1st national multi-stakeholder workshop addressing Agroecological Transition in Vietnam

1st national multi-stakeholder workshop addressing Agroecological Transition in Vietnam

The 1st national multi-stakeholder workshop addressing Agroecological Transition in the Mekong Region, and more especially in Vietnam, was held on the 5th and 6th of May 2016 in Hanoi. It was organized by CIRAD, GRET and PHANO as part of the inception phase of ACTAE project, funded by the French Agency for Development (AFD).

It brought together about 40 specialists and practitioners from national and international NGOs, research and universities, farmers’ union, government agencies, development partners and private sector actively working on sustainable agriculture sector in Vietnam.

It aimed at sharing knowledge, information and experiences between agricultural development stakeholders, more especially through:

  • Introduction to ACTAE program with its 2 components:
    • Conservation Agriculture Network in South East Asia (CANSEA)
    • Agroecology Learning Alliance in South East Asia (ALiSEA)
  • Discussions of initial findings from the 1st study carried out in the framework of ALiSEA about Agroecological farming innovations: Case studies in Hoa Binh and Lam Dong province, Vietnam (report to be available soon on ALiSEA website)
  • Demonstration of the online ALiSEA knowledge management and experience sharing platform on Agroecology
  • Presentation of 11 case studies and one video from various stakeholders in line with 3 main topics
    • Setting the stage: illustration of challenges & policy making for AE promotion
    • Marketing AE products: example of certification process
    • Experience sharing from the field: examples of AE practices and approaches implemented in Vietnam
  • Working groups building upon lessons learnt from the case studies and ACTAE presentations resulting in
    • A brainstorming about main agriculture challenges faced by farmers and formulation of recommendations for promoting agroecology
    • A shared understanding and common vision of agroecology and a sound and accurate translations (in national language) of the concept of agroecology
    • A preliminary brainstorming about governance and structure for a future national platform addressing agroecology transition

The 2 days’ workshop has been very intense and very fruitful paving the way to some common principles, common understanding and common expectations about agroecology. There are still some works to do in order to define in an encompassing way agroecology but it is on the right track. This 1st national workshop was instrumental in laying down the foundations of a national Vietnam network that will partake in a regional Agroecology Learning Alliance, bringing together all stakeholders active in the field of agroecology. It was the first of its kind and it is expected that others will follow to keep on networking, sharing experiences and best practices and ultimately promote agroecology transition in the Mekong region.

Case studies:

Setting the stage: illustration of challenges & policy making for AE promotion

Agroecology in Vietnam: Challenges? (Dr Pham Quang Ha, Agricultural Environnent Institute) 2.PHAMQUANGHA_CHALLENGES FOR AGROECOLOGY

A review of policies and public services on agro-ecological rice production: The case of promotion of System of Rice Intensification in Viet Nam (Ms Le Minh & Prof Hoang Van Phu & Dr Dao The Anh, Oxfam & Thai Nguyen University & CASRAD) 3.SRI-Viet presentation

Marketing AE products: example of certification process

Develop Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) along Organic Product Chain (Ms Từ Tuyết Nhung, PGS coordination committee) 4.PGS along supply chain 2016 GRET – Eng

Experience sharing from the field: examples of AE practices and approaches implemented in Vietnam

New Pathways: Farmer’s ecological innovations in Lam dong Province (Dr Cao Thi Lan, University of Dalat) 5.Agroecology- Cao Thi Lan

Agroforestry for livelihood of small holder farmers in Northern Vietnam (Dr La Nguyen, ICRAF) 6.AFLI_ICRAF_presentation

Experience on organic winter potato business in conditions of small farmers in Hanoi, Vietnam (Dr Pham Thi My Dung, Rural development Science Institute) 1.Pham Thi My Dung_ORGANIC POTATOES

Agroecological zoning for extension of climate friendly agriculture in some provinces of Northwest Vietnam (Mr Nguyen Duc To Luu, PanNature) 7.Agroeco zones in NW region

VAC Integrated System-based Agro-ecology Development (Dr Phan Văn Ngọc, CCRD) 8.VAC Based AgroEcology_2016

Rice-Duck farming in Vietnam (Ms Mayu Ino, Seed to Table) 9.Seed to Table_May2016

Conservation Agriculture as an agroecology approach (Dr Pham Thi Sen, NOMAFSI) 10.CA presentation

Traditional wisdom and permaculture knowledge towards agro-ecology transition for Landscape and Ecosystem’s Sustainability (Ms Kien Dang, SPERI) 11.SPERI_Agroecology

One extra presentation about marketing organic product (Bac Tom Company) and 2 posters (PGS and bio pest control) were not presented but shared with the organizers. We consider that they were highly relevant to the workshop and they can be downloaded hereafter

  • Farm Management Schemes within Organic PGS: Survey and Analysis in Soc Son, Hanoi, Vietnam (ADDA, VNFU, PGS Vietnam) PGS Poster Oct62014
  • Production of entomopathogenic fungus Nomuraea Rileyi to control vegetable pests (Department of Biotechnology – Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, HNUE) Poster of Nomuraea rileyi
  • Presentation of Bác Tôm, Stores Chain Bac Tom intro (ILRI)

backdrop Group participants Group participants2 participantsCao Ti LanHtet KyuProf Van PhuSPERI