Managing water and land resources for sustainable livelihoods at the interface between fresh and saline water environments in Vietnam and Bangladesh

Project Leader: Dr. To Phuc Tuong, IRRI
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Executive Summary

Millions of people living in the tidal ecosystem in South and Southeast Asia are among the poorest and most food-insecure because agricultural production is hindered by seawater intrusion during the dry season. Most common management interventions fail to recognize the diversity of rural livelihoods in the coastal zones, and the environmental consequences for water quality and aquatic biodiversity. By taking into account diverse stakeholder interests and complex multiscale upstream-downstream interactions, t his project will carry out an INRM research for development program to increase land and water productivity for improved food security and livelihoods, in a manner that is environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable to various resource users at two coastal sites in the Mekong River Delta (Vietnam) and Gangetic Delta (Bangladesh).

The project has five specific objectives:

A series of multidisciplinary activities at different scales (field to regional) and with multilevel stakeholder (farmers to policymakers) participation will be carried out. Options for these activities are the outcome of the recently completed DFID-R7467c project in Vietnam and the ongoing PETRRA project in Bangladesh . We also held meetings and stakeholder consultations in July 2003 to specifically prioritize research needs and plan research activities in each country.

The outputs of the project will (1) improve food security and living conditions (better water quality, less conflicts) for farmers, fishers, and especially poor women and children at the study sites; (2) supply d district and provincial resource management and extension personnel with decision-making tools to better manage water resources; and (3) provide options for land-use planning and resource management policy to policymakers at regional/national levels in Vietnam and Bangladesh . The project will also help enhance food security and alleviate water scarcity in other parts of the MRD and Gangetic River Delta. The integrative approaches, research methodologies, production technologies, and management principles constitute international public goods that benefit researchers/scientists and can potentially be applied to and adapted in other coastal areas that face similar problems in the major deltas of Asia .

To ensure immediate impact, the project will timely share and promote research outputs through regular formal and informal contacts with stakeholders, taking advantage of electronic networking (email). The involvement of policy-making authorities at the district, provincial, and national level in the project facilitates the conversion of research outputs into regulations, policies, and development projects.

Participating Institutions

Theme and Basin Coverages