Rice cultivation in the Mekong Region is often afflicted with pests and diseases leading to yield losses and livelihood impacts. This piece by Sourkea explores the impact of rice root-knot nematode (tiny, worm-like creatures found in the soil) which poses a significant threat to rice production in Cambodia.
Tensions between national development and local needs in Cambodia: Lower Sesan II Dam
The Lower Sesan II dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province has resulted in inundation of seasonal wetlands, relocation and the fragmentation of local communities. Previously self-sufficient communities are struggling as they become low-income wage labor in distant cities but face mounting debts, economic insecurity, homesickness, and mental stress. Community leaders are striving to invest in education for local youth to gain a better future.
Titling land, fragmenting livelihoods: Indigenous communal land titling in Cambodia
In Cambodia, Indigenous Land Titling (ICLT) is the official land-use program for indigenous communities to help demarcate their land and maintain their rotational swidden cultivation. While initially welcomed by the communities, ICLT’s internal contradictions result in the fragmentation of indigenous land management practices and push many communities to rethink their involvement in the program.
The risks of microfinance: Brao indigenous people in Cambodia are falling into heavy debt
Microfinance credits are a highly competitive business in Cambodia, expanding their operations among ethnic communities, including the indigenous Brao villages in Ratanakiri province in the northeast region. But ethnic people are now getting heavily indebted and losing their livelihood resources, accelerating land loss and dividing the community.
Tapping into uncertainty: Thailand’s rubber crisis leaves farmers in limbo
In South Thailand, rubber tappers are struggling to make ends meet as rubber prices continue to fall, leaving them facing an uncertain future.
The data commons: What lies ahead for the Mekong region?
More kinds of data are now available and accessible especially in developing countries. However, open accessibility and ease of sharing is not always possible in the countries of the Mekong region, where governments take care to guard data and information from reaching the public. Lan Nguyen explores the future of open data sharing in the Mekong region and the obstacles that remain in place.
As salinity intrudes into the Mekong Delta, farmers lose yields and income
Increasing seawater intrusion into the intricate system of rivers and streams in the Mekong Delta is affecting freshwater supplies and threatening its hugely productive rice and sugarcane fields and fruit and vegetable gardens.
As drought affects Cambodia’s rice farmers, can building more small-scale reservoirs help?
Since 2016, farmers in Cambodia’s Battambang province have been facing severe drought that has resulted in decline in rice production, deaths of livestock, and loss of livelihoods. The author explores whether building more reservoirs is a solution to help farmers cope with the impact of droughts that are recurring with increasing frequency in Cambodia and the Mekong Region.
Facing the reality of hydropower
In recent decades the Mekong region has witnessed a rapid development of large-scale hydropower projects in the name of energy security, economic growth and sustainable development. Yet do these justifications outweigh the social and environmental costs, and are these justifications even genuine?
Stemming the rising tide: Flooding and local lives in HCMC
As climate change intensifies, urban citizens in coastal cities of Southeast Asia are facing more regular and more severe flooding. In this article, Quynh May shares some of the daily challenges of people in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam who are struggling to have a normal life while facing flooding. She asks what should be done?
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