The primary aims of the planning grant are to promote the participation of key stakeholders of the proposed project, including local authorities and relevant agencies and communities, and provide scientific assistance for the project development. Major activities of the project include conducting surveys on socio-economic conditions of the proposed project site, identifying proposed project objectives and activities and assessing their feasibility, and providing needed technical assistance in project design and writing project proposal which will be submitted to GEF/SGP for review and appraisal; and identifying possibilities for project synergies and resource mobilization.

The project VN/04/010 is planned to be implemented in 2 communes of Phuoc Hai commune, in Ninh Phuoc district, Ninh Thuan province, and Hong Phong commune, in Bac Binh district, Binh Thuan province. The key objective of this project is to combine traditional measures and new technologies for sustainable use of water and land resources for community life and agroforestry production, contributing to solving the problem of land degradation and desertification in the project area. The project will also give priority to develop technical guidelines and to train technical staff for relevant agencies, local government and communities to promote the project sustainability and replication.