Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar

Project overview

This project seeks to reduce the vulnerability of farmers in Myanmar’s Dry Zone to increasing drought and rainfall variability, as well as enhance their capacity to plan for and respond to future climate change impacts on food security.

Focused on five of the most vulnerable townships of Myanmar’s Dry Zone, the four-year project (2015-2019) will reduce the risks and effects from recurring droughts, floods and erosion through an integrated water management, crop and livestock adaptation programme.

Project activities are based on principles of local empowerment and implemented by grassroots organizations such as farmer groups, communal forest user groups, community-based organizations and local NGOs.

It is anticipated that the project will reduce food insecurity and losses from extreme climate events in 42,000 households.

*The designations employed and the presentation of material on this map do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations or UNDP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Expected outcomes

Component 1: Respond to the climate-induced reduction of freshwater supply

Enhance water capture and storage in 280 villages (Output 1.1) while protecting and rehabilitating 4,200 hectares of micro-watersheds through Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration strategies (Output 1.2), including the use of community-based agro-forestry plots on 7,650 hectares of private and communal lands to conserve soil and water (Output 1.3).

Component 2: Climate-resilient flood and livestock production systems established and promoted

Provide drought-resilient varieties and conservation agriculture practices to 12,600 households on 5,100 hectares of drought-prone land (Output 2.1), along with post-harvest processing and storage systems for safe handling of agricultural produce during extreme climate events (Output 2.2). Introduce diversified livestock production system in 6,300 households to buffer effects of flooding and drought (Output 2.3).

Component 3: Improve communal climate risk information and monitoring

Develop climate hazard maps and risk scenarios in each township (Output 3.1), as well as 5 climate risk information centers (Output 3.2) to support and communicate risk management planning, preparedness, and early warning information.

Project Details

Levels of Intervention

Community

Source of Funds

Adaptation Fund

Key Implementers

National governments

Funding Amounts

$7,909,026 (amount requested and approved 2011-12-14)
N/A

Project Partners

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Government of Myanmar
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Adaptation Fund

Introduction

This project seeks to reduce the vulnerability of farmers in Myanmar’s Dry Zone to increasing drought and rainfall variability, as well as enhance their capacity to plan for and respond to future climate change impacts on food security.

Focused on five of the most vulnerable townships of Myanmar’s Dry Zone, the four-year project (2015-2019) will reduce the risks and effects from recurring droughts, floods and erosion through an integrated water management, crop and livestock adaptation programme.

Project activities are based on principles of local empowerment and implemented by grassroots organizations such as farmer groups, communal forest user groups, community-based organizations and local NGOs.

It is anticipated that the project will reduce food insecurity and losses from extreme climate events in 42,000 households.

Project details

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 operates in five townships: Shwebo and Moneywa in the Sagaing region, Myingyan and Nyaung Oo in the Mandalay region, and Chauk in the Magway region. These 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 are marginal farmers and landless workers whose access to arable land is severely threatened by erosion and land degradation. Special emphasis will be placed on women and female-headed households within this vulnerable group.

Taking a strategy based on principles of local empowerment, this project will make key technical investments in the targeted townships. Impoverished and marginal farmers in these areas will benefit 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 will benefit 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 seeks to strengthen landless peoples’ participation in Community-based Organisations, especially Forest User Groups.

An estimated 42,000 rural households from 280 villages with a high percentage of landless households and marginal/small farmers will benefit directly from the proposed project. Within these 42,000 rural households, approximately 37,800 are estimated to be impoverished landless and marginal farmers’ households who are prone to critical losses of livelihood assets from recurring droughts and crop failures.

Thematic areas: 
Climate-related hazards addressed: 
Level of intervention: 
Key collaborators: 
Primary beneficiaries: 
Marginal Farmers; Landless Workers; Women
Implementing agencies and partnering organizations: 
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Government of Myanmar
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Adaptation Fund
Project status: 
Completed
Location: 
Rural
Funding source: 
Financing amount: 
$7,909,026 (amount requested and approved 2011-12-14)
Co-financing total: 
N/A

News

'Heat Tolerant Animals Provide Lifeline for Vulnerable Communities in Dry Zone' - UNDP Myanmar. Provision of heat tolerant piglets, goats and chicks provides a lifeline to the most vulnerable in the community: landless villagers.

