ADPC delegation visited Jiangxi Province, China from 4-9 April 2006

ADPC’s delegation of Ms. LingLing Jiang, Project Manager for China and North-East Asia and Dr. Selvaraju Ramasamy, Climate Application Research Scientist visited Jiangxi Province, China from 4 - 9 April 2006. The objective of the visit was to explore the possibility of developing a Climate Risk Management (CRM) program in Jiangxi Province. The visit was a follow up on the visit made by ADPC delegation in April last year. The trip was funded by the CRM team, and Jiangxi province provided local transportation and coordination.

ADPC’s focal point in the province, the MRLD ((Mountain, River and Lake Development) office, made arrangements for the delegation to visit relevant agencies and organized meetings with the provincial department of agriculture, meteorological bureau and the provincial committee for disaster reduction, as well as the MRLD office in Nanchang, the capital of the province. Information and experience sharing and exploring possibilities of developing CRM program for Jiangxi Province with technical support from ADPC were the highlights of the meetings.

The delegation visited a potential demonstration site for the future CRM program named Po Yang County, which is three hours drive from Nanchang. It is the biggest county in the province in terms of its population (over 1.5 million) and it is also an undeveloped and a disaster prone area. The delegation visited a village in the county and had discussions with the head of the village and the farmer representatives.

The delegation was made aware of the existence of a gap between meteorological and the agricultural sectors in the province. All the relevant agencies expressed their interests in cooperating with ADPC to expand the CRM program in Jiangxi Province. The farmers showed their keenness to the program.

A draft project framework and working schedule were made by the ADPC delegation together with all the stakeholders in the province after returning from Po Yang county to Nanchang. Jiangxi Province assured to send the proposal to ADPC for review and comments by 10 May 2006, and they will also select 3 to 4 demonstration sites for the program and will mobilize funding resources to support the program.

In agreement, the ADPC delegation and Jiangxi Province will enter a MoU, which may then be sent to potential donors for funding support for the program. The preparation of the MoU is underway.

Please click here for the photographs.