrition mitigation sub-plan, which involves considering specific measures to mitigate flood impacts on health and nutrition in all community disaster mitigation plans.

2. The primary target group of these health and nutrition disaster mitigation plans

should be children aged under five years, pregnant and nursing mothers and those with severe chronic illnesses.

3. The health component of the disaster mitigation plans can be considered as the

package of measures aiming to increase the resilience of people’s health in the face of flood impacts.

4. CRC and the CBDP have the potential to make very important contributions in this

area of disaster management, given their extensive network of village volunteers, their experience in community level mobilization and their membership of First Aid Volunteers.

5. First Aid training is an existing CRC activity that will mitigate the impact of flood on

health. In flood prone areas, particular emphasis should be placed on treating diarrhea and acute respiratory infections in young children.

6. An important assistance to First Aiders would be to have supplies of Oral

Rehydration Salts (ORS) and basic medical supplies to treat ARI stocked in the village before flood onset to treat sick children during the flood and flood water recession periods. ORS supplies may be available free or at low cost from UNICEF if agreement were reached with them and they can also be consulted on ARI medical supplies and costs.

7. First aiders (or otherwise CRC village volunteers with basic training) could also train

mothers on hygiene and sanitation, drinking water treatment and management of diarrhea and ARI in the home if resources were available.

8. Training for First Aiders in flood zones could include added modules related to

water safety for movement in flood conditions, safe boat transport handling, flood rescue and possibly basic swimming lessons. Particular attention should be paid to increasing water safety skills and swimming skills of women in a way suitable for them and using women trainers.

9. Village volunteers in flood zones should, in conjunction with local health

authorities, aim to have the full vaccination of young children in the village completed each year prior to the flood season.

10. Village volunteers in flood zones should, in conjunction with local health authorities

and UNICEF, aim to have all children aged under five years and all pregnant and nursing mothers receive high dose Vitamin A, Iron and Iodine supplements each year prior to the flood season. Further advice on micro-nutrient supplements and possibilities for cooperation in providing them should be sought from UNICEF.

11. The merits and possibilities of storing a supply of nutritional supplements in the

village prior to flood should be explored to supplement flood diets of young children. Such stores could include multivitamins, fortified cooking oil, high protein biscuits or iodized salt.


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12. A related or alternative set of disaster mitigation activities related to child health would be to improve mother’s knowledge and practices in providing the dietary needs of children during floods. This might include increasing knowledge of child nutrition needs, emphasizing the role of breast feeding for infants, or ways and means to better store or access foods of different types necessary for a balanced diet.

13. There seems a clear need to further explore the possibilities for child care support

or child care groups for mothers caring for children in flood conditions.

14. Disaster mitigation plans should consider how to best to maintain access to health services and medicines for the chronically and severely sick, including those with HIV/AIDS, TB and other serious conditions (specific medical conditions need not be specified to preserve privacy). These measures could including advocating with health providers for the provision of stocks of essential medicines to patients to cover the flood and recession periods, examining possibilities to increase service availability in the village, flood transport services, or temporary pre-flood relocation and shelter for vulnerable people to locations with health facilities available during floods.

15. CBDP should seek the advice and seek means of collaboration with CRC’s own

HIV/AIDS project concerning flood mitigation for people living with HIV/AIDS in flood zones.

16. Having access to safe water during flood and the recession period is a recognized as

a very important means to mitigate health impacts of floods. The CBDP has already implemented micro-projects to provide safe water sources which will provide safe water during floods. Every flood prone village needs access to safe water during floods and during the flood recession period to mitigate flood health and sanitation impacts.

17. The provision of these safe water sources should really be an infrastructure micro-

project that should be undertaken automatically in any flood prone village which lacks a safe water source, rather than as an option among a range of other types of micro-projects. It should be noted that the current HVCA does not include questions on the availability and adequacy of safe water sources in the village, and the availability of safe water during floods.

18. There are also implications for the mitigation of flood impacts on health and

nutrition for CRC flood relief rations. The normal type of CRC food assistance for flood relief consist mainly or exclusively of rice. The actual rations depend on donor contributions. Rice is an important food but consideration also needs to be given to including nutrition supplements along with rice rations, possibly including fortified cooking oil (including important vitamins and minerals), and/or high protein supplements. Where these supplements are not offered by donors CRC should advocate for their inclusion by donors. Where this is not possible it is worth considering using a proportion of the rice ration to exchange for these nutrition supplements prior to distribution so that they are included in the ration received by flood victims. Advice should be sought here from agencies with expertise in this area such as ICRC, WFP and UNICEF as to the optimum ration mix for flood victims.

19. There are also a range of micro-projects at the village level that could be explored

to increase the availability of foods for improved nutrition in the village during floods and in the flood recession period. These micro-projects are discussed below on the section on potential agricultural activities for CRC/CBDP.


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20. Shortages in fuel wood or charcoal restrict people’s ability to cook foods and to treat flood water for drinking. There are a range of micro-projects at the village level that could be explored to increase the availability of fuel wood during floods. These micro-projects for CRC/CBDP are discussed below on the section on mitigating restrictions on access to Common Property Resources where fuel wood is gathered.

Negative impacts of floods related to education, knowledge and skills

1. The impacts of flood events on livelihoods and food security are mediated through the education, knowledge and skills that rural people apply to prepare for, endure and respond to floods through household decision-making and actions. The capacity of Cambodian rural households to evaluate choices and to make decisions and responses is hampered by the high prevalence of a lack of basic education and illiteracy.

1. Rural people suffering a lack of basic education and illiteracy in dealing with flood

risks are more likely to suffer from late or insufficient knowledge of flood risks, less certain information on flood characteristics such as likely onset depth and duration, and to have less information and less choices upon which to decide on post flood coping strategies, making these responses more risky.

2. Specifically for adults, floods impose the need for specific technical knowledge and

skills in many areas to maintain livelihoods in flood conditions. Examples here include; knowledge and skills in crop water management, knowledge and skills in cropping outside the flood season, and livestock husbandry in flood conditions.

3. A particular direct impact of floods on education for young people in flood zones is

that school attendance can often be curtailed or schools can be closed for up to two months in the flood season. This is loss of opportunity of schooling of up to two months per year is a serious loss for students, and this loss is experienced only by students and teachers in the flood zones.

4. Many other types of flood impacts discussed elsewhere in this section have an

underlying dimension related to education, knowledge and skills. This dimension of flood impacts should always be recognized. Disaster mitigation activities directed at improving education, knowledge and skills can be very useful indeed to support rural people cope with floods.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of a lack of education, knowledge and skills

1. In general CRC/CBDP support for literacy training and adult education can be considered as important flood mitigation activities. CRC/CBDP should advocate for access to literacy training in flood zones, especially for women and girls. They should also advocate for adult education and training services to help build up skills in coping with floods.

2. Many existing CRC/CBDP activities and micro-projects already involve elements

related to building knowledge and skills. Examples include first aid training, increasing awareness of the Seven Principals of the Red Cross, disaster management planning itself. An extension of these activities would be to think about needs and specific micro-projects based on disaster mitigation mainly through increasing knowledge and skills. Some examples have already been given in the preceding section on mitigating health impacts through better knowledge and skills.


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3. A simple idea to help think about opportunities for such projects is this. When CBDP or CRC staff are engaged in discussions with communities on a subject related to floods and receive a response from rural people that they “don’t know” (ot doeung) or “cannot do” (ot jeh) they have just pointed you to an area of their knowledge and skills that could potentially be improved through a knowledge and skills based micro-project.

4. CRC/CBDP should consider literacy and skills training micro-projects as a means of

disaster mitigation. It is recognized that adult literacy and skills training works best when linked to learning about specific, concrete issues that are important to rural people. There is the potential for organizing literacy and skills training activities around issues of mitigating flood impacts.

5. Concerning the impact of lost school time for students in flood zones there are a

number of things that CRC/CBDP could do to mitigate these flood impacts. On thing to do is to highlight and explore the problem further and think about how to address it with rural communities. A second thing is to advocate for the need for equitable school time for children in flood zones compared to other rural children. A third activity would be to examine the schools themselves and access paths to them to try to improve access during floods through infrastructure improvements. A fourth activity would be to explore possibilities of children doing more school hours per day out of flood season to compensate for lost time during floods. A final issue to explore is how to improve home based learning possibilities for children during the floods.

Negative impacts of floods on information needs for livelihood

1. As discussed under the section on increased vulnerability to flood because of a lack of information services, Cambodian rural people suffer from a general across the board lack of formal early warning, information, and forecasting services. These include information services related to disaster risks and hazards, disaster patterns, agriculture, the economy, markets and employment. In particular, it seems that the mass media (especially radio and TV) carry very little information of this kind.

2. A characteristic of flood onset then is that people in flood villages become more

cut-off from information they need to make decisions and the quality of information they received probably declines. This results from a combination of impacts of flood on informal information channels (as described), decreased or often no access to villages for government staff charged with disseminating information, and the lack of mass media based information services. Meanwhile many people in flooded villages will often tune in to radio broadcasts as a source of entertainment and general news of the outside world.

3. With this lack of information decision-making by households and communities to

mitigate, cope with and respond to flood impacts becomes more difficult, and coping strategies become more risky. For example people might store not enough or too much food, may borrow not enough or too much money, may evacuate when not necessary or evacuate too late, may get caught unprepared by early flood onset, late flood recession or higher than expected water levels, may change or not change cropping activities and suffer greater crop damage, may sell their products at lower than prevailing market prices, or may migrate in search of work but not gain employment.


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Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of a lack of flood and related information services for livelihoods

1. CRC and CBDP should advocate for and support action to improve the regular and timely flow of good quality information to rural people in flood zones via the mass media, especially by radio and TV.

2. A partner for these activities should be the NCDM. This information should concern

flood risks and events and other information to support household decision making to cope with flood. Disaster mitigation is achieved here by better awareness of flood risks and flood events and better information upon which to decide coping strategies for flood impacts.

3. A priority activity with NCDM is explore the possibility of having the MRC Flood

forecasting data and Flood Warnings for the different monitoring stations in Cambodia reported regularly by public radio services, TV, and newspapers during the flood risk season. These services should include an educational component that will assist rural people interpret the results.

4. CRC is already directly seeking to improve the flow of flood related disaster

preparedness information to communities at risk of flood through the development of a flood Early Warning System. This service is useful and important, collating flood early warning information and disseminating it through a network of disaster management committees down to village level. Activities have included resourcing and training at the central and community levels and the distribution of 100 VHF two-way radio handsets to flood prone communities. The current focus of the Early Warning system is short term flood early warning. Consideration is being given for future expansion of the functions of the early warning system to cover drought events.

5. Currently the CRC Early Warning System does not disseminate information through

mass media channels including radio. This important possibility should be explored as a part of the ongoing development of the system.

6. CBDP is also engaged in a pilot project in villages whereby CRC volunteers monitor

and report water levels daily from their sites and this information is then passed to MRC for evaluation and local forecasting. This is a very useful activity to increase information and awareness at the village level, but would benefit from linking up with the MRC Flood Warning results for the nearest flood water monitoring station.

7. A longer term task is to identify other sources of useful information that might help

people to cope with flood that are in existence but currently disseminate through bureaucratic channels or mass media channels largely inaccessible to rural people in flood risk villages, such as the internet. Examples of information sources within Cambodia include National Institute of Statistics (NIS) monthly price information data (including food and fuel price trends) used for the compilation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and agricultural production data, and agricultural product sale price trends from the department of Agricultural statistics in MAFF or its partner organizations such as CAAEP and AQIP. A search should also include looking for any monitoring data on labor markets.

8. A related task is to engage in dialogue with mass media organizations servicing rural

people about how radio, TV and newspapers could carry regular reports of disaster related information, and how gaps in existing information might be filled. Two initial points of contact would be the innovative Women’s Media Centre and the Khmer Journalists Association. If such reporting is feasible, CRC is in a powerful


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position to lobby information providers and the mass media organizations to establish these information services as an important social service.

Negative impacts of floods on agricultural land and livestock assets and activities Agriculture

1. Floods submerge land and render unusable agricultural land for crop production other than rice production for a part of the only agricultural growing season for most households, the wet season. Floods risks also prevent the use of substantial low lying land areas for agriculture in some communities. Flash floods can also lead to localized erosion of agricultural land. These impacts reduce the ability of households to use agricultural land assets to produce their own food and income.

2. River bank erosion involves not only the loss of the agricultural potential of land

lost but also the loss of legal title. Riverbank agricultural land is extremely valuable (flood deposition of nutrients and easy access to water for irrigation etc,..) If people lose this they are not usually in a position to buy a new stretch of riverbank (already owned & expensive). They often have to resort to less fertile land further away from water sources and usually uncleared land. The clearing of land compounds future flood problems - by increasing water flow and decreasing protection around the villages’ Valuable habitat for CPR resources are removed42.

3. Submergence will also damage or destroy rice crops if depths and duration exceed

the tolerance of rice plants in the process of growth. A primary impact of flood, in the lowland flood zone, is to reduce or eliminate most households own supply of the staple food rice and to restrict the range of crops grown in the wet season mainly to rice crops using current cropping practices.

4. The impacts of floods on rice and other crops are likely to be far less in Mekong

riverside villages who do not cultivate crops in the main flood risk season, which is the practice in the lowland flood zone villages. Rather, in Mekong riverside villages cropping patterns are based on two flood shoulder seasons each year (pre-flood and post-flood crops) and the types of crop grown are different, either short duration flood recession rice crops or a range of non-rice crops with a smaller proportion of short duration rice in riverside Chamcar systems.

Livestock

1. Floods impact livestock by reducing the availability of livestock feed and thus increasing the stress on animals and their vulnerability to diseases and mortality.

2. There are likely to be negative flood impacts in terms of increases in livestock

diseases although information limited. Particular risks face cattle herded together in cramped conditions and their increased exposure to Hemorrhagic Septicemia and Black Leg fever in flood conditions.

3. The deterioration of livestock condition in flood periods, particularly cattle, means

that their value if they need to be sold is decreased substantially. Market prices for cattle are further depressed in the flood and recovery season as many head are sold to meet cash needs at that time. If cattle are kept rather than sold, extra cash

42 Andrew Oliver-Smith, from comments on an earlier draft of this paper.


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investments in feed and medicine are necessary to get them up to strength for plowing after the floods43.

4. A small proportion of livestock are directly killed by drowning in every flood.

5. The risk of flood affects what livestock can be raised and in what season by households, limiting the benefits of livestock assets to households.

6. The major impact of floods on livestock is to restrict and reduce livestock asset

holdings, and negatively impact the health and condition of the livestock asset base. In turn, this limits the income households can generate from livestock, and the amount of cash they have to buy food and other basic needs.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of flood impacts on agricultural land and livestock assets and activities Agriculture

1. Flood submergence of agricultural land can be mitigated though infrastructure works for improved water control. CBDP has already undertaken micro-projects to improve water control infrastructure and these are useful activities.

2. At the same time, there seems a strong tendency in villages (and possibly among

disaster mitigation staff) to consider improving agricultural production and mitigating flood impacts on agriculture solely in terms of improving water control infrastructure to support existing cropping patterns (mainly rice) and existing methods of crop cultivation (standard practices in use for growing a rice crop). Less consideration seems to be given to changing cropping patterns (including potential for crops other than rice) or changing existing rice production practices and technologies as a means to increase agricultural production and to mitigate flood impacts.

3. There are several agencies active in Cambodia which have expertise in the area of

improved cropping patterns, practices and technologies44. As a first line activity in village flood mitigation planning the CBDP should explore the possibilities of enlisting the participation of provincial agricultural extension services as a resource for village level disaster planning related to agriculture. They can offer counsel and provide a link in determining how to bring innovations in agriculture to mitigate flood impacts.

4. It may possible to increase the availability of vegetables for balanced diets during

floods through a range of measures that might include cultivating raised garden beds, cultivation of various climbing, trellis or tuber species in raised soil pots, mushrooms, herbs or spices, or cultivation of aquatic plants such as water convolvulus (trakoun). Advice on these sorts of activities could be sought from agricultural extension agencies, Helen Keller and other NGO’s. They could provide

43 Andrew Oliver-Smith, from comments on an earlier draft of this paper. 44 See the new database of organisations involved in agriculture activities in Cambodia at www.foodsecurity.gov.kh.. Among government and support agencies this includes the Ministry of Agriculture Forests and Fisheries and its support agencies including the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), The Cambodian Australia Agriculture Extension Project (CAAEP) the Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project (AQIP) and FAO. Among NGOs innovative work has been undertaken in agriculture projects run by GRET and its affiliate Centre d'étude et de développement agricole cambodgien (CEDAC), GTZ, PRASAC and others.


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an important source of food and vitamins; reduce the need to stint on their consumption and save expenditure on these foods in flood periods45.

5. A very important constraint to annual crop diversification during flood periods is

identified as follows; “rice is one of the few crops that can withstand submerged conditions and can even survive complete flooding for a short time. Group discussions with farmers confirmed this point. They completely rejected the idea of growing crops other than rice… Hence although not impossible, the potential to diversify crop production with increased yields should be viewed more realistically”46.

6. However, a further area for attention is the possibilities of planting other quick

growth field crops to take advantage of flood recession water availability in rice fields and other agricultural lands and gardens in the lowland flood plains zone. Much could be learned from existing practices of this sort in Mekong riverside Chamcar villages as well as from institutions with technical expertise in this area.

7. A much ignored area of agricultural production is the cultivation of agricultural tree

crops for food and income. Many tree species are flood tolerant and can provide a relatively flood proof source of food and income from agriculture for households. Obvious examples are the range of agricultural tree species already found growing in the flood zone. They are also a potential alternative source to CPR forest and scrub areas for livestock fodder and fuel wood. Assessing the potential role of agricultural tree crops, or more broadly agro-forestry systems, in mitigating flood impacts deserves further research.

8. Another possibility to increase the availability of foods during flood is to improve

food processing, preservation and storage methods. Examples here include drying mango, banana or coconut, or drying, smoking or salting fish, shrimps or meat. These are already practiced to some extent, but knowledge and practices vary among villages. Prahok and palm sugar production are two further existing examples of food preservation and storage activities.

Livestock

1. Activities to mitigate flood impacts on livestock seem to have received less attention than is the case for crop agriculture. However, several useful kinds of micro-projects could be undertaken in this area.

2. To address livestock health, projects could be considered in the areas of: livestock

inoculation programs; training in livestock health in flood conditions; or improving availability of livestock medicines within the village for likely livestock diseases.

3. Activities to address the shortage of livestock feed could be considered in the areas

of: establishment and management of community livestock safety and feed areas for flood periods; Increasing flood period feed availability through the cultivation of fodder trees or pasture improvement in flood refuge areas; provision of food supplement concentrates for livestock during the flood season (e.g. salt lick blocks); or training in livestock nutrition in flood conditions.

45 An indication of the costs of providing garden seed is the experience of a joint Australian Volunteers International- WFP project in Siem Reap a few years ago. This project was able to provide several thousand households with seed for around six plant species useful for food (or income) for a cost of $2.50 per household. Garden training was included with seed distribution. 46 Antofer J., 2004, Potential of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in Cambodia, GTZ, Phnom Penh.


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4. Government livestock extension staff, and organizations involved in the livestock

sector should be consulted for further advice on drought mitigation activities for livestock health and nutrition47. The NGO Veterinarians Sans Frontiers has considerable experience in establishing networks of village livestock health volunteers in some provinces of Cambodia. They could provide advice on improving livestock health services at the village level.