'Enhancing Food Security through Improved Post-Harvest Practice in the Dry Zone of Myanmar' - UNDP Myanmar, June 6, 2018. The Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation and UNDP hand over a seed storage facility to a farmers’ group in Boe Daw Taw village in Shwebo township.

'Water Pumps to Improve Irrigation for Dry Zone Farmers' - UNDP Myanmar, April 3, 2018.  Seventy motorized water pumps were distributed to farmers at a ceremony held in Shwebo Township last week. The pumps will help improve access and availability of water for irrigation to close to 3000 people and irrigate more than 2900 acres of land used to grow rice, pulses, sugar cane, eggplant, tomato and onion.

'Stepping up: The story of one Myanmar woman farmer leading the way' - Karma Rapten, Climate Change Adaptation Specialist at UNDP Myanmar, March 8, 2018. On International Women’s Day, UNDP celebrates women’s achievements and the leading role women play in realising the 2030 Agenda. In 2018 we recognise #Champions4Equality — champions like Daw Maa Dee of Du Win village.

'Running Dry: A Window into the Dry Zone of Myanmar' - Yusuke Taishi, Regional Technical Advisor, February 26 2018. In pictures, a view into life in the Dry Zone, including the challenges communities face — and some of the solutions, including achievements of the AF-funded Dry Zone project so far.

'Measuring Progress: Adapting to Climate Change in the Dry Zone of Myanmar' - UNDP Myanmar, December 20, 2017.  Project update.

'Communities in Myanmar’s Dry Zone adapting to climate change' - UNDP Myanmar, July 3, 2017.

'UN body provides new farming techniques for Myanmar to address climate change' - Xin Hua, July 4, 2017.

'Climate of uncertainty fuels anxiety, exodus in Dry Zone' - Democratic Voice of Burma, June 26, 2017.

 
 

'Reducing poverty and building resilience to climate change in Myanmar’s Dry Zone' - UNDP, March 3 2015. Blog post by Yusuke Taishi, Regional Specialist, Climate Change Adaptation.

'Climate Change Adaptation Project Kicks Off in Myanmar’s Dry Zone' - UNDP Myanmar, February 17, 2015.

Key results and outputs


Programme meetings and workshops


Multimedia

Improving access to water and boosting food security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar | 2022

With funding from the Adaptation Fund and the support of UNDP,  vulnerable Myanmar communities are becoming more resilient to the impacts of climate change.  

For more information on the project 'Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water Resources and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar', click here.

Dispatches from the Front Lines of Climate Change

Feature story of two women's lives in Myanmar and Cambodia. 

MRTV video clip for the launch of the UNDP-AF Project in Myanmar

As one of the broadcast television channels in Myanmar, MRTV featured a highlight of the Launching Workshop for the UNDP-supported Adaptation Fund project, Addressing Climate Change Risks on Water and Food Security in the Dry Zone of Myanmar.

Monitoring and evaluation

See UNDP's Transparency Portal for reports. 

The monitoring and evaluation (M&E) scheme of the project will be applied in accordance with the established UNDP procedures throughout the project lifetime. The UNDP Country Office in Yangon will ensure timeliness and quality of project implementation. The M&E plan will be implemented as proposed in Table 6. Technical guidance and oversight will be provided by UNDP’s Asia Pacific Regional Center (APRC) and Project Team (PT). Project audits will follow UNDP finance regulations and rules and applicable audit policies.

Project start: A Project Inception Workshop will be held within the first 3 months of project start with all persons and organizations that have assigned roles and responsibilities in the project organization structure. Representatives from the UNDP Country Office, as well as Regional Technical Advisors and other stakeholders will contribute to the inception workshop as necessary. The Inception Workshop is crucial to building ownership for the project results and developing the first year annual work plan of the project.

The Inception Workshop will address a number of key issues including:

a)      Assist all partners to fully understand and take ownership of the project;

b)      Detail the roles, support services and complementary responsibilities of UNDP staff vis à vis the project team;

c)      Discuss the roles, functions, and responsibilities within the project's decision-making structures, including reporting and communication lines, and conflict resolution mechanisms;

d)      Confirm the Terms of Reference for project staff as needed;

e)      Based on the project results framework, review and finalize the first annual work plan;

f)       Verify and agree on project indicators, targets and their means of verification, and recheck assumptions and risks;

g) Provide a detailed overview of reporting, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) requirements. The M&E work plan and budget should be agreed and scheduled;

h)      Discuss financial reporting procedures and obligations, and arrangements for audits; (i) Plan and schedule Project Steering Committee meetings.

i)       Roles and responsibilities of all project organization structures will be clarified and meetings planned. The first Project Steering Committee meeting will be scheduled within the first 2 months following the inception workshop.

