The Mekong River Delta, also known as the greatest Viet Nam’s Rice Bowl, connects one and a half million farmers, who produce more than 50 percent of the grain in the country, to rice traders and processors. Rice is consumed domestically and exported abroad, ensuring both Viet Nam’s food security and economic growth. However, sea level rise and saltwater intrusion into the Mekong, rising temperatures, drought and abnormal heavy rainfall are projected to reduce rice production due to lost farming land, smaller yields and more pests and diseases outbreaks.

Rice production is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, but it is also a key contributor of greenhouse gases – particularly methane from flooded paddy fields and nitrous oxide from urea fertilizers applied to the soil. In Viet Nam, existing rice systems contribute about 60 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, including for human consumption and livestock feed. High-quality and low-emission rice production can offer a solution for Viet Nam to adapt its key agrifood system to climate change and fulfil the country’s ambition to reduce emissions.

Climate-resilient sustainable rice sector development

The Mekong Delta requires a comprehensive approach to developing rice value chains that produce high-quality rice, lead to inclusive green growth and reduce greenhouse gases. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam (MARD) to strengthen planning and programming frameworks in the country for the transformation of the rice sector. The collaboration focuses on supporting climate investment planning and enhancing access to climate finance to achieve sustainable rice cultivation, technological innovation, and market development. It also aims to unlock financing opportunities for climate-smart and low-carbon agricultural practices and techniques in the rice sector.

The proposed initiative would focus on implementing sustainable and resilient farming, upgrading infrastructure for efficient low-emission rice production and water management and promoting technological advancements. This approach aims to create a more sustainable and equitable rice sector capable of adapting to climate change, creating markets profitable to rice farmers, and building capacity throughout the value chain with science, technology and digitalization.

Vision for Viet Nam’s rice

The prioritization of actions for the rice sector transformation was validated through a participatory climate foresight workshop. In support of the Government’s Decision to implement one million hectares of high-quality and low-carbon rice production associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta, FAO, in cooperation with MARD and with financial support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), organized the workshop from 29 to 30 August in Can Tho city. The event brought together over 40 representatives from the government, agricultural cooperatives, development partners and the private sector to identify solutions to transform the Vietnamese rice sector.

Equipped with the tools of climate foresight, workshop participants collectively agreed to pursue a vision of a food-secure Viet Nam – and in the top five global rice exporters. Strong branding for high-quality and low-emission rice from the Mekong Delta, coupled with advanced mechanization, can help achieve these goals as well as increase smallholder farmers’ incomes, especially women.

Mr Beau Damen, Natural Resources Officer - Climate Change and Climate Finance at FAO said: “The ongoing collaboration between FAO and MARD to support the development of the one million hectares of high-quality and low-carbon rice fields in the Mekong Delta has the potential to transform the sector in the country. Going forward, FAO will continue supporting Viet Nam in developing its climate action plans such as the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and on-the-ground actions to enhance the resilience of the rice sector.”

About the project

The Agriculture Sector Readiness for enhanced climate finance and implementation of Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture priorities in Southeast Asia project aims to enhance the capacity of six countries in Southeast Asia to develop national climate finance investment programmes and projects linked to adaptation and mitigation priorities for the agriculture sectors as well as exchange knowledge and learning to promote innovative mechanisms for public and private sector climate finance at national and regional levels. The project is implemented by FAO with the support of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) – the world’s largest dedicated fund for climate action – together with six participating countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

For more information about the project in Viet Nam, please contact FAO-VN@fao.org. To learn about the partnership between FAO and GCF, please visit the website.