Climate change adaptation project fruitful in Tra Vinh

He made the statement during a local working session with a delegation from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on November 8. 

The IFAD-funded project is underway in Tra Vinh and Ben Tre from 2014-2020. 

In Tra Vinh, it costs US$24.8 million, US$6 million of which is non-refundable aid and US$11.1 million is lent by IFAD while the remaining is from the Vietnamese government. 

It aims to support sustainable livelihoods for poor rural households in a changing environment and improve adaptive capacity of target communities to better respond to climate change. 

About 15,000 poor and near-poor households in 30 communes in districts of Cang Long, Chau Thanh, Tra Cu, Cau Ngang, Tieu Can, Cau Ke and Duyen Hai have benefited from the project. 

Tho said as many as US$12.5 million has been disbursed in the province to carry out two components of the project and US$3.6 million has been used to build small-scale infrastructure in adaptation with climate change, directly and indirectly benefiting over 11,000 and nearly 21,000 households, respectively. Up to 85 out of 88 facilities have been put into operation so far. 

The project built 43 pilot models, conducted 12 out of 20 thematic studies on climate change response, established around 1,500 groups with more than 10,000 members receiving assistance in natural resources management and climate change risks. 

All wards, townships and communes have come up with their own community-based plans to mitigate climate change risks and adapt to changing climate. 

However, child malnutrition is yet to improve while farm produce production in 30 communes is yet to increase sustainably. 

To ensure the project’s progress and efficiency, Tho suggested IFAD adjust capital allocation and indexes of poor and near-poor households, as well as assist in measuring new indexes. 

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Kim Ngoc Thai also committed all possible support for the project.