EU-funded Project for Eco-Resilient Agriculture in Vietnam's Mekong Delta

A meeting took place in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh on April 25 to introduce the project “Smart Agro-ecological Transformation of Farming Systems towards Resilience and Sustainability in Middle and Coastal Zones of the Vietnam Mekong Delta (STAR-FARM)”, VNA reported.

The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

On the occasion, consultations were held with the provinces of Dong Thap, Kien Giang, and Tra Vinh regarding the selection of district-level locations and models for the project implementation this year. These provinces have been chosen based on rigorous selection criteria designed by the FAO.

Nguyen Do Tuan Anh, Director of the MARD’s Department of International Cooperation at the event. Photo: Truc Phuong

Nguyen Do Tuan Anh, Director of the MARD’s Department of International Cooperation, said the project has a total funding of nearly EUR 4.2 million (USD 4.66 million), funded by the European Union (EU) through FAO.

It was approved by the MARD in April 2023 and launched in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang province on December 13, 2023, at the Vietnam-Hau Giang International Rice Festival.

Carried out from 2023-2027, the project consists of three components, including supporting the enforcement of policies related to the transformation of smart food systems in climate change, supporting the development and improvement of ecological agricultural value chains, and enhancing the adaptive capacity of stakeholders in monitoring and evaluating the transformation of food systems, promoting innovation and creativity. This encourages equitable, healthy, sustainable agricultural value chains that are climate and environmentally friendly.

Partners of the project include the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD), the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Can Tho University.

The project aims to help improve production, business administration and marketing capacity for at least 24 cooperatives and cooperative groups, and establish 8 cooperatives of youth, women and ethnic minority people. It will also assist 15 agricultural SMEs to access green financial sources, build three support packages for innovative agricultural schemes and eco-agricultural models.

At the conference, the project management board listened to representatives presenting many opinions and presentation on difficulties and challenges facing agricultural production due to climate change and sea level rise.

Experts and localities believe that when the project is implemented, there will be close coordination to build typical agricultural production models, typical of the middle and coastal regions. At the same time, there are plans to replicate models that adapt to climate and environmental conditions in accordance with production practices, creating sustainable livelihoods for people in the Mekong Delta region.

According to the plan, experts and representatives of organizations will coordinate with localities to conduct in-depth field surveys in 10 locations in 3 provinces of Tra Vinh, Dong Thap and Kien Giang to implement project activities. In Tra Vinh, Cau Ke, Chau Thanh, Tra Cu and Cang Long districts were chosen as points for in-depth survey and project implementation.

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