Oxfam Canada just launched a new project called Go-Rice, which aims to help Vietnam, one of the world's top rice producers, reduce the environmental footprint of rice production while advancing gender equality and economic justice.

A Partnership for Climate Action and Sustainable Trade

Vietnam's rice industry plays a critical role in both the global food supply and the country's own economy. In 2023, Vietnam produced 7.6 million tons of rice, ensuring food security for 90% of its population and supporting 15–16 million farmers. However, rice farming also accounts for nearly half of Vietnam's agricultural emissions (49.5%), making it a key driver of the country's climate risks. Annual losses from climate impacts are estimated at USD 2.4 billion.

Why Gender Justice Matters

Photo: Kishor Sharma / Oxfam

Women and ethnic minority farmers in Vietnam often face barriers that limit their productivity and resilience, from lack of access to training and technology to persistent gender biases that exclude them from decision-making roles. Studies show a 24% productivity gap between women and men farmers, largely due to these structural inequalities.

Go-Rice aims to level the playing field. The program promotes gender-sensitive approaches to agriculture, ensuring that women and ethnic minorities have greater access to training, technology, and financial resources.

Tackling the Environmental Cost of Rice

Rice cultivation in the Mekong Delta, which produces over half of Vietnam's rice and 70% of its exports, has become environmentally costly. Overreliance on fertilizers and pesticides, coupled with the widespread burning of rice straw, has polluted soil and water, and released over 1 million tons of CO₂ and other pollutants in 2020 alone.

These unsustainable practices, combined with the worsening impacts of drought, rising sea levels, and saltwater intrusion, threaten to reduce rice productivity by at least 9% by 2030. Go-Rice will help mitigate these challenges by scaling up climate-smart techniques, such as alternate wetting and drying irrigation, organic fertilizer use, and crop residue management — all aimed at cutting emissions while maintaining yields. This project will directly contribute to Vietnam's government's One Million Hectare Low Carbon Rice Program (2023-2030) and its commitment to reduce emissions by 27% by 2030 at COP26.

Strengthening Global Partnerships Through Innovation

Beyond environmental benefits, Go-Rice aims to create opportunities for collaboration and innovation between Canada and Vietnam. The project's emerging focus on post-harvest technologies and waste management solutions could highlight the role of Canadian agri-tech companies in building more sustainable rice value chains. By exploring technologies for improved grain storage, drying, and waste-to-value systems, Canadian expertise has the potential to enter a new market that is mutually beneficial to both countries.

Lasting Impact

Over the next five years, Go-Rice will be implemented across Vietnam's An Giang, Can Tho, and Vinh Long provinces. The project aims to reach around 40,000 people involved in the rice sector, with a significant proportion who are women from ethnic minorities.

By working from the ground up from individual farms to national policy, Go-Rice is helping shape a rice sector that is more resilient, equitable, and environmentally responsible. Through innovation, partnership, and gender justice, this initiative offers a model for how climate action can also empower the communities most affected by climate change.