The Hanoi-based Asian Management and Development Institute (AMDI) presented key results at the USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (USAID Mekong ARCC) Project Evidence-based Adaptation Workshop in Bangkok during March 29-30, 2016. The workshop brought together representatives from national governments and key donor organizations in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) to hear about the impacts and lessons learned from community-based climate change adaptation efforts in five pilot sites directly from USAID Mekong ARCC partners. The aim of convening these representatives with project partners was to identify ways to sustain and scale climate change adaptation and resilience efforts across the LMB.
Photo: AMDI Project Director Ngo Cong Chinh presents results from the Vietnam target site at the Evidence-based Adaptation Workshop. (Source: USAID Mekong ARCC)
Over the course of nearly two years, AMDI and its local partner, the Vietnam Red Cross, worked with local communities to carry out adaptation projects to strengthen farmers’ livelihood resilience, including rice-shrimp rotation farming and pig raising on bio-mattress, in Thuan Hoa Commune, An Minh District, Kien Giang Province. Under the USAID Mekong ARCC project, AMDI conducted rice-shrimp rotation farming pilots with 33 households in Kien Giang Province. Adaption measures piloted resulted in an increase in rural smallholder income and an increase in shrimp survival rates, indicating the system as a viable adaptation pathway for smallholder farmers in the Mekong Delta.
Alongside project partners in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand, AMDI presented the process, impacts and lessons learned from their adaptation activities to representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) at the workshop. The practitioner network in Vietnam also participated; represented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Marinelife Conservation and Development (MCD).
Photo: Vietnam delegation at the Evidence-based Adaptation Workshop, including representatives from AMDI, Vietnam Red Cross, National Government, local NGOs and local research institutes. (Source: USAID Mekong ARCC)
Following the presentation, the Vietnam representatives engaged in enthusiastic discussion about the role of more resilient aquaculture and agriculture systems in climate change adaptation efforts. Representatives from the Government of Vietnam acknowledged AMDI’s successful work with local communities in increasing their adaptive capacity to deal with current and projected climate threats, such as higher temperatures. They also noted that the project has built a platform for community-based adaptation as well as strong relationships with local and governmental partners which will support ‘up-scaling’ efforts to reach beyond the target community. It was stressed by Vietnam NGO representatives that further funding for projects and research is needed to continue to equip LMB communities with the skills and knowledge to respond to climate threats and impacts on local livelihoods.
Photo: AMDI and Vietnam Red Cross leaders from Vietnam share the fruits of the adaptation pilots’ successes with USAID Asia staff at the workshop. (Source: USAID Mekong ARCC