FLC-20-02: Oline Training: Develop an annual Communal Socio-Economic Development Plan Manual Incorporating Saline Intrusion Resilience with Participation of Local Communities
In order to increase the participation of the people and integrate adaptation to drought and salinity into the annual Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) at the commune level, within the framework of the project “Strengthening Communication Capacity for Better Climate Resilience in the Mekong River Delta” (CCBRC – FLC 20-02 Project), CECAD cooperated with Tien Giang Irrigation Department to conduct the training course “Develop an annual Communal Socio-Economic Development Plan Adapting to Drought and Saline Intrusion” on November 3rd, 2021 in Phu Tan commune, Tan Phu Dong district and on August 7th, 2021 in Kien Phuoc commune, Go Cong Dong district, Tien Giang province. Participating in the training course were leaders of the Commune People’s Committee, representatives of departments, communes, and representatives of villages of the two communes.
The instruction is developed based on the regulations and instructions of the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control No. 33/2013/QH13 and National Assembly, Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and the Law on Dikes No. 60/2020/QH14; Ordinance No. 34/2007/PL-UBTVQH11 dated 20/04/2007 on exercising democracy at the commune level; Circular No. 05/2016/TT-BKHĐT of the Ministry of Planning and Investment dated June 6, 2016 provide guidance on the integration of natural disaster preparedness contents into socio-economic development plans and industry distribution and development plans.
The participants in the training understood the principles and methods of integrated planning, including: relevant paties participate in assessing the impacts of drought and saline intrusion, and include the assessment results in the annual SEDP; the criteria for adaptation to drought and saline intrusion in the planned targets of the SEDP; relevant paties propose priority solutions to mitigate the effects of drought and saline intrusion; solutions in other areas of the SEDP are considered based on criteria including adaptation to drought and salin intrusion.
With the above instructions, the participants discussed and agreed on the annual planning process, the steps that need to integrate with adaptation to drought and saline intrusion. Along with that, at village level, the community will carry out collecting information in order to ensure that the assessment of the effects of drought and saline intrusion and the proposed solutions are possible and effective. Additionally, the assessment of the effects of drought and saline intrusion is specifically considered for vulnerable groups, such as the poor, ethnic minorities, women and people with disabilities. This is considered an innovative step in the process of making socio-economic development plans that integrate drought and saline intrusion adaptation compared to previous plans.
Applying the information provided in the training course, the participants discussed and discovered the effects of drought and saline intrusion on cultivation, animal husbandry and aquaculture. The biggest effect from increased salinity: i) changing aquaculture seasons, increasing risks to livestock diseases; ii) shrimp-rice farming models have been affected by cultivational roductivity and duration; iii) domestic water has not reached households in remote areas due to the lack of plumbing system, the investment in livestock with the purchase price of water in the drought season is 75,000 VND/m3, affecting production efficiency.
Heads of Phu Tan Commune People’s Committee, Kieng Phuoc Commune People’s Committee and representatives of villages agreed to collect information at the villages. departments, and community-based organizations, in order to analyze and summarize into the draft plan. The plan will be carried out in the planning process from 2022. Hopefully, with the above commitments, the planning process will make the proposed solutions possible, and resources will be used efficiently, thereby reducing the negative effects of drought and saline intrusion as well as discovering viable production possibilities and models at commune level in the near future.
