Known as Viet Nam’s rice bowl, the Vietnamese provinces in low-lying areas in the Mekong Delta are one of the world’s most vulnerable areas to rising sea levels caused by climate change.

The entire areas, Home of more than 17 million people, are at risk of heavy flooding due to water from upstream coupled with quickly rising tides.

A predicted sea-level rise of 30 cm by the year 2050 is expected to accelerate salinity intrusion. According to a study of the Southern Irrigation Research Institute, seawater presence effects thousands of hectares of rice field every year.