5. Aquaculture activities have the potential to increase protein availability during

floods. Raising fish fingerlings, shrimp or frogs in floating tethered cages are one possibility worth exploring along with other forms of aquaculture. There are government agencies (MAFF Department of Fisheries) and organizations (CEDAC,AFSC,CRS,ADRC,CARE) with expertise in aquaculture present in Cambodia. Further gains from aquaculture activities could be made where ponds are available for stocking in the flood recession season.

Negative impacts of floods on access to Common Property Resources

1. Regardless of the pre-flood status of local CPR land resources such as forest, scrub and agricultural commons areas, floods further restrict access to CPR land resources in two ways: i) submergence of CPR resources and ii) less mobility to access CPR resources.

2. Submergence of CPR land resources is most likely to affect those CPRs from

agricultural commons areas (small patches of scrub and forests around farm lands and villages). Larger areas of CPR land resources such as extensive forest or scrub areas are often (not always) found in hill areas above the flood water level. The major impact of flood on access to CPR resources in these extensive forest and scrublands is by limiting access through restrictions on mobility.

3. Access to CPR products negatively impacted by flood include wild foods, firewood,

livestock feed and products that can be sold for income. This means floods directly decrease food and basic resource availability from these sources and also the generation of income from CPR products used to buy food and other basic needs.

4. Access to fisheries is also negatively impacted by floods. This is for two reasons i)

the decreased density of fish in flood waters and ii) the need to have a boat and fishing equipment to have a likelihood of having a reasonable fish catch. Other aquatic food and products such as shrimps, crabs or aquatic plants become mostly inaccessible in flood periods.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of flood impacts on access to Common Property Resources

1. The productivity of available CPR land resources can be increased by more active management. Activities in common areas around village and farmlands could include planting bamboo, grasses, fruit, fodder or fuel wood trees or other useful wild plants. These common areas include existing scrub areas, bare land, stream or pond banks, or road shoulders. While not always directly overcoming the problems of submergence and restricted access during flood periods, the supply of food and other products from local CPR agricultural commons resources are increased for the pre-flood and post flood periods. Planning, establishment and maintenance of such

47 See the new database of organisations involved in livestock activities in Cambodia at www.foodsecurity.gov.kh.


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common planted areas could be organized by CRC volunteers as a worthwhile village community activity.

2. The same idea of increasing CPR productivity through more active management can

be applied to CPR resources in larger forest and scrub areas used by local communities, if they have them. The potential of increasing the productivity of these areas for food, fodder, fuel wood and products for sale should be assessed. There might well be possibilities for worthwhile village community projects organized by CRC volunteers in activities such as planting trees, bamboo or other food plants in these areas.

3. A more comprehensive approach to developing CPR forest and scrub areas would be

to examine the potential of community forestry projects in flood prone villages. Organizations such as the NGO CONCERN and the Cambodia-Germany Forestry Project (CGFP) have expertise in this area.

4. Another idea to examine is to try to substitute agricultural production of the

various food types currently sourced from CPR wild plants. Some suggestions have already been made in this area in the above discussion of agriculture.

5. To mitigate the negative impacts of floods on the availability of wild fish it is

important to recognize and examine the possibilities of aquaculture in flood prone communities. Possibilities for aquaculture have been raised in the preceding discussion and the section on agriculture and livestock.

6. A second important issue for wild fish availability is improved fisheries management

from the local to the national level. In terms of paddy field fisheries, a particular issue is the conservation and improved management of paddy fish refuge habitats48.

7. Shortages in fuel wood or charcoal restrict people’s ability to cook foods and to

treat flood water for drinking. Disaster mitigation plans should examine how to ensure an adequate supply of cooking fuel of the flood period, especially among vulnerable households who may lack labor to gather and store sufficient fuel before the flood.

8. Short term solutions to fuel wood shortages may include providing vulnerable

households with cooking fuel through something like a one day volunteer “working bee” where volunteers collect fuel wood for them before the flood, or collections of contributions of firewood for these households, or distribution of bought sacks of charcoal from community contributions. Another solution to explore is the use of fuel-efficient stoves to cut fuel consumption in flood prone villages. These stoves have already been developed by some organizations in Cambodia (PRASAC, GTZ). Longer term solutions could include planting of trees and shrubs for fuel wood harvest in the village. It should be noted that the availability of fuel wood during floods is not covered in the existing HVCA.

9. A final area to mitigate the impact of floods on CPR resource availability is in the

area of livestock feed. Possible methods of increasing livestock feed availability have already been discussed in the above section on livestock.

48 Gum (2000).


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Negative impacts of floods on household domestic and community assets

1. Flood waters can destroy, damage or render unusable household domestic assets used for livelihood. Housing is sometimes destroyed, more often damaged or submerged, depriving people of shelter. Sources of drinking water including water jars, safe water sources become unusable. Transport assets, mainly bicycles and oxcarts cannot be used and people can no longer walk, losing their main means of mobility. Few households, particularly those in the lowland flood plains own boats of any kind.

2. At the village level community road assets become unusable and are frequently

damaged by flood waters. Schools where present are closed and sometimes inundated and damaged. Existing water control infrastructure, where it exists, also often suffers from flood damage and safe water sources are submerged.

3. Road infrastructure linking villages to centers with markets and social services they

need cease to function due to submergence in floods and are often damaged or cut by flood waters. In situations where drainage backup along road lines threatens crops, villagers will physically cut road themselves to release flood waters. In the past this has included the cutting of district and provincial level main roads. On secondary roads and village link roads repairs can be delayed for months or even years after the floods subside.

4. Flood events through transforming viable transport systems and mobility from road

and land to water based transport cause an almost universal and severe decline in mobility for rural people, where mobility is required to meet basic needs. They cannot go to fetch clean water, cannot go to collect fire wood or wild foods. It becomes far more difficult to move to reach needed health and medical services and markets. Movement becomes more expensive as boat fares must be paid.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of flood impacts on household domestic and community assets

1. The impact of floods on community level infrastructure is well recognized and many government and non-government agencies (including CBDP) are active in repair and improvement of village and local link roads, schools, water control infrastructure and the provision of safe water sources to address these impacts as well as general poverty alleviation. These are important activities but they occur in a context where the existing stock of such community assets is low or non-existent. Floods tend to set back progress, by imposing the repeated need for repair of existing infrastructure.

2. There are areas for improvement for these infrastructure projects in flood prone

areas. Essentially the task is to improve design for the usability of such infrastructure, and resistance to damage, in flood conditions. Examples here include better design of roads, culverts and bridges for flood conditions, designing safe water sources such as wells to be able to supply water in flood conditions, and considering flood proofing measures for school construction. CBDP among others has undertaken a number of projects to modify wells to provide safe water during floods, a very useful activity.

3. In terms of negative impacts on household assets a number of NGO’s have assisted

people with rebuilding and repairing housing, have increased household boat ownership, and have provided basic household equipment to flood victims. Some


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innovative activities for flood mitigation have included the raising of housing foundations to reduce risk of submergence by CBDP and the training of local housing construction people by skilled tradesmen in how to build more flood resistant housing by OXFAM49.

Negative impacts of floods on other income generation activities and coping strategies

1. An important general issue related to income generation activities in the flood season is that the flood period is traditionally viewed in some areas along the Mekong-Tonle Sap as a quite period characterized by few livelihood opportunities. In some areas the flood period might be a period of a month or two, but in others (e.g. parts of Takeo) this period could be as long as 5-6 months50. This traditional view was probably formed in earlier times when population densities were lower and forest, fisheries and agricultural land were more abundant for those living in these areas. It is becoming an increasingly unrealistic view as populations are increasing, access to resources is declining and pressures on rural livelihood systems in these areas are increasing.

2. In the above discussion livelihood activities related to agriculture, livestock and

CPR have already been described. Here the impacts on other important livelihood activities including wage labor, business micro-enterprise, claims and coping strategies are discussed.

3. Casual wage labor and business micro-enterprises are important sources of income

to enable households to buy food and other basic needs. The impact of floods is to reduce income from these sources through the disruption in the operation of labor and product markets.

4. Many of these impacts on wage labor and micro-enterprise extend into the flood

recession period as previously flooded villages remain isolated from markets by muddy conditions and damaged road infrastructure.

5. Flood impacts on casual wage labor employment: Local opportunities within the

village and its local area are usually limited but virtually cease with the temporary suspension of agriculture and construction activities during flood periods. Most casual wage labor depends on access to labor markets outside the village, even in non-flood periods. Casual wage labor can be undertaken as a normal household activity or as a coping strategy for flood impacts. In either case, access to such employment is constrained by flood imposed limitations in mobility. Seeking wage labor outside the village becomes more difficult as it involves increased transport and accommodation expenditure resulting from flood conditions. Workers have to go further away and remain away for a longer period to save enough to return home. These impacts generally affect men more than women as they tend to undertake a larger share of casual wage labor.

6. Flood impacts on business micro-enterprises: For enterprises based on trade

activities access to markets to buy and sell products is reduced or cut off. For enterprises based on agro-processing raw material supply inputs are constrained or cut off and it becomes more difficult or even impossible to get processed products to market. Enterprises based on services suffer from a lack of customers and passing trade. All businesses suffer from having access to fewer customers, and

49 OXFAM, 2004, Cambodia PIR for 2004: An Evaluation of the impacts of interventions designed to reduce food insecurity, 50 Andrew Oliver-Smith, from comments on an earlier draft of this paper.


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conservative spending habits adopted to cope with flood. It is likely that many micro-enterprise activities have to be suspended during floods. These impacts particularly affect women’s economic opportunities as they undertake a large share of these activities.

7. Flood impacts on claims and social relations: The impacts of floods mean that

many rural households will seek to make claims and gain assistance from relatives, other community members, government agencies and humanitarian institutions. They may (or may not) gain assistance according to the capacity and willingness of relatives and community members to give assistance or according to beneficiary targeting policies of institutions. Even when assistance is forthcoming, the scope and amount of this assistance is typically limited, and is insufficient alone to redeem the extent of loss. For example a household suffering total rice crop loss from flood damage is not provided assistance that is the equivalent of the amount of rice lost, or enough rice to meet minimum rice needs for the household for the year. Where floods severely damage or destroy the entire rice crop food supply for the year, a typical household needs a minimum of around 750 kg of rice per year, and flood relief aid may be 25-50 kg. of rice per family.

8. Household coping strategies and flood impacts: As mentioned in the earlier

discussion on vulnerability households often encounter flood events while already trying to cope with multiple other shocks and stresses such as family illness or low incomes. The overall impact of floods on household coping strategies is increase reliance for livelihood needs on more risky coping strategies51.

9. All households will try to avoid more risky coping strategies by first employing

adaptive coping strategies to try to meet needs arising from floods such as spending saved cash or gold, reducing non essential consumption, or reallocating labor. However, these adaptive coping strategies are often not enough to meet basic needs unless the household is in the wealthy minority. Resources for these coping strategies simply run out for many households before recovery from flood impacts.

10. More risky coping strategies must then be adopted. A likely very common response

is to “stint” on food consumption of family members to varying extents to save expenditure. Risky strategies for the poor include depending more on uncertain and hard-earned supplies of wild foods. Risky strategies for the medium poor often include borrowing cash from money lenders. It seems common that many households send members in search of casual wage employment outside the village. This can produce much needed cash income but also involves inherent risks of spending money and failing to get employment or acceptance of dangerous or underpaid work.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of flood impacts on other income generation activities and coping strategies

1. The key is to have projects that will increase household incomes in flood affected communities through increased employment opportunities.

2. One key need is to increase household incomes and employment within flood prone

villages before, during and after floods. A number of suggestions have already been made in relation to agricultural and CPR based sources of income.

51 For example see CARE, 2002, Food Security Assessment Report.


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3. Common project interventions to address this need are various types of Food for Work or Cash for Work Schemes. These are useful short-term measures, especially when the projects aim to decrease vulnerabilities and increase food security through undertaking public works as well as providing short-term employment. These schemes are also limited in their impacts due to limits to available resources, geographical targeting criteria, broad participation of all wealth groups in such activities and difficulties for some vulnerable groups in benefiting equitably from work generally based on heavy earthmoving activities.

4. The more fundamental task to be tackled here is to support the creation of more

long-term aid independent employment opportunities in village economies. There is room for consideration of disaster mitigation projects on the basis of their potential to create increased longer term aid independent employment opportunities in flood-prone villages. Opportunities in this area can be identified and assessed with villagers during the disaster mitigation planning process.

5. A second need to increase employment opportunities is to improve linkages to

labor and product markets outside the village. Activities than improve transport networks during flood and in the flood recession periods will mitigate negative flood impacts on wage labor and business micro-enterprise. In particular, the presence of a road infrastructure that remains usable during floods is an important mitigation measure. CBDP has undertaken road improvement micro-projects in the past but has encountered problems with implementation. CBDP can help by including road infrastructure needs in community disaster planning, and can contribute funding, although it can be argued that these road micro-projects ought to be implemented by the Commune Councils, and their construction partners, not by CBDP itself.

6. Where road improvements are not possible the issue of improving boat transport

networks needs to be examined. CBDP has made a start in this area in terms of some micro-projects constructing evacuation boats and providing associated boat handling training for community use. Other possibilities exist to improve boat transport networks. Assisting households to build, own and safely operate their own boats can be useful for local transport. One other idea would be to contract private sector commercial boat operators to provide transport services to a village for the flood period based on agreed type and frequency of service and funded by CBDP and community contributions. A possibly severe limitation here is that prices for boat transport are raised considerably by boat owners in flood periods and they would not be likely to be interested in transport contracts unless based these expensive market “distress rates”52.

Major Likely Variations in flood impact by Village Ecozone There are major variations in flood risks and types of flood impacts between the different village agro-ecological zones identified earlier in this study. The table below summarizes these differences in flood risks by village ecozones. Recognizing these differences can considerably enhance the task of flood impact mitigation.

52 52 Andrew Oliver-Smith, this point from comments on an earlier draft of this paper.


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The Village Ecozones and risks of flood by flood type Zone Basic characteristics Slow

onset flood risk

Flash Flood Risk

Distinct variants/ Remarks

River or lakeside villages


High Low but High for some Mekong areas

- Floating villages. - Chamcar villages. - Flood recession /dry season rice villages.


Villages located on the lowland plains within the boundary of the MRC flood zone.

High Low This can be determined from MRC flood zone data.


Villages located on the lowland plains outside the boundary of the MRC flood zone

Low Low This can be determined from MRC flood zone data.



Low High

Upland Villages Villages located in upland areas.

Low High


Low Low

While flood risks vary by ecozone as shown in the above table, vulnerabilities and flood impacts also vary considerably within high flood risk areas. The most important variations to highlight here are the great differences in vulnerabilities and impacts of flood on livelihoods between two ecozones which are both at high risk of slow onset flooding: the Mekong Riverside ecozone and the Lowland flood plain ecozone. Livelihood systems are very different in these two ecozones. We can see these differences when we examine differences in common livelihood activities between these two zones as shown in the table below. The key overall difference between livelihood systems in these ecozones is that livelihoods in the Riverside ecozone are far more adapted to flood than livelihood systems in the neighboring Lowland flood plain ecozone.


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Variations in livelihood activities by Village Ecozone within High risk slow onset Flood areas Ecozone Agricultural Non-Agricultural River or lakeside villages

Chamcar multi-cropping agriculture. Flood recession rice production. Two cropping seasons/year. Pre-flood and post-flood crops are grown. Livestock production.

Riverine fishing. Other CPR gathering activities in rivers and water bodies as well as around rice fields and flood prone scrub and forest areas. Micro-enterprise and local wage labor especially related to processing and trade of fish and non-rice crop products.


Wet season rain fed rice production. Limited non-rice rain fed crop production. One cropping season during the year, during the wet/flood/drought season. Livestock production.

Paddy field fisheries. CPR gathering activities mainly in common areas around rice fields. Casual wage labor often migratory-very common. Micro-enterprise-very common.

Households in villages in the Riverside ecozone handle the high risks of flood impacts on agriculture by making a number of choices. One choice in some communities is not to grow agricultural crops at all and instead specialize in fishing and buy the rice and other foods they need. Communities mainly or partly dependent on riverine fisheries do face risks in terms of changing conditions for riverine fisheries, but the flood cycle itself is not a direct risk. A second response in the Riverside ecozone to handle floods is to grow agricultural crops, but not during the flood season at all, but rather in two flood shoulder seasons, a pre-flood and a post flood cropping season. One variant is to engage in Chamcar agriculture, growing a range of crops including some rice, but mainly vegetables, bananas or non-rice field crops twice per year, including both pre-flood crops and post-flood crops. A second variant is to concentrate on growing dry season and flood recession rice. Once again two crops are grown, one in the dry season planted and harvested in the pre-flood season (May to August-September) and a second flood recession rice crop is planted into receding flood waters (December to April). While there are some flood risks to these forms of shoulder season crop production (from variations in flood onset, depth and duration and drainage) these risks from flood are limited compared risks to the different agricultural systems in the neighboring lowland flood plain. However, economic risks to crop production can be high in this ecozone. Chamcar production faces risks related to profit margins on crops where expenditure on crop inputs can be high but crop income can be low in the face of competition from imported products such as fruit and vegetables. Dry season and flood recession rice production can be economically risky where most or all crop inputs (seed, fertilizer, pump fuel or pumping services) are financed through high interest credit. A shortfall in production from flood, lack of water availability or pests can lead to high levels of unpaid debt. However, despite these problems, what is typical for agricultural communities in the Riverside ecozone is that by the time floods are occurring households have already harvested and stored or sold their pre-flood crop production. They are also prepared to plant their next crops into receding flood waters as normal practice. Because of the fertile soils and water availability from the river systems the productivity of these cropping


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systems is relatively high. For example, a household harvesting one hectare of dry season rice in the pre-flood season can expect production of over three tonnes of rice, almost double the productivity of lowland rice crops. Many other aspects of livelihoods in these riverside communities are also geared to coping with floods. For example boat transport services are in existence and are used all year in many of these communities. Housing is better located (e.g. along raised main road shoulders or on higher banks) or is built to better handle inevitable flood events. Some communities are even “floating villages” where houses, shops and schools are designed to float up and down on flood waters and are propped on the ground in the dry season. Market and social service systems, while still underdeveloped and suffering form impaired function during flood periods, are at least routinely organized to maintain functions at some level during floods. In terms of employment, people in villages in the Riverside zone are kept busy within their villages for much of the year, growing, harvesting, processing and selling crops in two seasons, or and associated local wage labor and micro-enterprise activities. The situation in the neighboring lowland flood plain villages which share the high risk of flood incidence is quite different. The extent, depth and duration of flood water spread is often uncertain each flood season. Crop agriculture is primarily dependent on rainfall. Rice and a limited range of other field crops are grown in the wet season. Farmers in many areas have to wait for initial rains simply to make the hard soils soft enough to plough using draft animals. In the peak flood season the rice crops in this ecozone (mainly medium duration and some long duration varieties) are in the middle of their growth phase when floods occur and are therefore very exposed to flood damage or destruction (planted May and harvested November to January). In these areas this is the main and typically only rice crop that will be produced per household during the year53. The majority of agricultural land in this lowland flood plain area is used for wet season rice production. Other agricultural production is undertaken on a small scale around the homestead including tree crops and gardening and rice harvest is sometimes followed by planting of non-rice crops such as chili or watermelons. However, the scale of these agricultural activities is limited in these lowland areas. Meanwhile lowland wet season rice production in average conditions produces only about half as much rice as the different production systems in the Riverside ecozone. Lowland wet season production averages 1.7 tonnes/hectare and is frequently less than that. So in stark contrast to households in the Riverside Ecozone most households in the Lowland flood plain ecozone confront flood events with their main rice crop still growing in their fields, with no previous crop harvested that year and often with their paddy stocks from the previous harvest last year already used up. Other aspects of livelihood systems on the lowland flood plains ecozone also indicate that flood impacts are likely to be greater than impacts in the Riverside ecozone. Somewhat surprisingly, the duration of inundation of villages in the Lowland flood plain can often be substantially longer than the period of inundation experienced by riverside communities. This is because drainage of flood waters in the flood plain is slower than drainage along the main river channels. This can mean that riverside villages may suffer from flood submergence for two weeks or a month while neighboring villages on the flood plain remain inundated for up to two months or in some areas even 4-5 months54.

