OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN NORTH MOUNTAINOUS REGION OF VIETNAM

This study was conducted with supporting by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Institute for Agricultural Environment (IAE). The study has used rapid rural appraisal (RRA) participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and face-to-face individual interview and group discussion in Bac Kan and Ha Giang provinces (the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam). Bottleneck and Weakness, Opportunities and Threaten (SWOT) have been used to analyze and determine the barriers of policies and recommend policies to support farmers to overcome impact of climate change and improve livelihood in the NMR. The result shows that climate change have brought seriously negative impacts to farmers for both agriculture and livelihood while farmers and local authorities are facing to diffiulties and need tackling such as poor infrastructure and high investment requirements; limited provincial funding to response climate change; weak market organization and low net benefits for agriculture. The study recommended on key policy development such as infrastructure development (irrigation, transportayion); financial support; improving awareness on climate change and marketing for agricultural products to help farmers overcoming barriers and enhancing capacity to cope with negative impacts of climate change on agriculture and livelihoods.