Supporting the integration in agricultural curricula of climate change concerns at Universities of Agriculture, Hanoi University of Agriculture, Hong Duc University in Thanh Hoa and Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry.

Sector

Agriculture

Project budget

The maximum budget for this project is € 2.5 million.

Organisations

This project has been developed by Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry (HUAF), the consortium leader, together with Hanoi University of Agriculture (HUA), and Hong Duc University in Thanh Hoa (HDU). The tender for this project expired on 23 August 2011.

Nuffic has awarded this tender to Wageningen University (WUR), which has formed a consortium with:

• Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek (DLO)
• Maastricht School of Management (MSM)
• Can Tho University, Vietnam
• Ghent University
• SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

Project description

Vietnam is among the five most vulnerable-to-climate change countries. The government of Vietnam is committed to protecting the environment. It has made a climate change action plan (2008-2020) for the agriculture and rural development sector.

Agricultural universities play a key role in supporting sustainable growth of agriculture in Vietnam as they provide human resources for both the authorities and the private sector.

The curricula of HUA, HDU and HUAF are not oriented towards the development of skills and competencies that are in demand. They need to strengthen their capacity to be able to offer solutions for and advice on complicated issues in a rapidly changing natural, social and economic environment.

The specific objectives of the participating universties are to:

• strengthen management and organisational capacity in order to lead the revision and innovation of education and research programmes in response to climate change impacts and other relevant developments in the agricultural sector.
• deliver education and training programmes on farming systems that are responsive to climate change mitigation and adaptation and labour market needs in the agricultural sector.
• strengthen their capacity to develop and implement applied research programmes seeking solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation in different agro-ecological zones with a special focus on horticulture, aquaculture and agroforestry.
• set up a collaboration network to exchange resources and information and to improve jointly the quality and relevance of interdisciplinary education and research in the field of farming systems with a focus on climate change adaptation and mitigation and sustainable agricultural development.