Participatory action research on climate risk management, Bangladesh

The rural populations of southern Bangladesh are some of the most vulnerable communities in the world to the future impacts of climate change. They are particularly at risk from floods, waterlogged soils, and increasing salinity of both land and water. The objective of this project was to analyze the vulnerability of people in four villages that are experiencing different levels of soil salinity. The study evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of current coping strategies and assessed the potential of an index-based insurance scheme, designed diversification and better information products to improve adaptive capacity.

Adaptation of coastal communities in the Philippines to the impacts climate change

The Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation (Quedancor) of the Philippine Department of Agriculture has the critical responsibility of providing and improving credit assistance to fishers, it also has the task of helping its beneficiaries meet the repayment obligations of their loans. One reason for defaults can be attributed to the devastating impact of natural calamities. Schemes in place are still insufficient to help safeguard lending programs and operations from non-repayment of loans due to production losses and damages to personal properties.(PDF contains 5 pages) Natural calamities include the uncertainties and vagaries of weather and climate that bring about typhoons, floods, and drought; earthquakes; volcanic eruption as well as pests and diseases that affect the productivity of fisheries. When natural calamities occur, small fishers are unable to pay their loans from Quedancor, moreover they have difficulty renewing their loan applications from Quedancor or accessing credit from other sources. Failure to access credit could disable them to continue venture on fishing activities and could eventually jeopardize the welfare of their entire household. The inability of creditors to pay their loans and meet their obligations also impair, to a large extent, the financial operation and viability of the lending institutions. Risk management schemes currently employed include price stabilization measures, targeted relief` to typhoons and drought victims, and crop insurance systems, to name a few. Some of these schemes are becoming very expensive to implement. Moreover, they fail to enable fishers regain sufficient resources so that they may continue production.

A computer software package for assessing and managing risks posed by experiments with genetically modified fish and shellfish

Assessment and management of risk is needed for sustainable use of genetically modified aquatic organisms (aquatic GMOs). A computer software package for safely conducting research with genetically modified fish and shellfish is described. By answering a series of questions about the organism and the accessible aquatic ecosystem, a researcher or oversight authority can either identify specific risks or conclude that there is a specific reason for safety of the experiment. Risk assessment protocols with examples involving transgenic coho salmon, triploid grass carp and hybrid tilapia are described. In case a specific risk is identified, the user is led to consider risk management measures, involving culture methods, facilities design and operations management, to minimize the risk. Key features of the software are its user-friendly organization; easy access to explanatory text, literature citations and glossary; and automated completion of a worksheet. Documented completion of the Performance Standards can facilitate approval of a well designed experiment by oversight authorities.