Vietnam granted over USD30 million to deal with climate change

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the aid was announced at the 25th meeting of the GCF executive board on March 11th in Switzerland, in implementation of the project “Strengthening the resilience of small-holder agriculture to climate change-induced water insecurity in the Central Highlands and south-central coast regions of Vietnam” (SACCR)”.

The project has an integrated and innovative approach to enhance climate change resilience by the MARD and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, with technical assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

It will directly benefit more than 222,400 people, or 10% of population in the aboved-metion provinces, especially women and ethnic minorities. The project is designed to modernize irrigation systems, improve water security and livelihoods, provide knowledge in climate risk and climate resilience agriculture, and strengthen access to agro-climate information, credit and markets.

Some 335,000 people are expected to benefit indirectly through training and technical assistance, increased access to training courses and technical assistance, access to climate risk information and best practices of smart agriculture aligned with climate change..

This project also assists the efforts of the Government of Vietnam in increasing resilience for vulnerable coastal communities.

The Central Highlands and south-central coast regions of Vietnam are expected to experience more severe and frequent droughts in the dry season and more serious floods in the rainy season. As a result, farmers face reduced crop productivity, which affects food security and incomes./.