On September 12, 2018, the Mekong Institute team, led by MI Executive Director Dr. Watcharas Leelawath, handed over a donation amounting to USD7,400 (60 million Laotian Kip) to Khammouane Vice Governor Mr. Bounmy Phimmasone. With them were Mr. Nguyen Hung Cuong, Director of the RLED-EWEC Project, Dr. Jun Acedo, Senior Program Specialist, and members of the EWEC Lao Field Office.

The donation is MI’s assistance and support to the province following the flooding incidence it has experienced recently. The heavy floods took place just weeks after the flooding in Attapeau, affecting 60 percent of the province and damaging an estimated 26,000 hectares of rice cultivation areas. Khammouane is one of the project sites of MI’s RLED-EWEC Project.  

The money will be used to buy 10 tons of seeds to be distributed to farmers in the affected areas, particularly those in the EWEC project site area comprised of an estimated 427 farmer-households. The seeds will be crucial to ensure rice production for the coming dry season of 2019.

Mr. Phimmasone graciously thanked the MI team for their support.