Collaborative Research Program on Humidtropics Situation Analysis for Northwest Vietnam Authors: to be inserted Acknowledgements: to be inserted Introduction The Humidtropics research program is addressing the following issues in the humid tropic areas of developing countries: 1. Reducing rural poverty. Agricultural growth through improved productivity, market development, and income generation has been shown to be a particularly effective contributor to reducing poverty, especially in the initial stages of economic development. 2. Increasing food security. Access to affordable food is a problem for millions of poor in urban and rural communities and requires increasing global supply of key staples and reducing potential price increases and price volatility. 3. Improving nutrition and health. Poor populations spend most of their income on food and suffer from diets that are insufficient in proteins, vitamins and minerals affecting health and development, particularly among women and children. 4. Sustainable management of natural resources. Agriculture has a substantial impact on natural resources that must be better managed to supply sustainable ecosystem services, particularly in light of climate change. In the Central Mekong Action area, the Humidtropics program is addressing the following issues: Low or decreased productivity of smallholder farmers who practice maize monocropping, potato, banana, homestead production of livestock and vegetable and other systems. Smallholder farmers continue to have little access to markets and relatively insignificant influence in value chains. This is mainly due to farmers (including ethnic minorities and women) having little institutional power. Total farm income remains relatively low since many farming systems have yet to be diversified. Increasing environmental impacts where farming practices are intensifying to boost yields. High chemical inputs and unsustainable farming practices have contributed to land degradation, soil erosion, decreased soil fertility and loss natural forest ecosystems, therefore increased vulnerability of poor people. Household characteristics such as income, education and asset ownership are still not able to positively influence household wellbeing due to gender disparities and cultural norms that influence decision making at household levels Concentrating on major farming systems in the Northwest Vietnam Action Site, Humidtropics research focuses on: Integrated livestock systems Improved tree-crop systems e.g. ‘green rubber’, shade coffee, and more. Improved rice production system 1 Conservation agriculture Sustainable food crop/multi-crop systems, e.g. improved cassava-based and banana-based systems, maize/agroforestry-based production. The Northwest Vietnam Action Site is part of the larger Central Mekong Action Area, which comprises several parts of Vietnam, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Thailand, and China (refer to Humidtropics for details). The Action Site is considered part of the Green Triangle zone of mostly upland mixed systems occurring in NW Vietnam and Southern China. A GIS based data analysis and stakeholder workshop (Hanoi, May 12-13, 2013) were conducted to identify the specific administrative areas to be included in the Action Area. Based on this process, four provinces in Vietnam were selected: Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai. However, it was agreed that the initial focus would be on 2 provinces, Son La and Dien Bien. Context for the situational analysis It is important to note that the Situational Analysis (SA) is the starting point for an extensive set of diagnostic activities that will can conducted within the Humidtropics research program over the next 2-3 years. In addition to the SA, these later activities could include among others: - Detailed characterization studies of production systems in the form of baseline household surveys - In depth analysis of markets and value chains for target commodities, and institutional and policy environments - Household typology development - Impact assessments - Identification of preliminary best bet entry points for the Program - Pilot testing of technologies and strategies among producers The aim of the Situational Analysis is to provide a broad set of information that will inform these coming exercises in the next phases of the Program. The SA will thus not be expected to look into the details of the target systems. Also, because the Program aims to work in a consultative manner through partners in all aspects of its work the SA also aims to support the process of establishing strong and sustained linkages with stakeholders at multiple levels. Given the context above, there are 2 primary objectives for the SA: 1. Broadly characterize all important aspects of relevance to the Program within the target Action Sites, and through that, generate information to inform all other Program activities in the context of attaining the Intermediate Development Objectives (IDOs), as well as to inform ongoing field site selection. 