Integrated Sustainable Landscape Management in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam To support the transformation of rice-dominated landscapes in the Mekong Delta towards sustainable, adaptive and resilient models of production and landscape management that deliver multiple environmental and social benefits Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. 1. The project concept is predicated on the integration of environmental and social sustainability into the management of production systems and landscapes in the Mekong Delta, in accordance with the provisions of Government Resolution 120/NQ-CP on Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Development in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam, which sets out the vision of the region by 2100 becoming:“A sustainable, safe and prosperous Mekong Delta, based on suitable development of high-quality agriculture products, combined with services, ecotourism and industries, focusing on manufacturing industry, enhancing the competitiveness of agriculture products; Infrastructure network is coordinately planned, developed, modern in an active, smart way and adapting to climate change; ensuring safety under disaster; reasonable use of natural resources; biodiversity and cultural tradition is conserved and enhanced; human lives and spirit are improved”.2. Specifically, the project will support the Government of Vietnam in achieving its goal of diversification of production systems in the Mekong Delta in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner.3. Annex X presents evidence that the option of transition from the current situation (which is recognised by the Government as being unsustainable) to a flood-tolerant water management approach offers superior economic returns to the Business as Usual scenario, once social and environmental externalities are taken into account.4. Under the project model, the delivery of improved global environmental benefits (in terms of biodiversity, climate change mitigation and sustainable land management) will be inextricably accompanied by social benefits including the following:- Improved resilience to the effects of climate change, given that the current environmentally unsustainable options will also otherwise also become unsustainable in productive and social terms due to the effects of climate change in terms of land subsidence, sea level rise, and modified rainfall regimes. The project will be co-financed by initiatives focused specifically on climate change adaptation given that the management systems that are foreseen have the potential to deliver both GEB and adaptation benefits;- Improved resilience to the volatility in economic and food systems at regional and global levels: the kinds of diversified production systems that are required to optimize GEBs also typically contribute to the resilience of farm families’ food security and livelihoods;- Improved nutritional quality: diversification away from rice will permit farmers to broaden and improve their nutrition through increase access to alternative, more nutritional crops such as vegetables (many of those grown in flood-based systems, such as morning glory, are highly nutritive) and in-field fauna such as duck, fish and crustaceans.- Improved compliance by farmers with environmental sustainability criteria, such as those set out in the SRP Standard, have the potential to allow them improved access to favourable markets for their rice and other products.Decent Rural Employment1. The project will contribute to FAO Organizational Outcome 2 (Under FAO Strategic Objective 3 "Reduce rural poverty") that “The rural poor have greater opportunities to access decent farm and non-farm employment." by:- Supporting the Government in achieving a transition from high-input to diversified low-input production systems in the Mekong Delta: in addition to delivering improved GEBs, this will contribute to reducing farmers’ exposure to harmful agricultural chemicals in the workplace;- Where feasible and appropriate (subject to the results of participatory processes of situation analysis and technology formulation/validation in Farmer Field Schools), supporting the introduction of alternatives for sustainable mechanization in accordance with principles of appropriate technology, in order to reduce drudgery in agricultural work;- Supporting the diversification of farming and livelihood systems: in addition to delivering improved GEBs, this will increase the diversity and the resilience of the employment opportunities open to farmers (women and men);- Assisting farmers in achieving compliance with the SRP Standard, which combines the delivery of environmental benefits and increase opportunities for income with compliance with standards on decent working conditions;- Overall, the contribution by the project to the sustainability and resilience of production systems in the Mekong Delta will contribute to sustaining the rural economy (including opportunities for decent rural employment) in the face of the current trends of rural-urban migration,