Collaborating with the Government of Viet Nam in managing effective response to the damages caused by Storm Mirinae and improving resilience of farmers

Nam Dinh Province - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Government of Viet Nam, will allocate 295 000 US Dollar to enhance effective response to natural disasters and improve resilience of communities at risk by launching a new technical cooperation programme.

In 2016, the severe tropical storm Mirinae struck Viet Nam, especially along the coastal areas of the provinces Nam Dinh, Than Binh and Ninh Binh, bringing loss of housing, crops and livestock to households. The Government of Viet Nam immediately requested assistance to FAO, for the emergency provision of seeds and livestock in Nam Dinh Province.

Regarding this devastating natural disaster, the Inception Workshop of “Emergency support to the community affected by Storm Mirinae'' took place in Nam Dinh City on 17 July 2017 to officially launch the project. The kick-off workshop introduced the project and expected outputs and discussed the implementation plan and roles that different stakeholders will put into action. Representatives from FAO, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), National Disaster Committee, Provincial Department of Agricultural and Rural Development (DARD) joined the workshop. Participants from provincial and district level took part, including officers of Provincial Department of Rural Development, Provincial  Agricultural and Fishery Extension Center (PAFEC), Provincial Disaster Steering Board, Provincial Women Union and District Disaster Steering Board and People’s Committee.

The project will help increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters through distributing poultries, pigs and rice seeds and providing trainings to farmers. With the financial and technical support from FAO, MARD, specifically DARD, will roll out the restoration of agricultural production in more than 2 628 poor farming households in five districts of Nam Dinh Province. 1 000 households will receive 25 000 chickens, 128 households will receive 128 pigs with six months of animal feed and 1500 households will get 30 000 kg of rice seeds. Along with the distribution of agricultural products, the National Agricultural Extension Center (NAEC) will provide trainings to local extension workers and farmers on biosecurity, poultry production, husbandry and agricultural techniques with a special focus on disaster prevention and preparedness. The training will especially help boost up the capacity of farmers to protect their assets from potential natural disasters in the future.

“We have noticed an increasing number of climate change induced natural disasters within the country in the last few years and it has become a major concern that this has become the ‘new normal’. In response to the storm Mirinae, we believe that providing livestock, seedlings and trainings will help safeguard food and nutritional security of the affected areas and strengthen resilience of  rural communities that are at risk of natural disasters.” said Jong Ha Bae, the FAO Representative in Viet Nam.