53 Some farmers in this zone will try to cultivate an early wet season short duration rice crop on part of their land, however this practice seems far from routine and universal among farmers, rather an opportunistic cropping activity dependent on existing seasonal conditions. 54 Sanny Jegillos, pers. Comm.; Andrew Oliver-Smith, comments on an earlier draft of this paper.


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In terms of other relevant characteristics to flood vulnerability, villages in the lowland flood plain do not have regular established boat services and few households own boats themselves. The normal road based transport system, especially at the village level, ceases to function in flood periods and is not replaced by regular boat services. Market and social service systems are likely to be less set up to maintain their functions during floods than those in the Riverside ecozone. It is also generally recognized that villages in the lowland plains as a whole (including both the lowland plains within and outside the flood zone) are typically poorer than the chamcar and dry season rice villages in the Riverside zone. Local village economies in the lowland flood plains do not include dry season cropping activities and there is a consequent lack in the capacity to meet demands for employment within the village. Migratory casual wage labor is likely to be far more common as a source of income in these communities than those in the Riverside ecozone. In general it is notable that crop agricultural systems in the lowland flood plain ecozone, and their livelihood systems more generally, have much more in common with neighboring lowland villages that are outside the flood zone than with their other neighbors in the Riverside ecozone. What CRC/CBDP should do to account for differences in flood affects by ecozone These observed differences between livelihood systems within the flood risk zone, between Riverside ecozone and the Lowland flood plains ecozone, have some basic implications for flood mitigation activities. In many ways the communities in the lowland flood plains are likely to be more vulnerable to flood impacts that those communities located in the Riverside ecozone. Flood events in the Lowland flood plain ecozone are more likely to have impacts that directly threaten household food security and livelihood security than flood impacts in the Riverside ecozone. This means that the communities in the Lowland flood plains should be major beneficiaries of flood mitigation activities, as well as riverside communities. The needs for flood mitigation will be also be different in some ways to those of the Riverside communities, with more emphasis on mitigating agricultural flood impacts and disruptions to road based market and service networks. Meanwhile the Riverside communities do need ongoing flood mitigation activities as they also suffer negative flood impacts. However, these impacts are less likely to be on agriculture and other productive activities as they are more flood-adapted. They are more likely to relate to overcoming isolation in some cases, building better river and road transport systems to improve access to markets and government services and maintaining and expanding irrigation and crop water control infrastructure. There is also a need for further development of the flood-shoulder agricultural systems in this ecozone. While their existing productivity is relatively high this can be further improved. They also suffer from risks such as pest damage, unreliable supplementary irrigation and economic risks to crop profit margins.


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The Nature of Drought in Cambodia According to a recent NCDM-UNWFP Study55, the country was hit badly by droughts in 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2002. While droughts are most often associated with low rainfall and semi arid climates, they also occur in Cambodia with normally abundant rainfall. Humans tend to stabilize and adapt their activities around the expected moisture environment, thus, after previous years of above average rainfall (1999-2000), Cambodians56 perceived the first year of average rainfall as a drought (2001). In order to understand a drought in an area, it is necessary to understand the meteorological characteristics as well as the human perception of the conditions of drought. This highlights the importance of clarifying the definitions and perceptions of drought in Cambodia, where drought events are often not so clearly defined or understood57. As a common reference, the following definitions used by the United Nations58 are provided: Meteorological Drought results from a shortfall in precipitation and is based on the degree of dryness relative to the normal or average amount and the duration of the dry period59. For example, in the Philippines, a locality is declared to be suffering (meteorological) drought when rainfall is 40% below the average for 3 successive months; compared to previous monthly rainfall statistics for that locality. (www.tmd.go.th) Hydrological Drought involves a reduction of water sources including river60, streams, groundwater, lakes and reservoirs. Its definition involves data on availability and usage rates of these water sources in relation to normal operations of water using systems (domestic, agricultural, industrial) being supplied.

55 NCDM_WFP, 2003, Mapping Vulnerability to Natural Disasters in Cambodia. 56 Personal experience of the author with stakeholders in Cambodia. However, see Annex 5 on ENSO which indicates that the years of drought episodes correlate with El Nino Warm Episodes (ECE). 57 See the discussion in Annex 5 for more on the nature of drought in Cambodia. 58 UNDMTP Training Module: Hazards 59 No such drought warning system exists in Cambodia. 60 The Mekong River Commission River Information shows comparison of river levels vis a vis historic dry periods (1992, an El Nino year) in various locations. No information is provided for other tributaries

The impacts of drought on Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security and potential CRC/CBDP activities for drought mitigation


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Agricultural Drought61 is the impact of meteorological and hydrological droughts on crop, livestock and fisheries production. For agriculture, drought occurs when soil moisture is insufficient to maintain average plant growth and yields. A plant’s demand for water however is dependent on the type of plant, its stage of growth and the properties of soil. The impact of agricultural drought is difficult to measure due to complexity of crop growth, and the possible presence of other factors such a pests, weeds, low soil quality and low prices. In the case of fisheries drought conditions occur where surface water conditions are insufficient to maintain normal fisheries production.

1. In late 2001 and 2002, the differences in perception regarding drought baffled stakeholders in Cambodia62. The absence of a timely and reliable damage and needs assessment further exacerbated the variation of opinions. For example, while the lower level PCDM and DCDM reported to NCDM the relative urgency in assisting drought-affected population, the MAFF and MOWRM were officially against a declaration of calamity, a condition that would trigger emergency assistance and local and international appeals.

2. The policy makers/decision makers’ have a limited understanding of the drought

situation as it relates to household level livelihood and food insecurity. This produced decisions that were unfavorable to the most vulnerable63. In 2002, the criteria for government intervention and in selecting sites were based on the production potentials and achieving national rice production targets. Thus, where soil moisture and precipitation were perceived to be favorable for rice production; those areas received priority assistance for replanting and other farm inputs. Due to these decisions, communities whose locations could not support rice production and who were more vulnerable to food shortages were not prioritized for agricultural support, instead, they were targeted for emergency food aid.

3. Perhaps partly due to this government decision, it is worth noting that at the

national level, despite of flooding and drought, there was a slight surplus in national rice production supply relative to national demand for 200264. However, commune level and household levels studies conducted by CARE, indicated that food shortage was worsening in study areas that included Prey Veng, Battambang, and Pursat. In these study areas, the number of months with food shortage and the percentage of people suffering from it were higher in 2002, compared to 2001.

4. Recognizing the importance of the need for a common understanding and approach

in drought management, the World Food Programme and the Ministry of Planning produced among others things65, a map on Priority Areas for Assisting Vulnerable Population in Drought Prone Areas. The criteria included:

• Priority communes: determined by reports of drought affectedness, rice dependency, and food security.

• Drought affected status was based on precipitation and the Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI- a measure of greenness of vegetation and a proxy for agricultural productivity) from satellite remote sensing. Precipitation was considered low if the 20-year wet season average was less than 470 mm per annum. NDVI was considered low if the 30-year wet season average was less than 0.4 on a scale that runs from –1 to 1.

61 See the discussion in Annex 5 for more on the nature of agricultural drought in Cambodia. 62 Personal experience of the author Sanny Jegillos. 63 Anecdotal, since there are no study in the extent and effectiveness of drought response in 2001-2. See Annex 5 for a further discussion of the problem of drought in Cambodia. 64 Personal discussion with WFP VAM Officer 65 Poverty and Vulnerability Analysis Mapping in Cambodia, Summary Report, WFP, MOP, March 2003


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• Rice dependency: communes are considered highly dependent if more than 80 percent of the households are fully engaged in rice production.

• Limitations of the analysis specified in the study: Ignores other related factors such as infrastructure, health and sanitation. Commune level rice production may not be the best proxy for food security. More sophisticated measures of household level food security could improve the analysis.

• Other important limitations of the analysis: There are also some more fundamental methodological issues that need further explanation in this important study to allow interpretation of the findings. These issues include limitations in the analysis of rainfall and NDVI in a Cambodian context, particularly concerning the rainfall categories used to determine drought, and a likely underestimation of drought in upland and upland/lowland interface areas in the country66.

Impacts of Drought on Livelihood Security and Food Security The whole issue of drought impacts on livelihoods and food security suffers from a lack of research and information services. At the same time rural people often identify drought as a threat to their livelihoods and food security. In this section we hope to further our understanding of the drought problem and its impacts on livelihoods. Recognizing the positive impacts of droughts on Cambodian livelihood and food security Are there positive impacts of drought on livelihoods and food security? Such positive impacts were identified for floods. The short answer seems to be “no” in most respects. The impacts of drought on agriculture, using current technologies, seem to be totally negative. 66 . Comments on this drought study by Kent Helmers: There remain some basic points to be clarified in this study which are not obvious from the report. One issue is that the average wet season (May-October) precipitation categories used to examine drought variations do not seem to accord with other rainfall estimates for Cambodia. This is surprising as the 30 year estimates were obtained from the University of East Anglia and should be sound. Other sources estimate annual rainfall in the range of 1,250- 4,000 mm per year (see Nesbitt, 1997 Rainfall Map of Cambodia), the vast majority of which falls in the monsoon wet season. Meanwhile the wet season 30 year average precipitation categories used in the study have cutoffs as follows: <437mm; 437-470mm, 470-516mm and >516mm. These categories are all far less than the lowest rainfall contour of 1,250mm in the above rainfall map (rainfall contour interval=250mm) and rain fed rice lowland rice production may not even be possible with a total wet season rainfall of less than 516mm. These issues should be explained to allow a better interpretaton of the results. A second issue is that, as identified in the study itself, the satellite remote sensing data measuring the greenness of land areas over time to assess drought (the NVDI based on AVHRR satellite data) has a “very coarse” resolution of 50km x50 km. This affects the analysis, and in Cambodia it is likely to underestimate drought incidence in upland and lowland/upland interface areas. This is because these areas are characterized by very mixed areas of annual rice or other crops mixed with perennial forest and scrub cover. These forest and scrub areas will stay green during drought while annual crops lose greenness. The average greenness of these areas when a coarse resolution is used may not show drought even when annual crops there are drought affected because of this reason. So in upland and upland/lowland interface areas in Cambodia the assumption that crop greenness follows the greenness of other neighboring vegetation (perennial scrub and forest in this case) is not a reasonable assumption at a coarse levels of resolution.: A relevant observation is made on these limitations in an FAO disaster conference “In many circumstances, in particular in many developing countries, fields tend to be small and irregular in size and shape, crops are often mixed, etc. so that the sensors measure essentially a mix of crops and natural vegetation. It is then generally assumed that crops follow greenness patterns similar to vegetation. This is a reasonable assumption in areas where vegetation shows marked seasonality, for instance in semi-arid areas.” Gommes R., 2001 Agro-meteorological Models and Remote Sensing for Crop Monitoring and Forecasting in Asia and the Pacific* Annex VII in Report of the FAO Asia-Pacific


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Some social groups in rural Cambodia are likely to have positive impacts in terms of increased income from drought. These include moneylenders and food product sellers and perhaps those selling some types of wild animals such as rats for income67. There are also possible positive ecological impacts which need further investigation. The ecology of Cambodian forests, scrub areas and paddy field fisheries, which are also important sources of food and income for Cambodian rural people, include adaptations to drought. Drought events could potentially have positive and perhaps necessary effects for the ongoing function of these ecosystems. This issue therefore requires further research.

Putting the negative impacts of drought in a national perspective In addition to the points made above concerning the nature of drought, some further key points can be made on the nature of drought in Cambodia and its linkages with livelihoods and food security: Drought Characteristics:

• The main type of drought that receives attention in Cambodia is agricultural drought, principally due to meteorological drought conditions whereby agricultural plants have insufficient soil moisture for crop growth caused by a shortfall in average rainfall, and erratic rainfall distribution, during the cropping season. As a result crops are damaged or destroyed.

• The climatic and meteorological context of agricultural production in Cambodia is

that the source of rainfall is the Southwesterly Monsoon and that the vast majority of agricultural lands lie in a rain-shadow area for these monsoons, created by the presence of the Cardamom and Elephant mountain ranges in the Southwest of the country. To the Southwest of these mountain ranges and outside the main agricultural areas (e.g. in Koh Kong) monsoon rainfall can average over 4,000 mm/year. After the monsoons cross these mountains, annual average rainfall drops to levels of 1,250- 1,750 mm/year over the main agricultural areas. Patterns of rainfall distribution over these agricultural lands are also erratic in terms of rainfall timing, duration, amount and location68.

• Agricultural drought occurs in the context where around 80% of the nation’s rice

area is exclusively depended on rain fed crop production.

• Agricultural drought by nature occurs during periods of crop growth. It is a problem and characteristic of the wet season. Agricultural drought is not a problem of the dry season as average dry season rainfall is already minimal and rain fed crops are not normally grown. Droughts therefore occur in the same crop growing season as floods. It is quite common normal to have some agricultural areas experiencing drought while other areas are simultaneously experiencing flood in the wet season. It is also common, within the flood zone, for one rice crop to encounter both drought and flood impacts during its period of crop growth.

• Attention is typically heavily focused on the impact of drought on rain-fed lowland

rice production. In fact this is the only crop for which drought impact statistics are recorded at a national level. While this is of considerable importance this focus tends to obscure variations in drought impacts on other ecozones, crop production

67 Andrew Oliver-Smith, Consultant to CBDP, comments on an earlier draft of this paper. 68 Nesbitt, HJ, 1997, Topography, climate and rice production, in Nesbitt HJ (ed.) Rice Production in Cambodia, CIAP, Phnom Penh.


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systems, and other types of crops, and also obscures their potential for improved drought management in Cambodian agriculture.

• The characteristics of agricultural drought in the wet season can be summarized

as follows: i) Unpredictable delays in rainfall onset in the early wet season. ii) Erratic variations in rainfall onset, amount, and duration across different local geographic areas. iii) Early cessation of rains during the cropping season. iv) The common occurrence of mini-drought periods of three weeks or more during the cropping season which can damage or destroy rice crops that do not have supplementary irrigation69.

A fundamental lack of meteorological information:

• A fundamental handicap to understanding drought issues and managing drought risks by development agencies and rural people themselves in Cambodia is the lack of meteorological data on rainfall patterns, and analysis and forecasting needed to better understand and cope with drought. This issue has been raised in the earlier discussion of vulnerabilities to disasters related to a lack of disaster information.

• Rainfall data is the basis of the definition of Meteorological drought. Agricultural drought in Cambodia results from an interaction of Meteorological drought and the characteristics of rain fed annual crop production, mainly rice production. Therefore rainfall data is also a fundamental component of the definition of Agricultural drought in Cambodia.

• Currently, discussions about if, when, and where drought is occurring, the severity

of drought and how best to cope with it does not involve the use of current rainfall data, historical rainfall data comparisons, or rainfall forecasts. This is because this information is simply not available at all, or is not available in the public domain via mass media or is not available for more than a handful or a dozen at most weather stations for the entire country.

Placing drought impacts in a national perspective:

• In 2001, some areas in Cambodia were affected by drought such as the provinces of Battambang, Pursat, Prey Veng, Kampong Speu, Kampong Cham, and Svay Rieng. The affected population who had food shortages caused by drought were132,711 families, equivalent to 530,844 people.

• At the start of 2002, Cambodia was again affected by a long dry spell severely

affecting crop production in 8 provinces and affecting a total of 71,600 hectares. The expected rainfall necessary for wet season rice production did not arrive in May and an early NCDM assessment reported severe conditions in many rural communities. Although by the end of 2002, national rice production targets were more or less achieved after the delayed onset of the rains, several sample studies70 conducted reveal that conditions of food shortages and income generation in the sample of households in drought affected provinces were worse than the previous years.

69 Nesbitt in Nesbitt (ed.) (1997). 70 AAH/CARE/OXFAM GB, 2002, Household Food Security Assessment Report:


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• The comparison of drought affected populations and areas, cited above, with relevant national statistics, allow us to look at the impacts of drought in a national context to examine the extent to which impacts represents a “national disaster”.

• Estimates for 2001 were that 530,844 people had food shortages caused by drought

in six provinces. This is equivalent to only 4% of the national population and indicates that 96% of the population did not experience drought related food shortages that year. The MAFF food balance for 2001-2002 shows a national surplus of 364,148 tonnes and that only 3% of the national rice cultivated area was destroyed by drought and that 10% was destroyed by flood.

• The province level MAFF post-harvest results for the percentage of rice cultivated

area destroyed by drought in 2001 for the six provinces reporting pre-harvest drought induced food shortages for over half a million people were as follows; Battambang (14%), Pursat (<1%), Prey Veng (<1%), Kampong Speu (<1%), Kampong Cham (4%), and Svay Rieng (5%). In short, the percentage of the rice crop areas destroyed by drought were very limited in each province, a maximum of 14% in Battambang, and 5% or less in all the other five provinces.

• The province level MAFF post-harvest rice food balance results are also very

important. Here we give the final post harvest rice food balance results expressed as the percentage of the minimum estimated rice consumption needs (=100%) for each province. For the six provinces reporting pre-harvest drought induced food shortages for over half a million people in 2001, the results were as follows; Battambang (115%), Pursat (119%), Prey Veng (124%), Kampong Speu (102%), Kampong Cham (99%), and Svay Rieng (123%). In short, five of the six provinces produced more than their minimum rice needs and the sixth was only 1% short of minimum needs.

• The above two sets of MAFF province level post-harvest results for crop destroyed,

and provincial food balances, do not indicate a widespread or severe impacts from the 2001 droughts at the provincial level in the six most affected provinces where widespread food shortages were forecast in pre-harvest assessments. The MAFF province statistics do not account for large variations in crop destroyed and food balances at the household level. Nevertheless they highlight an extremely high divergence in findings between post harvest crop assessments and pre harvest drought impact assessments.

• If late rains had not occurred in 2001 to save the situation against expectations, the

outcome could have been far more serious in terms of food security impacts and more in line with the forecasts of the pre-harvest drought impact assessments. This underlines the importance of understanding and tracking rainfall patterns throughout the crop season at a localized level and communicating trends to farmers. This rainfall tracking and communication to farmers is still not being achieved by the existing meteorological services.

• Estimates for 2002 were that 71,600 hectares of crops were severely drought

affected in eight provinces. This represents about 4% of the total harvested rice crop area. This indicates that 96% of the total national rice crop area was not severely drought affected in 2002. Further, as noted above, the national rice production targets were broadly achieved after late onset rains for 2002.

• This simple analysis shows, to the extent that national drought impact statistics are

valid, an extremely large gap between perceptions of drought as a widespread national disaster and the actual national level of impacts recorded in national


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agricultural statistics. The gap is even larger than that found for the earlier similar analysis of flood impacts in this report.

• One explanation seems to be that drought impact perceptions are formed during

the growth stages of the rice crop before harvest. This can extend to actual assessments of likely drought impacts and the calculations of numbers of affected people.

