Vietnam seeks more international help with sustainable agriculture

Vietnam hopes the international community will provide it with more support to achieve sustainable agricultural development in the context of faster and more extreme changes in weather, an official said.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong made the appeal at a conference on international cooperation in the promotion of sustainable farming in response to climate change, which was held in Hanoi on December 6.

Delegates at the event (Photo: VGP)

He said Vietnam has seen a great deal of extreme weather in 2016, which shows climate change is taking place faster than predicted in 2012.

According to the minister, relevant agencies are working on a new forecast for climate change in the country, which will be made public soon.

He noted that climate change will take a heavy toll on agricultural production in the Mekong Delta region, which produces 75% of the rice, 50% of the fruit and 80% of the fishery products the entire nation exports.

Besides the Mekong Delta, six other economic zones in Vietnam will also suffer from similar effects.

The Minister said the Vietnamese Government is taking all-out action to restructure the economy and agricultural sector to build up resilience and adaptation when faced with extreme weather.

Vietnam welcomes and appreciates the assistance of the international community with its efforts to tackle the impacts of climate change and to secure livelihoods for residents, he stressed.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s acting country director, Louise Chamberlain, said recent droughts and saline intrusion serve as a warning for Vietnam and other countries.

She suggested that climate change risks should be accounted for in policies and programmes designed for the agriculture sector.

The UNDP has been assisting Vietnam in making natural disaster risk management part of policies issued for major sectors and in designing relevant programmes that involve local communities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in coastal areas.

Christian Berger, German Ambassador to Vietnam, highlighted agriculture, irrigation and shore protection as major factors in the sustainable development of the Mekong Delta.

He said strong coordination among relevant agencies and organisations is key to the region’s success, stating that the German Government is willing to support the Vietnamese agricultural sector in that regard.

(Source: NDO)