IFAD supports Vietnam’s agriculture and rural development to respond to climate change

“Vietnam has been a good example on how to move from vision to action in strengthening communities with climate resilient, economic growth and decrease of poverty," said Ms Reehana R. Raza in her first official visit to Vietnam

“Vietnam has been a good example on how to move from vision to action in strengthening communities with climate resilient, economic growth and decrease of poverty,‘’ said Ms Reehana R. Raza in her first official visit to Vietnam this week as the new Regional Director at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Asia and Pacific.

Regional Director at the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Reehana R. Raza, meets Vietnamese leaderships in Hanoi

While meeting Vietnamese leaderships in Hanoi, Raza reaffirmed IFAD’s support to the country in the programme for 2021-2025 national target programme on sustainable poverty reduction and praised Vietnam’s efforts in moving the development agenda forward.

“IFAD is proud of its successful collaboration with Vietnam for almost three decades. We wish to deepen, enlarge and expand this cooperation and partnership with Vietnam in a sustainable ways”, added Raza.

The purpose of the visit was to strengthen relationships with Vietnam going forward by meeting with UN development partners and line ministries that IFAD works with at both national and local levels.

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Minister of Finance Ta Anh Tuan said that IFAD's projects in Vietnam had introduced innovative initiatives in rural areas, including market-oriented planning, value chain development, and promotion of innovation.

"The projects financed by IFAD have proven effective when Vietnam is assessed as one of successful business cases on poverty reduction, agricultural and rural development,” he noted.

On the other hand, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh called on IFAD to mobilize senior experts on rural agricultural development to support the ministry in institutional development and advise in developing and implementing the agricultural sector development strategy.

In a talk with Mrs Caitlin Wiesen, Acting Resident Coordinator for the United Nations in Vietnam, Raza reiterated IFAD’s efforts to increase joint programmes with other UN agencies in Vietnam involving in mobilisation of resources for competitive funds, such as COVID-19 Response and Recovery Multi-Partner Trust Fund (COVID-19 MPTF) and SDG funds to support sub-regional initiatives targetting ethnic minorities, young people and women.

Since 1993, IFAD has supported 15 programmes and projects in the Vietnam for a total of USD 362 million, directly benefiting 738,470 rural households.

As Vietnam is one of the nations most affected by climate change and sea level rise, Raza also stated that helping Vietnam to adapt and address climate change in a sustainable and resilient way is a top priority. In line with this, IFAD plans to launch a new project to develop climate-smart agricultural value chain in the Mekong provinces of Ben Tre and Tra Vinh, to be carried out over the next few years.