Committee: UNCTAD

Country: Vietnam
Topic: Vietnam in the Agricultural use of water
Delegate:Kathryn Dach School:Austin High School

Water is a critical issue, economically, environmentally, and is something everyone

needs. That’s why it is or should be such a major concern as it is a necessity that not everyone is
accessible too. The lack of water is the lack of a vital recourse and the effects of that seriously
negatively affect a country and its citizens. On an economic level not having water can seriously
affect a countries major exports and imports, as well as other things. There are many Agricultural
exports and imports traded throughout the world and without access to water, there would be
seriously negative effects on them. Environmentally however is even more drastic of a drastic
problem because if there is only water that can not be used to grow crops or as drinking water for
people, then it is not suitable for people or animals to live and or farm in that environment,
leaving a country's economic resources lacking. This issue is one that is currently affecting many
people in Vietnam.
When talking about the Issue of water scarcity in Vietnam, a country with an abundance
of water and many agricultural exports, it wouldn't seem to concerning, but because of things
like poor infrastructure important resources are now less accessible for clean water for people
and crops.The concerning issue is that water scarcity has put vietnam in a negative position, and
even as a country with the necessary resources, a lack of infrastructure makes much of the water
inaccessible. 80% of Vietnam’s rice exports are produced from the Mekong Delta, in Vietnam
rice is vital economically as it is one of their major exports and Vietnam is the second highest
producer of rice.That’s why water scarcity in Vietnam is such an important issue, now at
Mekong Delta issues of salt water intrusion during their dry season is higher than ever because of
climate change and its only getting worse. When the flood season is bad,salt water comes into
the delta causing many issues for farmers, the saltwater kills the crops, even ones far away
because in Vietnam poorly made canals bring the water from the delta and nothing is there to
keep the saltwater out. Experts have suggested many things like changing the crop season,
improving infrastructure, and flood protection. A project has been proposed that would improve
the lives of 1 million people living on the delta, but there is still a long ways to go before
anything improves or s set into motion.
This delegate would like the UN to consider a plan to improve Vietnam's infrastructure to
address and resolve our concerning issue of water scarcity on agriculture. In Vietnam, a country
with many agricultural exports, this is should be considered an international issue, one in which
that has very possible solutions being proposed. The first step in this plan would be an efficient
water and irrigation system for Vietnam so people all over the country have access to clean water
for themselves as well as crops. The next step is to place in flood prevention systems as well as
more improved canals to prevent saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta. This would improve
the lives of millions of Vietnamese people and their country,economically and environmentally.
This delegate highly supports the improvement of Vietnam’s infrastructure because not only
would this positively impact this critical issue at hand, but it would improve other issues like
access to clean water for people, prevention of flooding, and the overall improvement of the
movement of water in Vietnam.

CITATIONS
Committee: UNCTAD
Country: Vietnam
Topic: Vietnam in the Agricultural use of water
Delegate:Kathryn Dach School:Austin High School

World Bank. “Transforming Vietnamese Agriculture : Gaining More from Less.”

Transforming Vietnamese Agriculture : Gaining More from Less (English) | The World Bank,
26 Sept. 2016, documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/116761474894023632/Transforming-
Vietnamese-agriculture-gaining-more-from-less.

Hays, Jeffrey. “AGRICULTURE IN VIETNAM.” Facts and Details, 2013,

factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Vietnam/sub5_9g/entry-3480.html.

BBC. “Vietnam Profile - Timeline.” BBC News, BBC, 30 Oct. 2017,

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16568035.

“The World Factbook: VIETNAM.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence

Agency, 10 Apr. 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vm.html.

“Vietnam Government Portal.” Chinhphu.vn,

www.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/English.