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71. Water Allocation in Tonle Sap

Full Title:

APIA and AEA to support decision making for water allocation for fisheries and agriculture in Tonle Sap

Project Summary:

In the economy of most Mekong Basin countries agriculture is the dominant sector. However, the majority of the rural population also depends on the river and associated floodplain wetlands directly for food and livelihood purposes. In Cambodia for instance freshwater capture fisheries ranks 4th in the world in terms of estimated total catch (approximately 400,000 tons per year) and these fisheries account for 31% of the GDP contribution of the primary sector. These fisheries are vulnerable to long-term eco-hydrological modification of critical habitat arising from agricultural and water management practices. However some of these practices can also support fisheries or increase overall system productivity. For this to happen, the consideration of fisheries in decision making processes related to developmental investments and activities is a sin qua non. Political ecology of current decision making is heavily skewed towards the agronomic perspective.

In Cambodia, While national strategic plans and policy statements, including the most recent PRSP, acknowledge and give weight to fisheries, fisheries aspects of agro-ecosystem analysis are relatively limited and data are lacking. However, the Ministry of Agriculture (MAFF) has developed a participatory commune agro-ecosystem analysis (CAEA) system (CAAEP, 2007) that uses participatory assessments to empower local communities and improve decision-making at the commune level.

The team that developed the initial CAEA approach at MAFF has identified a clear demand for the fisheries component to be improved. This project proposes to improve fisheries considerations in data collection systems and in particular the CAEA process used at the commune level. Ultimately the project aims to support the management of water in co-existing agriculture and fisheries systems where fisheries data and analysis have been limited. It also aims to identify implications for policy making and governance.

In stage one, this project will determine the range of critical fisheries parameters, how information on these can be collected at different scales and those that need to be considered in CAEA. In stage two, it will incorporate these parameters into the CAEA process for field testing, based on what is feasible given the existing capacity, capabilities and resources. The third stage will include revising the CAEA and highlighting management and policy implications.

The CAEA approach is currently implemented in all provinces of Cambodia. The MAFF has committed its own regular budget resources to the ongoing implementation of CAEA after the conclusion of the AusAid funded project that supported its initial development. JICA, IFAD, and other external development partners have also now lent their support to the approach. Responding to the request of the core development team to enhance the CAEA methodology represents an opportunity to introduce effective changes throughout the country.

Rural communities and provincial and commune planners will be the direct beneficiaries of this research through support to management and planning. National level planners and policy makers will also benefit from the project recommendations for management, governance and policy-making. In addition, NGOs will be able to access guidelines and support for implementing CAEA, as well as site-specific data and information produced by the project.

Project Proposal:

Technical Submission (XLS 111Kb)
Annex A: CVs
Annex B: Bibliography (PDF 10.6Kb)
Annex C: Objective Tree (PDF 27Kb)
Annex D: Gantt Chart (XLS 34Kb)
Annex E: Project Team (PDF 65Kb)
Annex F: Stakeholders and Beneficiaries (PDF 79Kb)
Annex G: Environmental Impacts (XLS 16Kb)