Vietnam is being crippled by its worst drought in nearly a century
Vietnam is being crippled by its worst drought in nearly a century
Vietnam’s breadbasket southwestern region has been hit by the worst drought in 90 years, badly damaging the nation’s economy.
The Southeast Asian country saw a huge slowdown in economic growth in the first quarter as agriculture output dropped sharply. GDP growth slipped to 5.6 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter, down from 6.7 per cent in 2015, according to statistics cited by a Capital Economics team led by Gareth Leader.
The drought, partially attributed to this year's El Niño, could also lead to a serious reduction in exports of major goods produced in the region, including rice, seafood, and coffee, according to independent research firm Capital Economics.
Water levels in Vietnam's Mekong Delta, a region that accounts for 50 per cent of the country's rice and fruit production, 90 per cent of its rice exports, and 60 cent of shrimp and fish exports, are at their lowest levels since 1926.
People in Indonesia and the Philippines will go hungry if the Thais and Vietnamese don't produce enough rice
Moreover, a report from the UN found that nearly 393,000 acres of rice in Vietnam have been lost, and an additional 1.24 million will likely be damaged by mid-2016. Those losses have already had huge effects on production: The first quarter of 2016 saw rice output fall by 6.2 per cent year-over-year, which reduced Vietnam's total agricultural production by 2.7 per cent, according to figures cited by Bloomberg.