Analysing the challenges in implementing Vietnam’s Nationally-Determined Contribution (NDC) in the agriculture sector under the current legal, regulatory and policy environment

Figures & data

Table 1. Barriers to implementation of agricultural emission mitigation strategies suggested in the Vietnamese NDC

Major sources	Technologies and Practices	Emission Reduction potential	Technical and social impediments
Methane emissions from Paddy fields (50%)	Applying alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation and system of rice intensification (SRI)	35% reduction in methane emissions	Almost no yield advantage. Depends on cost reductions from water saved, need coordination efforts, drainage at wrong growth stage can have yield impacts. Additional labour costs due to weed growth.
	Mid-season drainage of rice	30% reduction in methane emissions	“
Enteric fermentation (10% of emissions)	Improving livestock feeding portion	15–20% per kg of milk produced	Lower gains in terms of emission reduction. Need of training.
Manure and agricultural waste Management (10% of emissions)	Biogas development in livestock sector	25–50% reduction in emissions	Depends on investment capacity of the livestock farmers and subsidies. Efficacy depends on maintenance and prevention of gas leakages
	Improving agricultural processing technologies and waste treatment
	Improving livestock waste treatment technologies for producing organic fertilizer		Lack of organic fertilizer supply chains
	Improving technologies and techniques in aquaculture waste treatment
Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF)	Natural forest protection	Forests store 69 tonnes per ha C on an average	Increasing logging pressure Reached critical limit in forest expansion
	Coastal forest protection
	Coastal reforestation		Mangrove reforestation is the key
	Large timber reforestation		Large mono-cropping leads to lower biodiversity
	Zoning for promoting natural forest regeneration		Conflicts with economic interests
Other actions	Improving irrigation technology in planting coffee		Not important in terms of national emissions
	Improving technologies and techniques in aquaculture production		Lower share in aggregate emissions
	Reusing waste products of upland crops annually		Lower share in aggregate emissions

Source: (Authors)

Figure 1. Formulation of climate change-related action plans in ARD sector.

Table 2. Barriers to implementation of adaptation strategies suggested in the Vietnamese NDC

Adaptation measures	Details	Potential barriers
Agriculture	Land use management for rice production	Awareness of measures, coordination of actions
	Knowledge transfer on new agricultural production models and systems (ICM, VAC, IFES, etc.), new crop, forest tree varieties, and new animal breeds which are more adaptive to climate change	Incentives for implementation, information and access to the measures, need of research investment
	Transferring knowledge on new technologies and techniques in agriculture, livestock, and fishery (i.e. VietGAP, GlobalGAP, Climate Smart Agriculture)	Need of research investment, awareness of the options,
	Solutions for adapting to riverbank and coastal erosion, drought, and salinity intrusion in vulnerable ecological zones	Need of research investment, requirement of transformative adaptation, cultural acceptance of options
	Developing models of ecological villages and climate-smart villages	Research investment, information lacunas
Forest and fisheries	Reviewing and planning the activities in the forestry sector in the context of climate change	Need research investment; top-down planning; complicated policy procedure
	The solutions to enhance the protection capacity of coastal mangrove forests	Need research investment; need community based forest management effort
	Biodiversity research and biodiversity conservation	Need research investment
	Improving and upgrading the communication infrastructure and equipment for offshore fishing vessels	Need research investment for appropriate communication technologies, investment for equipment
Climatic extreme events	Enhancing and upgrading the hydrological and meteorological forecasting infrastructure and facilities	Need of technology transfer, investment in infrastructure
	Constructing, renovating, and upgrading the dike systems, dams, reservoirs, drainage canals, and other irrigation infrastructure	Need of large scale investment, irreversible impacts
	Reviewing and assessing the dams and reservoir safety	Need of technical expertise, research investment
	Developing flood risk maps for vulnerable downstream areas	Need of coordination, administrative overlap among governmental agencies
	Strengthening the community-based disaster risk management	Need of coordination, public awareness raising for community

Source: Summarized by authors

Table 3. Comparative assessment of climate change action plan and green growth strategy of Vietnam

