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.

The REDD+ program provides a mechanism for providing financial rewards to forest owners and users who contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. This paper determines the potential impact of the REDD+ program on poverty reduction by comparing income and poverty rate between two household groups that were willing to participate in this study, but that will not participate in the REDD+. The results showed that carbon payment from forests is a significant contributor to the increase in household income of poor people. The average income of households participating in the program is VND 20.68 million in contrast to those not participating whose average income is VND 14.72 million. Results showed that the REDD+ program intervention helped reduce the poverty rate in the two communes by 6.40% (from 39.4% to 33%). The paper recommends that the REDD+ program should facilitate the distribution of land titles to provide security of tenure for individual households that are participating in the program. While the program can contribute to poverty reduction, the program payments can increase income inequality and conflicts between those involved and those not involved in the program and legal ownership of the lands. In addition, a comprehensive research study on the impact of the program on forest conservation and poverty reduction is necessary. Stakeholders of the program should recognize and acknowledge the trade-offs between conservation and economic development or poverty reduction. A comprehensive trade-off analysis of program implementation and a business-as-usual option of commodity production is needed, which could reveal the indirect economic, political, and social costs and benefits of the program.