ALiSEA National General Assembly in Vietnam, 29 November 2022

Hanoi, 29^th November 2022, National General Assembly Workshop for ALiSEA Vietnam took place at the Adonis Hotel.

The National General Assembly aims to present the key achievements of the network in 2022, consult members on internal structuration and discuss the main action plan for the network in 2023. The event brought together 32 participants of the ALiSEA network, working in the field of agroecology across the country, such as local and international nongovernmental organizations, farmers organizations, networks, research centers and academic.

The workshop was co-organized by GRET, CASRAD, CARES, NOMAFSI, CISDOMA, CCI, as part of the ASSET project funded by the French Agency for Development (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM).

The General Assembly is ALiSEA’s annual event through which it’s members can review the progress of the network and provide their feedback to ensure that the network is working in the right direction that would benefit each member. “Sustainable agriculture has been identified as a key priority by the Vietnamese government to move away from intensive agriculture that harms soil, biodiversity, produces high greenhouse gas emissions etc. Agroecological Farming brings values to society, the environment, to efficient use of natural and local resources, and helps farmers to increase their incomes. The ALiSEA network was established to connect all organizations in the field of agroecology, to give a voice to all these actors and to foster knowledge and expertise sharing.” said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao The Anh (Deputy Director of the VAAS).

I/ Introduction Session

The network warmly welcomed the new National Secretariat, Mr. Nguyen Tien Da from CASRAD, who took up this position on 1^st October 2022 and the 3 new organizations that joined the network in 2022:

1 Local NGO

• Bio TCORTIS

1 University

• Department of Experimental Methods and Biology Statistics, Faculty of Agronomy, Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA)

1 Private Sector

• Mekong Organics

Presentation of the ALiSEA main achievements in 2022 and progress activities, Ms Lucie Reynaud (GRET)

II/ Small Grant Call 2022 Results and Next call

The regional and national results and lessons learned from the Small Grant call for proposal 2022 were presented by Mr. Pat Sovann (GRET Cambodia).

For this call, we received 22 proposals in total allocated as follows: 9 proposals from Laos, 7 from Vietnam and 6 from Cambodia.

The ALiSEA network was pleased to announce the 3 members awarded in Vietnam for the 2022 call:

• Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI) & Farmers Union of the Po E commune & Kon Plong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: Supporting the transition towards more diversified farming system by developing experimental cultivation of native medicinal herbs and edible herbs on upland farming areas in Kon Tum province
• Research Centre for Gender, Family and Environment in Development (CGFED) & Women’s Union of Nam Dinh province & Pesticide Action Network Asia-Pacific (PAN-AP): Strengthening community capacity in monitoring pesticides use and promoting agroecology in Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province – For a Non Toxic Environment
• Center for Agricultural research and Ecological studies (CARES) & Field Crops Research Institute (FCRI): Eco-weed control: a participatory experiment on PGS organic vegetable farms in Hanoi and Hoa Binh province, Vietnam

III/ ALiSEA Internal Structure and Organization

Presentation and brainstorming on internal structure and potential scenarios, Ms Lucie Reynaud (GRET)

The majority of participants voted in favor of the following points:

• Welcome individual people based on specific criteria and set up specific role;
• Set up 2 status/roles for members;
• Renew membership every 5 years.

And members rejected the proposal to welcome specialized journalists/media organization as member.

IV/ ALiSEA Communication Strategy

Presentation of the main outlines of internal and external communication strategy, Ms. Doan Thu Thuy (CISDOMA)

V/ National Foresight and Theory of Change

Presentation of the results of the national foresight and Theory of Change workshop which was held in October 2022, Mr. Pham Van Hoi (CARES)

The majority of participants voted for the top 3 priority pathways:

1. Lack of farmers awareness and unverified information related to agroecology (document successful initiatives, raise consumers awareness, access to knowledge via online platform on AE sites, products and actors);
2. Lack of collaboration between stakeholders (reinforce capacity building of farmers, extension services, cooperation with journalists, business forum on agroecology);
3. Government policy supports Agroecology: Integrated Management Policy enabling multi-stakeholders in Agroecology sector to embank & develop Agroecology from state to local level.

For 2023, members highlighted the following main activities:

1. Lack of collaboration among stakeholders
2. Lack of farmers awareness/unverified information
3. Government policy is supportive of AE

The external communication should focus on the following stakeholders:

1. 1. Farmer groups
   2. Researchers
   3. Consumers

Conclusion

The national General Assembly has been rich and fruitful paving the way for the internal structuring and governance of the network, taking decisions on the priority issues to be addressed by the network and main activities to be implemented in 2023.

As a way forward (i) at national level, the ALiSEA Board Members will develop a detailed action plan for the network building upon the discussions and outcomes of the General Assembly and (ii) at regional level, the first Regional General Assembly workshop will be organized in 2023 to take decision on the structuration and organization.

You can access the full report of the workshop by clicking here. (Is comimg soon)

Please find below articles made by journalists on the General Assembly in Vietnam:

• https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/phat-huy-loi-ich-da-chieu-tu-nong-nghiep-sinh-thai-347520.html