The Mekong Delta is developing faster than Google Maps can keep up with. A stretch of road that was too narrow to accommodate cars and required a transition to motorbikes just six months ago was under construction during our August visit. Gargantuan machines for laying pulverized gravel inched aside to let our 7-seater pass so we could reach the home of Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy to check in on her small fish drying home business.
A peek into the behind-the-scenes fish drying operation at Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy's home.
Thủy explained that the expanded road will allow her to more easily sell larger quantities of the packaged, dried fish to a more diverse set of buyers. This theme of increased output and growth filled our conversation: her family produces more of the delicious dried cá chốt than her parents ever did; every season she asks her husband and neighbors to buy more fish from the flooded fields for her to process and dry; she dreams of a de-scaling machine so she can take in more cá lóc; and the drying cabinet WWF-Viet Nam provided her via a revolving fund for women allows her to work on cloudy or rainy days, resulting in more money for household needs.
Increased output across agricultural and aquacultural activities is just one element of broader efforts to improve local livelihoods while safeguarding and restoring natural areas in the Mekong Delta. In particular, programs like the Climate Resilient by Nature - Mekong project (CRxN Mekong) aim to mitigate negative environmental impacts while remaining easy to integrate into traditional lifestyles across the region. In Tân Hưng, Vĩnh Châu, and Vĩnh Thạnh communes of the new Tây Ninh province (formerly Vĩnh Châu A, Vĩnh Đại, Vĩnh Lợi, and Thạnh Hưng communes), six livelihood models, along with access to microfinancing and education initiatives, are building on existing behaviors in coordination with local governments and communities to provide scalable examples for how livelihoods and nature can benefit from nature-based solutions.
The Mekong Delta's many waterways and nutrient-rich soil support thriving market scenes.
Hope Floats in the Flooded Fields
“In the past, our grandparents grew [floating rice], so it has a nostalgic value. Growing it again now feels like reviving something from the past — a way to reconnect with old memories,” Nguyễn Ngọc Điền, the chairman of the floating rice cooperative’s board, explained to Saigoneer. More than a heartwarming means of connecting to homeland and heritage, the ancient variety of rice is opening new economic opportunities while helping to protect and replenish the water and soil.
Nguyễn Ngọc Điền sits beside a floating rice field.
Unlike the modern method of erecting dikes to plant conventional rice during the flood season, growing floating rice requires no manipulation of the flood waters. Because the rice doesn’t disrupt the natural flow of water, nor does it require chemicals and fertilizers, it allows the soil to naturally rejuvenate. These powerful impacts explain why WWF-Viet Nam invites experts from Cần Thơ University for support. Moreover, WWF-Viet Nam supplies seeds and agricultural drones.
Nguyễn Thị Bé plants both conventional and floating rice.
Of course, money talks, and bottom-line economics and familiar habits drive decisions in one of Vietnam’s most impoverished regions. One local farmer and cooperative member, Nguyễn Thị Bé, told Saigoneer that “it has to have benefits. In general, this floating seasonal rice — well, here people are used to eating soft, sticky rice, so eating this one, they don’t really like it. But if you cook it the right way, it’s actually very good.”
In addition to helping introduce ways to cook the floating rice, such as in porridge, to appeal to local tastes, WWF-Viet Nam has been helping to connect the community cooperative with buyers who can sell the rice to overseas consumers who are more receptive to its positive health benefits and accepting of its texture. Processing the floating rice into noodles, milk-based goods, and rice paper before export has proven to be a successful approach. The Khải Nam corporation, for example, is working towards Halal certification for the floating rice products to be exported to Malaysia and other Asian markets, as well as European markets such as England and Germany, which has resulted in a request to increase floating rice plantation areas to 200 ha, up from only 10 ha last year. “This makes cooperative members more confident, knowing their product is reaching international markets,” noted Điền.
Harvesting conventional rice frequently involves environmentally-damaging field burning.