• One example of these pre-harvest impact assessments is the early NCDM results for

2002 as cited above. Another example is the CARE 2002 food security assessment in three of the provinces worst affected by drought in 2002 to assess food security conditions. This assessment was carried out in late October/early November (pre-harvest). The assessment found that first plantings of rice suffered 50-100% damage but that second and third plantings had been undertaken. In fact, they noted that at the time of the assessment “most of the fields were green with rice” that drought affected seedlings had “changed back to green” and that “second (even third) plantings were going on or were growing”. Valid concerns were raised that these crops would need 2-3 months more rain and that a much lower than average harvest was expected. However, the late rains in 2002 probably meant that most of these late crops did in fact produce reasonable yields at harvest as indicated by the MAFF statistics.

• This raises the basic issue of why drought impact assessments are conducted at all

prior to the harvest of the rice crop? Reasons include the erratic nature of rainfall, widespread prior concerns about potential drought impacts on harvests, possibilities for early interventions to support replanting within the crop season, lack of rainfall data, and lag time in getting assistance to drought affected communities should extra food shortages result.

• While these concerns for early assessment are valid, the whole basic issue of when

and how drought impact assessments should be conducted should be re-assessed. It would seem to be more useful to do simpler crop status monitoring reports prior to harvest. Improved rainfall data at the local level could provide a huge boost to pre-harvest drought impact monitoring capacity. It might well be better to conduct more in depth drought impact assessments after harvest when crop outcomes are known.

• Another basic conceptual issue concerning food availability from crops requires

highlighting for pre-harvest impact assessments. Finding that people are “out of food” (usually rice stocks) in pre-harvest assessments tells us nothing whatsoever about drought impacts on current crops. They have not been harvested yet. Being out of rice stocks from household production at this stage of the season is a result of the harvest of the previous crop. So being out of rice and experiencing current drought conditions may both exist at the same time but they do not represent cause and effect of drought impacts on current crops. These issues can tend to become confused among the wider community involved in assessing drought impacts.

The essential negative impact of drought is the shortfall in rainfall for agricultural crops. To put drought impacts in proper national context we need to examine the impacts of wet season droughts in comparison with the impacts of another cause of lack of rainfall for agricultural crops, this is the normal lack of rainfall in the dry season.


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• It is important to recognize and distinguish the impacts of drought in the wet season and the impacts of normal dry season conditions on livelihood and food security.

• The dry season is a dry period from November to April where it is normal that there

is no rainfall or very little rainfall. During this period around 80% of agricultural lands are not producing annual field crops because with current technologies the growth of these crops depend on rain fed methods of production. These agricultural lands are out of production for six months of every year.

• In terms of potential, it can be argued that the impacts of the normal lack of

rainfall in the dry season are more fundamental on livelihoods and food security than the impacts of agricultural drought through rainfall shortages in the wet season. It is the normal annual dry season that causes 80% of the nation’s agricultural land to lay idle for six months, and surface water sources for humans and livestock to dry up.

• The inability to cultivate crops in most areas during dry season is caused by

limitations of current agricultural and water management technologies rather than the existence of the dry season itself.

• What prevents more widespread dry season crop cultivation is inadequate water

control of ground and surface water resources which can provide alternative sources of water supply to rainfall for crops through irrigation. Other factors include a lack of emphasis on non-rice annual crops, gardening, perennial tree and shrub crops, and a lack of soil moisture management in crop agriculture.

• The potential expansion and diversification of dry season cropping in drought prone

areas in future could positively and substantially impact the livelihood security and food security status of Cambodian rural households facing drought risks.

• Another “missing link” in terms of critical information for planning the expansion of

dry season irrigation is the lack of a national groundwater resources and recharge survey. The quantity of available groundwater and the rate of recharge of groundwater resources have not been surveyed.

• Wet season drought of the types related to late rainfall onset or early rainfall

cessation effectively extend the period where dry season conditions prevail. The negative impact of droughts on livelihood security and food security The negative impacts of drought on livelihoods and food security are less wide ranging and relatively straightforward in many ways when compared to flood impacts. However, the lack of a common definition of drought, the lack of drought specific research and the need to distinguish drought from normal dry season impacts do present some challenges in assessing impacts. Droughts ultimately have a similar type of impact on livelihoods to those of flood, notably, decreasing rural people’s abilities to meet their basic needs. Therefore, many drought mitigation activities recommended here can be very similar to those recommended for flood mitigation (e.g. those related to nutrition). These recommendations need to be repeated here in specific relation to drought impacts, but can be dealt with in less detail as the basic ideas underlying them have already been described in relation to flood mitigation.


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Negative impacts of droughts on health and nutrition

1. The main impacts of drought on health seem to result from the extension of dry season conditions, where a drought event consists of late onset or early cessation of rains. Here, the prevalence of diarrhea is likely to be increased due to longer term dependency on unsafe drinking and sanitation water sources. In some villages there is a lack of a sufficient quantity of water for hygiene, sanitation, cooking and even drinking. The available water is often of poor quality and is drawn from unsafe water sources.

2. So the prevalence of diarrhea a major cause of child illness and mortality among

vulnerable children under five years old, is likely to increase in these drought periods at the beginning or end of the wet season. The impact of drought on Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), the other major cause of child illness and mortality seems uncertain and deserves further research.

3. Droughts are also likely to have negative impacts on people with severe chronic

health problems such as TB and HIV/AIDS. It is difficult to make a meaningful estimate of the proportion of people with these health problems in Cambodia that live in drought prone areas, but this proportion is likely to be quiet large. Extended dependency on an insufficient quantity of poor quality drinking water for people with such conditions will negatively affect health outcomes. In addition, the likelihood of stinting on food consumption (see below) and decreases in household income caused by drought, will negatively affect their nutrition status and cash income needed to access to medical services among these groups.

4. Droughts could also change patterns of mosquito breeding and therefore patterns of

morbidity from mosquito born diseases. Droughts of the types related to late rain onset or early rain cessation may have the affect of suppressing mosquito breeding for a longer period of the year, a positive outcome in this sense. However, droughts that occur in the form of dry periods after initial rains during the wet season may lead to increased mosquito breeding. This issue would benefit from further investigation and there may be a need for extra attention to suppression of mosquito breeding during mid wet season dry periods.

5. Droughts are also likely to impact health in terms of increasing emotional stress

among drought affected households and communities. Droughts directly threaten household food supplies and rainfall patterns during the coming crop season are unknown. Delays in rainfall onset and dry periods after crop establishment can necessitate repeated sowing of seedbeds and repeated transplanting. These tasks involve a major reorganization of labor and often extra cash expenditure. Once crops are planted out people can do no more than watch the sky and hope for sufficient rainfall as their crops grow, without knowing for sure whether their crops will produce food, or how much, until harvest. Living with the uncertainty of whether they can produce enough rice to eat next season, and the extra burdens imposed by drought on labor and cash expenditure are sources or increased stress. This increased stress can lead to an increase in conflicts within households and communities.

6. The main impact of drought on nutrition is to reduce the post-harvest availability,

and sometimes diversity of foods, to households from their own crop production through crop damage. A reduction in dietary diversity is a drought impact where home gardening or non-rice food crops are also produced in the wet season based on rain fed production methods. Secondary affects include reductions to household incomes which people use to buy foods and other basic needs, and negative impacts on availability of CPR foods (see below).


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7. These negative impacts on household food security are likely to negatively impact nutrition in terms of increased stinting on the consumption of the quantities and diversity of foods necessary for a balanced diet. As described in earlier sections we need to emphasized that many children aged under five years of age are already suffering malnutrition and a lack of vitamins and micro-nutrients before stinting in response to drought impacts on food supply occurs.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of drought impacts on health and nutrition

1. Many of the health and nutrition activities proposed for flood mitigation earlier in this report are also appropriate for drought mitigation. Drought mitigation activities can also have important mitigation affects in helping people have better health and nutrition in the normal dry season period each year.

2. The disaster management planning process should include developing a component

health and nutrition mitigation sub-plan, which involves considering specific measures to mitigate drought impacts on health and nutrition in all community disaster mitigation plans.

3. The primary target group of these health and nutrition disaster mitigation plans

should be children aged less than five years, pregnant and nursing mothers and those with severe chronic illnesses.

4. The health component of the disaster mitigation plans can be considered as the

package of measures aiming to increase the resilience of people’s health in the face of drought impacts.

5. CRC and the CBDP have the potential to make very important contributions in this

area of disaster management, given their extensive network of village volunteers, their experience in community level mobilization and their membership of First Aid Volunteers.

6. First Aid training is an existing CRC activity that will mitigate the impact of drought

on health. In drought prone areas, particular emphasis should be placed on treating diarrhea infections in young children. Improved treatment of acute respiratory infections among children, whether directly related to drought impacts or not, will also contribute to increasing children’s resilience to drought impacts.

7. First aiders (or otherwise CRC village volunteers with basic training) could also train

mothers on hygiene and sanitation, drinking water treatment and management of diarrhea and ARI in the specific context of drought periods and the dry season.

8. Village volunteers in drought zones should, in conjunction with local health

authorities, aim to have the full vaccination of young children in the village completed each year prior to the drought season.

9. Village volunteers in drought zones should, in conjunction with local health

authorities and UNICEF, aim to have all children aged under five years and all pregnant and nursing mothers receive high dose Vitamin A, Iron and Iodine supplements each year prior to the drought season. Further advice on micro-nutrient supplements and possibilities for cooperation in providing them should be sought from UNICEF.


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10. A related or alternative set of disaster mitigation activities related to child health would be to improve mother’s knowledge and practices in providing the dietary needs of children during drought. This might include increasing knowledge of child nutrition needs, emphasizing the role of breast feeding for infants, or ways and means to better store or access foods of different types necessary for a balanced diet.

11. CBDP should seek the advice and seek means of collaboration with CRC’s own

HIV/AIDS project concerning specific drought impacts and their mitigation for people living with HIV/AIDS in drought zones.

12. Having access to safe water during drought periods, and in the normal dry season,

period is an important means to mitigate health impacts of droughts. Every drought prone village needs access to safe water during droughts to mitigate drought health impacts, and every village needs access to safe water during the dry season.

13. The provision of these safe water sources should really be an infrastructure micro-

project that should be undertaken automatically in any drought prone village which lacks a safe water source in drought periods, rather than as an option among a range of other types of micro-projects. It should be noted that the current HVCA does not include questions on the availability and adequacy of safe water sources in the village, and the availability of safe water during droughts.

14. As described for flood relief, there are also implications for the mitigation of

drought impacts on health and nutrition for CRC drought relief rations. To recap, this involves supplementing the normal CRC rice rations with nutrition supplements possibly including fortified cooking oil (including important vitamins and minerals), and/or high protein supplements. Advice should be sought here from agencies with expertise in this area such as ICRC, WFP and UNICEF as to the optimum ration mix for drought victims.

15. There are also a range of micro-projects at the village level that could be explored

to increase the availability of foods for improved nutrition in the village during droughts. These micro-projects are discussed below on the section on potential agricultural activities for CRC/CBDP.

Negative impacts of drought related to education, knowledge and skills 1. The impacts of drought events on livelihoods and food security are mediated through

the education, knowledge and skills that rural people apply to prepare for, endure and respond to droughts through household decision-making and actions. The capacity of Cambodian rural households to evaluate choices and to make decisions and responses is hampered by the high prevalence of a lack of basic education and illiteracy.

2. Rural people suffering a lack of basic education and functional literacy in dealing with

drought risks are more likely to suffer from late or insufficient knowledge of drought risks, less certain information on drought characteristics, and to have less information and so less choices upon which to decide on post drought coping strategies, making these responses more risky.

3. Specifically for adults, droughts impose the need for specific technical knowledge and

skills in many areas to maintain livelihoods in drought conditions. Examples here include; knowledge and skills in cultivation of more drought resistant rice varieties, knowledge of alternative rice cropping patterns, knowledge of alternative non-rice drought resistant crops, knowledge and skills in dry season cropping.


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4. Many other types of drought impacts discussed elsewhere in this section have an underlying dimension related to education, knowledge and skills. This dimension of drought impacts should always be recognized. Disaster mitigation activities directed at improving education, knowledge and skills can be very useful indeed to support rural people cope with droughts.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of a lack of education, knowledge and skills 1. In general CRC/CBDP support for literacy training and adult education can be

considered as important drought mitigation activities. CRC/CBDP should advocate for access to literacy training in drought zones, especially for women and girls. They should also advocate for adult education and training services to help build up skills in coping with drought.

2. Many existing CRC/CBDP activities and micro-projects already involve elements related

to building knowledge and skills. An extension of these activities would be to think about needs and specific micro-projects based on drought disaster mitigation mainly through increasing knowledge and skills. Some examples have already been given in the preceding section on mitigating drought health impacts through better knowledge and skills.

3. As raised previously in regard to flood, a simple idea to help think about opportunities

for such projects is this. When CBDP or CRC staff are engaged in discussions with communities on a subject related to drought and receive a response from rural people that they “don’t know” (ot doeung) or “cannot do” (ot jeh) they have just pointed you to an area of their knowledge and skills that could potentially be improved through a knowledge and skills based micro-project.

4. CRC/CBDP should consider literacy and skills training micro-projects as a means of

disaster mitigation. It is recognized that adult literacy and skills training works best when linked to learning about specific, concrete issues that are important to rural people. There is the potential for organizing literacy and skills training activities around issues of mitigating drought impacts. Another example, discussed more below, is increasing people’s knowledge and skills about weather information services.

Negative impacts of droughts on information needs for livelihood Drought risks impose the need for a range of drought disaster related information to better enable rural people to cope with these risks and to mitigate their impacts on livelihoods and food security. Here we will focus on the major and insufficiently recognized issue of a lack of metrological information for rural people in drought prone areas. Rural people facing drought risks and trying to cope with drought impacts need the best possible weather and agricultural information and advice to help them mitigate drought impacts. This is particular so in the erratic wet season rainfall regime under which Cambodian rural people grow rain fed crops. The discussion of vulnerabilities to disasters early in this report highlighted the fact that Cambodian rural people receive very little information on rainfall and drought through the mass media channels of TV and radio, including no rainfall forecast information. Also the earlier discussion of vulnerabilities related to a lack of disaster information was linked to the lack of weather stations in Cambodia and the limited distribution and


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function of the weather station network that does exist. Below we will explore the lack of meteorological services and mass media drought information further in specific relation to drought. The severe lack of meteorological information for rural people for drought disaster management

• The existing network of 12 weather stations seems inadequate given the drought prone nature of Cambodia and the erratic spatial and temporal patterns of rainfall. Less than half the Cambodia’s provinces have even one weather station present.

• The existing network of 12 weather stations is located in province centers71. Six of

the stations are located on or near the Mekong-Tonle Sap river system, and a further three are located on the sea coast. Droughts are not such a major hazard in such areas.

• Only three weather stations are located on the vast lowland plains area of

Cambodia, stretching from the Thai border to the Vietnamese border, where drought risks are probably greatest (Battambang, Krakor and Svay Rieng). These three stations do not appear to be providing any rainfall information or forecasts to the general public via radio or TV mass media outlets. No stations are located in the uplands, which can also suffer from drought.

• No weather stations in Cambodia seem to produce rainfall reports via the mass

media that would indicate variations in rainfall from the same period in the previous year or against longer term rainfall averages. This is very important rainfall trend information for farmers facing erratic rainfall conditions and concerned about drought. These reports are possible given that monthly rainfall and monthly rain day’s data for the last five years is presented for the reporting Cambodian stations on the WMO website (www.worldweather.org).

• No weather stations in Cambodia seem to produce rainfall forecasts via the mass

media for the coming month or agricultural season. Nor are broader regional long-term rainfall forecasts from sources outside Cambodia reported in the place of the lack of local long-term forecasting, although such forecasts are available.

• Cambodian farmers are therefore growing rain fed crops in an erratic rainfall and

drought prone environment without any weather forecast information at all.

• Given these limitations in weather services it is impossible to assess and manage the drought disasters and impacts using the normal methods used in other countries. The usual method is to declare local government areas “drought affected” when rainfall is below average over a period of months (Meteorological drought-one definition being 40% lower rainfall compared to average for three successive months, recalculated each month) and the impact of this rain deficit on crop production has been interpreted (Agricultural drought).

• This can’t be done adequately where the network of weather stations does not

even cover all the provinces in the country let alone different climatic zones within each province or differences between communes within provinces. Communes are the logical targeting level for “drought declaration” status and interventions. They

71 The location of weather stations in provinces centres introduces biases in weather measurements relative to general meteorological conditions within province boundaries. For example province centres tend to be located near large rivers and lakes for urban water supply and river transport, they tend to be located in less flood prone areas, and they are usually located in lowland areas even in provinces with substantial upland areas..


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are already the level where drought relief and mitigation activities are most commonly targeted and implemented by government and aid organizations.

• Cambodian rural people cannot utilize improved weather information services

without learning how to do so. They must be supported to learn what this information means and how they can interpret and use it for their benefit. Too often it seems this underlying issue has been used to justify depriving rural people of weather information or not doing anything to improve this situation.

• An alternative view is that rural people have a basic right to weather information

and that it is a priority for the development community and the mass media to help them to access, understand and use it to make up for years of neglect of this issue.

Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of a lack of drought and related information services for livelihoods 1. CRC and CBDP with NCDM should advocate for and support action to improve the

regular and timely flow of good quality information to rural people in drought zones via the mass media, especially by radio and TV.

2. A priority activity with NCDM should be to advocate to focus attention and rally

support for adequate resources for meteorological services of MOWRM in Cambodia to reach a level of coverage, analysis and public information reporting for drought to WMO international weather standards. These improved weather services should include an educational component that will assist rural people interpret weather information and forecasting results.

3. Currently the CRC Early Warning System does not cover drought early warning. This

important possibility should be explored as a part of the ongoing development of the system. This need is already recognized by senior management of this service. Drought forecasting information within Cambodia is likely to remain non-existent within over the short term and the CRC EWS should seek expert advice in how best to utilize long term regional drought forecasting services available outside the country.

4. CBDP needs to establish pilot projects in drought prone villages to start the learning

process for drought mitigation with rural communities. 5. A further task is to engage in dialogue with mass media organizations servicing rural

people about how radio, TV and newspapers could carry regular reports of drought related information, and how gaps in existing information might be filled. Given the context this dialogue should include possibilities to link mass media to regional long term regional drought forecasting services located outside Cambodia. Two initial points of contact would be the innovative Women’s Media Centre and the Khmer Journalists Association. If such reporting is feasible, CRC is in a powerful position to lobby information providers and the mass media organizations to establish these information services as an important social service.

6. CRC/CDP with NCDM should advocate to raise awareness of the basic right of rural

people to the best possible weather information to help them manage drought risks and impacts. They should actively lobby for such improvements to be made in existing weather services and in the mass media.

7. CRC/CDP with NCDM should also highlight the issue that Cambodian rural people cannot

utilize improved weather information services without learning how to do so. They


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must be supported to learn what this information means and how they can interpret and use it for their benefit. This would involve new initiatives to increase what we might call “weather literacy” in rural communities; and packaging weather interpretation learning components with improved weather reporting.

8. CRC, CBDP and NCDM staff would benefit from a familiarization course on existing and

potential weather information services and how they might help disaster management activities and risk reduction in drought prone communities.

Envisaging an enhanced weather station and rainfall monitoring network for drought impact assessment and mitigation in Cambodia The following points set out a description of a weather station network in Cambodia that could provide vastly improved meteorological information for drought management within Cambodia for farmers facing drought risks and more generally dependent on rain fed agriculture. These ideas are put forward to stimulate thinking on this important issue but require comment and interpretation by those more qualified in meteorology72. Here is what such an improved weather system might look like:

1. It can be argued that the weather station network should be expanded so that one weather station is established in each and all of the existing provinces. This would enable Province Disaster Management Committees to have access to their own provincial weather information to plan disaster management activities. The role of this station should be both weather data collection and analytical, training and monitoring support and data exchange for a network of sub-stations and rain gauges within the province.

