CALGARY — The Liberal government has spent over $8 million of taxpayers' money on gender-neutral, decarbonized rice in Vietnam.The initiative titled, “Greening our rice: gender-just, low-carbon rice value chains in Vietnam,” is funded through Global Affairs Canada in partnership with Oxfam Canada.According to the federal government’s International Assistance Project Browser, the project — which is listed as operational — runs from March 2025 to March 2029 and carries a total approved budget of $8.2 million..The project is intended to benefit approximately 20,500 rice producers in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, with half of the participants expected to be women and 20% belonging to ethnic minority communities.“This project aims to enhance the well-being of small-scale producers and businesses in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta rice supply chain and to foster a more resilient and environmentally responsible rice sector by integrating gender equity, sustainability, and economic empowerment and promoting the transition to low-carbon practices," the project’s description reads.Project activities include training farmers in climate-smart agriculture, providing financial literacy and entrepreneurship programs, conducting workshops designed to challenge traditional gender roles, developing guidelines for carbon trading projects, and promoting technology transfer and sustainable investment..Liberals fund $180M World Bank climate initiative focused on clean energy, gender equality on small islands.The expected outcomes for the project are said to include increased climate-smart agriculture and improved access to carbon markets by targeted rice producers and enterprises, including gender-responsive practices, as well as the “increased leadership and decision-making power of women and ethnic minorities participating in climate-smart rice production,” and strengthened collaboration between national and provincial stakeholders.However, as of March 2026, the government reports that little direct implementation of the project has occurred, with delays occurring due to administrative restructuring of Vietnam’s government bureaucracy.According to Global Affairs, the main purpose of the International Development Assistance Program is to “reduce poverty for those living in countries where Global Affairs Canada engages in international development,” but the project description provides little explanation for why Vietnam’s rice sector was selected for the funding, nor does it state how Canadian taxpayers will directly benefit.