Floating Rice Makes Way for Fish and Mushrooms
The success of the floating rice coincides with other project models, including fish cultivation. Native fish, including cá rô and cá lóc, can thrive in the flooded fields amongst the floating rice. Absent pesticides and chemicals, the fish grow naturally and can be harvested for drying and processing, as Thủy has been doing. Her work is supported by a revolving fund that has provided money from a total initial loan amount of 840 million VND (US$32,000) to 82 women for the acquisition of technologies and materials.
Thanks to new technologies, fish can be dried on rainy days.
Compared to conventional rice, floating rice yields a larger amount of post-harvest organic material. This plant matter, rather than being burned, which releases significant amounts of carbon into the air, can be used for growing mushrooms. This will allow the CRxN program to supply households with clean floating rice straw beginning at the start of 2026, supplementing the technical know-how for cultivating mushrooms that is already being provided. After only 45 days, the mushrooms can be harvested and sold for approximately US$384.
Mushroom growing is particularly appealing because it can be undertaken while remaining close to one’s home, which allows women to participate while caring for children and other household tasks. Word of the project has spread in the local communities, with 18 new farmers registering to receive support for the project. Current mushroom farmer, Trần Thanh Tâm, summarized his experiences to Saigoneer: “What I like most is that I can make use of straw to create a clean product, giving people safe mushrooms to eat. They’re great for vegetarians, and also good for parties — chicken steamed with straw mushrooms is very delicious.”
Trần Thanh Tâm monitors the growth of his mushrooms.
Beside the Floating Rice, Lotus, Hyacinth, and Education Bloom
While floating rice is a pivotal element of the CRxN Mekong project, not all models directly involve it. For example, farmers who do not plant conventional or floating rice during the flood season can use their land to grow lotus. Supported via seeds, organic fertilizer, and the development of commercial networks, farmers can supplement their incomes by growing lotus plants. The seeds and stems are both processed as commercial food. Compared to growing three conventional rice crops a year, switching one to flood-based lotus cultivation produces a significantly smaller amount of carbon. Evidence suggests that the model could be a potential opportunity for future integration in the carbon market.
Even before producing carbon credits, the lotus industry is providing significant benefits to local communities, particularly amongst women. Like growing mushrooms, it allows women to stay closer to home, where they can care for family members. Trần Thị Kim Mai, an employee at a lotus processing facility, explained: “Before, I worked in a more hectic job far from home. Now that there’s a workshop here, I can work very close to my house.”
Moreover, steady work has profound psychological effects. Mai furthered: “The sisterhood relationship here is cheerful, people are sociable … Working here feels like part of my life, something I need every day.”
A similar sense of purpose and value is experienced by the women involved in the lục bình weaving group. A CRxN education project invites consultants to communities to teach women how to transform the weed plant into valuable home goods. This transforms the plant from an onerous clogger of waterways into a flexible source of income that empowers women and strengthens families.
While CRxN Mekong’s education efforts focus largely on increasing flood-based agriculture and aquaculture practices, there is significant attention paid to social and cultural topics, including gender equality courses. These teachings, combined with broad improvements in household incomes, have resulted in “more peace at home,” as one resident shared with us.
On our many trips to CRxN Mekong projects over the years, Saigoneer has been invited into countless homes to share meals, hear stories, and learn about the hope people have for the future of the region. In the midst of these very personal moments, it's difficult to keep sight of the program’s larger impact. In coordination with An Giang Climate Change experts, invaluable data and information are being gathered that can be used to devise and test new ideas for Nature-Based Solutions for implementation throughout the Mekong region.
The natural environment, in particular, lingers in our memory after each visit. Graceful egrets fold wings like book pages in Láng Sen’s melaleuca trees, and turtles disappear in tannin-rich waters that snake and tangle beneath lotus leaves. Soft white cajeput flowers burst open against blue skies, and red-tailed laughingthrush’s calls echo. While in this beautiful, wild place, humans may not be in sight, but their impact is everywhere. From agricultural runoff to disrupted flood cycles to the encroachment of farming practices, the actions of human communities threaten the priceless ecosystem. Only by considering both of them via sustainable livelihood initiatives like the CRxN Mekong can we ensure they both prosper for decades to come.
