Vietnam acts to ensure food security amidst climate change
Vietnam is taking urgent action to ensure food security against the negative effects of climate change, which has resulted in heat waves, forest fires, floods and sea level rise in recent years.
Stepping up climate-friendly agricultural production
Agriculture is directly affected by climate change. But agriculture also affects the climate as it is responsible for about one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, a major cause of global warming. About 25% of carbon dioxide emissions are produced by human practices, mainly deforestation and use of fossil fuel-based fertilisers. Most of the methane in the atmosphere also comes from agricultural activities, such as livestock breeding, rice cultivation, and burning of plant materials.
Vietnam has also sought stronger regional cooperation in the work. One of the four priorities Vietnam proposed for the APEC Vietnam 2017 is to “Enhance food security and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change.”
Bright prospects for Vietnam’s rice exports
Climate change is threatening the world’s ability to ensure food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. The United Nations has recently projected that up to a quarter of the global food production could be lost by 2050 due to the combined impacts of climate change, land degradation and water scarcity. At the same time, the world’s population is expected to increase to about 9.5 billion. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that an increasing population will drive demand for food up by to 60% by 2050, making food security a key issue of the whole world.
According to MARD, there are significant potentials for Vietnam to expand rice exports. The agriculture sector has also taken measures to boost rice exports, including launching a strategy to develop the country’s rice export markets and ensure sustainable development in the production and export of rice.
One of the strategy’s goals is to maintain a total rice growing area of about 3.8 million hectares in 2020, with total rice output of 41-43 million tonnes. Vietnam’s annual rice export volume is expected to reach about 4.5-5 million tonnes by 2020, earning an average of about US$2.2-US$2.3 billion per year. From 2021 to 2030, the nation’s annual rice export volume is expected to hit about 4 million tonnes, raking in US$2.3 to US$2.5 billion per year. It also hopes to increase the value of exported rice.