2. Additional weather sub-stations should be established to covering different

climatic zones within each province. A typical configuration might a main station and two sub-stations: one located in upland areas, one in lowland plains areas and one located on the Mekong-Tonle Sap system. For provinces without these different climatic zones (e.g. Prey Veng) the extra sub-stations could be distributed for better geographic coverage of the dominant climatic zone (e.g. southern Prey Veng lowland plains/ Northern Prey Veng lowland plains).

3. All rural district centers and communes in the country should each have, at

minimum, a permanently operational rain gauge and daily and reliable basic rainfall recording to enable rainfall and drought to be tracked at the commune level. Operation of these rain gauges could be placed under the responsibility and control of the Commune Disaster Management Committees. CDMC’s planning and managing drought mitigation activities would then have direct access to current rainfall data for their own communities to improve drought mitigation activities. They would also begin to record historical rainfall data for comparison of rainfall in later years in their communes. One could argue that this should be a function of local governance by Commune Councils.

4. To compensate (partially) for the lack of existing historical rainfall data at the

commune level, the current commune rainfall data could be compared to historical rainfall data from the nearest existing weather station. As commune rainfall records are established it may well be possible to undertake analysis of rainfall variations between individual communes and the nearest weather station with

72 These ideas are put forward to stimulate further thinking by Kent Helmers, one of the consultants on this report, who has some training in climatology but is not a professional meteorologist.


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historical rainfall records to establish likely rainfall pattern variations in that commune compared to the weather station. From this “after the event” analysis it may be possible to derive a reference set of “historical” rainfall data for each commune (with some margin of error).

5. These initiatives to establish and improve rainfall data availability at the commune

level have the ultimate aim of being able to assess drought incidence and severity at the commune level utilizing objective rainfall criteria. This in turn would help enable individual communes to be declared “drought affected” and for CDMC’s to seek assistance on that basis. It is already the case in practice that communes are the administrative entities through which drought disaster interventions are operationally assessed and planned.

6. Automatic weather stations (and automatic rain gauges) can fulfill many of the

meteorological needs for better disaster management including drought management. A comprehensive network of such stations and gauges can be rapidly established if resources are available. Establishing such networks can be largely independent of long term needs for capacity building and institutional development in MOWRM and could even be undertaken by the private sector under contract. They would enable the collection of much needed weather information from a far wider range of sites in the near future. Rural people in drought affected communities need this information as soon as possible, and do not inherently need to wait for complex and drawn out institutional reforms and capacity building.

7. A starting point would be to use automatic weather stations to plug the gaps in

weather station coverage at the province level and at the level of different climatic zones within provinces. About 75 automatic weather stations units would provide complete coverage of three different climatic zones, within each province, for all provinces in the country. They could be up and running within months. A further network of 140 rain gauges would cover all districts individually and 1,600 rain gauges would cover all communes individually in the country73.

8. Some readers might raise an objection that such a weather network would be

unreasonably expensive for Cambodia. One has to weigh the costs of such a system against the costs of not having such a system. Better weather information networks have the potential to reduce the costs of damage from drought and other climatic events. Here we are talking about the potential of reducing the millions of dollars lost through drought damage to crops, and reducing impacts on hundreds of thousands of rural people affected by even one drought event such as those of 2001 or 2002.

9. Analysis of data from this network of automatic and manual weather stations and

rain gauges could be undertaken by MOWRM meteorologists if they have the capacity or through interim agreements with organizations such WMO or MRC while MOWRM capacity is being increased. Dissemination of reports to mass media outlets and local level disaster management committees should be an integral function of these improved meteorological services. As MOWRM capacity reaches WMO international standards they could take responsibility for more functions of the improved system.

10. In terms of rainfall and drought impact analysis, a priority is to examine data on the

relationships between different drought patterns (including late rainfall onset, wet season dry periods and early rainfall cessation) on final rice crop harvest yields.

73 An issue here is security of weather equipment against theft. In the mid 1990’s CIAP distributed rain gauges in only put them outside when it was raining. Issues of weather equipment maintenance also need to be addressed.


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This would enable better tracking and modeling of the process of drought impacts on rice crops during the growing season and the likely impact on final rice crop harvests. Ideally these rice crop drought impact prediction models should be based on commune level data on local rain days and daily rainfall and their relationship with rice crop growth. A good start can probably be made on this using existing rainfall and rice crop production data from agricultural research stations that have been involved in CIAP/CARDI rice crop trials over the last decade.

11. It would be most useful to compare the proposals above with the existing network

of weather stations, rain gauges, and meteorological services to farmers found in the neighboring drought prone region of Northeast Thailand. This has not been possible in the course of this study at any level of detail. However, it does appear that the weather station and rain gauge network in Northeast Thailand might well be fairly similar to the one proposed here, and in stark contrast to the existing weather information network in Cambodia.

12. A different or complimentary pathway for the development of meteorological

services is to improve access and utilization of existing remote sensing regional weather services based outside the country. The earlier discussion of the nature of drought above lists some of these services. They have great potential for improving drought analysis in Cambodia if better utilized in future. Further work on building linkages between these services, CRC/NCDP, NCDM, MOWRM and drought affected communities would be most useful.

13. One limitation of these regional remote sensing services seems to be the gross level

of resolution of some of these remote sensing based forecasts (e.g. a maximum resolution of 50 km x 50km=250,000 hectares) where Cambodia is characterized by erratic rainfall distribution and drought incidence within small geographical areas.

14. A further very important limitation to depending exclusively on remote sensing and

externally based regional forecasts is that rural communities and their disaster management committees can learn very little directly, themselves, about rainfall and drought patterns in their own communities. Remote sensing based weather systems are inherently “top down” information systems and are prone to all the blocks and delays of bureaucratic communication systems down to the local community level.

15. Local rain gauges or basic weather monitoring equipment at commune (or even

village) level could, in contrast, be considered “bottom up” weather information systems. The advantage is that rural communities own, control and are responsible for local rainfall and other basic weather information. People in those communities can learn directly about weather in their own communities with some basic training. What is necessary is that this weather information is made publicly available within the local community on a regular basis and that people are given the opportunity to learn how to interpret and use such information. Local disaster management committees can meet and discuss rainfall and drought patterns in reference to the situation in their own community.

Negative impacts of droughts on agricultural land and livestock assets and activities Agriculture The primary impact of drought on agriculture is to cause an unexpected decline in available soil moisture for rain fed annual crops during their growth so that crop plants are


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damaged or destroyed. This impact results from an interaction of rainfall, soil characteristics and farmer’s cropping patterns and soil moisture management practices. In Cambodia a very common drought impact that occurs is on rice field seed beds and young seedlings. These impacts are initially earlier in the wet season when seedbeds are first established (either by late onset of rains or wet season dry periods), but can also occur a second or third time later in the season as seedbeds are re-established after preceding drought (due wet season dry periods) or flood impacts. The need for repeated sowing and cultivation of seedbeds and crop transplanting mean that more seed and labor must be invested in the hope of produce a crop74. Droughts may have other negative impacts on crops in terms of changes to the crop pest and disease regime affecting crops that may accompany drought conditions. This consequence of drought should be further investigated. There are variations in the impacts of drought on different agricultural crops. Different rice varieties have different exposure to drought events (due to differences in crop duration from 90 to 150 days) and different tolerance or resistance to drought. Non-rice crops also have different exposure and resistance to drought due to differences on crop duration and the type of crop. It is worthwhile noting which aspects of agriculture are not usually impacted by drought. Agricultural tree crops do not normally suffer from drought impacts. Nor are any annual crops with access to supplementary irrigation. Livestock Droughts of all types will impact livestock in terms of reduced availability of grasses and fodder outside agricultural fields in the wet season. Droughts involving later rainfall onset or early rain cessation limit access to livestock water supplies through prolonging the shortages normally experienced during the dry season. Both water and feed shortages related to drought will further stress animal health in the wet season. There may be further impacts of drought in terms of changes to the disease regimes affecting livestock in the wet season. The CARE 2002 drought impact assessment reported the loss of “many small and some large animals” as an impact of the drought. An interesting area for further research is drought impacts on aquaculture activities. Do drought risks constrain or prevent aquaculture activities in drought prone communities? Are there particular types or methods of aquaculture that could be undertaken in drought prone areas? Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of drought impacts on agricultural land and livestock assets In general enabling CRC CBDP to better “see what to do” to increase the resilience of agricultural and livestock activities to drought involves many of the basic ideas and working with the same organizations that were discussed in the earlier section on mitigating flood impacts on agriculture. Of course specific types of micro-projects will be different for drought impact mitigation than for flood mitigation. However, CBDP will need to seek the advice of organizations 74 CARE, 2002, Drought Impact Assessment.


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with agricultural and livestock expertise to determine specifically what best to do to assist drought affected communities. Here a list of the main principals for improving drought mitigation are presented. Agriculture 9. A first step for CRC/CBDP is to better recognize where drought events are likely to

have the greatest impacts on agriculture. This issue is discussed further in the following section on drought variations by village ecozone.

10. A second step for CRC/CBDP is to begin to pilot drought mitigation activities with some

villages suffering from high drought risks and severe drought impacts. A good start would be to establish some of these projects in villages in the lowland plain (outside the flood zone) and those in the lowland-upland interface ecozone. These villages will probably be new sites for CBDP.

11. Improving community water control infrastructure to mitigate drought is an important

and useful activity. Water control improvements should be designed primarily for wet season supplementary irrigation through improved groundwater and rainfall harvesting. The aim of these systems would be to provide alternative crop water supply to offset drought events of late rainfall onset, wet season dry periods and early rainfall cessation. Wet season supplementary irrigation infrastructure can be less complex and expensive than water control infrastructure for flood mitigation or for dry season agriculture.

12. As noted earlier in regard to flood, there is likely to be a strong tendency in villages

(and possibly among disaster mitigation staff) to consider improving agricultural production and mitigating drought impacts on agriculture solely in terms of improving water control infrastructure to support existing cropping patterns (mainly rice) and existing methods of crop cultivation (standard practices in use for growing a rice crop). Drought mitigation micro-project planning also needs to examine and emphasize the potentials for changing cropping patterns (including potential for crops other than rice) or changing existing rice production practices and technologies as a means to increase agricultural production and to mitigate drought impacts.

13. There are several agencies active in Cambodia which have expertise in the area of

improved cropping patterns, practices and technologies75. As a first line activity in village flood mitigation planning the CBDP should explore the possibilities of enlisting the participation of provincial agricultural extension services as a resource for village level disaster planning related to agriculture. They can offer counsel and provide a link in determining how to bring innovations in agriculture to mitigate drought impacts.

14. One area to examine is the potential of different rice varieties, from those currently

grown for increased drought resistance, either in the form of shorter crop duration or drought resistant varietal characteristics.

75 See the new database of organisations involved in agriculture activities in Cambodia at www.foodsecurity.gov.kh.. Among government and support agencies this includes the Ministry of Agriculture Forests and Fisheries and its support agencies including the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), The Cambodian Australia Agriculture Extension Project (CAAEP) the Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project (AQIP) and FAO. Among NGOs innovative work has been undertaken in agriculture projects run by GRET and its affiliate Centre d'étude et de développement agricole cambodgien (CEDAC), GTZ, PRASAC and others.


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15. A second area to examine is the potential for changed cropping patterns such as the cultivation of more perennial drought resistant crops. This might be of particular relevance in communities outside the flood zone.

16. A third area to examine is techniques for improved soil moisture management of the

particular soils in drought affected communities. 17. It may possible to increase the availability of vegetables for balanced diets in drought

prone areas through cultivation of more drought resistant vegetable crops. Advice on these sorts of activities could be sought from agricultural extension agencies, Helen Keller and other NGO’s.

18. As mentioned in earlier in regard to flood mitigation, a much ignored area of

agricultural production is the cultivation of agricultural tree crops for food and income. Many tree species are drought tolerant and can provide a relatively drought proof source of food and income from agriculture for households. Obvious examples of these tree species are those that are currently growing in drought prone areas. They are also a potential alternative source to CPR forest and scrub areas for livestock fodder and fuel wood. Assessing the potential role of agricultural tree crops, or more broadly agro-forestry systems, in mitigating drought impacts deserves further research.

Livestock 1. Activities to mitigate drought impacts on livestock seem to have received less attention

than crop agriculture and more investigation needs to be done. To address livestock health issues related to drought, projects could be considered in the areas of: livestock inoculation programs; training in livestock health in drought conditions; or improving availability of livestock medicines within the village for likely increases in livestock diseases.

2. Drought impacts on livestock feed supply seem to be fairly clear. Activities to address the shortage of livestock feed could be considered in the areas of pasture improvement using drought resistant grasses, the cultivation of fodder shrubs or trees, provision of food supplement concentrates for livestock during the drought season, improving hay storage and availability, or training in livestock nutrition in drought conditions.

3. Drought impacts on livestock water supply also seem to be clear. There seems to be

room for further thinking, planning and projects to establish livestock water points using groundwater or rainwater harvesting at the community level in areas prone to drought. Improved domestic water infrastructure is likely to be used to some extent for livestock water supply in droughts. In this case livestock use may need to be better incorporated in planning for domestic water supply. Alternatively dedicated livestock water points with different design needs, and possibly locations, may well be worth consideration in drought mitigation water supply planning and projects.

4. Government livestock extension staff, and organizations involved in the livestock sector

should be consulted for further advice on drought mitigation activities for livestock health and nutrition76. The NGO Veterinarians Sans Frontiers has considerable experience in establishing networks of village livestock health volunteers in some provinces of Cambodia. They could provide advice on improving livestock health services at the village level.

5. The potential impacts of drought and constraints on aquaculture activities in drought

prone areas should be further explored.

76 See the new database of organisations involved in livestock activities in Cambodia at www.foodsecurity.gov.kh.


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Negative impacts of droughts on access to Common Property Resources Regardless of the pre-drought status of local CPR land resources such as forest, scrub and agricultural commons areas, drought will decrease the productivity of food and products used for income from these sources. This will vary a lot according to specific drought impacts on specific wild plants. However, the CARE 2002 drought impact study found overall that because of drought “many wild foods had yet to grow to any size or ripen”. In addition, the negative impact of drought on livestock feed, predominantly based on these CPR’s, has already been mentioned above. Paddy-field fisheries are another important type of CPR resource negatively impacted by droughts. Droughts can negatively affect paddy field fish migration and reproduction cycles limiting the amount of fish available. The availability and abundance of other aquatic food and products such as shrimps, crabs or aquatic plants are also likely to be negatively impacted by drought periods. The CARE 2002 drought impact study found that; “The lack of water also meant fishing and collection of other aquatic-based foods like crabs, shrimp etc. was impossible or unproductive.” Droughts seem to have only a marginal and indirect impact on CPR fuel wood availability. The perennial plants providing fuel wood may grow more slowly for a period with the temporary lack of rainfall recharge of soil moisture. Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of drought impacts on access to Common Property Resources 6. The productivity of available CPR land resources in drought prone conditions can be

increased by more active management. Activities in common areas around village and farmlands could include planting bamboo, drought resistant grasses, fruit, or fodder trees or other useful drought resistant wild plants. These common areas include existing scrub areas, bare land, stream or pond banks, or road shoulders. Planning, establishment and maintenance of such common planted areas could be organized by CRC volunteers as a worthwhile village community activity.

7. The same idea of increasing CPR productivity through more active management can be

applied to CPR resources in larger forest and scrub areas used by local communities, if they have them. The potential of increasing the productivity of these areas for food, fodder and products for sale, in a context of drought risks, should be assessed. There might well be possibilities for worthwhile village community projects organized by CRC volunteers in activities such as planting trees, bamboo or other food plants in these areas.

8. A more comprehensive approach to developing CPR forest and scrub areas would be to

examine the potential of community forestry projects in drought prone villages. Organizations such as CGFP and the NGO CONCERN have expertise in this area.

9. An important issue for wild fish availability in drought prone areas is improved

management of paddy field fisheries. A particular issue is the conservation and improved management of paddy fish refuge habitats77.

77 Gum (2000).


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Negative impacts of droughts on household domestic assets and community assets Household domestic and community assets sometimes do suffer negative drought impacts in terms of rendering existing water supply infrastructure insufficient to provide domestic water needs in drought conditions. The earlier discussion on health pointed to drought impacts on available domestic water supplies that led to shortages in sufficient water to use for domestic purposes including drinking, cooking and hygiene and sanitation. Clearly this drought impact is related to the insufficient availability of community water supply infrastructure such as wells and ponds. This can be a problem for drought prone communities in the wet season as well as in the dry season when and many more communities are also affected by domestic water shortages. However this problem is also partly related to a lack of household storage capacity for domestic water, sufficient to have a water supply in drought periods. So we can review here the limitations to existing household water storage assets in this context. Only a minority of households have their own private well or pond for domestic water supply during drought periods. The usual assets owned by households for water storage in rural Cambodia are one or two cement water jars. Poor families often cannot afford one water jar. So household level capacity to store a domestic water supply (of more than a plastic water container full) is limited at best and often is non-existent. Further, it is typical that household roofing in villages does not include guttering to harvest rainfall from the roof and pipes and tanks of a size bigger than a water jar to store rainwater. Rainfall from the roof simply pours to the ground. The other point to mention here is latrines. Water is need for hygienic use of latrines and droughts will negatively affect water availability for this purpose. However this will only be an impact for a small percentage of villagers. The more fundamental problem here is that very few rural households possess a latrine at all. There are also negative impacts of drought on other household domestic assets that need to be recognized. As described in the earlier discussion of drought impacts on agriculture droughts deplete or exhaust household stocks of rice seed, use up meager household cash savings and require the investment of additional household labor to replant crops. Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of drought impacts on household domestic assets and community assets:

1. CBDP planning for drought mitigation should include consideration of drought impacts on community domestic water supply. Planning should seek to increase the number of wells in those communities to provide sufficient and safe water during drought periods, and ideally through the dry season as well.

2. CBDP could also consider micro-projects that increase the ability of households to

store a supply of domestic water to help overcome shortages caused by drought. One such activity could be to help poor households to be able to have at least one water jar of their own.

3. Another activity is to explore if different types of water storage containers with

greater capacity than water jars could be used by households and if these would be affordable.


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4. Another area to explore is how to harvest and store rainfall runoff from the roof of houses for a domestic water supply during drought. This will not help where droughts consist of late rainfall onset, but could make an important difference where the drought consists of dry periods during the wet season or early rainfall cessation. Can gutters be installed around roofs? Can pipe and storage tank systems be developed for households? Could bamboo or other materials be used to reduce costs?

5. These types of gutter and tank systems may also be very useful to schools and

health clinics in drought prone areas. A question to be explored here is whether gutter and tank systems are included with community school and clinic infrastructure development projects in drought prone areas? If not CRC/CBDP should advocate for their inclusion in all such infrastructure projects.

Negative impacts of droughts on other income generation activities and coping strategies: 1. An important general issue related to drought impacts on livelihood activities is that

there are important gender differences. Women, girls and boys are the ones who have to expend more time and labor to fetch domestic water and watering livestock in drought periods. Other gender differences in drought impacts would undoubtedly be brought to light by further gender research.

2. In the above discussion, drought impacts livelihood activities related to agriculture,

livestock and CPR have already been described. Here the impacts of drought on other important livelihood activities including wage labor, business micro-enterprise, claims and coping strategies are discussed.

