Peru and Ecuador are highly vulnerable to economic disruption at the hands of El Nino, but extreme weather also opens some new economic opportunities

FORO writes,

Early initiatives at mitigating El Nino damages focus on research and integrating traditional and scientific knowledge.

FORO writes,

Powerful El Ninos significantly impact economic and social resources in Peru and Ecuador, which are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and in need of preventative measures. The biggest gaps are information, understanding of effects, and infrastructure.

FORO writes,

“The Andean Development Corporation has identified the following vulnerabilities in the region:

- Lack of knowledge on hydrology and watershed management of the rivers. In Ecuador, human intervention in the watershed has made this country more vulnerable to EN events.

A new agricultural institution in Peru mimics traditional practices to help disseminate irrigation technology that both preserves soil nutrients and lets farmers harvest off-season.

FORO writes,

In April 2011, the Peruvian legislation authorized importation of GMO products, citing increased food capacity as an adaptive response to climate change, but in June, the Parliament reversed the decisions and declared a moratorium on GMOs for 10 years. This move highlights a number of tensions points: lack of consensus on GMOs, lack of knowledge on biosafety and GMO impacts of biodiversity, and potential growing co-option of Climate Change “adaptation” labels.

FORO writes,

"Mobile technology is helping Egyptian farmers in the Nile Delta region to manage scarce water resources more efficiently. A joint partnership between Ministry of Water Resources, GTZ (now GIZ) and Mobinil, largest mobile operator in Egypt launched a service called „Blue Line‟ to improve communication. This service involves establishing hotline between officials and farmers in the region. It also disseminates messages from officials regarding water supply and allocation to all mobile phones in the region with a „one touch‟ feature, that sends instant messages through a single button click."

Several organizations, including NGOs, farmers‟ unions and corporate houses, and the government are currently working on numerous projects involving sustainable agriculture across Indonesia.

NGOs:

"The Yayasan Mitra Tani Mandiri, which won the Equator Prize in 2010, works with over 40 villages in East Nusa Tenggara to produce sustainable agricultural systems including land, water and organic farming."

The From Farm to Table project, facilitating sustainable urban farming systems around the world, targets key constraints to urban agriculture. The result is a set of strategies for making urban agriculture a bigger part of the national agenda, nutrition solutions, and urban economies. Among the key barriers are recognition and protection by governments, lack of market knowledge, lack of information access, and pollution.

Intellecap writes,

According to Noviscape, a 2009 Asian Development Bank report on climate change indicates that Southeast Asia "will lose 75% of its present rice growing areas in the worst case climate scenario when nothing is done today to address the potential problem."

Implications:
For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the newsletter states, this crop is both a key export and a critical domestic source of food. The publication sees a silver lining in the potential crisis, suggesting the threat has "centripetal attraction" that could unify ASEAN nations.

According to Noviscape, ASEAN member countries will soon have to make the food they export traceable "from farm to fork" to meet market demands. This will require coordination between ASEAN countries, which is challenging in itself, but could pay off in the long run with increased revenue. However, the region's poor may not see benefit and, instead, suffer.