Many communes in Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces were badly affected by salinity intrusion in 2016 and farmers lost most of their crops.
Thach Thi Phuoc's household in Tan Hiep Commune, Tra Cu District was particularly affected by salinity intrusion that year. In the past she relied on rice as the main source of income, like every other household in the area. Her family cultivated rice on half an acre of land and the yield was usually over two tonnes. In 2016 it was less than half.
Phuoc heard about IFAD's Adaptation in the Mekong Delta project (AMD) through local district officers. The project provided training on different farming models that increase resilience to climate change impacts, including how to set up drip irrigation systems.
Receiving financial support from the project, Phuoc and her daughter, So Phia, invested in the irrigation system, fertiliser and seeds to cultivate chilli. The rest of the fertiliser and seeds were obtained from an agency on the basis that the money would be repaid following the harvest. The family grew chilli on half an acre of land and the first harvest provided 100 kilograms of chilli at a market price of 6000 VND/kg.
Unfortunately, the family was dealt with another blow in 2017 when the area was flooded by heavy rains.
"Unfortunately for us the chilli crop didn’t last long, the entire crop got uprooted and damaged by floods. All our efforts were for nothing."
The family got into debt after the second crop of chilli was damaged as they had no money to repay the agency for the seeds and fertiliser. As a result, Phuoc and her husband had to outsource their labour.
In a second attempt to adapt to climate change impacts, So Phia used her smartphone and carried out research on crops that were more resilient to floods. She found that cucumber is a suitable crop for flooded regions and is relatively easy to grow.
The cucumber developed well and the first yield was good. However, the traders in the area lowered the price of cucumber and so Phuoc had no option but to sell her crop at a lower price.
"The traders in the area cooperate with each other to control the price and it's difficult for me to take large numbers of cucumbers to the market by myself so I have no choice".
It's no surprise that Phuoc is afraid to grow crops after previous attempts. Phuoc decided to raise ducks and her husband continues to work as a labourer. Earlier this year, their daughter So Phia moved to near Ho Chi Minh City to work and send money back to her parents to help with the duck farm.
Phuoc now has 50 ducks. She received a loan from the Women's Development Fund to get supplies for a small shop, to buy more ducks and pay back her loan. The WDF loan was able to help her in a situation where she could not apply for a loan from commercial banks.
Phuoc and her family has dealt with one issue after another, whether from environmental impacts or lack of market linkages. Despite the hardships, there is a willingness to adapt and overcome each situation and according to Phuoc the project has provided the opportunities to do so.
"It's a shame that we lost our crops to environmental impacts, but we are very happy with the support of the project to be able to adapt to these situations".