3. Casual wage labor and business micro-enterprises are important sources of income to

enable households to buy food and other basic needs. The impact of drought on these activities often lacks research. However, it seems reasonable to assume that droughts do have significant negative impacts on these types of activities. One reason is that quite a proportion (but not all) of then are based on or linked to agricultural and CPR based activities.

4. Drought impacts on casual wage labor employment: Casual wage labor opportunities

within the village and its local area during the wet season are likely to be negatively affected by drought impacts. Seeking agricultural wage labor outside the village can be suffer similar negative impacts according to the extent of drought incidence in neighboring areas and its severity and duration in those other locations. It seems that the necessary additional agricultural labor needed for replanting following earlier loss of crop areas to drought does not lead to an increase in paid wage labor opportunities. Having faced a significant economic loss already to drought it seems that households replant mainly using only their own labor. The 2002 CARE/AAH/OXFAM joint report found that 65-100% people depended partly on wage labor, particularly in agriculture, and that drought caused a “significant loss” in employment. These negative impacts generally affect men more than women as they tend to undertake a larger share of casual wage labor. Drought impacts on other types of non-agricultural wage labor, which are also important, are not clear.

5. Drought impacts on business micro-enterprises: Enterprises based on agro-processing

of agricultural or CPR raw materials will often face a decline in supply and/or an increase in the cost of these raw materials because of drought. Many businesses, including other types based on trade or services, will suffer through the conservative spending habits adopted by their rural customers to cope with droughts. These impacts


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particularly affect women’s economic opportunities as they undertake a large share of these activities. There are some notable exceptions to note. Moneylenders and traders selling food and agricultural inputs are likely to benefit from drought.

6. Drought impacts on claims and social relations: As identified earlier for flood, the

impacts of drought will mean that many rural households will seek to make claims and gain assistance from relatives, other community members, government agencies and humanitarian institutions. They may (or may not) gain assistance according to the capacity and willingness to assist them and the scope and amount of this assistance is typically limited. A particular issue in regards to claims for drought assistance is the lack of a clear and generally accepted definition of being drought affected in the first place and then a lack of information on which communities have been affected and to what extent.

7. Household coping strategies and drought impacts: As mentioned in the earlier

discussion on vulnerability, households often encounter drought events while already trying to cope with multiple other shocks and stresses such as family illness or low incomes. The overall impact of droughts on household coping strategies is increase reliance for livelihood needs on more risky coping strategies78. This is the same impact that can be expected from floods or a range of other shocks to livelihood.

8. All households will try to avoid more risky coping strategies by first employing adaptive

coping strategies to try to meet needs arising from droughts. As previously mentioned households with crops affected by droughts in the early or mid season will spend cash or gold savings, and reallocate labor to try to replant crops. It is also likely that they will reduce non-essential consumption. These adaptive coping strategies may or may not be enough to overcome drought impacts, depending on the amount of reserve cash and labor in the household and the pattern of late rains during the season.

9. However, these adaptive coping strategies are often not enough to meet basic needs

unless the household is in the wealthy minority. The reasons are a combination of a lack of cash and labor reserves in many households and the fact that investments made in re-establishing crops may not lead to harvest because of further drought (or flood) events.

10. More risky coping strategies must then be adopted. There is very little research that

links an increase in prevalence of these risky coping strategies specifically to drought impacts. More research is available on the increase in risky coping strategies for flood or flood and drought combined. We can therefore only give a general idea of these responses to drought which are basically the same as those described for flood in the earlier section on that topic. A likely very common response is to “stint” on food consumption of family members to varying extents to save expenditure. Risky strategies for the poor include depending more on uncertain and hard-earned supplies of wild foods. Risky strategies for the medium poor often include borrowing cash from money lenders. It seems common that many households send members in search of casual wage employment outside the village. This can produce much needed cash income but also involves inherent risks of spending money and failing to get employment or acceptance of dangerous or underpaid work.

78 For example see CARE, 2002, Food Security Assessment Report.


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Potential CRC/CBDP activities for mitigation of drought impacts on other income generation activities and coping strategies 1. The types of CRC/CBDP activities to mitigate drought impacts through increasing other

income generation activities and reducing dependency on risky coping strategies are virtually the same in principal for the activities suggested earlier to mitigate flood impacts. They are listed here once again against the background of drought impacts described.

2. The key is to have projects that will increase household incomes in drought affected

communities through increased employment opportunities. 3. One key need is to increase household incomes and employment within drought prone

villages before, during and after droughts. A number of suggestions have already been made in relation to agricultural and CPR based sources of income.

4. Common project interventions to address this need are various types of Food for Work

or Cash for Work Schemes. These are useful short-term measures, especially when the projects aim to decrease vulnerabilities and increase food security through undertaking public works as well as providing short-term employment. These schemes are also limited in their impacts due to limits to available resources, geographical targeting criteria, broad participation of all wealth groups in such activities and difficulties for some vulnerable groups in benefiting equitably from work generally based on heavy earthmoving activities.

5. The more fundamental task to be tackled here is to support the creation of more

long-term aid independent employment opportunities in village economies. There is room for consideration of disaster mitigation projects on the basis of their potential to create increased longer term aid independent employment opportunities in flood-prone villages. Opportunities in this area can be identified and assessed with villagers during the disaster mitigation planning process.

6. A second need to increase employment and business opportunities is to improve

linkages to external labor and product markets outside the village. While droughts do not cut off road links as floods do, many drought prone villages are still likely to have poor road infrastructure which limits their access to external labor markets and markets to trade goods for income and to buy food. Road infrastructure needs are likely to come up in the context of drought mitigation for these reasons. As mentioned earlier concerning flood mitigation, CBDP has undertaken road improvement micro-project in the past but has encountered problems with implementation. CBDP can help by including road infrastructure needs in community disaster planning, and can contribute funding. It can be argued that these road micro-projects ought to be implemented by the Commune Councils, and their partners such as the Ministry of Rural Development, or the Ministry of Public Works, not by CBDP itself.

Major Likely Variations in drought impact by Village Ecozone type Using the village ecozone classification we have developed here is a useful way to examine variations in drought impacts by ecozone. The results in the table below highlight an important point in that the risks of drought are high in most ecozones, and drought risks are a generalized disaster management problem for in many areas of rural Cambodia. This is in contrast to more obvious variations in flood impacts found among the ecozones.


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The Village Ecozones and variations in risks of drought Zone Basic characteristics Drought

Risk Distinct variants/ Remarks

River or lakeside villages


Low

- Floating villages. - Chamcar villages. - Flood recession /dry season rice villages.


Villages located on the lowland plains within the boundary of the MRC flood zone.

High This can be determined from MRC flood zone data.


Villages located on the lowland plains outside the boundary of the MRC flood zone.

High This can be determined from MRC flood zone data.



High

Upland Villages Villages located in upland areas.

High


Low/ uncertain

The table does highlight the fact that drought risks are likely to be lower in the Riverside ecozone mainly due to the use of flood recession and river water as the main water supply for agriculture rather than rainfall. This is important also in the sense that most disaster mitigation activities, to date focused on flood mitigation, have occurred in this ecozone. Drought disaster mitigation will primarily involve new sites in other ecozones. Finally it serves to highlight the issue that the Riverside ecozone contains most of the existing irrigation and water control infrastructure in existence in the country. Water control infrastructure to mitigate drought will need to be located to serve communities in the other ecozones, where development of such infrastructure has been much more limited to date. The Lowland flood plain ecozone is an interesting case, because here both high drought risks and high flood risks are encountered in the same ecozone. The ecozone analysis highlights that disaster mitigation activities in this ecozone will have to be designed for both drought and flood mitigation. While we lack information, it is proposed here that the areas with the greatest risk and impact of drought in terms of livelihoods and food security are within three of the seven eczones: the Lowland plains outside the flood ecozone, the Lowland-upland interface ecozone and (possibly) the Uplands ecozone. This is notwithstanding that drought impacts also occur in the Lowland flood plain. This argument can and should be explored and tested through further research. Some of the arguments for this proposition include:

• Soil moisture for agricultural crops in these three ecozones is totally dependent on rainfall. There are usually no large natural sources of surface water nearby and no seasonal inundation of the soil by flood waters to increase soil moisture availability.


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• It seems to be the case that common soils in these ecozones tend to have higher drainage and lower soil water retention than common soils in the riverside and lowland flood plain ecozones. In the lowlands outside the flood plains and in the lowland-upland interface ecozone, soils tend to be sandier. Available soil moisture for plants is therefore more rapidly lost than in other soil types. In the uplands ecozone upland chamcar fields can be located on thin poorly developed laterite soils. These variations in soil characteristics by ecozone should be examined further to test these propositions.

• These ecozones are the first to be drained of surface water from rainfall due to a

lack of rainfall harvesting and storage infrastructure within these ecozones. Field experience also seems to indicate that lowland-upland interface areas often experience late rainfall onset to start crop establishment. This can easily be further explored by comparing seeding and transplanting dates between communities in this ecozone in comparison to nearby communities in the Lowland floodplain. The Lowland-upland interface ecozone, consisting of communities on the plains near uplands and mountains may in fact be in local “mini-rain shadow“ areas.

• It is likely that these three ecozones contain a greater proportion of the Cambodian

rural poor who have the most limited ability to cope with disaster impacts. This seems very likely in comparison to the Riverside ecozone and is likely but more uncertain when compared to the Lowland flood plain ecozone.


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During the course of this study the consultants became aware of several fundamental issues for the ongoing development of CRC CBDP. These issues are listed: 1. The extensive geographical coverage of the Cambodian Red Cross and increasingly the

CBDP within Cambodia, 79 and the formal involvement of CRC within the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), means that CRC has the potential to have a major beneficial impact on livelihood-food security-disaster risk management linkages in Cambodia.

2. CBDP Assessment reports shows that the micro-projects implemented to date have

undoubtedly contributed to a reduction of vulnerability in target communities. Access roads to safe areas and micro projects for controlling flood waters and crop protection, (i.e. small dams, roads, bridges, water gates and culverts), offer the additional benefit of water storage for livestock and dry season cultivation. The digging and rehabilitation of canals offer similar benefits. Participants also identify other benefits such as better access to markets improved trading, improved security for women, improved food security and increases in income.

3. An important underlying dimension of CRC disaster management activities is the

contribution they make to building trust, confidence, solidarity, and more adaptive social, motivational and attitudinal patterns in target villages. A related point is that this is achieved by the volunteer efforts of members of those communities.

During the course of this study the consultants also became aware of several fundamental issues about improvements in the ongoing development of CRC CBDP. 4. At the national level, CRC’s CBDP needs to relate its disaster management activities at

the disaster management policy and strategy levels to the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) for Cambodia. This is the basic agreed short-term plan for the Government, donors and development agencies working towards poverty alleviation in Cambodia up to 2005.

5. Likewise, CRC and its CBDP needs to relate its disaster management activities at the

disaster management policy and strategy levels to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) for Cambodia which have been adopted as targets by the government80. The MDG’s are longer-term poverty alleviation goals and include a number of specific targets to achieve by the year 2015.

6. CBDP programme activities including the HVCA process, the community action plans

(CAP) and disaster risk reduction micro-projects relate to both NPRS and MDG goals. However the links are not specified. For instance, the current CBDP reporting format (quarterly reports) does not include progress reports towards either NPRS or MDG goals.

7. The CBDP would benefit from further clarification of its processes in relation to the

proposed Commune Council Disaster Management Committees (CCDM). According to NCDM a new sub-decree on these committees has just been drafted. CRC could further

79 At the end of 2003, the CBDP is implemented in 9 provinces; 23 district, 94 communes; 317 villages. Other CRC activities involve hundreds of village volunteers per province in most provinces of the country. 80 We thank Rebecca Hansen, Country Director of the UN World Food Programme for initially emphasising this issue to us during a meeting regarding this study.

Implications of the findings for the ongoing development of the CRC CBDP programme


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advocate the integration of food security, livelihood and disaster reduction into the mandate of the proposed CCDM.

8. A strong argument was made that CRC and the CBDP need to become familiar with the

conceptual frameworks of Food Security and the Livelihoods Approach and integrate these approaches as basic conceptual tools in the CBDP and CRC Programme Department activities. Some of the major reasons include:

o Senior management recognize that CRC and the CDBP staff lack exposure and

familiarity in terms of even basic concepts of the food security and livelihoods approaches and they would like to build capacity in this area.

o The current use of these frameworks are increasingly considered good practice in disaster risk management, particularly the more recent disaster reduction approaches that seek to address fundamental causes of disaster impacts.

o The livelihood approach is the basic analytical approach of to determine development activities for donors including DFID (which co-funds the CBDP) and development agencies involved in disaster management including, UNDP, CARE and OXFAM (Carney/DFID, 1999). These agencies will use food security and livelihoods based criteria in choosing which projects and programmes to fund for disaster management and in evaluating existing programme impacts. These approaches are useful for “seeing what to do” to help rural people address the problems of poverty and hunger.

o Much of the current debate and dialogue on poverty alleviation, and increasingly, disaster management interventions, involves concepts of food security and livelihoods. CRC needs to be familiar with these concepts to facilitate its participation in these debates and dialogue as an important humanitarian and disaster management agency.

9. Furthermore, the selection of CRC-CBDP target sites are conducted based on consensus

of local stakeholders (using commune level data), which inevitably draw on their subjective experiences and perceptions. However these processes are not linked with a proper livelihood analysis, including problems of food insecurity. While tools exist such as the HVCA81 and the livelihood analysis approach, the current decision making process for selecting micro projects is highly influenced by the Provincial Red Cross branch, rather than the results of the HVCA process,82 thus possibly ignoring the importance of participation, choices that villagers make and important details that these tools could provide. An earlier evaluation report also stated that the CBDP has not reached the most vulnerable population due to these kinds of problems.

10. There are therefore, a range of reasons and a clear opportunity for adapting a

livelihood approach to ongoing CBDP and disaster relief and recovery programmes of the CRC to assist them reach their objectives. The experience of other organizations that have adopted a livelihood approach indicates that there are real benefits, but the process of adoption of the livelihood approach takes time and staff capacity has to be actively built in this area83.

81 HVCA: Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment, see www.ifrc.org 82 Assessment of Micro-projects implemented under the CBDP Programme (1998-2003), Richard Tracey, December 2003 83 A very useful review of the benefits, challenges and difficulties of adopting the livelihoods approach in a range of development organizations is found in a series of conference papers in FAO, 2000, Proceedings from the Forum on Operationalizing Sustainable Livelihood Approaches, FAO, Siena, Italy.


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11. The current conduct of CBDP,84 and its early predecessor called CBFMP that CRC started in 1998,85 has been focused on responding to the needs of flood affected communities. Thus, most training and associated micro projects86 are oriented toward flood related issues. This is a significant omission of the importance of agricultural droughts87 in rural livelihoods and food security.

12. We recommend that CBDP and CRC in general incorporate the issue of agricultural

drought in their village site selection, micro-project, advocacy and policy activities related to disaster mitigation and management in Cambodia.

13. The use of the village ecozone typology in this report shows there is room for

substantial improvement in “seeing what to do” and learning from experience where villages are placed in their different environmental contexts. CBDP micro-projects are village based. The use of this simple field-useable typology of villages according to topography, land cover and common livelihood activities, is clearly relevant to analysis of drought and flood risks and impacts.

14. Since many CBDP micro-projects are implemented using manual labor (usually Food for

Work projects), the micro-projects also contribute to income generation in target sites. Benefits however, are concentrated on the young and the physically fit rather than the most vulnerable families, perceived to be “inappropriate workers”.

15. The CRC could further benefit from actively participating in the Food Security Forum88

whose main objectives are to share information on food security issues and improve coordination.

16. While somewhat outside the scope of this study, there is an evident need to improve

internal CRC linkages and cooperation between the CRC CBDP and other CRC “non-Disaster Management” Departments and programmes. For example, there are clear and important advantages for disaster risk reduction and management activities of CBDP through closer cooperation between CBDP and CRC “non-Disaster Management” programmes including health, water and sanitation, CRC disaster relief aid and HIV/AIDS. These “non-Disaster Management” departments and programmes would also benefit from shared learning and cooperation with CBDP to improve their own activities. An area to be explored further here, are donor agency structures and funding rules, across a number of donor agencies, which may inhibit this increased collaboration.

17. There also exist opportunities for improving current CRC institutional disaster

preparedness, response and CRC “non-DM” programmes. While this is outside the scope of this study, the consultants recommends that other “non-DM” Departments of CRC should consider how they address food security and sustainable livelihood issues.

84 Further discussion of CBDM is elaborated in Annex 3, Based on Jegillos, UNCRD Guidelines for Sustainable CBDM. 85 Lessons Learned from Community based Flood Mitigation and Preparedness Programme (CBFMP), ADPC August 2001. Interestingly, this report stated that the nature of low subsistence livelihood among target areas was analysed to be the reason/constraint for the establishment of flood mitigation projects by the community. One questions the validity of this conceptual approach: Which is important-sustaining livelihood or establishing micro projects? 86 Possible exceptions are raising of pathways, footpath in flood prone areas or “flood protection measures.” They also serve as small water impounding system that enable beneficiary communities to plant second crop. Typical micro projects are: safe areas, water gates, canal, culvert, bridge, dam rehabilitation and road repairs. 87 This issue was already highlighted in the first CBDP evaluation in 2002 by IDRM. 88 Established in February 2003 and meets regularly with increasing cooperation from a wider set of stakeholders.


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Ideas, or actions that the CRC may undertake under CBDP (micro projects, community development) and disaster response and rehabilitation There appears to be a wide scope for improving CBDP practices, based on the analysis above. Many suggestions have already been presented in the earlier discussion on specific potential CRC/CBDP micro-projects related to particular types of livelihood impacts. The following list is a further menu of ideas that CRC may consider:

• In contrast to a heavy focus on micro-projects that promote government and public infrastructure, the CRC must also give emphasis to projects that will strengthen household assets and coping capabilities.

• In contrast to a heavy focus on structural (infrastructure) micro-projects, CRC

must also give emphasis to non-structural (service) projects that will strengthen rural people’s health, skills and coping capabilities. Examples from the report include various Village level training and service programmes such as health and nutrition services, agricultural and livestock extension, increasing weather services and weather literacy, and income generation skills.

• Continue food aid for the most vulnerable: should be planned as initial stage for

emergency assistance but must be linked with achieving self-reliance, i.e. in food security and livelihood89.

• Promote access to other non-rice sources of food: to include fishing, forestry

etc.

• Do not ignore households’ needs for water and sanitation.

• Because of the diversity in village environments, rural livelihoods and the different situation of social groups within villages many interventions need to be designed to suit site-specific conditions for effectiveness. Associated with this diversity is the need for more orientation toward problem solving at the farm and village levels. Developing technologies for rain fed agriculture, managing natural resources, organizing people to work on catchments management, prioritizing investments and other development issues, and understanding better the interrelationships among natural resources, land use and rural communities, all require a much greater focus on, and input from, local people.

• These are long-term challenges that require a coherent and holistic approach to development through a programme tailored to local agro-climatic conditions, and to the social and economic factors, which determine the type of agricultural development that is most relevant.

• There is an immediate need to understand better the interactions among different land uses and land users, to address issues of conflicting stakeholder objectives, and to capitalize on and improve linkages of information flow within and across political hierarchies through participatory mechanisms.

89 In Southern Africa: : “However, one unintended outcome of this prolonged and generous international humanitarian assistance may have been to discourage local initiative for the ownership of and responsibility for disaster risk. This is reflected a decade later in continued dependence on international assistance in times of disaster. It also applies to initiative in generating locally-relevant disaster risk reduction programmes and capacity-building activities that produce skilled practitioners able to integrate disaster considerations into ongoing activities and services.” Ailsa Holloway, Disaster mitigation in southern Africa: hot rhetoric – cold reality Disaster Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme, (DiMP) University of Cape Town.


