AFA Issue paper, Volume 2 Number 4, December 2009
DOWNLOAD: International Climate Change Negotiations: Ensuring Support for Adaptation and Mitigation Measures in Smallholder Agriculture
In December 2009, women in Sayphusi, a village in the province of Attapeu in Laos, were busy washing dried mud from their paddy grains. They had very little to eat, and the muddied paddy – the only remnant from their rice crops which were damaged by the storm that struck their village in October – was the only food available. The storm caught them unaware and swept away their homes, crops, and livestock.
Laos is a landlocked country and is very rarely visited by typhoons. But lately, farmers have noticed a lot of changes in the season. Like many countries in Southeast Asia, they can no longer rely on the natural flow of the seasons to guide their planting. It rains when it is not
supposed to rain, and many times, the dry period stays longer and is much warmer than expected. These have resulted in damaged crops, and hunger for their families.
Meanwhile, in another part of the globe, world leaders have gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark to hold the 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The conference was envisioned to be a crucial juncture in the drive to address climate change and its impact on the world, especially in developing countries.
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