Building Climate-Adaptive Solutions Through Inclusive Market Networks (BASIN)

The Lower Mekong River Basin—covering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam—is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters, including extreme weather, drought, and future uncertainty. This climate context threatens livelihoods and ecological integrity. Agri-food systems, including agriculture and aquaculture, are major drivers of economic activity in the region. While agri-food systems face high vulnerabilities to climate impacts, they are also large drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, requiring mitigation efforts in agriculture and aquaculture systems. 

To address the climate and agri-food challenges in the Mekong, World Vision is implementing Building Climate-Adaptive Solutions through Inclusive Market Networks (BASIN). The Mekong-Australia Partnership (MAP) is a 4-year (2025-29) regional project, funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT). BASIN will directly support 24,000 people, including smallholder farmers, women, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities. It will also benefit more than 200,000 across the Mekong.

The BASIN project aims to strengthen climate-resilient and inclusive agri-food systems in the Mekong. BASIN’s strategy is built around World Vision’s inclusive Market Systems Development approach, engaging local businesses, government, and communities to create greener, more equitable economic opportunities, improve household incomes, and empower women and marginalised groups in decision-making and leadership. A core imperative of BASIN is inclusion, ensuring that the voices of community and local actors inform dialogues about agri-food system development, and that the benefits of agri-food system transformation reach those most at risk of being left behind.

As the research partner for the project, ISF is generating evidence to inform regional and national policy and decision making. ISF is undertaking research on greening and climate resilience in the context of market development in agri-food systems in the Mekong. This includes mapping evidence gaps, good practices and the local market and policy environments. ISF is also leading a knowledge exchange activity to ensure program-generated evidence is translated into policy-relevant insights and effectively communicated to key policy audiences. This activity aims to maximise the impact of the BASIN project and support evidence-informed decisions that drive inclusive and climate-resilient agri-food systems.