Policy research in the Mekong region is often carried out in the form of short-term consultancies commissioned by business and multilateral organisations. Such research outputs are often not publicly disseminated, and may be heavily contested by groups external to the process.
Sumernet has worked to address that gap by supporting and promoting independent research on development ‘hotspots’ in the Mekong region.
In particular, in the first year of Sumernet’s research, three hotspots of Mekong development were identified for special attention: the dry upland regions of northern Lao, where foreign investment from within the Mekong region or nearby countries is changing traditional patterns of agriculture and settlement; Cambodia’s Great Lake, the Tonle Sap, South-East Asia’s largest freshwater body and source of food security for one of the poorest regions in the world; and the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, one of Southeast Asia’s principal rice baskets.
Independent research on these areas has been supported through a programme of grants for institutions and individual research fellows. Three monographs have been produced outlining the state of knowledge in these areas, and numerous studies of key issues in these areas have been supported. More recently, Sumernet research has focused largely on themes and key issues at a regional scale or with strong transboundary implications. Seven thematic areas were agreed upon and research was undertaken according to these priorities.
The research outputs of Sumernet are available on this website and are rapidly being added to as the programme reaches the close of its current funding phase.
