Adaptation through Water 2025

Very low drought risk Very high drought risk Thailand, Mekong Delta and Central Java face the worst drought risks in the regionDrought risks facing Southeast Asia FIGURE 6 Sources: WWF Water Risk Filter, European Commission INFORM Risk Index, BCG analysis.12 Cambodia and Viet Nam face greater downstream water risk – especially to agriculture, which relies heavily on the Mekong River for irrigation. Cambodia is second only to Viet Nam in terms of the number of people in the region affected by drought. In both countries agriculture is a major employer, accounting for one-third or more of the workforce. Notably, Viet Nam is a top global producer of rice and coffee and the Mekong Delta accounts for more than 50% of rice production and around 90% of rice exports.In most Southeast Asian countries, surface water represents more than 80% of the water source, most of it for agricultural use. Somewhere between three-quarters and 95% of water withdrawal in these countries is used in agriculture and irrigation accounts for the lion’s share of agriculture water use (more than 95%). This heavy reliance puts the entire sector – and the region’s food security – at critical risk of water shortage (see Figure 7). Agriculture’s heavy reliance on surface water for irrigation in Southeast Asia creates critical water risk and threatens food security.