IUCN flood-based livelihoods project in support of water retention strategy for the Mekong Delta funded by Coca-Cola

The project is aiming at training and assisting farmers in Dong Thap, Long An, and An Giang Provinces in the Mekong Delta to adopt financially attractive, low risk, flood-based livelihoods as alternatives to unsustainable triple rice cropping. The results will be scaled up across the upper delta by integrating the project approach into new provincial land and water use plans, a proposed Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) Water Retention Strategy in the Mekong Delta and other initiatives in response to the impacts of climate change.

The collaboration between IUCN and Coca-Cola originated from the idea of “Monkey Cheeks” funded by Coca-Cola in Thailand, a project which was used to improve the water resources management of the local communities. In Viet Nam, the idea is similar but adjusted to support the idea of flood storage or water retention as the idea has gained high-level interest as a way to mitigate extreme floods and droughts in the Mekong Delta.

In recent years, the Delta has become highly vulnerable to extreme flooding, droughts, and rising sea levels leading to saltwater intrusion. This situation is further aggravated by water control infrastructure such as high dikes, canals, and sluice gates built for intensive yet unsustainable agricultural activities such as triple rice cropping.

• The provinces of Dong Thap, Long An, and An Giang will be the pilot areas of this project.
• It is targeting 450 hectares of flood-based livelihoods, conserving or restoring approximately 6.7 million m3 per year of flood retention capacity.
• It is expected that scaling up the demonstration will help restore some of the 4 billion m3 of water retention that was lost in the decade from 2000 and 2011.

• Technical support to farmers to produce flood-based livelihood designs, implementation plans and strategies to manage drought and floods;
• Market and value chain analysis to inform farmers and District government planners of market demand;
• Technical support to district governments to update their land-use plans which incorporate flood-based livelihoods;
• Strengthening of community drought and flood early-warning systems;
• Increased farmer income compared to baseline in 450 hectares of flood-based cropping systems;
• Technical knowledge of flood-based livelihood, risk management strategies, upscaling potential.