Assessing the potential of climate-smart agriculture to improve food security and climate-change resilience of highlandin Northern Thailand

Abstract

Climate change is expected to affect highland smallholder farmers with poor and limited resources. For the case study of Ban Tub and Pang Hin Fon sub-districts, Mae Chaem district, Chiang Mai province, the objectives were to assess food security, climate change vulnerability, and emission of CO2 of highland agricultural systems and to design and assess a Climate-Smart Agriculture system supporting food security, climate resilience, and CO2 emission reduction. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) of communities and ethnic groups was done. There were key informant interviews with 2- 3 persons per village and focus group discussion in the topics; theory and timeline of village, food security assessment, risk and vulnerability, indicator development, design and assessment of CSA about shifting cultivation with 120 persons and semi-structure interviews of 196 smallholders farming houses. The results showed that 49.50% of the food was plants, and 59.25% of the income was from selling plants. Ban Muad Long had the most food and income from crop production. As for Mae Kee Muk Noi, the villagers had the most access to food sources from the market because the distance was the closest than the other villages. Ban Mae Hae Tai had better food stability from the forest than the other villages. From the risk and vulnerability analysis, it was found that agriculture posed the highest risk up to 30 %, within which 25 % was from low productivity. For the risk on the low productivity, the villagers thought that they could rarely cope, as low as 5%, which could lead to loss of produce and incomes, which in turn lead to food insecurity. In the land preparation plots, the greenhouse gases emission in upland rice cultivation were 4.23 scores (out of 5, agree) in the Karen and 3.18 scores (out of 5, undecided) in the Lawa. Moreover, all of the villages used chemicals that are unnecessary leading to increase of greenhouse gases in the future. For the results of indicators development, it was found that there were 9 topics, 27 indicative components, and 76 indicators, and 14 actions plans were designed. Then, an assessment into a shifting cultivation system in the future was done. Under climate change and the current community context, appropriate ecological services and biodiversity were suggested from some action plans that might have long-term effects on food production and food security.