Stories of climate change in southern Shan State, June 2015.

The rain arrived late this year in Kalaw Township, Shan State. For U Min Zaw, this meant an expensive outlay of 24,000 MMK every five days to water his cabbage fields.

Very few farmers can afford to build a water pond like this for domestic and agricultural use.

In June 2015, some farmers in Kalaw Township walked up to two miles every day

to fetch water for their crops

Others prepared their land but have no feasible access to a water source. Here, in Nyaung Shwe Township, the land awaits the rain before chili and eggplant crops can be sown.

This Grandmas duties extend past child care. She made regular trips to a nearby stream to fetch water from for the family crops.

The prolonged heat invited insects. Here a farmer is spraying his crops without protective clothing. The instructions on the pesticide packets are mainly in Chinese, and therefore not widely understood by local farmers. This is dangerous to both farmers and consumers.

What is LIFT doing to help in southern Shan?

LIFT funds several projects

providing farmers with advice, introducing new technology,

and offering livelihoods options.

For example, Mercy Corps, East-West Seeds and Swisscontact

implement the LIFT- funded project, Making Vegetable Markets Work.

One component of the project is training. Farmers learn about seed options, land preparation, fertiliser and pesticide. This helps them to manage their crops and farms better, particularly with the erratic rainfall.

A technique that they have introduced is mulching with plastic/straw. This helps keep the soil moist, and protects the roots from pests, which is particularly useful in the circumstances. This plot is in Kalaw Township.

In Nyaung Shwe Township, despite the late rain, Daw Khins chilli crop will be successful. The mulching technique has helped me most, she says. It has really worked to prevent pests and increase yield. She expects her harvest to fetch around 350,000 MMK, which is a big increase on last year.

2015