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• Also, there is need to extend and improve upon the successful pilot experiences with drought mitigation and prevention in other drought affected countries in Asia, and to support collaborating institutions in applying approaches, methods and technologies on a wider basis.

Implications for capacity building of CRC disaster risk management staff In consideration of the issue raised above, CRC and its stakeholders may consider the following capacity building implications: 1. Livelihood and Food Security do not have do be separate or “new” programmes of CRC.

It will be wise to build on current strengths of CRC, through its CBDP, DRR and other “non-DM” Programmes. The emphasis on ”integrated CRC” not on “integrated CBDP”, which means that each Department may contribute to achieving food security and improved livelihood of the population most vulnerable to flood and drought.

2. However, there is a need to shift in concept and practice and sustainable change in

CRC policy making and decision-making processes: This will be a major internal challenge since CRC tends to act on narrow sectoral way and “compartmentalized” departments or services. The shift could be-

From To Reactive disaster response. Proactive disaster reduction Managing “disaster events”. Developmental activity which, through

ongoing initiatives, minimizes the likelihood of a disastrous occurrence by reducing either the intensity of external threats (hazards) or the vulnerability of those at-risk. But consequence of the political risk of diminishing the stature of an immediate priority (response) in favor of averting a future uncertain event (disaster reduction).

Event driven (act when disasters happen). Process driven: continuous programmes that reduce community vulnerability and strengthen “disaster recovery”90 services immediately following “disaster response”.

Risk transfer to international community through emergency appeals91.

Shared ownership of risk management by community, local and national authorities, civil societies and international community.

Compartmentalized programmes (DMD vs Programme Department, HIV AIDS etc).

Integrated services; this will require programmatic and budgetary shifts for other “non DMD” departments

90 Disaster recovery is defined as “the coordinated process of supporting disaster affected communities in the reconstruction of the physical infrastructure and restoration of emotional, social, economic and physical well-being” (EMA, 1996 p. xi) 91 It is safe to say that international aid in disaster relief in Cambodia in the past 2 years (2000-2001) constitute approximately 30-40% of total expenditures.


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Capacity building of CBDP staff 3. There are many implications arising from this report in terms of capacity building of

CBDP staff. Some capacity building tasks that would be of benefit CBDP staff include conducting:

• Basic concepts of livelihoods approach and food security. Establish linkages with

local livelihood and food security projects. • Familiarization and basic skill training in health needs, child nutrition needs and

water and sanitation needs of disaster prone communities and options to address those needs. Establish linkages with local health, water and nutrition service providers.

• Familiarization and basic skill training in agriculture, including rice production,

non-rice crops and agricultural tree production and irrigation to assist CBDP staff assess agricultural development options with disaster prone communities. Establish linkages with local agricultural extension services.

• Familiarization and basic skill training in livestock health and nutrition.

Establish linkages with local livestock extension services.

• Familiarization and basic skill training in community forestry. Establish linkages with local community forestry services and activities.

• Familiarization and basic skill training in fisheries and aquaculture. Establish

linkages with local fisheries and aquaculture services and activities.

• Familiarization and basic skill training in weather information and flood warning services. Establish linkages with these service providers.

• Familiarization and basic skill training in income generation from wage labor

and small business. Establish linkages with local services and activities. TOOLS and CAPACITIES that CRC may consider acquiring: 1. Strengthen skills in participatory approaches and collection of data related to

livelihood. Data collection using iterative process using local teams. Focus on identifying “strengths”, adaptive and coping capacities or what people do well rather than what they need.

• Livelihood Analysis as part of HVCA and damage and needs assessment: Livelihood

analysis is an approach to help determine how people live or make a living. It incorporates an understanding of how household capabilities, assets and activities combine within specified environments to achieve household well being in the short and long term. Livelihoods analysis assesses the resilience of household strategies in the face of shocks and stresses, and assists in identifying vulnerable areas or groups. The findings generated provide a useful framework for supporting households to resist and recover from either external threats (for example, drought, flood) or internal threats (for example, family illness).


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The analysis in this report provided insights into possible strategies to increase resilience to external and internal threats, by reducing social, economic and environmental vulnerability, at both household and community levels. Examples of strategies to increase social and economic resilience include:

Community mobilization for civil works to construct protective structures such as dams, irrigation and safe areas and its access footpaths/roads;

Increasing opportunities for on and off-farm income-generating activities. There is also a need for business skills and capital to support these income-generating activities;

Savings mobilization; Wholesale purchase of seeds to lower prices, for example by interest groups like

livestock raisers or vegetable growers. • Strategies to increase environmental resilience included:

Developing the use of natural resource management techniques to improve soil fertility and reduce soil erosion;

Cultivation of more land, and more efficient use of existing land, for example, using or hiring draft power for those with smaller plots of land; and

Increasing productivity of vegetable farming activities. Rainwater harvesting or small water impounding system.

• A toolkit /guidelines for implementation may be necessary for which appropriate

training and dissemination must be conducted. • Contingency planning specific to flood and to drought addressing livelihood

protection to increase their resilience to these events. • Improve knowledge utilization of critical information that CRC would need to

acquire and use for their programming and decision-making. This information includes understanding and analyzing trends in hazards: climate variability and extreme climate events, changing patterns of vulnerability, coping capacities over time period and duration.

• Project impact evaluation must consider impact on households’ livelihood in contrast to reporting activities and counting numbers and nature of micro projects.

• Local village leaders, CRC staff, volunteers and commune council should be taught basic health and nutrition practices and must be resourced to maintain health and nutrition records at the commune/village level.


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ANNEXES


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ANNEX 1 The Evolution of Ideas about Food Security and Livelihoods since the 1970’s

A brief history of the inception of household livelihood security92

During the past several years, much conceptual progress has been made in an understanding of the processes that lead to household food insecurity (Frankenberger 1992).

1970s: A focus on national food supplies as the primary cause of food insecurity with an emphasis supply shortfalls created by production failures

In the 1970s, food security was linked mostly to national and global food supplies. The food crisis in Africa in the early 1970s stimulated a major concern on the part of the international donor community regarding supply shortfalls created by production failures due to drought and desert encroachment (Davies et al. 1991). This focus on food supplies as the primary cause of food insecurity was given credence at the 1974 World Food Conference.

1980s: A focus on household food security with an emphasis on food access

The limitations of the food supply focus came to light during the food crisis that plagued Africa in the mid-1980s. It became clear that adequate food availability at the national level did not automatically translate into food security at the individual and household levels. Researchers and development practitioners realized that food insecurity occurred in situations where food was available but not accessible because of an erosion in people's entitlement to that food (Borton and Shoham 1991). Sen's (1981) theory on food entitlement had a considerable influence on this change in thinking, representing a paradigm shift in the way that famines were conceptualized. Food entitlements of households derive from their own production, income, gathering of wild foods, community support (claims), assets, migration, etc. Thus a number of socio-economic variables have an influence on a household's access to food. In addition, growing food insecurity was viewed as an evolving process where the victims were not passive to its effects. Social anthropologists observed that vulnerable populations exhibited a sequence of responses to economic stress, giving recognition to the importance of behavioural responses and coping mechanisms in food crises (Frankenberger 1992). By the late 1980s, donor organizations, local governments and NGOs began to incorporate socio-economic information in their diagnoses of food insecurity.

The household food security approach that evolved in the late 1980s emphasized both availability and stable access to food. Thus, food availability at the national and regional level and stable and sustainable access at the local level were both considered essential to household food security. Interest was centred on understanding food systems, production systems, and other factors that influenced the composition of food supply and a household's access to that supply over time. What was not clear was how nutritional outcomes were factored into food-security deliberations.

Early 1990s: A focus on nutritional security with an emphasis on food, health and mother and child care

92 Frankenberger T.R., Drinkwater M., & Maxwell D., 2000, Operationalizing Household Livelihood Security A Holistic Approach For Addressing Poverty And Vulnerability in FAO 2000, Proceedings from the Forum on Operationalizing Sustainable Livelihood Aproaches, FAO.


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Work on the causes of malnutrition demonstrated that food was only one factor in the malnutrition equation, and that in addition to dietary intake and diversity, health and disease, and maternal and child care were also important determinants (UNICEF 1990). Household food security is a necessary but not sufficient condition for nutritional security. Researchers found that there were two main processes that had a bearing on nutritional security. The first determined access to resources of food for different households. This was the path from production or income to food. The second process involved the extent to which the food obtained was subsequently translated into satisfactory nutritional levels (World Bank 1989). A host of health, environmental, and cultural/behavioral factors determine the nutritional benefits of the food consumed; this is the path from food to nutrition (IFAD 1993).

This work on nutritional security demonstrated that growth faltering could not necessarily be directly related to a failure in household food security. It shifted the emphasis away from simple assumptions concerned with household access to food, resource base and food systems by demonstrating the influence of health and disease, "caring" capacity, environmental sanitation and the quality and composition of dietary intake on nutritional outcomes.

1990s: A focus on household livelihood security

Research carried out in the late 1980s and early 1990s indicated that the focus on food and nutritional security as they were currently conceived needed to be broadened. It was found that food security was but one subset of objectives for poor households, and only one of a whole range of factors that determined how the poor made decisions and spread risk and how they finely balanced competing interests in order to subsist in the short and longer term (Maxwell & Smith 1992). People may choose to go hungry to preserve their assets and future livelihoods. Therefore, it is misleading to treat food security as a fundamental need, independent of wider livelihood considerations.

Thus, the evolution of the concepts and issues related to household food and nutritional security led to the development of the concept of household livelihood security. The HLS model adopted by CARE allows for a broader and more comprehensive understanding of the relationships among the political economy of poverty, malnutrition, and the dynamic and complex strategies that the poor use to negotiate survival. The model places particular emphasis on household actions, perceptions and choices, with food understood to be only one of the many priorities. People are constantly being required to balance food procurement against the satisfaction of other basic material and non-material needs (Maxwell & Frankenberger 1992).

To summarize, there were three strategic shifts in development thinking that led CARE to the adoption of a livelihood approach:

a shift from a concern for regional and national food security to a concern for the food security and nutritional status of households and individuals;

a shift from a food-first perspective to a livelihood perspective, which focuses not only on the production of food but also on the ability of households and individuals to procure the additional food they require for an adequate diet;

A shift from a materialist perspective on food production to a social perspective, which focuses on the enhancement of people's capacities to secure their own livelihoods (adapted from Maxwell 1996).


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ANNEX 2 Definitions and Concepts of Livelihood Security and Food Security A Definition of Livelihood Security “The adequate and sustainable access to income and other resources to enable households to meet basic needs. This includes adequate access to food, potable water, health facilities, educational opportunities, housing, and time for community participation and social integration” (CARE, 2002). “Livelihood insecurity”: This exists where these conditions are not met. That is, where households do not have enough income and resources at all times to meet all the basic needs listed in the definition. Components of livelihood systems93: People: their livelihood capabilities. Examples: literacy, health, knowledge, work skills, nutrition. Assets: tangible (resources and stores) and intangible (claims and access) which provide material and social means to make a living. Examples: Tangible assets: house, oxcart, livestock, agricultural land, store of rice paddy, gold. Intangible assets: forest access, fisheries access, market access to buy and sell products, presence of relatives who will help, security, NGO’s. Livelihood Activities: what people do to make a living.

Examples: rice farming, raising pigs, getting forest foods, fishing, sei chnnoul, (casual wage labor) roak sie (small business). Gains or outputs: a living- or what people gain from what they do. Examples: Material- food, money, Honda Dream. Social- happiness, security, education, knowledge, pride, dignity. Environmental- better soil, more forest, more fisheries, clean water. Livelihood Stresses: “Stresses are pressures typically continuous and cumulative, predictable and distressing”. Examples: seasonal shortages (every year), rising populations or declining forest or fisheries resources. Livelihood Shocks: “Shocks are typically sudden, unpredictable and traumatic”.

93 These livelihood component definitions are taken from Chambers and Conway (1992), “Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: Practical Concepts for the 21st Century, IDS Discussion Paper 296, University of Sussex, UK. Cambodian examples added by this author. Useful information on these concepts, including in Khmer language, are to be found on the new website by the Cambodian Agricultural Research Council (CARD)and the GTZ Food Security and Nutrition Policy Support Project (GTZ FSNPSP)(www.foodsecurity.gov.kh)


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Examples: impacts from fires, floods, droughts and disease epidemics, death of a family member, loss of employment, theft, impacts of violent acts, denied access to forest or fisheries areas used in the past. Coping Strategies: The ability to avoid or more usually to withstand and recover from stresses and shocks”. Any definition of livelihood sustainability has to include coping strategies. Two different types of Coping Strategies 1. Adaptive Coping strategies: These coping strategies allow people to cope with stresses or shocks without damaging their livelihood situation significantly in the future. Examples: Spend saved money or gold to buy food. 2. Risky Coping Strategies: These coping strategies allow people to cope with stresses or shocks but with the risk of damaging their livelihood situation significantly in the future. Examples: sell farm land to buy food, sell cattle to buy medicine. Sustainable Livelihood Outcomes CARE (2002:11, Toolkit):

• Nutritional Security. • Food Security. • Income Security. • Education Security. • Health Security. • Habitat Security. • Social Network Security. • Personal Safety. • Environmental Security. • Life skills capacity.

Sustainable Livelihood Contexts, Conditions and Trends CARE (2003:11): Characteristics of the relationship between household livelihoods and the broader environment within which they make their living.

• Policy. • Social. • Economic. • Political. • Environmental. • Infrastructure. • Demography. • Historical.

Most Recent Developments in the Livelihoods Approach The Livelihoods approach has itself been evolving in recent years. One issue is that being emphasized now is the linkages between household livelihoods and wider society, particularly in terms of relations with social institutions through policies. That is, causes of livelihood insecurity are found in the nature of these relationships and it is recognized that changing these relationships can improve household livelihood security.


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A second issue has been the growing emphasis placed on the human rights aspects of livelihoods. People suffering from livelihood insecurity are very often suffering from conditions that are a deprivation of basic human rights. Adequate access to food, shelter health, education and other basic needs for life are basic human rights.


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(1) Kent Helmers & Sanny Jegillos, 2004, Linkages between flood and drought disasters and Cambodian rural livelihoods and food security: How can the CRV Community Disaster Preparedness Programme further enhance livelihood and food security of Cambodian rural people in the face of disasters?, IFRC/CRC, Phnom Penh.

(2) These livelihood component definitions are taken from Chambers and Conway (1992), “Sustainable Rural Livelihoods:

Practical Concepts for the 21st Century, IDS Discussion Paper 296, University of Sussex, UK. Cambodian examples added by this author. Useful information on these concepts, including in Khmer language, are to be found on the new website by the Cambodian Agricultural Research Council (CARD) and the GTZ food Security and Nutrition Policy Support Project (GTZ FSNPSP) ( www.foodsecurity.gov.kh )

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1- yuT§saRsþTb;Tl;GacpøasbþÚr³ yuT§saRsþTaMgenHGnuBaØatieGayRbCaCneFVIkarTb;Tl;CamYy GarmµN_TukRBYy b¤PaBtk;søútedayKµankarbgárplb:HBal;dl;sßanPaBrs;enArbs;BYkeK kñúgeBlGnaKt;. ]>karcMNayelI karsnSMR)ak; b¤ mas edIm,I TijGahar.

2- yuT§saRsþTb;Tl;RbfuyRbfan³ yuT§saRsþTaMgenHGnuBaØatieGayRbCaCneFVIkarTb;Tl;CamYy GarmµN_TukRBYyb¤PaBtk;søút b:uEnþvamanPaBRbfuyRbfancMeBaHplb:HBal;dl;karrs;enArbs; BYkeKnaeBlGnakt;. ]>karlk;dIERsedIm,ITijGahar lk;RkbIedIm,ITijfñaMsgáÚv.

lT§plCIvPaBrs;enAEdlmannirnþPaB (CARE 2002:11) -snþisux GaharrUbtßmÖ -snþisuxes,og -snþisuxkarGb;rM -snþisuxEpñksuxPaB -snþisuxlMenAdæan -snþisuxsgÁm -suvtßPaBbuKÁl -snþisuxbrisßan -smtþPaBbMninCIvit


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-lkç½NÐ nig ninñakarénCIvPaBrs;enAEdlmannirnþPaB (CARE 2003:11) lkçNHénTMnakTMngrvagCIvPaBrs;enACamYynig briyakasxageRkAEdlekItmanenAkñúgkarrs;enArbs;BYkeK -neya)ay -sgÁm -esdækic© -briyakas -ehdæarcnasm<½n§ -RbvtþisaRsþ -RbCasaRsþ

-karGPivDÆn_ naeBlfµI²kñúgCIvPaBrs;enA³ eKalviFIénkarrs;enAKW)annigkMBugeFVIsmyuT§kñúgeBlbc©úb,nñ. bBaðaTI1 KWRtUv)aneKsgát;F¶n; kñúgeBlbc©úb,nñ enHKW TMnak;TMngrvagCIvPaBrs;enA nigsgÁmCaBiesscMNgTMnak;TMngCamYysßab½n sgÁmtamryHeKalneya)ay. vaKWCaehtuénGsuvtßiPaBkarrs;enAEdl)anCYbRbTH enAkñúglkçNHén TMnak;TMngTaMgenH ehIyRtUv)aneKTTYlsÁal;fa karpøas;bþÚrTMnak;TMngTaMgenHGaceFVIeGayRbesIr eLIgnvsuvtßPaBkarrs;enA. bBaðaTI2 KW sgát;eTAelIsiT§imnusS . RbCaCnCaeRcInkMBugTTYlkarQW cab;GMBIGsuvtßPaB karrs;enAEdlCaTUeTAvabNþalmkBIxVHxatmUldæansiT§imnusS. manGaharRKb;RKan; manCMrksMrab;sñak;enA mankarGb;rM ehIynigtMrUvkarCamUldæand_éTeTotsMrab;CIvit TaMgenHehIyva KWCamUldæanénsiT§imnusS.

- cMNgTMnak;TMngrvag snþisuxes,og nig suvtßiPaBkarrs;enA CaTUeTA snþisuxes,og GacRtUv)aneKcat;TukfaCaEpñkmYyénsuvtßPaBkarrs;enA. manTidæPaBCaeRcInén karrs;enAEdlb:HBal;dl;lkçNHsuvtßiPaBes,ogrbs;RbCaCn.


