- Title
- Climate risk management for Water and Agriculture in the Dominican Republic: Fo…
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- Abstract
- "This report presents the main results of a climate risk and risk management capacity assessment of the agricultural and water sectors in the Yaque del Sur watershed of the Dominican Republic, conducted as part of the Climate Risk Management Technical Assistance Support Project (CRM TASP) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The combination of di erent scienti c and participatory research streams, including literature reviews, community consultations, and crop and water management modelling, as well as policy and capacity assessments, provides a basis for identifying climate risks in the selected watershed and prioritizing measures to manage them. Several national experts, key governmental and non-governmental agencies, and international water, agriculture and climate specialists were involved in the research.
The Dominican Republic is an upper-middle-income country, yet good average income levels hide development challenges such as high inequality, insu cient education and health, and gender inequality. The ‘National Development Strategy’ aims to strengthen good governance, reduce poverty and inequality, and pursue economic integration and environmental sustainability. The agricultural sector provides employment to a large part of the population and earns over US$1 billion in foreign exchange, even though its economic importance is shrinking. Water resources are relatively abundant, but several large watersheds are already under severe water pressure; agriculture accounts for four- fths of water demand, which is mainly met with surface water. The Yaque del Sur watershed is the third largest in the country and under enormous water stress; it is also one of the poorest areas in the Dominican Republic. Tomatoes, maize, pigeon peas, green bananas, plantains, chillies and eggplants are the main crops grown there. For the mid-term development of their region, stakeholders of the agriculture and water sector in the watershed prioritize increasing water storage capacity and irrigation e ciency, protecting water catchment areas, and improving crop productivity, soil management and education.
Almost every year, climate events claim dozens of lives, a ect tens of thousands of people or cause millions of dollars in damages, and the Yaque del Sur watershed is signi cantly impacted by numerous climate hazards. Climate change could lead to additional stress: water scarcity will increase, so that by 2050 the annual water de cit could amount to 390 million m3, according to model results, and key crops grown in the area will require more water or see important reductions in their yields. Crops with longer growing cycles are more vulnerable, because temperature increases and precipitation reductions are concentrated in certain months. Adaptive capacity is insu cient. Irrigation committees and communities in the watershed do have strategies to cope with climate risk, but climate variability and change are increasingly overwhelming coping capacity and may make the use of sustainable coping strategies, which often require external support, less likely. The combination of hazards and vulnerability leads to signi cant climate risks and can jeopardize the achievement of national and sectoral development goals, including the reduction of rural poverty and inequality."
- Publication Date
- Jan. 1, 2013, 6 p.m.
- Category
- Climatology Meteorology Atmosphere
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processes and phenomena of the atmosphere. Examples: cloud cover, weather, climate, atmospheric conditions, climate change, precipitation
- Regions
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Dominican Republic
- Responsible
- andy
- More info
- -
- Language
- English
- Supplemental Information
- coastal_flood, strong_wind, drought, urban_flood, extreme_heat, wildfire, landslide
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