Category Archive Background

ByEdward Cartwright

Strategic Orientation for Sustainable Development in Vietnam

Vietnam is currently classified as a lower middle income country with a GNI/person of
$2,650. As the chart below shows it has since strong growth over the last 10 years but still has a relatively low GNI/person compared to regional neighbours. 

Source: World Development Indicators

The Strategic Orientation for Sustainable Development in Vietnam has defined 19 prioritized areas of
activity under the three economic, social and environmental pillars. Our project directly addresses
elements of priority areas:

  • 4 – sustainable agriculture and rural development,
  • 6 – concentration of efforts on hunger eradication, poverty reduction, promotion of social progress and equity,
  • 11 – Combat against soil degradation, effective and sustainable use of land resources, and
  • 19 – Implementation of measures aimed at mitigating climate change and limiting the adverse impacts of climate change, and combating natural disasters.

Vietnam is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and so this is a priority area.

Our project is designed to give practical insight on how to improve the resilience of food supply networks in rural communities. This can be vital in planning for and mitigating the effects of climate change. It can also help address issues around rural poverty and inequality. We will provide recommendations that cover both structural interventions – changes to the supply network that would improve resilience to shock – and behavioural interventions – changes to farmer strategy that can help avoid over-exposure to risk. We believe that the project will yield recommendations that are implementable at a national and regional level and can yield significant impact on the lives of households in rural areas. In doing so it can promote economic development and welfare in Vietnam.