VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY LE THI NGOC DIEP EFFECTIVENESS OF FOREIGN AID PROJECTS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE VIETNAMESE MEKONG RIVER DELTA MASTER'S THESIS Hanoi, 2021 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY LE THI NGOC DIEP EFFECTIVENESS OF FOREIGN AID PROJECTS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE VIETNAMESE MEKONG RIVER DELTA MAJOR: CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT CODE: 8900201.02QTD RESEARCH SUPERVISOR: Dr. Nguyen Van Quang Hanoi, 2021 PLEDGE In writing this Master's thesis, I carefully read the Decision on the issuance of the Master's thesis guideline at Vietnam Japan University, fully understand what is written there, and comply with all the related rules and guidelines. I assure that this thesis is the result of my own research and has not been published. I affirm that any third party concept, research, logic, or analysis borrowed is correctly and appropriately indicated, explicitly and transparently. In this way, the source is instantly identifiable in citation styles and the author's rights. I am aware that not documenting source material or not citing clearly, correctly, and completely constitutes plagiarism. Le Thi Ngoc Diep ACKNOWLEDGMENT Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Van Quang, for giving me helpful guidance and suggestions and for welcoming all of my questions and concerns. I also would like to thank Dr. Kotera Akihiko, MSc. Bui Thi Hoa and other lecturers, staff of Vietnam Japan University (VJU), and Ibaraki University for their contribution towards my exciting journey in VJU. I am also very grateful to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Vietnam Office for the great internship that assisted me in finishing the research related to foreign aid projects in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. My special thanks go to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Ha, Mr. Ishimaru Hiroki, who gave me so much meaningful advice, helping me contact Can Tho University, and local authorities in the Mekong Delta. I also would like to extend my appreciation to the Agriculture Project Management Board, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Development Partners supporting Vietnam's sustainable development; People's Committee of An Giang Province, Dong Thap Province, Long An Province, Tien Giang Province, Ben Tre Province, Vinh Long Province, Can Tho Municipality, Kien Giang Province, Ca Mau Province, Bac Lieu Province, Hau Giang Province, Soc Trang Province, Tra Vinh Province; and Can Tho University. Finally, I would like to thank my friends in VJU, people I met during the internship, and my family, those who treated me so well. I appreciate your role in helping me conduct this study. Le Thi Ngoc Diep TABLE OF CONTENT Page PLEDGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF TABLES . i LIST OF FIGURES. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 The necessity of research .2 The research questions and hypotheses .3 Research objectives and tasks .4 Objects and scope of the research .5 Matrix of learning outcomes for the master's thesis .3 Related previous studies .2 Socio-economic features .3 Cross-SWOT analysis .5 Pearson's Correlation Coefficient Test .37 CHAPTER 3: OVERVIEW OF ISSUES IN THE VMD .1 Climate change and climate change impacts .1 Sea-level rise .2 Drought and salinization .4 Coastal erosion and river erosion .5 Sustainable development in the context of climate change in the VMD .2 Upstream reservoir and water transfer .4 Land use land cover change .5 Population growth and migration . 54 CHAPTER 4: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FOREIGN AID PROJECTS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE VMD.1 The status of foreign aid projects from 2010-2020 in the VMD .2 The effectiveness of foreign aid projects .1 Characteristic of aid effectiveness principles in the VMD .2 Correlation analysis result .3 Driving forces and factors affecting the effectiveness of foreign aid projects in VMD .3 Coordination between stakeholders .83 CHAPTER 5: PROPOSAL OF SOLUTIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FOREIGN AID PROJECTS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .2 Solutions, recommendations to improve the effectiveness of foreign aid projects .1 Recommendations regarding aid allocation .2 Recommendations regarding fund .3 Recommendations regarding coordination .4 Recommendations regarding law/ policy .5 Recommendations regarding human resources .2 Limitations of the research .3 Recommendations for further study .104 Appendix A: Interview questions for experts, staff in foreign aid agency . 104 Appendix B: Interview questions for local authority . 106 Appendix C: Interview questions for local people . 109 Appendix D: The number of donors and their projects in VMD in the 2010-2020 period collected by the author . 112 Appendix E: Detail sources of data . 116 Appendix F: Average exchange rate during 2010-2020 applied in this research . 119 Appendix G: Major driving forces, factors affecting foreign aid effectiveness according to results from interviews with donors and local authorities . 120 Appendix H: Matrix of foreign aid projects in the VMD, used variables in Correlation Test, SDGs, and CCR . 121 Appendix I: Matrix of this research and related variables in correlation test, SDGs, climate change response . 186 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1.1: Research questions and hypothesis of the study .2: Objectives and tasks of the study .3: Relations between results of the Master's thesis and MCCD's Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) .4: Priority level by sector in the VMD .5: Priority sectors in the attraction and use of ODA and preferential loans .1: Methods of the study .2: Secondary data of the research .3: CCR options to classify adaptation projects .4: Strategies under Cross-SWOT analysis .5: Formula of mean, standard deviation .6: Used variables in Correlation Coefficient Test .1: Inundation Percentage (% area) corresponding to sea-level rise of 100cm .2: Effects of 2019-2020 drought & saline intrusion .3: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the VMD .4: Actionable strategies in the VMD .5: Serious climate change-related issues and most affected provinces in the past ten years & present, and in the future .6: Descriptions of sub-regions in the VMD .1: Total number and cost of aid projects by CCR options .2: Descriptive statistics of variables .3: Result of Pearson's Correlation Coefficient Test.1: Analysis of major stakeholders in the VMD . 