Green Climate Fund offers over US$30 million to strengthen Vietnam's climate change resilience

ABO/NDO – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held a signing ceremony in Hanoi on May 28 for a project to enhance Vietnam’s climate change resilience, with non-refundable aid worth US$30.2 million from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
The project, titled “Strengthening the resilience of smallholder agriculture to climate change-induced water insecurity in the Central Highlands and South-Central Coast regions of Vietnam” (SACCR), will be implemented by the MARD with the support of the UNDP in the six years from Q4 2020 to Q1 2026.

General view of the signing ceremony. (Photo: VNA).

It will empower smallholder farmers in the provinces of Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Dak Nong and Dak Lak – particularly women and ethnic minority farmers – to manage the increasing climate-related risks to agricultural production by ensuring the availability of water sources, adopting climate-resilient agricultural practices, and increasing access to agro-climatic information, credit and markets.
The GCF non-refundable aid aims to supplement and foster an investment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) into modern irrigational systems in drought-hit provinces in Vietnam, while ensuring the extended benefits for the poor and most vulnerable.
The components of the project include enhancing water security for the agricultural production of vulnerable smallholder farmers in the context of climate change-induced rainfall variability and drought, and strengthening resilience of smallholder farmer livelihoods through climate-resilient agriculture and access to climate information, finance, and markets.
According to MARD Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep, this is the largest non-refundable grant the ministry has received from international organisations in recent years. This project will help strengthen the connectivity of irrigational systems, the capacity to manage and use the systems, and climate change adaptation, especially in the Central Highlands and South Central regions.
To ensure the success of the project, he asked the five localities to work closely with the MARD and the UNDP to implement it in a rapid and effective manner.
For her part, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen stressed the need for close coordination between the parties and partners, while urging the prompt establishment of project management boards in the beneficiary provinces, as well as the strict compliance with the GCF’s requirements and regulations.

(Source: NDO)