Climate change – It threatens to magnify the existing
climate threats, as well as bring new threats to the
countries of the lower Mekong River basin. The
expected changes in the climate would impact on many
systems and sectors of these countries, which include
Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The impact on rain-fed agriculture is a particular
concern because farm livelihoods that are based on
cultivation of rain-fed crops are highly vulnerable to
climate stresses. Climate risks are not new to farmers
of the lower Mekong. Important climate risks that are
common to the farmers of the region include
midseason dry spells that can damage young plants
and late-season floods just before harvest that can
cause severe crop loss.
The lower Mekong River basin sub-region currently
experiences floods from the major tributaries of the
river, mainly towards the end of the rainy season when
water flow is high and water from the tributaries cannot
flow into the main stem of the river. Sometimes, the
situation is made worse when water from the Mekong
River is backed up into the tributaries. Floods that
occur late in the rainy season, October or November,
which is quite common in the region, pose serious risks
for rice cultivation and farmers’ livelihoods.