The Joint Action Project
“Out-scaling Water Saving Innovations
to Reduce Water Insecurity Conditions
of Poor and Marginalised Communities
in Vietnam’s Upper Mekong Delta”
Short or abbreviated title of the project:
Water Savings Innovations & Water Insecurity Reduction – Vietnam Mekong Delta
Submitted by
Contact Person
Date of Submission
Area of study
Sponsored by
Lead Partner: An Giang University (AGU), Vietnam
Partner 2: Kien Giang University (KGU), Vietnam
Partner 3: Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, An Giang Province
Partner 4: WWF Vietnam
Dr. Pham Huynh Thanh Van
Institution: Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Faculty, An Giang University,
Ho Chi Minh National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Address: 18, Ung Van Khiem, Long Xuyen city, An Giang province, Vietnam
Cell phone: + 84 908 164 171
Fax: + 84 296 3842560
Email: phtvan@gmail.com
30 November 2019
Tinh Bien District, An Giang Province, Vietnam (see the research site here)
The Stockholm Environment Institute – Asia Centre, The Sustainable Mekong Research Network - SUMERNET (click here to visit)
Joint Action Project Overview
Brief description
This project proposes to introduce and trial alternate wetting and drying technique (AWD) in several ethnic Khmer villages located in the upper Mekong Delta of Vietnam. AWD has been demonstrated to be an effective method of reducing water consumption, decreasing methane emissions and improving overall profitability of rice cultivation in earlier trials conducted in Vietnam, including in An Giang province a few years ago. It is considered both a “water smart” and “climate smart” technique (by IRRI, IPPC, etc.) but hasn’t been trialed on farm under a variety of agro-ecological conditions. The project intends to correct this lacuna and trial the technique using participatory approaches with 80 households in four communities of Tinh Bien district, which has a high proportion of marginalized Khmer ethnicity villages. The agronomic and economic results will be tested against a control group, building confidence that the recommended technology is effective and suitable for wider extension, through government agency channels, principally under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), selected as the boundary partner.
The project expects that extending the AWD technique will be an effective entry point to understanding wider water security concerns for the target communities, including domestic and agricultural uses, that will ultimately directly benefit the households and communities involved. Inclusive involvement of different sub-groups in the pilot villages and the lessons learned from the project could act as a replicable model to follow for DARD and other state (or NGO) agencies involved in agricultural water resources management in similar communities in the Mekong Delta. Its innovation will not only be the water-saving techniques trialed, but also the participatory approaches taken to considering gender, ethnicity, poverty and social equity within the process of analyzing water security issues, opening new space for out-scaling and up-scaling.
Activity details and Outputs
Main activities
Anticipated outputs
• Study hydro-meteorology data to indicate the status of climate and water situation in upland areas (Tinh Bien district) since 2000.
• Through initial field visits, select 4 focal villages and collect baseline data and build local contacts in community and government partnership agencies.
• Hold initial workshop to train all participating field staff in AWD technique and explore the role of collective action in water resources management.
• Select participating households, including individual irrigators and those in water user groups with a cover of a range of agro-ecosystems to test applicability of AWD technique.
• Build up community relations with participatory studies into issues and challenges affecting domestic and agricultural water management, with a close look at water governance mechanisms in the district/province.
• Training for 80 participating households in the AWD technique in preparation for application.
• Take representative farmers on a study tour to visit existing AWD sites and learn a range of appropriate water and climate smart techniques.
• Conduct farm-based trial in AWD during dry season crop, carefully noting both agronomic and economic variables.
• Hold an AWD evaluation workshop to share experiences and learn critical lessons from the exercise.
• Post-trial, collate and analyse results in a report; publicise approach and disseminate results via media channels.
• Hold a final provincial workshop for larger group of stakeholders to learn about trial and project’s findings. Write an accessible report in English and Vietnam.
• Publish an academic paper.
• AWD extension and advisory leaflet (in Khmer and Vietnamese).
• Final project report printed in English and Vietnamese.
• Academic paper targeted at a ranked journal.
• A bi-lingual policy brief, that will be submitted to DARD and disseminated widely in Mekong regional outlets.
• Media outreach products to include two newspaper articles, blogs, and online media release (Facebook and website).
• A regular update of project progress included in online page on the two universities’ own websites.