	Actions common to climate change action plan and green growth strategy	Actions specific to climate change action plan	Actions specific to green growth strategy	Possible additional options
Agriculture	Continuing to replicate models, advanced farming methods such as good agricultural practices (VietGAP), Integrated Crop Management (ICM), 3 Reductions 3 Gains (3G3 T), 1 Must-do, 5 Reductions (1P5 G), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), System of Rice Intensification (SRI), minimum tillage, vegetation cover (only mentioned SRI, but not yet the application of alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation, while activity A9 is Applying alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation and system of rice intensification (SRI).		Revise the development plan of agriculture, forestry, livestock, and fisheries from the viewpoint of sustainable development; and develop the policy framework and agricultural sector green growth action plan for 2020. Enhance the efficiency in using energy and reduce the emission/pollution from the craft-industry in rural areas.	Value chain level actions to sustain farm income, Weather insurance, social safety nets for farmers, reduction in post-harvest losses, development of third generation biofuels
Reuse and recycle in agriculture	Pilot and disseminate socialization models of the collection, treatment, and reuse of crop residue in cultivation (straw, maize, corn cobs, bagasse, cassava leaves, coffee husks, produce organic fertilizer, biochar, animal feed, materials, fillers, etc. to reduce environmental pollution and reduce GHG emissions. (A8: Reusing waste and bi-products of crop production)	Apply organic agricultural techniques and improve the management capacity to reduce the GHG emission. Reuse and recycle the by-products and wastes from agricultural production		Recycling urban organic fraction of solid waste as bio-manure
Livestock	Research new fodders, shift to high quality and nutrient rich fodders, especially for dairy cows and big cattle. (A11: Improving livestock feeding portion) Enhance the application of new technology (biogas, living bed) in processing livestock residues to produce organic fertilizers (A17: Improving livestock waste treatment technologies and reusing for organic fertilizer production). Continue to implement the biogas program, research to innovate the processing technology, diversify the uses of biogas (A1: Biogas development in livestock sector, extend the scale of biogas utilization in livestock production).	Research and promote the application of nutrient-rich fodders for livestock with high level of absorption to reduce GHG emission		Breeding of locally adapted cattle with reduce methane emission traits
Fisheries and aquaculture	Research to innovate the ship designing and construction to enhance energy efficiency (A18: Adjusting the proportion of low capacity vessels unsuitable for fishing grounds; planning routes and zones for aquaculture exploitation). Develop and apply waste treatment and processing technology for aquaculture production (cat fish) (A12: Improving technologies and techniques in aquaculture and waste treatment).	Innovate technology in aquaculture, fisheries exploitation, production, and processing.	Innovate the vessels to reduce GHG emission from fossil fuel and waste	Applying sustainability standards for aquaculture
Forests	Manage, protect, and increase forest coverage, increase biomass and improve forest quality to increase the carbon trap (F1, F2, F3, F5: Natural forest protection, coastal forest protection, coastal reforestation, large timber reforestation)	Reforestation and improvement of forest management capacity promotion of sustainable forest management	Prevent land degradation and promote the sustainable and effective land resource exploitation and management.	Policies to support native species
Water resources	Replicate, strengthen saving irrigation models, drainage of rice fields in rice cultivation, drip, and sprinkler irrigation methods for coffee, fruit, upland crops, and vegetable production zones with high economic value in specialized areas; (A15: Improving irrigation technology in planting coffee).	Promote sustainable and effective water resource exploitation and management.	Replace battery operated river buoys with solar power river buoys	Enhancing water harvesting and aquifer recharge, preventing salinization of aquifers

Table 4. Major challenges for NDC implementation in agricultural sector

Awareness and technical	Coordination and resource allocation	Downscalling	Engagement	Regulatory
Low awareness and knowledge of government officials	Lack or inedaquate institutional arrangements	Lack of guidance and mechanism to translate the National and/or Sector NDC plan to provincial and sub-sectoral plan	Lack of policy to support or attract the participation of private sector	Climate change policies are mainly for orientation at national level
Low awareness of farmers and agricultural producers	Funds raising and allocation	Lack of instruction for provincial and sub-sectoral planning for NDC implementation or integration	The development sector lacks an effective entry point for a coordinated response to climate change	Current policies on climate change are very strong in mandates but weak in inducements
Low capacity (technical, infrastructure, human resource) for MRV	Collaboration across sub-sectors in agriculture

Figure 2. Organizational structure for implementation of climate change policy in MARD (Rebugio & Ilao, 2016).

Table 5. Summary of recommendations that can address the identified barriers

Awareness and technical	Coordination and resource allocation	Downscalling	Engagement	Regulatory
Mainstream NDC targets and activities as integral part of agriculture sector plans and program	Implement an effective institutional arrangement within MARD for NDC implementation	Conduct feasibility studies and develop a suitability mapping for each NDC activity	Enhance cooperation mechanism between the government and other stakeholders	Review the current regulations to provide better regulatory framework and incentive mechanisms for investments and uptake of recommended technologies and practices.
Mobilize the media for an awareness campaign	Mobilize national and international support for funding the agricultural NDC implementation (e.g., GEF, GCF, NAMA facilities, etc.)	Provide guidelines for planning NDC activities at provincial and sub-sectoral level	Develop investment plan for different components.
Build capacity to implement a national MRV system and a sectoral MRV system for agriculture	Finding additional budget		Mobilize private sector to integrate NDC targets in the whole value chain.

Rebugio, L., & Ilao, S. (2016). IRRI-SEARCA case study on institutional setting and process for vietnam’s climate change policy implementation. Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture.

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