The booklet presents the result of the activities undertaken by the projects “Strengthening Agro-climatic Monitoring and Information Systems (SAMIS) to improve adaptation to climate change and food security in Lao People's Democratic Republic” and “Sustainable Productivity in agriculture in the context of Climate Smart Agriculture and Agro-ecology”. In the leaflet, the story map of the maize crops production system is analysed using the agro-ecological zoning future crop suitability maps and multiple foresight analysis tools. All elements of the crops value chain are identified, as well as current and future risks and opportunities. Based on these analyses, the policy recommendations containing proposed actions and strategies are elaborated in the form of a pathway action plan. This story map was produced by national experts and its validity was confirmed and tested by field missions and national expert meetings, which involved local experts and various stakeholders, including farmers and private sector. The main beneficiary of this leaflet should be the policy and the decision-makers at the local and national level.

Strategic Foresight is the ability to predict or the action of predicting what will happen or be needed in the future. Foresight uses a range of methodologies, such as scanning the horizon for emerging changes, analysing megatrends and developing multiple scenarios, to reveal and discuss useful ideas about the future. It is an approach that aims at making sense of the future, understanding drivers of change that are outside of one’s control, and preparing for what may lead to success or failure. The target of this process consisted in the development of policy narratives. The preparation of policy narrative was realised officials of the Department of Agricultural Land Management (DALAM) and of the National Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) to present key concepts and methods around science communication by producing story maps, presenting spatial analysis in a user-friendly manner, and future-proof resilient policy recommendations.The narratives are detailed in-depth analysis of the current state of maize, cassava, coffee and banana production, as well as projections of future developments of the agricultural system. The policy recommendations and advised actions in the document can help policy makers to establish a resilient future-proof production system.

The booklet presents the result of a survey on climate change perception by households undertaken by the project “Strengthening Agro-climatic Monitoring and Information Systems (SAMIS) to improve adaptation to climate change and food security in Lao People's Democratic Republic”. The booklet presents the methodology used to collect and analyze the data and the information on the socio-economic profile of selected villages. After that, the booklet describes the perception of climate change by households, the effects of climate change on the respondents’ livelihood. Further to that, solutions applied to extreme weather events were assessed, as well as the effects of extreme weather. The present data are made public to help design programs on weather and climate information, as well as information and education campaigns about climate change and government services for farmers. The main beneficiary of this booklet should be the donor and international agency communities, as well as the government officials in charge of farmers’ extension.

This book describes the challenges and opportunities for scaling up delivery of climate services to last mile users and describes the baseline assessment results of the project “Strengthening Agro-climatic Monitoring and Information Systems (SAMIS) to improve adaptation to climate change and food security in Lao PDR”. After a methodological introduction, the book describes how households were accessing weather news. Further to this, the use of loudspeakers as a source of weather information is described, including use of weather news from loudspeakers, use of weather information, challenges to use of advisories, suggestions for improving advisories, sources of support for farmers, and type of support provided to farmers. The book also studies the farmers who did not access advisories, including their challenges in accessing advisories from loudspeakers, preferred channels for receiving advisories, and interests in loudspeaker-delivered advisories from farmers who have not accessed advisories. Finally, the book analyse suggestions for improving dissemination through loudspeakers. The results show that loudspeakers have a wide reach and are valued by farmers, and it is used when choosing crop variety. Those who have access to both farmer field schools and loudspeakers are more likely to adjust their planting schedule, while farmers who get their information only from loudspeakers often change their water management practices.

This Atlas presents the first national dataset on livelihoods and the farmers capacity to adapt to climate change in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Maps included in the Atlas include the satisfaction of farmers’ basic needs, farmers’ access to the resources needed for innovation and the farmers’ capacity to translate innovation into action. The landscape characteristics mapped include attitudes towards livelihood-related change, economic activity, soil fertility, supporting infrastructure, food security issues, water security, institutional support and extension services, access to climate information through information and communication technologies (ICTs ), market access vis-a-vis production orientation, use of and access to agricultural inputs, livelihood diversification, and dependency on agriculture, including the rearing of livestock and fish. The dataset has been generated using an innovative method that combines participatory mapping and advanced data analysis, and which is, both in terms of technical standard and scientific innovation, state-of-the-art. The livelihood data is available online in the Land Resources Information Management System thanks to the work of two collaborating teams: "Applying seasonal climate forecasting and innovative insurance solutions to climate risk management in the agriculture sector in Southeast Asia” (De-Risk) project, implemented by CIAT; and the "Strengthening Agro-Climatic Monitoring and Information Systems (SAMIS)" project, implemented by FAO.