Rain. Casting your eye at the sky it’s easy to take for granted.
Drought is a silent disaster that devastates farmland, threatens our food security and destroys livelihoods. With around a quarter of the world’s population affected, drought has also impacted more people than any other natural hazard in the last 40 years.
Vietnam is not immune. We only need to cast our minds back just over a month ago and look south to the Mekong Delta where an El Niño-induced drought left about 73,900 households in Vietnam’s rice bowl with limited access to fresh water.
In fact, the situation in Ca Mau province was sufficiently serious to trigger the Drought Anticipatory Action Protocol, a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)-supported response to deliver multi-purposed cash grants to households in need. Of course, Vietnam’s worst drought in almost 100 years is also fresh in the memory from 2016.
Importantly, 95% of food is produced on agricultural land and begins with water and soils. But, drought and climate change-induced pressures and unsustainable management of land and water resources are pushing ecosystems to their productive limit.
That is why this year's theme for the United Nations Desertification and Drought Day, “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future” on June 17 is so important. It underscores the critical importance of collective action to preserve our planet's vital land resources for future generations.
Combating the negative effects of land degradation and building resilience to drought is not a matter of choice, it is a necessity.
Critically, climate change is further exacerbating these issues, posing significant challenges to sustainable land management and agriculture, and undermining ecosystems' resilience.
To meet this challenge, FAO is proactively working with our national partners and stakeholders in Vietnam to ensure the sustainable management of land, soil and water resources.
This means taking a holistic and technology-focussed approach to landscape restoration, sustainable water management and regenerative agriculture. Together, this can increase food production, conserve ecosystems, store carbon to help mitigate the effects of climate change as well as improve land, soil and water quality to safeguard Vietnam’s food security and the prosperity of rural communities.
These efforts are complemented by strengthening the resilience of rural communities to drought and extreme weather events. In partnership with the Vietnam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, we are elevating Anticipatory Action to tackle drought and its intensifying impacts in Vietnam.
We are also synergizing efforts across the land-water-energy nexus and helping build technical and institutional capacities to better manage land and water in the face of climatic extremes. As a result of the ASEAN Framework on Anticipatory Action in Disaster Management, Vietnam now has a robust drought early warning system, which provides timely and trusted information to target communities.
As Vietnam strives to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, FAO remains committed to working closely with the government and partners to realize sustainable management of land, soil and water resources as well as drought-resilient communities.
Everyone has a role to play. Through achieving food security and resilient livelihoods for all, we can ensure that no one is left behind.