“These projects respond to different drivers of poverty in the country including limited livelihood opportunities, remoteness, low productivity of agriculture and ineffective social assistance programs” said Victoria Kwakwa, Country Director for the World Bank in Vietnam.

The funding will assist the Central Highlands Poverty Reduction Project (US$ 150 million), the Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project (US$ 180 million), and the Social Assistance System Strengthening Project (US$ 60 million).

The Central Highlands Poverty Reduction Project aims to support the Government of Vietnam in addressing extreme poverty in the region, the second-poorest in the country.  It will finance village and commune infrastructure; sustainable livelihoods; connective infrastructure, and provide trainings in livelihoods skills, project management, and more general public administration skills for the 26 poorest districts in the provinces of Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.

The goals of the Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project are to increase water and land-use efficiency; enhance agricultural productivity, and reduce vulnerability to adverse climatic events for farmers and rural households in the Central Coast Region (Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, and Quang Nam provinces) and selected provinces in the Northern Mountainous Region (Ha Giang, Phu Tho, and Hoa Binh).

The objective of the Social Assistance System Strengthening Project is to strengthen the social assistance system nationwide, including developing a national database of poor and near-poor households and improve the management information system.