Impact of Climate Change and COVID-19 on Farmers in Laos

Siphaeng is a rice farmer from Duer village, Phaoudom district, Bokeo province, Laos. The farmers in this region are currently facing threats due to climate change. Siphaeng says that last year, he didn’t harvest anything his farm as there was no rain, which is their source of irrigation for their farms. Because of this, people in his village had to look for other jobs to earn a living. Some of them have been employed at Chinese banana farms, however, the work is also limited so they had to take turns in working at the farms. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened their situation since they had to stop working because of the lockdown.