Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development awards special recognition to IRRI-CCAFS Southeast Asia
Eisen Bernard Bernardo(International Rice Research Institute)
For its outstanding contributions to the cause of agriculture and rural development in Viet Nam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) awarded a special recognition to the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Southeast Asia (CCAFS SEA) and its host, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
The award was presented by MARD Vice Minister Le Quoc Doanh and Former MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat during the closing conference of CCAFS SEA on 26 October 2021 in Hanoi Viet Nam.
For almost 10 years, CCAFS SEA actively worked with MARD and its attached agencies to improve climate change adaptation and mitigation in the country through the promotion of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). In his message, Vice Minister Doanh recognized the successful implementation of the Climate-Smart Maps and Adaptation Plans (CS-MAP), which was developed by CCAFS SEA and the Department of Crop Production. CS-MAP, a participatory tool that helps address flooding, drought, and salinity intrusion, is applied to five major agro-ecological regions of Viet Nam, covering 43 provinces.
Vice Minister Doanh mentioned that the methodology is now being scaled at the district and commune levels, and will be applied to all the 63 provinces of Viet Nam. He also proudly shared that MARD promoted the successful case of CS-MAP in the dialogues and International forums within the framework of the United Nations Summit on Food Systems (UNFSS) and will be showcased in the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26).
In his special remarks, former MARD Minister Phat stressed that CCAFS SEA created an enabling environment that supported the promotion and adoption of CSA, which eventually helped MARD to mainstream and scale CSA in national and local policies and programs.
He also recognized some notable works of CCAFS SEA, such as the implementation of Climate-Smart Villages, alternate wetting and drying, and climate information services. Former Minister Phat said that these research works provided a lot of inputs to our country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), New Rural Development Program, and National Adaptation Plan in Agriculture, among others.
CCAFS leaders, as well as CCAFS Southeast Asia staff, were given similar awards, such as: Dr. Bruce Campbell, Director, CCAFS Global; Dr. Pramod Aggarwal, Program Leader, CCAFS Asia; Dr. Bjoern Ole Sander, Representative to Viet Nam, IRRI; Dr. Sridhar Gummadi, Science Officer and Acting Regional Program Leader, CCAFS SEA; Dr. Bui Tan Yen, scientist, IRRI Viet Nam Office and former Science Officer, CCAFS SEA; Ms. Dinh Thi Kim Dung, Office Manager; Ms. Pham Thanh Van, researcher; and Mr. Eisen Bernard Bernardo, communication specialist.