In a groundbreaking move, CGIAR – the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research – in collaboration with government agencies and key stakeholders, launched the ‘Initiative on Securing the Food Systems of Asian Mega-Deltas for Climate and Livelihood Resilience (AMD)’ in Dhaka in August 2022.
The AMD initiative, spanning the first 3-year phase (2022-24), concentrates on the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta in Bangladesh and India, Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar, and Mekong River Delta in Vietnam and Cambodia. With the annual CGIAR Initiative on AMD meeting recently hosted in Dhaka, expectations are high for a second three-year cycle (2025-27) benefiting thousands of farming households, particularly in Bangladesh’s saline-prone regions.
Headquartered in France’s Montpellier, CGIAR stands as the world’s largest global agricultural innovation network, encompassing non-profit research organizations with a mission to transform food, land, and water systems amid the climate crisis.
The CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas aims to cultivate resilient, inclusive, and productive deltas, ensuring socio-ecological integrity, adapting to climate stressors, and fostering human prosperity and wellbeing. These mega-deltas, home to 177 million people, serve as fertile food baskets with vast potential to enhance regional and food system sustainability, supporting millions beyond the delta dwellers.
However, recent models reveal alarming trends, indicating that Asian mega-deltas are more vulnerable to floods, sea-level rise, and salinization than previously assumed. These environmental challenges, coupled with water shortages, cyclones, and climate extremes, pose significant threats to food and nutrition security, potentially causing an annual GDP loss of 6% in Southeast Asia.
The AMD initiative’s objective is to overcome systemic barriers and scale transformative technologies and practices at community, national, and regional levels in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Vietnam recently acknowledged the efforts, awarding a certificate of merit to CGIAR Initiative on AMD and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for their outstanding contributions to sustainable agriculture and rural development.
The CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas focuses on five key areas:
- Improving Deltaic Production Systems: Collaborating with farmers and local governments to scale interventions that adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
- Developing Nutrition-Sensitive Deltaic Agrifood Systems: Promoting sustainable production and consumption of nutritious foods, involving stakeholders in co-designing investment strategies.
- De-risking Delta-Oriented Value Chains: Utilizing digital climate advisory services to reduce climate risks among smallholders and facilitate investment in deltaic value chains.
- Facilitating Inclusive Deltaic Food-Systems Governance: Strengthening capacities of actors to plan and implement sustainable food systems while improving inclusivity and accountability.
- Introducing Evidence-Based Delta Development Planning: Enhancing the development of climate-resilient and inclusive food systems through evidence-supported policy dialogue and strategic planning.
The CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas stands as a beacon for sustainable agricultural transformation, poised to address pressing challenges and create resilient landscapes for future generations.
