Helping farmers adapt to climate change

Agriculture is at the heart of Viet Nam’s economy, contributing more than 18 percent of GDP. It also employs nearly half of the country’s workforce with most production taking place on small family farms. Impacts over Viet Nam’s seven climatic zones are likely to vary, but are likely to have serious consequences for agriculture, forestry and fisheries. For instance, rising temperatures are likely to shorten plant growth cycles in the north, with severe water shortages expected in the southern and central regions as a result of drought. In coastal areas,  degeneration of coral reefs and decreases in plankton are expected to devastate fish populations, while rising sea levels are likely to force the relocation of many coastal aquaculture operations.

This new initiative, part of the Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans Programme, is funded by the German Government to help countries sharpen their adaptation responses to climate change. Alongside Viet Nam, Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda and Uruguay will incorporate their agriculture sectors into National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).  

In Viet Nam, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) will support MARD and related line agencies to help prioritize and implement adaptation strategies. These strategies will benefit local communities dependent on livelihoods from farming, fishing, and forestry based products.  

“FAO welcomes the opportunity to partner with UNDP with the strong support of the German Government to work with the Vietnamese Government and integrate climate change risks and opportunities as they relate to agriculture sector into planning and budgeting processes” said JongHa Bae, FAO Representative in Viet Nam.

The three-year programme will help identify policy gaps as well as opportunities to integrate key adaptation requirements for agriculture sector-based livelihoods into sectoral and cross-sectoral planning and budgeting processes.  The aim is to identify and design systems that can better map risk, and track unavoidable loss and damage, including insurance and risk-sharing mechanisms. With a loss and damage provision vulnerable communities will be able to access external financing for reconstruction and recovery.

“The current drought and seawater intrusion situation underscores the urgency of taking strategic and firm measures to adapt to the changing climate, as well as extreme events, in order to build the resilience of communities to the short- and long-term impacts of climate change,” said Louise Chamberlain, UNDP Country Director in Viet Nam

The inception workshop discussed key action points as well as efforts to tackle the drivers and impacts of climate change, and deliver sustainable and equitable development. Participants in the workshop were from FAO, UNDP, MARD and other relevant ministries as well as the International Organizations and related institutions.

More information

Speeches by FAO, UNDP

IKI of the BMUB: http://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/

The Programme: NAPS –Agriculture at UNDP, FAO, German Government:

http://adaptation-undp.org/naps-agriculture

UNFCCC Guidelines for National Adaptation Plans:

https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/cancun_adaptation_framework/application/pdf/naptechguidelines_eng_high__res.pdf 

FAO and the UNFCCC process:

http://www.fao.org/climatechange/unfccc-process/en/