According to the Asian Development Bank, Myanmar is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. In the country’s Dry Zone, home to about 18 million people, drought and water scarcity are the dominant climate-related hazards. The Dry Zone has become the most food insecure region of the country. Irregular dry spells and drought have resulted in recurring extreme water shortages, which in turn constitute a constant threat to the livelihoods of the rural poor.

This project operated in five townships: Shwebo and Moneywa in the Sagaing region, Myingyan and Nyaung Oo in the Mandalay region, and Chauk in the Magway region. The townships were selected on the basis of observed temperature extremes, frequency of drought per year, and the impacts of these climatic parameters on food security. The direct beneficiaries of the project were marginal farmers and landless workers whose access to arable land is severely threatened by erosion and land degradation. Special emphasis was placed on women and female-headed households within this vulnerable group.

Taking a strategy based on principles of local empowerment, this project made key technical investments in the targeted townships. Impoverished and marginal farmers in these areas benefited from the project’s additional investments in natural and productive capital, such as improved water supply on drought-prone fields; access to diversified and improved crops for fields and home gardens; expanded agro-forestry services; diversified livestock rearing; and arrested soil erosion and watershed protection. Landless people benefited from diversified livestock assets, improved ecosystem services, and greater opportunities for manual labor in water-, forestry- and agroforestry-related components of the project. Additionally, the project strengthened landless peoples’ participation in community-based organisations, especially forest user groups.