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karbNþúHbNþalkareRtombgáareRKaHmhnþraytamshKmn_ sþIGMBI

eKalKMnit snþsuxes,og nig suvtßiPaBkarrs;enA niymn½yénsnþisuxes,óg³ snþisuxes,ógsMedAeTAelIkarpþl;CUnnUvGaharRTRTg; EdlmansuvtßiPaBRKb;RKan; sMrab;bMeBj tMrUvkar karcUlcitþcMeBaHGaharrbs;BYkeK )anRKb;eBlRKb;evla enAkñúgCIvitrs;enArbs;BYkeK. cMeBaHGsnþisuxes,ógvijKW vaKµanktþaktþaTaMgGs;xagelIenHeT mann½yfamnusSminmanrbb GaharRKb;RKan; sMrab;briePaK edIm,IbMeBjtMrUvkarrbs;BYkeKRKb;eBlRKb;evla. smasPaKepSg²énsnþisuxes,óg³ CaTUeTAmansmasPaK3 RtUv)anTTYlsÁal;faCa snþisuuxes,óg b¤ Gsnþisuxes,óg. manniymn½yxus²Kña dUecñH kMritsnþisuxes,ógRtUv)aneKkMBugBinitü ¬]> tamRKYsar/ tamPUmi/ tamXMu¦. smasPaKxageRkamRtUv)anerobrab;eTAtamkMritRKYsar. niymn½yRtUv)ankMNt;edayGñksresrenH. 1> es,ógEdlGacrk)an ³

brimaN nig KuNPaBrbbGahar éncMnYnrbbGaharEdl)anplit edIm,ITTYlTantamRKYsar RtUv)anqøgkat;skmµPaBkarplitrbs;BYkeK. skmµPaBplitTaMgenHrYmman skmµPaBksidæan dUcCa Tinñples,ógGahar nig karbegáInkarciBa©wmbsustV. enARbeTskm<úCa manGahar)anmkeday karduHenAkñúgéRB valKem<aF nig valdaMRsUv/ karensaTk¾Caes,ógEdlGac rk)anedaygay. ]> es,ógduHenAkñúgéRBrYmman EpøeQIéRB søwkeQI stVl¥it TMBaMgb¤sSI emImeQIéRB kþam kMBws dMNaMClCati nig RbePTmcäaCati.

es,ógEdlGacTTYl)an ³ RKYsarGacmanlT§PaBTTYl)anrbbGahar ¬cMnYn nig KuNPaB¦ EdleKminGacplit)anEteK

)anehAfa :RbB½n§ynþkaredaHdUr : . BYkeKTTYl)anes,óg edayeKminGacplitedayxøÜneK edaykar edaHdUrvtßúxøH²eKman sMrab;bMeBjtMrUvkarrbs;BYkeK. karedaHdUrsMxan;enAkñúgRbeTskm<úCa KWkarTijdUr


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Casac;R)ak;.]> ynþkaredaHdUrrYmman es,ógBlkmµ TTYles,ógCaGMeNay x©IRsUvGgár edaHdUr minEmnCaluykak;¬]> GgárdUrykRbhuk C½reQIdUrykGgár BlkmµdUrykGgár¦.

2> kareRbIR)as;es,óg³ karBinitücMnYnRKYsarCaKMrUsMxan;EdlmanlT§PaBTTYlrbbGaharedayeBjcitþsMrab;tMrUvkar énsmaCikRKYsa.manerOgsMxan;enAkñúgkarBinitüenHrYmmanrbbGaharRKb;RKan; ¬rab;bBa©ÚlTaMgsarFatu bMrug nig vItamIn¦. rbbGaharTaMgenHmantYnaTIkarBarkat;bnßyénCMgWqøg rbbGaharsMrab;Tark / GñkmanK’r nig KaMBarmata nig TarkdæanEfTaMsuxPaB nig Gnuvtþ.

- cMNgTMnak;TMngrvag snþisuxes,og nig suvtßiPaBkarrs;enA

CaTUeTA snþisuxes,og GacRtUv)aneKcat;TukfaCaEpñkmYyénsuvtßPaBkarrs;enA. manTidæPaBCaeRcInén karrs;enA Edlb:HBal;dl;lkçNHsnþisuxes,ogrbs;RbCaCn.


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A Definition of Food Security

“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life” (World Food Summit, 1996, FAO).

“Food insecurity”: This exists where these conditions are not met. That is, where people do not have enough good food to eat to meet their dietary needs at all times. Components of Food Security There are three generally recognized components of food security or food insecurity. Definitions vary somewhat. Also the level of food security being examined (e.g. household, village, commune) can vary. The components below are described at the household level. Definitions used here are provided by this author. Food Availability The quantity and dietary quality of the range of foods directly produced to eat by households themselves thorough their own production activities. This includes farming activities such as crop food production and raising livestock. In Cambodia, the gathering of wild foods from forest, scrub and paddy areas and fisheries is also an important part of food availability. Some examples of wild foods include forest fruits, leaves, insects, bamboo shoot, forest tubers, crabs, shrimps, aquatic plants and a range of fish species. Food Access The ability of households to access food needs (quantity and dietary quality) that they cannot produce themselves through exchange mechanisms. The major exchange mechanism in Cambodia is buying food for cash on the market. Other examples exchange mechanisms which are less common include food for work, receiving food gifts, borrowing rice paddy, non-cash exchange for foods (e.g. rice for prahok fish paste, resin for rice, labor for rice). Food Utilization This examines patterns of how households use the food that they are able to get to satisfy human dietary and nutrition needs of household members. Important issues examined here include the nutritional adequacy of diets (including micro-nutrients and vitamins), the role of infectious diseases in reducing nutrition intake, child nutrition status, pregnant and nursing mothers nutrition status, and mother- child nutrition and health practices. The relationship between livelihood security and food security The above two definitions show the relationship between the two concepts. Basically, food security can be considered as one part of livelihood security. Also many aspects of livelihood security affect the food security status of households and people.


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ANNEX 3 A and 3B ANNEX 3A: What is the Community based Disaster Management (CBDM) Approach? Sanny Jegillos, UNCRD Guidelines on Sustainable CBDM It is universally accepted that Governments have the prime responsibility for managing disasters and take into consideration the roles played by different players. In the past, top-down and command-and-control approaches were oftentimes used to manage the consequences of disasters. In this approach, decisions come from higher authority based on their perception on the needs of the situation. The communities serve as mere “victims” or receiver of aid. In practice though, this approach was proven to be ineffective. It fails to meet the appropriate and vital humanitarian needs. Moreover, it increases requirements for unnecessary external resources and creates general dissatisfaction over performance despite exceptional management measures employed. This is due to the fact that the community, as the primary stakeholder and recipient of the direct impact of disasters, was not given the chance to participate in the process of decision-making and in the implementation of activities. On the other hand, communities if left alone have limited resources to cope with disasters totally. Disasters can be overwhelming and in most cases would require exceptional measures far greater that the requirements of ordinary day-to-day living. In many developing and underdeveloped countries, those who suffer most are the poor, who, in the first place have limited survival resources and do not enjoy adequate infrastructure and access to social services. They are also oftentimes neglected in the decision-making process of a development programs that will impact on their lives. Sadly some poorly planned development programmes lacking transparency and participation have also exacerbated communities’ vulnerabilities to natural and manmade hazards. Based on this rationale, the idea of balancing the approach from top-down to incorporating a bottom-up participatory approach was initiated. Thus, the Community Based Disaster Management (CBDM) approach emerged. Although indigenous coping mechanisms exist for as long as human history, the term CBDM was first used more popularly in the middle of 1990s in the Asian region following the realization that:

Local population of a disaster prone area, due to exposure and proximity, are potential victims and assume most of the responsibilities in coping with effects of disasters;

Local population have local knowledge of their vulnerabilities and are repositories of any traditional coping mechanisms suited for their own environment;

Local population responds first at times of crisis and the last remaining participants as stricken communities strive to rebuild after a disaster;

The CBDM approach provides opportunities for the local community to evaluate their own situation based on their own experiences. Under this approach, the local community not only becomes part of creating plans and decisions, but also a major player in its implementation. Although the community is given greater roles in the decision-making and implementation processes, CBDM does not ignore the importance of scientific and objective risk assessment and planning. CBDM approach acknowledges that as many stakeholders as needed should be involved in the process, with the end goal of achieving capacities and transferring of resources at the community level who would assume the biggest responsibility over disaster reduction. It should be noted that in an environment where economy is worsening and resources are getting scarcer, CBDM would thrive as it promotes local, affordable and incremental solutions. It should however be emphasized that local solutions should not be left alone


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and resource agencies, including government should not take CBDM as a substitute for not taking action. ANNEX 3B: The I.R.I. ENSO Quick Outlook Forecast results for July 15 2004. (iri.colombia.edu.climate/climate/forecast)


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ANNEX 4: An Analysis of The Impacts of the 2000 Floods in a Cambodian National Perspective Kent Helmers The impacts of flood need to be placed in perspective. Floods impact only some, not all, communities in Cambodia. Flood disaster impact results at the national level are presented in raw numbers rather than in proportion to relevant national statistics. The table below examines the impacts of the 2000 floods, the worst in 70 years, in proportion to relevant national statistics. The Cambodia 2000 Flood impacts in a national perspective Flood Impact Indicator 1/

2000 Flood Impact Statistic

Relevant National Indicator 2/

Relevant National Statistic

Flood impact as % of specified national statistics

Rice crop area affected (ha.)

600,000 Total Rice Crop area harvested 2001-2 (ha.)

1,980,295 30.30%

Rice crop area destroyed (ha.)

350,000 Total Rice Crop area harvested (ha.) 2001-2

1,980,295 17.67%

Cattle & Buffalo killed

2,300 Total No. of Cattle & Buffalo 2001

3,494,843 0.07%

Pigs killed 1,620

Total No. of Pigs 2001

2,114,524 0.08%

National Rice food deficit (MT)

44,000 National Rice food supply requirement (MT) 2001-2

1,198,184 3.67%

People affected 3,448,629

Total Population- Cambodia 2000 (est.)

12,014,313 28.7%

Human Death toll

347 Total Population- Cambodia (est.)

12,014,313 0.003%

Displaced 387,000

Total Population- Cambodia (est.)

12,014,313 3.22%

Houses damaged 317,975

Number of houses 2000 (est.)

2,271,098 14.00%

Houses destroyed

7,068 Number of houses 2000 (est.)

2,271,098 0.31%

1/ MAFF crop and livestock flood impact data as quoted in OXFAM 2001. 2/ crop and livestock data from MAFF for 2001-2002. Population 2000 Census 1998 by national growth rate to 2000. Number of houses estimated as equivalent to the number of households. Analysis by Kent Helmers. This simple analysis, to the extent that impact statistics are valid, raises some challenges commonly accepted assessments of the extent to which the 2000 floods, the worst in 70 years, did in fact have such “devastating” impacts at the national level. If we look at the flip side of the impact statistics in a national context we can see that 72% of people were not flood affected at all, and 97% were not displaced, 70% of the rice crop area suffered no flood damage whatsoever, 85% was not destroyed, and the shortfall in national rice food needs was only 4% of needs. The economic loss of rice production surplus to food needs is not included as a flood impact here but does probably represent a large national economic loss. Meanwhile impacts such as the human death toll (while of course tragic for individual families involved), livestock deaths, and destruction of housing were negligible at the national level.


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At the same time, this analysis does indicate the high level of impact among the 29% of the population that were flood affected. By definition this sub-national population absorbed all of the impacts described. When the impacts are related to them only we can observe that rice crop damage was probably almost universal, two thirds suffered the destruction of their rice crop, and one in ten people were displaced. These high levels of impact consistent with the findings of local assessments in flood affected villages in relation to the 2000 floods. What this analysis indicates is that flood impacts are primarily sub-national and are therefore uneven, and that impacts among the affected population can be severe and widespread. A key question to examine the impact of floods on livelihoods and food security then becomes which communities and what people are being flood affected and which are not?


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ANNEX 5: The Problem of Agricultural Drought in Cambodia Sanny Jegillos There exists only a limited common understanding of the nature of drought in Cambodia. This lack of knowledge needs to be overcome so that proper and effective drought management measures can be established. In the absence of good data, the author supplied the following opinions on the nature of drought in Cambodia. Droughts develop from a complex interaction of factors and, in many instances, can no longer be considered to be purely climate driven. Other factors include economic conditions, poor farming practices, inappropriate land use and water management practices, long-term soil degradation, and human influences due to population expansion beyond the immediate natural environment’s carrying capacity. Agricultural drought itself is a disaster-triggering agent that exacerbates drought-related social and economic problems, which reduce society's overall livelihood security. These problems are the most severe where the economy is least diversified and virtually everyone depends either directly or indirectly on agriculture. And, it is generally acknowledged that low-resource agriculture is no longer capable of meeting the livelihood demands of rising populations in these fragile environments. A. Factors influencing the impact of drought in Cambodia

Factor Yes Remarks Demographic pressure on the environment Low Private and Government

concessions are perceived to be a major factor

Chronic food insecurity High Economic systems strictly dependent on agriculture

High

Poor infrastructure e.g. irrigation and water supply and sanitation systems

High

Poor health status of the population before the disaster

High

Time of the year, with the most critical period being before the harvest

Not sure

Absence of warning systems High Population displacement Low Other concurrent situations: economic crisis, political instability, armed conflict

Medium Except armed conflict


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B. Consequences of Drought in Cambodia Consequences Yes No Remarks Food security crises dependent on imports and outside assistance

High

Impact to livelihood High Impact to poverty situation High Results in displacements of population, seeking alternative livelihood, food and income sources

Medium

Additional pressure on the fragile environment High Leads to water shortages and is likely to have a long-term environmental, economic and health impact on the population

Not sure

Vulnerable to severe attacks by migratory pests Not sure


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ANNEX 6 Examining variations in vulnerability within villages: a review of the HVCA and suggestions for enhancements Kent Helmers The HVCA process seeks to identify the numbers of vulnerable households in villages. The categories of vulnerable households in the HVCA are as follows:

• Household living standards including the number of poorest and poor families. • Number of families encountering food shortages by number of months of shortage. • The month when most people start to buy rice. • Number of families working in insecure occupations (electrical fishing, forest

cutting, prostitution, palm climbing, petroleum or chemical stocking, other). • Agricultural land including the landless and by land size category. • Types and number of household and community infrastructure vulnerable to flood. • Number of households within members with physical vulnerabilities (old or

disabled, chronically sick patients, mentally ill, children aged under five years, widows with children).

• Number of households experiencing crop damage by level of crop damage. • Number of households with damaged shelter. • Community disaster resources including evacuation areas, transport,

communications, village health services, NGO activities which can be considered a as aspects of vulnerability where they are lacking.

• Community disaster preparedness and response activities which can be considered a as aspects of vulnerability where they are lacking.

These are useful indicators to examine variations among households within villages in the prevalence of vulnerability to disaster impacts. The HVCA vulnerability assessment could probably be enhanced with some modifications. Some suggestions include the following:

• The HVCA could be adapted to provide a better examination of vulnerability to events other than flood (e.g. drought, wind storm, pesticides/pest damage, fire). Exposure to these risks is already assessed in the HVCA.

• It would be useful to add questions to look at access to markets from the village (market to buy food, sell products and sell labor) split by flood/ non-flood season.

• It would be useful to add questions about village access to CPR’s including forests and fisheries and how important they are for household income and food.

• It would also be of benefit to add questions on livestock ownership, risks of livestock disease incidence and access to livestock services.

• To better examine food insecurity it would be useful to include questions related to food types other than rice including fish, fruit, and vegetables. These could include the number of months these foods are accessed mainly through production, the number of months they are mainly accessed through CPR gathering, and the number of months they are accessed mainly through buying them.

• The examination of insecure occupations could probably benefit from some changes. Really this topic looks at the proportion of families with insecure or risky sources of household income. Using more general categories would be of use. Here indicators such as number of families with member migrating for work, number of families in debt to a certain level and the number of families selling assets to buy food or medicine could be included. It would be useful to split these results by season.

• It would be useful to include questions about disruptions to important social services including, health, education and police experienced as a result of flood. This could be measured in terms of first determining the normal level of services


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and then the number of days the service is cut-off or disrupted. This can include disruptions to villagers to access these services outside the village.

There are also some suggestions for improving the HVCA section V on community experiences and activities on disaster preparedness and response in relation to vulnerable groups. The HVCA recognizes that community the disaster mitigation planning process should involve the participation of vulnerable groups at the village level and that these vulnerable groups need a role in decision-making in disaster planning. This is because it is recognized that these vulnerable groups can be vulnerable to, and affected by, disasters in different ways, and to different extents, than others in the village. Their needs and priorities for disaster planning might be therefore different from other people in the village. A priority for communities to address how the basic needs of these vulnerable groups can be met in the disaster management plans. Sometimes vulnerable groups might share the aims and priorities of disaster plans made by leaders for their villages and sometimes not. The point is that the HVCA needs to make the issue of addressing the needs and priorities of vulnerable people through their representation in the disaster planning process more transparent. Here are some suggested ideas for the HVCA Section V: Pre flood activities (by community or local authority): Include questions that will give a better idea of the participation and representation of vulnerable groups in the HVCA itself and the disaster planning process. A basic list might include:

• Number of males and females from and representing the poorest and poor groups in the village involved in disaster planning.

• Number of males and females from and representing households with chronically sick members in the village involved in disaster planning.

• Number of women from and representing female headed households with young children in the village involved in disaster planning.

• Number of mothers with young children and health workers (male or female) representing young children’s health and nutrition issues involved in disaster planning.

• Number of males and females from and representing the needs of the elderly in the village involved in disaster planning.

Other ideas for increasing the participation and representation of vulnerable groups in disaster mitigation planning and making their level of participation more transparent can be developed. These are just some initial ideas. Achieving the participation and representation of these vulnerable groups is not always easy, but the extra effort can lead to better disaster planning outcomes to meet the stated priority of meeting the needs of the vulnerable confronting disasters. To help reinforce the need for the representation and participation of vulnerable groups in disaster planning, the following table includes some observations on the particular vulnerabilities of some generally recognized vulnerable groups.


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Vulnerable groups for representation and participation in disaster mitigation planning Vulnerable Group Vulnerabilities Women Women are the majority of the population but are typically under-

represented at all levels of decision making. This is will also be true in disaster management planning unless they are actively represented and encouraged to participate. Women can have different views, needs, concerns and priorities from men. The active involvement of women is their right and will lead to better disaster mitigation plans.

Children Children cannot directly be involved in disaster management planning but the interests of children should be a priority in disaster management planning because they are vulnerable, dependent and often suffer most from disasters. Disaster planning should involve as a priority developing an understanding of the risks of disasters for children in the village. Disaster plans and proposed micro-projects should specify how they will seek to mitigate the impacts of disasters on children.

Female headed households

Female headed households, including widowed, divorced and abandoned women head 26% of households in Cambodia. They often face particular difficulties in making a living, especially those younger female headed households with young children (about half of all female headed households).

Chronically sick Households with chronically sick members are often already struggling to meet needs for income to buy medicine as well as food and to gain access medical services before disaster events. If it is adults that are sick they also lack labor power. These households can include those with members having TB, HIV/AIDS who need regular access to medical treatment to prolong life.

Elderly Many elderly are cared for by relatives. However, some families lack resources to care for the elderly or relatives can be far away seeking work. The elderly living alone or lacking support are vulnerable to disaster impacts and plans need to consider how they can be assisted to meet their needs in disasters.

Households living “hand to mouth” or dependent on low and insecure daily income to meet food and other daily needs

Households in this vulnerable group are based on income characteristics. They try to meet their food and other basic needs from a small amount of income they earn, or food they can get on a day to day basis. At the end of the day all the food or income is usually gone and they start again next day. They are households with no assets or very limited assets. Their main asset is their labor. Whether their labor tomorrow will produce enough income or food is usually uncertain. Khmer language they have a number of names including “roak moi tngai hop moi tngai”, (work one day eat one day) “roak moi pel hop moi pel” (work one time eat one time) or “tual kraw” (back against the wall poor). This group can overlap with other vulnerable groups such as households with chronic illness or those dependent mainly on casual wage labor for income or the landless. This group is highly vulnerable to daily losses in income or their food supply that can occur from disasters. Disaster plans need to consider the possible impacts of disasters on employment, daily income and daily food gathering activities of these households in particular. Plans should consider the importance of employment related interventions for this group.

Small farmers This group includes households with not enough land to meet their food needs, usually less than 0.5 hectares/ household. These households are usually involved in both trying to farm and also


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trying to get enough income and food to meet their needs from forest gathering, fishing, wage labor or small business. They can often be living hand to mouth for a least part of the year.

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