Vietnam has carried out 23 agricultural projects using official development assistance (ODA) worth over 1.96 billion USD, said an official.

The figures were released by Le Van Hien, head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Agricultural Project Management Board (APMB), at a conference held in Hanoi on July 3 to review the two decades of running such projects.

Hien said 17 out of the 23 projects were completed, with the rest being underway, benefiting millions of people across 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

As heard at the conference, these projects cover the areas of crop cultivation, animal husbandry, aquatic farming, rural infrastructure development and natural disaster prevention, among others.

As a result, nearly 5,000km of rural roads, over 700km of canals and ditches, and close to 100km of sea and river dykes, 600 rural markets, and 21 fishery ports have been upgraded.

Vu Duc Con, Vice Director of the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said a project on farming diversification for 1999 – 2006 had provided capital and technical support for small-scale rubber cultivation to 3,000 local families, particularly those from ethnic minorities.

Cao Van Hoa, Vice Director of the Tien Giang Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the Mekong Delta province has received assistance from 8 ODA projects to improve animal health services at commune level and animal husbandry following bio-safety standards.

Hien pointed to the shortage of preferential loans from donors and policy changes in the management of ODA sources are challenging the APMB’s building of programmes for 2021 – 2026. 

The board is currently designing three projects using loans from the World Bank on sustainable fishery development, farm produce safety, and sustainable growth of cashew, peppercorn and fruit sectors. It is also working on a project on increasing rice value chains in the Red River Delta.