The project for adaptation to climate change in the Mekong Delta (AMD project) funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has helped create sustainable livelihood models in Tra Vinh province.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) 

According to Huynh Nghia Tho, Director of the AMD Tra Vinh’s coordinating board, the project, which has been operating from 2014-2020, aims to improve the local community’s ability to adapt to climate change, thus creating sustainable livelihood for poor locals living in rural areas in a changing environment. 

 Along with providing capital and technical assistance to local farmers, the IFDA has also paid heed to supporting rural households in developing business, Tho said.

 Additionally, through the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) fund, one of the four supporting funds for the project, the IFAD has also built strategic measures to directly support enterprises operating in Tra Vinh.

 Since 2016, the PPP fund has benefited 17 local firms with a total of non-refundable assistance worth nearly 14 billion VND (604,700 USD), helping them expand production and improve the efficiency of their business. 

 Most businesses that were supported reported increases of between 20-50 percent in revenue and profit. 

 The AMD project in Tra Vinh has been implemented in 30 communes of seven districts, which were selected on the basis of their poverty ranking and vulnerability to climate change. It has benefited around 15,000 poor and near-poor households.

 Its total budget is 522 billion VND, including over 126.5 billion VND from IFAD’s non-refundable assistance package, 233.5 billion VND from loans, 79.5 billion VND from the Vietnamese Government, and the remaining from the beneficiaries.

 The overall goal of the project is to develop sustainable livelihood for rural residents in a changing climate and enhance the public’s capacity to adapt to climate change.