Farmers adapt to climate change to maintain livelihoods

Do not let people's livelihoods be disrupted

The dialogue between the Chairman of Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee and farmers in 2025 with the theme "Climate change adaptation, livelihood stabilization" received special attention. The question of Mr. Y Cuong Long Dung, a farmer in Lang Biang Ward - Da Lat "heated up" the dialogue, when he gave the figures of hundreds of hectares of vegetables lost, many fruit gardens after the water receded no longer able to recover. "What policies does the province have to support people to stabilize their lives, reproduce and recover the economy after damage caused by floods?". This is not only the story of a locality, but is becoming a common challenge for the whole province in the context of increasingly frequent extreme weather.

Dran (4) — People of D'ran commune are making efforts to restore production.

Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment Phan Nguyen Hoang Tan informed that to ensure people can resume production in time, the province has temporarily provided 97 billion VND to localities that suffered heavy losses. This funding source is prioritized to support production recovery, repair damaged agricultural infrastructure, support vegetable, flower, fruit tree seeds, and essential supplies so that people can return to the fields soon. Along with that, the province is completing documents to propose the Ministry of Finance to continue providing additional funding to ensure sufficient resources to handle the consequences after the floods.

Not only stopping at dealing with the immediate consequences, the province has identified the key task of building a long-term strategy to improve disaster resilience. The Department of Agriculture and Environment has issued technical guidelines for post-flood recovery, soil improvement, and treatment of perennial gardens that have been affected for a long time. Technical working groups have been sent directly to the grassroots to support farmers in inventorying damage and providing advice on safe farming solutions in unusual weather conditions.

Along with material support, the province promotes restructuring of production towards climate adaptation and conversion of suitable crop groups in areas with frequent flooding. Areas of vegetables that have been completely lost but cannot be re-produced immediately will be oriented to convert to short-term, low-risk crops, or use biological products to restore the soil before returning to main crop production.

Dran (13) — D'ran commune suffered heavy damage in the flood at the end of November.

Also on the subject of climate change, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Linh, Tran Thai Tong Vegetable and Flower Cooperative, Xuan Huong Ward - Da Lat, asked about the rapid development of greenhouses and net houses in Da Lat in recent years. That is, the province has reviewed, planned and rearranged the entire existing greenhouse area. At the same time, what policies support people and farmers in dismantling and relocating greenhouses and net houses?

A representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment said that the province aims to gradually reduce the area of greenhouses, apply criteria on density, drainage, and wastewater treatment to limit environmental impacts. The province is determined to handle cases of illegal construction on forestry land, irrigation corridors, and water source protection areas; at the same time, create credit conditions for people to convert and invest in production in suitable areas outside of urban planning.

Mr. Le Khac Vi, a farmer in Binh Thuan ward, pointed out the fact that dragon fruit prices have continuously dropped, many areas have been abandoned, and asked whether the province has a policy to maintain or convert. A representative of the Department of Agriculture and Environment replied that the province does not encourage the expansion of acreage following the trend, but will review all growing areas, retain areas with stable consumption chains and suitable soil and climate conditions; at the same time, orient to convert old, ineffective areas to crops with lower value and risk.

Farmers - the heart of climate adaptation strategies

A notable point at this year’s conference is that farmers are no longer “supported objects” but “key factors of adaptation”. This means that farmers are the direct force creating transformation, contributing to building a more ecological and sustainable agriculture.

According to Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Muoi, agriculture, farmers and rural areas always have a long-term strategic position, playing a supporting role in the economy. In climate adaptation, together with the political system, farmers must become the main subject and the driving force for green, circular production models and value chain linkage. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized that the opinions at the conference are "valuable practical materials", helping the province perfect its agricultural and rural development strategy in the new period.

Dran (12) — Farmers - the heart of climate adaptation strategies

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested departments, branches and localities to seriously absorb and fully respond to outstanding recommendations, and proactively propose new policies to protect farmers' livelihoods from climate risks and bring Lam Dong agriculture into a sustainable green phase with high resilience.

The severity of climate change means that damage like that of late November can recur at any time. Therefore, the province is creating an important foundation to help farmers stabilize their livelihoods and produce more safely and proactively in the face of weather changes.

Nearly 400 questions and recommendations from farmers, cooperatives and businesses were sent to the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee within the framework of the Conference of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee dialogue with farmers in 2025. The questions focused mainly on the following groups of issues: restoring production after floods; planning greenhouses, net houses and environmental protection; stabilizing the consumption market for key crops; investing in agricultural infrastructure; credit support mechanisms, social security and value chain linkage. These are the key issues that the province is oriented to address in its strategy to adapt to climate change and stabilize farmers' livelihoods.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/nong-dan-thich-ung-bien-doi-khi-hau-de-giu-vung-sinh-ke-407207.html