Project helps farmers deal with climate change
(VOV) -Vietnam is at risk of becoming one of the most adversely affected countries by climate change, which could slow down the country’s economic growth.
To help address this issue, a bilateral project was launched by the Vietnamese Association for the Conservation of Nature (VACNE) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to strengthen farmer resilience to climate change in the country’s Mekong and Red River deltas.
A conference on the project was opened in Hanoi on January 22.
Current trends show that climate change will result in a significant temperature increase, leading to sea level rise, increased water and soil salinity, and dramatic changes in weather and flood patterns.
Increased precipitation during the rainy season and perceived drought during the rest of the year are among the current trends observed by national agro-meteorologists and the international research community.
The potential impact of climate change is likely to be serious for agricultural production and water resources availability. About 80-90 percent of the population live off agriculture, which together with water resources has been pinpointed as most vulnerable.
Low land fish raising and rice farming are major sectors for millions of Vietnamese, as they are key to national food security. Vietnam is currently the second largest rice exporter in the world.
The project, partially funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), aims to help the country increase the resilience of its farming communities by synthesising international and field research on this topic, and raise awareness among farmers, and building capacities of water management practitioners at government agencies on what needs to be done to avoid a devastating socio-economic downturn due to climate change.