Following the Inception Workshop, an Inception Report will be prepared as a key reference document. The Inception Report will serve as an Annex to the signed project document and shared with participants to formalize various agreements and plans decided during the meeting.

Quarterly: Project progress will be monitored through the UNDP Enhanced Results Based Management (ERBM) Platform. Based on the initial risk analysis submitted, a risk log will be regularly updated in ATLAS. Risks become critical when the impact and probability are high (more than 50%). Based on the information recorded in Atlas, a Project Progress Reports (PPR) can be generated in the Executive Snapshot. Other ATLAS logs can be used to monitor issues, lessons learned etc. The use of these functions is a key indicator in the UNDP Executive Balanced Scorecard.

Annually: Annual Project Review/Project Implementation Reports (APR/PIRs) are extensive key reports which are prepared to monitor progress made since project start and in particular for the previous reporting period (30 June to 1 July). UNDP will assess the quality of PIRs through an external consultant, who reviews all PIRs prepared by UNDP-supported adaptation projects for completeness, comprehensiveness, analytical rigor and lessons learned.

The APR/PIR includes, but is not limited to, reporting on the following: (a) Progress made toward project objective and project outcomes - each with indicators, baseline data and end-of- project targets (cumulative); (b) Project outputs delivered per project outcome (annual); (c) Lesson learned/good practice; (d) AWP and other expenditure reports; (e) Risk and adaptive management; (f) ATLAS QPR; (g) Portfolio level indicators are used by most focal areas on an annual basis as well.

Periodic Monitoring through site visits: UNDP CO and the UNDP APRC will conduct visits to project sites based on the agreed schedule in the project's Inception Report/Annual Work Plan to assess first hand project progress. Members of the Project Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Group will join these visits as required. A Field Visit Report/BTOR will be prepared by UNDP for circulation no less than one month after the visit to the project team and PSC members.

Mid-term of project cycle: The project will undergo an independent Mid-Term Evaluation at the mid-point of project implementation. The Mid-Term Evaluation will determine progress being made toward the achievement of outcomes and will identify course correction if needed. It will focus on the effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness of project implementation; will highlight issues requiring decisions and actions; and will present initial lessons learned about project design, implementation and management. Findings of this review will be incorporated as recommendations for enhanced implementation during the final half of the project‟s term. The organization, terms of reference and timing of the mid-term evaluation will be decided after consultation between the parties to the project document. The Terms of Reference for this Mid- term evaluation will be prepared by the UNDP CO based on guidance from the APRC. The management response and the evaluation will be uploaded to UNDP corporate systems, in particular the UNDP Evaluation Office Evaluation Resource Center (ERC).

End of Project: An independent Final Evaluation will take place three months prior to the final PSC meeting. The final evaluation will focus on the delivery of the project‟s results as initially planned (and as corrected after the mid-term evaluation, if any such correction took place). Thefinal evaluation will look at impact and sustainability of results, including the contribution to capacity development and the achievement of global environmental benefits/goals. The Terms of Reference for this evaluation will be prepared by the UNDP CO based on guidance from the APRC.

During the last three months, the project team will prepare the Project Terminal Report. This comprehensive report will summarize the results achieved (Objectives, Outcomes, Outputs), lessons learned, problems met and areas where results may not have been achieved. It will also lay out recommendations for any further steps that may need to be taken to ensure sustainability and replicability of the project’s results.

Learning and knowledge sharing: Results from the project will be disseminated within and beyond the project intervention zone through existing information sharing networks and forums. The project will identify and participate, as relevant and appropriate, in scientific, policy-based and/or any other networks, which may be of benefit to project implementation though lessons learned. The project will identify, analyze, and share lessons learned that might be beneficial in the design and implementation of similar future projects. Finally, there will be a two-way flow of information between this project and other projects of a similar focus.

Contacts

Yusuke Taishi
Regional Technical Advisor