Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has carried out 23 agricultural projects using officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) worth over 1.96 billion USD, said an official.
Thefigures were released by Le Van Hien, head of the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development’s Agricultural Project Management Board (APMB), at aconference held in Hanoi on July 3 to review the two decades of running suchprojects.
Hiensaid 17 out of the 23 projects were completed, with the rest being underway,benefiting millions of people across 63 provinces and cities nationwide.
Asheard at the conference, these projects cover the areas of crop cultivation,animal husbandry, aquatic farming, rural infrastructure development and naturaldisaster prevention, among others.
Asa result, nearly 5,000km of rural roads, over 700km of canals and ditches, andclose to 100km of sea and river dykes, 600 rural markets, and 21 fishery portshave been upgraded.
VuDuc Con, Vice Director of the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said a project on farming diversification for 1999 – 2006 hadprovided capital and technical support for small-scale rubber cultivation to3,000 local families, particularly those from ethnic minorities.
CaoVan Hoa, Vice Director of the Tien Giang Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, said the Mekong Delta province has received assistance from 8 ODAprojects to improve animal health services at commune level and animalhusbandry following bio-safety standards.
Hienpointed to the shortage of preferential loans from donors and policy changes inthe management of ODA sources are challenging the APMB’s building of programmesfor 2021 – 2026.
Theboard is currently designing three projects using loans from the World Bank onsustainable fishery development, farm produce safety, and sustainable growth ofcashew, peppercorn and fruit sectors. It is also working on a project on increasingrice value chains in the Red River Delta.-VNA
VNA
