The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed an agreement in Rome on March 28 to provide $34 million for Vietnam to cope with climate change. The signatories were Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Hoang Long and IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze. The funding, under preferential conditions, will be used to carry out a project on sustainable rural development and climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta, especially in Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces. More than 30,000 households, mostly women and ethnic minority groups, will benefit directly from the project which focuses on raising awareness and strengthening capacity to respond to climate change. The IFAD leader praised Vietnam’s achievements in agricultural and rural development and poverty reduction as well as its effective use of IFDA’s funding over the past two decades. He affirmed that his organization will continue supporting the implementation of cooperation projects with Vietnam. Ambassador Long thanked IFAD for its support for Vietnam over the years, and spoke highly of the shift of its cooperation to helping the country in dealing with climate change – a difficult issue that Vietnam needs to solve. He said Vietnam, in its new development period, needs international cooperation to improve the quality of development, affirming the country will use the funding effectively. He also expressed hope that IFAD will greatly assist Vietnam’s programs on sustainable rural development, climate change adaptation and poverty reduction. IFAD, based in Italy, started assisting Vietnam in 1991 with low-interest loans, particularly for farmers, fishermen, poor women and ethnic minorities. (vietnamplus.vn Mar 29)
