Interventions, policy dialogues, and best practices

Prepared by Ray Shyan Wu, The President of Chinese Taipei Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (CTCID)

Being an island country located in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Taiwan is particularly prone to natural disasters related to climate change due to its geographical nature, such as hurricanes, floods, and drought. According to the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan, the rice cultivation areas have undergone noticeable meteorological changes in the last 50 years, including the rise in maximum and mean temperature in southern and eastern Taiwan. In addition, there has been an evident reduction of rainfall in different periods of time in the north and south-eastern Taiwan. Improving agricultural resilience has therefore been an ongoing effort, some of which include providing small farmers with technical help and scientific findings to improve crop productivity, and incorporating the use of the new 5G technology to provide real-time notification to alleviate the influence of the drastic weather changes.

Strengthening Technical Support and Scientific Knowledge for Small Farmers

Unlike farmers in countries with large areas of irrigatable land, the average farmland size of Taiwanese farmers is only about 0.72 hectares, yet that accounts for approximately 92% of all farmers and herdsmen in the country. Therefore, to improve agricultural resilience, it is crucial to provide technical assistance and scientific knowledge to small farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture- in cooperation with non-profit foundations- conducts seminars to educate small farmers on the utilization of plants resilient to drought and viruses. Other efforts, to name a few, include the testing of over 30 species of rice, and assisting in the selection and preservation of seeds. These efforts aim to enhance small farmers' knowledge of soil resilience to climate change.

Climate Change Adaptation

Increasing productivity is also another method to combat the impacts of climate change. The Council of Agriculture in Taiwan has developed four main policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The four policies are: monitoring greenhouse gas emissions; reducing methane production by improving livestock management; improving nitrogen application technology; and reducing fishing boat operations. Experts have also suggested the use of ponds to resist droughts and to regulate microclimate. In addition to that, grass cultivation has also been recommended to increase water retention and improve water quality.

Administrative Reform

Having realized that improving agricultural resilience requires constant effort and investments, the government of Taiwan promoted the Council of Agriculture to become the Ministry of Agriculture in May 2022. A new task group was also established focusing on climate change, farmland preservation, and environmental sustainability. Providing ample technical help and knowledge to farmers, and using technology to predict and mitigate the effects of climate change are just a few of the ongoing efforts in Taiwan. It is hoped that these examples can serve as a useful reference to the global community!

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Ray-Shyan Wu was born in Taipei, Taiwan. He received the B.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering from National Taiwan University, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University, USA. He joined National Central University in 1990. Presently, he is a Distinguished Professor in Civil Engineering and the Executive Vice President of National Central University, Taiwan. He became the President of Chinese Taipei Committee on Irrigation and Drainage on 2021.

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