81 i LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1: Analytical framework of the research.2: Policy framework of the research .3: Mekong Delta in Vietnam with land use map .4: Average precipitation from 1977 to 2018 in VMD (mm) .5: Population density in 2019 (person/km2) .6: Current status of economic structure and scale and GRPD per capita in 2019 in VMD .7: Transportation in the VMD.1: Methodological framework of the research .1: Sea-level rise scenarios based on the RCP8.2: The inundation risk map with sea-level rise of 100cm.3: Map of 4g/l isohaline from 2013 to 2019 in the VMD.4: Simulation map of the flood situation with a frequency of 10%.5: Erosion sites from 2010-2020 in the VMD .6: Location Map of Present and Future Hydropower Dams in Lower Mekong Basin .7: Land subsidence rate (cm/year) in the VMD .8: Land use and land cover classification map in VMD .9: Natural population growth rate & Net migration rate in the VMD .10: The migration rate (%) in 2019 and the change in population between 2009 and 2019 .11 Regional division for the past ten years and present .12: Regional division in future .1: Total aid transfer during 2010-2020 in the VMD .2: Total aid transfer by province in the 2010-2020 period in the VMD .3: Total aid transfer by SDGs during 2010-2020.4: Total aid transfer for climate action during 2010-2020 .5: Climate change & green growth public investment share by theme in the VMD in the 2015-2017 period .6: Foreign aid for climate change-related issues during 2010-2020 .7: Total aid for drought & salinization by province during 2010-2020.8: Total aid for erosion by province during 2010-2020 .9: Total aid for flood by province during 2010-2020 .10: Total aid for sea-level rise by province during 2010-2020.11: Graphs depicting the value distribution of X & each Y .12: Effective level several projects in Ninh Kieu, Can Tho and Binh Phuoc Xuan, Cho Moi, An Giang according to author’s interview result.13: Effective level of Project A according to author’s interview result. 81 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank AFD L'Agence Française de Développement (English: The French Development Agency) CCA Climate Change Adaptation CCM Climate Change Mitigation CCR Climate Change Response DAC Development Assistance Committee GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (English: German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH) GRDP Gross Regional Domestic Product IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency KfW Kreditanstalt Für Wiederaufbau (English: German Development Bank) MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MDWG Mekong Delta Working Group MONRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment MPI Ministry of Planning and Investment NGO Non-Governmental Organization ODA Official Development Assistance OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development PCI Province Competitive Index SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SP-RCC Support Program to Respond to Climate Change USAID United States Agency for International Development VMD Vietnamese Mekong River Delta WB World Bank iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The necessity of research Climate change is one of the enormous challenges of the 21st century due to its global origins, global consequences, and long-term impacts (Webersik, 2010). The Earth's climate has changed for millions of years. However, human activities worldwide, especially burning fossil fuels, are exceedingly likely to be the crucial factor that shapes the recent observed global warming (IPCC, 2018). Increasing temperature and precipitation changes affect food and water supplies, leading to many plant and animal species extinction. Climate change also causes sea-level rise, generating the disappearance of low-lying areas. Besides the impacts on the environment, climate change seriously threatens human development and prosperity (Huang & Pascual, 2018). Developing countries are more vulnerable to that inauspicious situation than developed countries due to their low adaptive capacity, weak regulatory systems, and close dependence on natural resources (Wijaya, 2014). They need assistance from other countries to support their endeavors to achieve sustainable development goals. Therefore, foreign aid, defined by the international transfer of capital, goods, or services from a government or a non-government organization for several reasons, has played an essential role in increasing prosperity in needed countries (Huang & Pascual, 2018). For that reason, the effectiveness of foreign aid projects is one of the essential factors contributing to sustainable development throughout the world (United Nations Economic and Social Council, 2008). Located in the south of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta (VMD) is the home of around 17. The VMD area is nearly 4 million ha, and 67.5% of the VMD area is agricultural land (Vo & Huynh, 2014). The VMD is also 1 a global hotspot regarding the changing climate (Entzinger & Scholten, 2016). Several climate change-induced hazards appear in the area, including sea-level rise, salinization, inundation, water scarcity, changes in temperature and precipitation (Vo & Huynh, 2014). Those hazards have strongly affected agricultural and aquaculture activities, damaging the VMD's sustainable development and causing significant migration flows in the south of Vietnam (Entzinger & Scholten, 2016). Vietnamese government adopted many official documents towards achieving sustainable development on both national scale and regional scale. Some of them are "Viet Nam Sustainable Development Strategy for 2011-2020" (Prime Minister, 2012), "National Action Plan for the Implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda" (Prime Minister, 2017), "Resolution number 120/NQ-CP on Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Development of the Mekong Delta of Vietnam" (Government, 2017; Prime Minister, 2019). Those documents have provided specific orientations to projects and activities for Vietnam's sustainable development. Due to the limitation of capital resources, human resource's capacity to implement activities, projects, the Vietnamese government has asked for help from other resources, including foreign resources. Many donors such as World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have organized projects (usually Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects) to support local government and local people to deal with this urgent call in the VMD.