Mega-deltas creating food baskets severely impacted by climate change

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production, said that mega-deltas in Asia, including the Mekong Delta, play an important role in providing food for millions of people in the region. However, the food systems in these deltas are being severely impacted by climate change, including floods, salinity intrusion, water shortages, and increasingly severe climate conditions. It negatively impacts economic growth, food security, and nutrition, besides challenges from urbanization and migration, and creates new poverty traps and hotspots of hunger.

Dr. Ole Sander, Representative of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Vietnam, emphasized the role of Asian mega deltas as food baskets for countries in the region. The main goal of the Asian mega-deltas initiative is to build these deltas capable of sustaining socio-ecological integrity, adapting to climate change and other stresses, and at the same time, supporting the prosperity and benefits of residents by removing systemic barriers to multiplying transformative technologies and practices at communal, national, and regional levels.

“We hope that through the Asian mega-deltas initiative, we will continue our harmonious partnership with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and bring into play the experience from previous cooperation programs. For instance, the CGIAR research programs on climate change, agriculture, and food security have shown us the value of the approach method with the participation and empowerment of partners in research and development. It is proved by many achievements, especially the development and implementation of risk maps and climate adaptation plans in the Mekong Delta and important agricultural regions of Vietnam,” Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production said.