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Add to Preferred SourcesIFAD is the only international institution mandated exclusively to help reduce poverty and food insecurity in rural areas of developing countries. Viet Nam has developed rapidly its economy during the last two decades and met its immediate needs in terms of national food security and income growth.
IFAD has adapted its development strategies for Viet Nam from focusing on boosting agricultural production to commercialisation and sustainability of the smallholder dominated agricultural sector.
IFAD projects aim to attract the private sector and to engage with smallholder farmers in high-value agribusiness.
With 25 years of a successful partnership in Viet Nam, IFAD is now focussing on the scaling up of successful interventions across the country through evidence-based policy dialogue and strategic partnership with the private sector, the government of Viet Nam, civil society and other partners.
On its development path, Viet Nam is facing a few challenges such as generating employment for its rapidly growing population – 96 million today – and especially the young people, as half of the population are less than 35 years old and about 70 percent live in rural areas. It is encouraging to note that Viet Nam has become a hub for foreign investment and manufacturing in Southeast Asia. Well-known electronic companies from Korea and Japan and many European and American apparel makers have set up manufactures in the country. By 2017, Viet Nam was the largest exporter of clothing in the South East Asia region and the second-largest exporter of electronics (after Singapore).
In view of the successes noted above, it comes without surprise that the country is at crossroads as regards the mobilisation of overseas development assistance and finance. The Viet Namese government requests support that bring innovations, also to the agricultural sector.
Particularly, the government aims to strengthen the adaptive capacity to address a major threat that climate change poses for the future. Another urgent need is to boost the business mentality and capacities among its smallholder farmers.
Climate change threatens the natural resources base across the world and especially vulnerable developing countries. As one of the countries most impacted by climate change, Viet Nam needs to address climate change fast and effectively in order to sustain its economic growth and social development pathways.
Increasing the resilience of smallholder farmers has become a very urgent matter. IFAD has taken on the challenges and support the Viet Namese government. Since climate change undermines poverty reduction and development gains, IFAD has focused on mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in smallholder agriculture across its investment programmes.
IFAD works closely with poor rural people in Viet Nam, most of whom are smallholder farmers, ethnic people, cooperatives, women groups and small entrepreneurs who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. IFAD draws on its experience around the world to assist these people to adapt to climate change. Through loans and grant-funded interventions, IFAD is addressing declining crop yields and similar issues caused by changes in temperature, rainfall and sea-level rise due to climate change.
Implementing sustainable agricultural practices is more important now than ever, as managers of land, water and forests, smallholder farmers do have an important role to play in mitigation measures.
The smallholder farmers can contribute by using better agricultural practices, adopting better land-use practices such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry and rehabilitation of degraded crop and pasture land, which would also help to fix significant amounts of carbon in the soil.
IFAD introduced a co-finance mechanism for climate-smart agriculture and value chains were introduced in 11 provinces in Viet Nam.
In support of climate-relevant policy development, IFAD will link its investments in rural infrastructure with Government and other grant finance to obtain technical assistance and promote capacity building.
Original source: IFAD
Published on 28 November 2019