Project helps TraVinh farmers adapt to climate change

The project has been given US$11 million in low-interest loans and US$6 million in non-refundable aid by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 

From 2014 to 2020, it will be implemented in 30 communes of seven districts of TraVinh to build climate change adaptation facilities, 16 automatic salinity monitoring stations, agricultural and aquatic production models with high economic viability, and small-scale financial organisations to provide capital for the poor. 

The project is expected to benefit 62,500 low-income people. 

TraVinh is among the localities most vulnerable to rising sea levels and salt intrusion in Vietnam. If the sea level rises by one metre, about 45.7 percent of TraVinh’s land area will be flooded. 

In the last five years, seawater has surged 500 – 800 metres inland and eroded more than 120 hectares of land in HiepThanh commune, DuyenHai district. 

The United Nations’ IFAD has financed Vietnam since 1991 with low-interest 40-50 year loans that have been channelled to farmers, fishermen, disadvantaged women and ethnic communities.