Figure 19: Flood vulnerability in Infrastructure factor and Environment factor at Long Phu A

4. ADAPTATION MEASURE

4.1 Training and Capacity Enhancement to strengthen the capacity to adapt to flooding

• Objectives:

-          Disseminate information and knowledge about flood to local people, farmers, teachers, local authorities to implement adaptation activities in order to reduce loss of human life and property.

-          Enhance men’s awareness to share house-work with women and facilitate women to participate more in community activities.

• Content:

­   Provide knowledge and flood prevention for people, especially farmers, women who head houses to actively respond to impending floods (for example, necessary items that should be brought on the boat; how to reinforce their houses; encourage them to follow flood damage prevention options from local authorities and protect public works; prepare food in extreme flood conditions).

­   Provide information and training on evacuation plans, suitable evacuation centers.

­   Provide skills and activities to maintain sanitation of the environment after flood.

­   Disseminate gender equality information: men should be made aware of the need for sharing the burden with women in the family and facilitate women to participate more in community activities.

­   Organize swimming classes, especially for children and women.

4.2 Set up flood warning system

• Objectives:

Ensure that all local people to receive helpful information from the local authorities, especially information of flood damage prevention at the communal level regarding evacuation notices, emergency evacuation of people and assets, agricultural products, human, etc.

• Contents:

­   Set up more loudspeakers to announce and provide exact flood information to people

­   Construct flood warning systems for people including flood gauge boards which are located near bridges or busy crossroads. Set up the system and provide flood warning bulletins or announcements via loudspeakers according to the alarm water level at Tan Chau Hydrology Station. 

­   Train relevant persons to read and use flood warning bulletins

4.3 Review and implement policies to supports people

• Objectives:

Assist people to have tools for storing clean water  after flood, to build standard toilets and solid houses.

Help farmers and the poor to access financial resources to allow them to pay for their agricultural equipment, seeds, fertilizers, etc.,  so that they can recover their production.

• Contents:

Support for people, especially the poor, to access funds:

- to buy tools for clean water storage after flood and to build standard toilets to ensure health and environment sanitation standards.

- to restart production (equipment, seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, etc.).

- to strengthen their temporary and semi-solid houses or build new houses which meet flood preparedness criteria

4.4 Implement and maintain environmental sanitation

• Objectives:

Ensure environment and sanitation after flood, prevent disease, and   reduce impacts of floods to the environment and production.

• Contents:

-       Plan and carry out environmental sanitation after flooding every year for the buildings used for flood works: People's Committee, schools, the houses to keep children, pagodas.

-       Prepare plans to dredge canals, keep waterways free of litter.

-       Prepare plans to check the quality of the water supply (water treatment processes, the water pipeline).

4.5 Diversification of livelihood

• Objectives:

Maintaining the rice area as this has highly productivity. Testing and developing different farming models and application to crops other than rice to reduce the risk of heavy losses of rice crops.

• Contents:

Support capital for the diversification of farming structures, not just rice. Support for local means of fishing (boats, fishing gears, fishing nets) for people during the flood season.

Construct small culverts to drain off the flood water efficiently.  Upgrade and repair levees for production of 3 crops a year.

Undertake/Continue with a pilot study about rice - shrimp farming in Tam Nong district, develop cultivation processes and transfer technology to farmers, plan to expand the model to all communes and districts. Allow tax deduction for companies, business, which support aquaculture farmers.

Establish local craft production that use with local materialssuch as water hyacinth. Women should be primarily involved and operate this industry.,

4.6 Developing permanent sustainable infrastructure to serve the community

• Objectives:

Ensure that local public infrastructure is less damaged by flooding, and that it is functioning properly to serve the interests of the people and communities

• Contents:

Install water supply reticulation to households, which do not have clean water.

Local government have policies and plans to repair and upgrade roads, mobilize local people participate to repair, reinforce dikes, which will be used as roads every year.

Upgrade works to adapt flooding (committee rooms, a committee of military commanders, schools, health centers). Build flood-safe houses (safe places for local people and children where they can find refuge in the flood season). These centers can also be multi-purpose such as culture, sports, recreation. (livelihood, women assured their children)

Planning and building to expand and extend the housing clusters in high ground areas (using loans). Mobilizing people live in the residential clusters.

4.7 Mobilizing community support activities

• Objectives:

Mobilizing volunteers to help the government and local people to have more resources to overcome the consequences after flooding, help people adapt well to floods.

• Contents:

Mobilize Youth Advocate of the province and other provinces; the core activities of volunteers are to help solitary families to repair their houses every year.

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

Through application of the vulnerability assessment framework developed by FMMP and GIZ, the project assessed economic and social sectors. Implemented components of the vulnerability assessment are; data collection and analysis; survey questionnaires and field and three consultation meetings. It was assessed  that the two selected villages, Long An A and Long Phu A, have the same high level of vulnerability based on population and  infrastructure, however there is a difference in the in environment factor for Long  An A because of lack of fresh water and toilets with septic tanks. Long An A village is also highly vulnerable in terms for people, farming and houses. Surveys showed that people in this village are less interested and knowledgeable about climate change. However, they also recognize changes in the weather such as increased rainfall, rising temperatures and reduced water levels in recent years. For flood resilience, local governments often inform and guide people of flood prevention measures, the flood situation before the flood; and many people take preparatory actions such as food storage, availability of boats and moving goods and appliances to the house’s mezzanine.