Stakeholder Workshop for the Regional Drought & Crop Yield Information System

Drought is an increasingly frequent phenomenon in the Lower Mekong Region. Whereas seasonal flooding cycles have a number of positive impacts on the region’s agriculture and ecosystems, drought events bring primarily negative impacts on ecosystems, agriculture, and socio-economic conditions, of the farming communities. A regional geospatial needs assessment conducted by SERVIR-Mekong during 2014-2015 and subsequent consultations with regional and national institutions highlighted a gap in reliable information on the past, present, and forecast drought conditions and related crop yields. Additional consultations facilitated by the Mekong River Commission have further underscored the need for additional decision support resources in this critical area of planning and decision-making.

A Regional Drought & Crop Yield Information System (RDCYIS) is currently being developed as a direct response to this need. The system is designed to improve the ability of diverse end users to prepare for and respond to drought conditions in the Lower Mekong Region. In consultation with stakeholders in the region and international experts, a decision was taken to leverage a system called the Regional Hydrologic Extreme Assessment System (RHEAS) that was originally developed by a
team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL) for use in East Africa. In general, the RHEAS framework links two widely used models: the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) hydrological model and the Decision Support System for Agro-Technology Transfer (DSSAT) model. Additional code and customization provide for automation of the data assimilation and output functions of the system. It also allows coupling of other environmental models and facilitates the delivery of data
products to users via a GIS-enabled database. Development of the system is ongoing with technical inputs and support being provided by SERVIR-Mekong, NASA-JPL, MRC’s Drought Management Team, national agency partners, the International Rice Research Institute, and others.

This stakeholder consultation workshop builds on numerous consultations with individual agencies and individuals and comes on the heels of the second of two technical production workshops where partners have helped accelerate production and operationalization of the system. It also marks the inception of a 3-year program being implemented by a team at NASA-JPL who received a NASA “Applied Science Team” grant to support the development and deployment of the RDCYIS.

Workshop Summary and Objectives

This stakeholder workshop will bring together stakeholders ranging from technical co-production partners to representatives of relevant government agencies to further develop a shared understanding of the objectives and design of the RDCYIS and how end users will be able to benefit from it. To that end, there will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion. A stakeholder mapping exercise will be conducted on the second day of the workshop to understand and document the needs, roles, and contributions of stakeholders and how information will flow among these actors.

Principal workshop outcomes will be:

1. Increased understanding, refinement of, and consensus on the objectives of the RDCYIS;
2. Increased awareness and understanding of NASA-JPL’s critical role in development of the system;
3. Increased understanding of the roles, contributions from, and benefits to the diverse