ICRAF scientists and representatives from the Australian Centre of International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) had a two-day field trip this March to northwestern Vietnam where they talked with local farmers about the development of agroforestry trials they undertake.
The trip was conducted as part of a mid-term review from March 12-14, 2014 on the implementation of “Agroforestry for the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Northwest Vietnam” or AFLI, a pro-poor project on improving the livelihood of upland farmers through researched integration of trees and crops on their sloping lands.
AFLI project is carried out by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Vietnam and six national and local research partners with funding from ACIAR & the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees & Agroforests. Its main purpose is to improve the performance of smallholder farming systems in northwestern Vietnam through agroforestry. Local farmers are involved to implement agroforestry trials on their own land under the guidance of ICRAF Vietnam’s scientists and local extension workers.
The review was led by Dr. Tony Bartlett, Research Program Manager for Forestry of ACIAR and Dr. Geoff Morris, ACIAR country representative in Vietnam. ICRAF DDG for research, Dr. Fergus Sinclair and other senior ICRAF scientists also attended the review together with thirty representatives from seven agencies & organizations including Department of Agriculture & Rural Development in Son La, Dien Bien & Yen Bai (DARD), Tay Bac University (TBU), Forestry Science Centre for Northwest (FSCN) and Northern Mountainous Agriculture & Forestry Science Institute (NOMAFSI).
Held annually to evaluate the performance of AFLI project, the event also allows project implementers and funders to understand challenges and issues that arose during the first two years of implementation so that proper adjustments can be made.
Participants agreed that the field trip and the review meeting helped them gain a deep insight of the living and farming conditions in the mountainous areas of northwest Vietnam and thorough understanding of agroforestry trials being implemented under the project.
“We have a unique opportunity to take an integrated systems approach forward in Vietnam, the one that seeks to combine trees, crops, livestock, grasses, markets, value chains, policies & people at all sorts of nest scales… Three years more for a project, I know we are still long way from getting change to happen. We are aware of the challenges to transform a landscape & the lives of people who inhabit and depend upon it for the better forever,” said Dr. Ravi Prabhu, Deputy Director General of World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Headquarters.
In the review meeting in Dien Bien, participants listened to ICRAF Vietnam researchers and partners’ presentations about the outcomes of four specific objectives. Researchers, stakeholders, donors and specialists discussed the project’s advantages & disadvantages, directions and specific policy in the future.
Much as Dr. Tony Bartlett appreciated a large amount of work covered by the project during the past two years, he called for attention on several issues such as approaches to transfer technology to farmers and suggested a systematic framework of all the main activities to be covered by the project in the upcoming years.
“Feedbacks and reflections will be taken into account to overcome the existing difficulties for the improved performance of the project next year,” said Dr. Delia Catacutan, Country Representative of ICRAF Vietnam.
Mrs. Vu Thi Luu from DARD Yen Bai suggested the project team to work with other projects to analyse their AF systems for possible adoptions. This will support the advocacy process for a national agroforestry policy in the future, she said.
For more information about the AFLI project, please visit:
http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/regions/southeast_asia/vietnam/projects/afli
