Report from Alina BOSSUET

Sitting in a wide circle on a large colourful woven mat, the village chiefs discuss the difficulties of nature’s double edged sword. Although the rainy season from May to September brings much needed water for the rice fields, the frequent flooding of the rivers often result in their crops being destroyed. In some villages, like Ban Tha Pha the dry season, November to April, is never productive as the rice fields remain barren due to lack of access to water.

With the financial support of the Rhône-Alpes Region, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the SIGEIF³, the team from Triangle will work with the villages and the Department of Agriculture to find effective solutions for each village. This maybe the installation of an electric pump to channel water from the river to the rice fields or improvements in the canal network where there is an existing electric pump. Crop diversification and improvements in vegetable gardens to provide additional food sources will be explored in addition to improvements in marketing any crop surplus.

The chief of Ban Tha Pha, takes Jérôme Bossuet, Triangle’s programme coordinator in Laos, down to the river that is the village’s only water source during the dry season. The levels are very low but Oneth Phimathone is confident that there is enough water and hopes Triangle can install a pump and canal network at this source to supply water to the rice fields during the dry season.

 “We don’t have a harvest this season, so our village will run out of rice in April,” he says. “This is a very bad time. The rain comes in May and we will need our energy to start working in the rice fields then. But as we have no way of having a harvest in the dry season the food shortage is inevitable.”

“We will carefully analyse the situation with each village group as solutions must be tailored to the needs and capacities in each village,” Jerome explains.

“In some cases, the river source may not have enough capacity to feed the rice fields even when the pump is installed so we have to monitor the river levels first before deciding together on what the optimum solution is. If water supply is a problem, we will explore less water dependent crops and improvements in vegetable and fruit gardens to provide a source of income to buy rice.  Whatever the case, we will work closely with the villagers as they have the know-how to guide the programme.”

They walk past the rice fields where dry stumps of the previous crop are the only signs that this land was once fertile. Oneth crouches down and indicates how parched the land is by slipping his finger into the wide crack near his foot. He stands up and waves his stick towards one of several craters in the land. “The lack of water is not the only problem,” he adds. “Several people have been killed by unexploded bombs in these fields. But luckily they have now been cleared in our village. In other villages people still find bomb fragments when they are planting the rice.”

Despite all the elements against them, the people of Ban Tha Pha are positive about their future. They know that Buddha will ensure their village is protected from harm and things will get better. With an assured smile, Oneth tells us about the source of this protection. The village is named after Buddha (Pha) because the temple on the bank of the river, and the Buddha housed within it, were the first stones to be laid down when the villagers settled here.

Hidden at the foot of the imposing mountain opposite their village is a sacred cave. Gesturing a wide arch, he describes how the cave emits a unique light at an auspicious time each year. This is when the spirits within the cave connect with Buddha in the riverbank temple to bless the village.

The people here are driven by the strength of their belief. And with eagerness and motivation, they enter this partnership with Triangle and the Department of Agriculture to improve the production of their land and change their fortunes.