Purpose: In recent years, climate-smart agriculture (CSA) was introduced to Vietnam to enhance farmers’ resilience and adaptation to climate change. Among the climate-smart agricultural technologies (CSATs) introduced were water-saving techniques and improved stress tolerant varieties. This study aims to examine the determinants of farmers’ adoption of these technologies and the effects of their adoption on net rice income (NRI) in three provinces as follows: Thai Binh (North), Ha Tinh (Central) and Bac Lieu (South). Design/methodology/approach: Determinants of adoption of CSATs and the adoption effects on NRI are analyzed by using a multinomial endogenous switching regression framework. Findings: The results showed that gender, age, number of family workers, climate-related factors, farm characteristics, distance to markets, access to climate information, confidence on the know-how of extension workers, membership in social/agricultural groups and attitude toward risk were the major factors affecting the decision to adopt CSATs. However, the effects of these factors on the adoption of CSATs varied across three provinces. These technologies when adopted tend to increase NRI but the increase is much greater when these are combined. Practical implications: It is important to consider first the appropriateness of the CSA packages to the specific conditions of the target areas before they are promoted. It is also necessary to enhance the technical capacity of local extension workers and provide farmers more training on CSATs. Originality/value: This study is the first attempt to identify key determinants of adoption of CSATs either singly or in combination and the adoption effects on NRI in Vietnam.

This paper examines how rice farmers at all gender and ages perceive climate change and adopt Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies to enhance resilience and adaptation in three sub-regions of Vietnam. Impacts on livelihoods resilience, workloads of left behind family members, gender roles and responsibilities are also assessed. Using data from 579 randomly-sampled households, results show that women play a more important role in rice production in North and Central compared to the South due to higher rate of male out-migration. Differences in awareness and adoption of CSA technologies are observed although men and women across provinces have similar perception of climate change. The key challenges of youth engagement include drudgery in farm operations, labour-intensive technologies, low profit, inadequate access to land and credit, and lack of agricultural insurance scheme. Results imply that farmers should be provided with equal opportunities in trainings and field demonstrations on CSA technologies. Recommendations to attract the youth include: (i) promote on-farm training at school; (ii) organize exchange visits, trade fairs, competition on farming techniques; (iii) develop good production and business model; (iv) emphasize the important role of farmers and agriculture; (v) update agricultural policies and programmes; (vi) upgrade the skills and knowledge of extension workers.

Recent prolonged dry periods and lack of irrigation water have severely affected the productivity of coffee farms in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This paper analyzes the efficiency of irrigation water use for Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora) in the Lam Dong province. A Cobb–Douglas production function was used to determine coffee productivity’s response to the application of irrigation water and other production factors using data collected from 194 farmers, while the technical efficiency (TE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) were analyzed using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model. The correlation of different factors to IWUE was determined using the Tobit model. The production function analysis using Cobb–Douglas shows that the volume of irrigation water, amount of working capital, labor, and farm size significantly influence coffee productivity. Indigenous farmers are more efficient in utilizing irrigation water than migrant farmers. The Tobit result indicates that farmers’ experience, education level, the distance of farm to water sources, security of access to water sources, extension contact, and credit access significantly affect IWUE. The study findings further suggest that mitigating water shortages in coffee farms require subregional and national policy support such as better access to credit and extension services, training, land management, and household-level efforts to improve farming practices through the application of appropriate technologies and traditional knowledge.

REDD+ is recognized in the Paris Agreement as a key mitigation policy for addressing climate change. However, a major challenge that has impeded REDD+ is ensuring gender equity. This paper analyses the policies and progress of gender mainstreaming in REDD+ processes in 17 countries between 2008 and 2019. Findings show that there are increasing political commitment and numerous policies in place that emphasize the need for gender equity in REDD+. There are differences in the level of gender mainstreaming across the 17 countries studied. We found several enabling conditions that would help countries to advance gender mainstreaming, including strong political commitment, clear gender action plans, strong law enforcement, dedicated funding for gender, and inclusive decision-making. The paper also illustrates how countries transform political commitment on gender mainstreaming in REDD+ into action.