Probing sustainable agromet services and outcomes on agriculture in laos

In pursuit of adapting to climate change, climate services for agriculture are being introduced to local farmers for improved productivity and yields. A recent case study on climate services for agriculture in Laos highlighted the results of having an ICT-based service platform and notable changes in agrometeorological service capacities.

Climate change is here to stay, and so is its impact on the agricultural sector. Studies show that consequences of 1 degree C rise in the global temperatures can affect the crop yield in some countries. Crop revenue can drop as much as 90% in 2100, which will drastically affect small-scale farmers in the near future. Moreover, climate change will weaken farm production in developing countries and regions.

To adapt to these changes, localized climate services for agriculture are paving the way to help farmers access the information and tools they need for better agricultural production.

A new case study explores how these climate services have been applied to agriculture in Laos. As part of the DeRISK Southeast Asia project, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT researchers examined the use of a top-down, multidisciplinary platform based on information and communication technology (ICT) for agrometeorological (agromet) services to facilitate institutional coordination and make sure the project is sustainable. DeRISK linked up with the Strengthening Agro-climatic Monitoring and Information Systems, or SAMIS, project of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), that focuses on building the adaptive capacity of Laos by ‘combining the agricultural and meteorological sectors for the development of critical agrometeorological services,’ to scale this project out to stakeholders.

The Laos Climate Services for Agriculture (LaCSA) operates under DeRISK and SAMIS and is used to systematically engage the relevant institutional partners in the co-creation of agromet services. It also demonstrates how ICT can play a critical role in creating the essential two-way connection between the meteorological and agricultural sectors, where local government officials and farmers can benefit.