After more than one year of proposal preparation and agreement signing, the inception workshop for the project ﾑAgroforestry for Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers in North-West Vietnam (AFLI)' co-funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) was organized in Son La province from 29thFebruary to 1st March 2012.
The objectives of AFLI project aims to:
<1> Develop best-practice agroforestry systems most suitable for three agro-ecological zones (lower than 600m, 600-800m and higher than 800m);
<2> improve the availability of high-quality germplasm to enable the expansion of agroforestry systems;
<3> enhance market access and opportunities for adding value to agroforestry products;
<4> Improve adoption methods and dialogue policy in order to successfully disseminate agroforestry systems.
ICRAF team and national partners had been arrived since 28th February 2012 before devided into different groups to discuss the project objectives. After 2 working days, , participants agreedon the management mechanism and project budget.
The official inception workshop on 1stMarch was opened and warmly welcomedby Mr Ha Quyet Nghi, Director of Son La Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD). It then was followed by the introductions from Dr Tonny Bartlett, representative of the donor of the project - ACIAR and Dr August Temu, Deputy Director General of ICRAF Headquarters.
National partners from the North-West Centre for Forestry Sciences and Production (NWCFSP), Northern Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute (NOMAFSI) and Tay Bac University (TBU) highlighted their experiences in implementing agroforestry activities and their involvements in the project. The workshop was continued by the representatives from three provincial DARDs who shared their ideas on the provincial extension network and their experiences in implementing extension activities.
At the workshop, Dr Tony Bartlett, Research Program Manager for Forestry from ACIAR raised the importance to highlight linkages between the technical field coordinator with coordination team which includes focal person from all national partners. He also highlighted that the project will maintain a flexible methodology in cases needed to encourage the project team to deal with emerging issues in the project implementation.
In the end of the workshop, ICRAF and the partners have made agreement on technical issues, operation plans and management such as: coordination structure, reporting mechanism and method, and following steps for the project implementation. As a part of the inception, the contracts were signed between Dr Ujjwal Pradhan, ICRAF SEA representative and the three project partners represented by Ms Vu Thi Luu from Yen Bai DARD, Ms Cam Thi Phong from Son La Extention Centre, Ms Dinh Thi Thu Ha from Dien Bien Extension Centre.
AFLI project was started as a proposal by Dr Hoang Minh Ha, former Vietnam country representative and others, followed and developed by Dr Delia Catacutan, the new Vietnam country representative and ICRAF Vietnam team at present. The overall aim of AFLI project is to improve the performance of smallholder farming systems in northwest Vietnam through agroforestry. The project seeks to increase the productivity of associated crop and livestock systems, leading to more diverse and sustainable production systems and better income from tree products.
Photo 1 (above): A group photo of AFLI inception workshop's participants
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Photo 2: Busy working atmosphere at the workshop while dividing into dicussion groups
Photo 3: Sigining ceremony between ICRAF and its partners fron the three provinces
Photo 4: Participants enjoyed the culture of ethnic minorities in Son La province during the the show in which they are welcome to the AFLI inception workshop and Son La
