To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural households and their access to the Government's support policy, the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD) has coordinated with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to conduct a Survey on Impact Assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihood of rural residents in 12 provinces.
Rice is the key staple of Southeast Asia (SEA), as well as one of its most widely grown crops. The region includes some of the largest rice producers in the world, together with two of the top three exporters (Thai lan and Vietnam), and two of the world’s top importers (Indonesia and the Philippines). The region has gained prominence as an early adopter of key production innovations, such as modern inbred varieties and hybrid rice. Policy is a key driver of the rice economy, alongside market forces, technology, and the environment. Production support policies, such as public investments in irrigation, the extension bureaucracy, as well as credit and input subsidies, were instrumental in the spread of modern rice varieties. Up to now, rice commands the most public resources in SEA compared with any other crop. Governments have also intervened actively in rice markets, invoking the key role of rice in food security and livelihoods.
A brief commentary note on the "Monitoring the Quantity of Water Flowing Through the Upper Mekong Basin Under Natural Conditions" study by Alan Basist and Claude Williams (2020)
Summary of the commentary
• Dam development in the upper reaches of the Mekong has led to changes in seasonal flows, with increased dry season flows and decreased wet season flows. Both phenomena are observed in the LMB, with the impact on the flow regime becoming progressively less noticeable further downstream.
• The findings of the Eyes on Earth study have not yet well taken into account the complexities of rainfall and runoff, thus not reflecting the actual hydrological conditions in the Basin. The conclusions drawn are based on calculated flows and not an analysis of the actual flows at Chaing Saen set against the long term trends.
• As the methods presented by the authors are highly empirical and calibrated on the period 1997 2001, various complex hydrological and physical processes that determine the runoff from the catchment and the river are not captured in the regression functions.
• Our preliminary analysis of hydrological and rainfall data showed that the 2019 drought in the basin was due largely to insufficient rainfall during the wet season with a delayed arrival and earlier departure of monsoon rains and an El Nino event that created an abnormally higher temperature and higher evapotranspiration.
• Inadequate information on water infrastructures in the Mekong River Basin and the way these infrastructures are operated have made it challenging to forecast short term impacts
Unlocking opportunities for rural entrepreneurs and farmers in sub-Mekong region
This publication tells 15 stories of rural people whose lives have been changed by the work of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines and Viet Nam. These stories provide examples of how our work is constantly evolving, piloting new ideas, solving problems in innovative ways, building on lessons learned and scaling up initiatives that work well, into larger projects. The stories also emphasize the importance of a wide-range of partnerships on the ground and the role of dedicated project staff in bringing about project success. As a results based and learning organization, IFAD believes strongly in knowledge sharing. By collecting and sharing these stories, we hope to disseminate our experiences to a wide audience and support readers to learn more about the issues that poor rural people face.
The back-to-back workshops form part of the technical assistance for planning and development component of the Agricultural Transformation and Market Integration in the ASEAN Region: Responding to Food Security and Inclusiveness Concerns (ATMI ASEAN) Project, which is jointly implemented by (SEARCA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Initiated in 2016, the (ATMI- ASEAN) Project aims to strengthen the capacity of ASEAN member states in developing policies and programs to improve the state of small holder farm sector vis-à-vis the agricultural transformation and market integration being driven by the ongoing ASEAN integration.
As an impact of the ongoing El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, severe drought and salinity intrusion has been occurring in Mekong River Delta (MRD) of Vietnam and has caused varying degrees of damage to agriculture, fisheries and the livelihoods of people in the region. On 15 March 2016, the Vietnamese government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) organized a meeting with donors, international organizations and other partners to discuss joint efforts for drought response and recovery.
Climate Resilient Rural Infrastructure Project in Northern Viet Nam Successfully Promotes Application of Bioengineering Techniques