On January 21, 2016: Hoang Van Thang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ted van der Put, IDH Program Director signed a cooperation agreement to improve water resource management in the Central Highlands, South Centre provinces and Dong Nai River Basin.
The cooperation aims to improve water resource and irrigation management as a means to achieve sustainable agricultural production and better livelihoods.
The two organizations have agreed to find solutions for sustainable irrigation systems, water service pricing and promoting the sustainable water use for agricultural production and other purposes.
To help put this agreement into practice; IDH has partnered with FE2W Network (Food Energy Environment Water Network), part of the Australian National University. FE2W will support MARD and the Lam Dong Province.
On April 6, an international workshop on water service pricing in agriculture was organized at MARD and chaired by Vice Minister Hoang Van Thang. The workshop was recognized as “a turning point from a subsidy mechanism in water supply for agricultural production to a market economy mechanism in water supply for agricultural production in Vietnam.” A public-private working groups on water was proposed to be established in MARD to support the development and implementation of the roadmap to set up a water market in Vietnam’s agriculture.
At the provincial level, FE2W discussed with the People’s Committee of Lam Dong Province, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Don Duong District and farmers on their awareness on water resource management in Lam Dong province, visions and expectations of the province on water source management as a ground for the development of an appropriate water resource management system. Results will be announced early 2017.