2. Initiate and facilitate engagement with stakeholders and partners as part of the R4D platform development that is needed for the long term success and scalability of the Program The second section of this report will detail the methodology of the investigations that lead to this analysis. The third section provides an overview of the development situation in Northwest Vietnam. The following sections in turn characterize one after the other the agricultural production systems, markets and institutions and natural resources management systems. The final section identifies the overarching problems that come out of this situational analysis and provides suggestions for further Humidtropics research 2 interventions to address these overarching problems, and thus address its strategic development objectives: livelihoods improvement, sustainable intensification, gender and youth empowerment, and systems innovation. Methodology Data from 6 different sources was used to ensure information included in the SA was accurate and comprehensive: existing Secondary Data, Key Informant(KI) Interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Household Surveys, Market Visits and a Stakeholder Consulatation. This allowed for the triangulation and validation of data collected from different sources. An online repository will be made available for secondary data collected as well as the generated primary datasets. Secondary data was collected for all 4 Provinces, however due to the limited financial and time resources available, it was decided that only 2 Provinces would be selected to collect more in-depth information via KIs, FGDs, Household Surveys and Market Visits. As the National research partners all had existing projects in Son La and Dien Bien, these two were selected. Secondary Data A list was developed outlining the types of data that was required to complete the Situation Analysis (SA) (Annex X). The research team then divided into two groups to obtain the data from local government sources in each of the 4 Provinces. In the case that data was not available at the Provincial level, it was requested from the National Statistics Office in Hanoi. To compliment Government data, other secondary sources including data sets and reports where utilised from National Research Institutes, NGOs and UN Sources (TBC). For both Government and Non-Government data sources and reports, the reference period for which data was requested was 2003 - 2013. Most of the data that was available existed for the period 2008 -2013, however data gaps were present. A full list of all secondary data collected is available (Annex X). Key Informant (KI) Interviews Key Informant Interviews (KIs) were conducted at the District, Provincial and Commune Level. People were selected to be interviewed based on their knowledge, expertise and professional affiliations A Semi-structured interview relating to policy, programmes and Government directions were administered to Provincial Government Officials in all 4 Provinces when the Provincial offices were visited to collect the secondary data (ANNEX X). The same KIs were administered to Distric Commitee Leaders in Son La and Dien Bien. KIs were conducted in 2 districts in Son La and 2 districts in Dien Bien. At the Commune level, X additional KIs were conducted in 2 districts in both Son La and Dien Bien. A second semi-structred intervew was created which intended to capture information on how policies have been implemented and the kinds agricultural practices common on the ground. Key Informants interviewed included Commune leaders, Farmer group Representatives, business men, NGOs and Professional Agencies. Data from the KIs were subjectively analysed to identify key trends across the responses. Focus Group Discussions 3 A Semi-Structured Interview was designed to fill information gaps identified after reviewing Secondary Data and KIs (ANNEX X). This was administered through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) together with the complementary use of the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools 'Community Mapping' and 'Seasonality Calendar'. In addition, the research team conducted a Transect walk through the village where each FGD was held. FGDs were carried out only in Son La and Dien Bien. It was planned that 3 FGDs of 10-15 people each would be conducted in each Commune: 1. Forest Dependent (either assigned a lot to protect or a production lot) 2. Agriculture Dependent (Crop and/or Animal Husbandry) 3. Small Business Dependent After piloting, it was found that clear distinctions between Forest and Agricultural dependent households were not always evident and as such, these groups instead presented a mixed sample of forest and agriculture farmers. Entrepreneurs were more clearly separated. District Leaders selected which Communes and Villages that were to be visited based on criteria supplied by the research team: 1. Forest, Agriculture or Business Oriented people 2. Typical production systems which were representative of the Province 3. Recommended by NGO partners The research team attempted to reduce bias in the District Leader's selection of communes by emphasizing that this was a research exercise and that no direct development assistance would result for participants. From the 2 Provinces visited, 9 communes from 5 Districts were Sampled (Table X). A total of XX people participated in the discussions, of which XX were Women and XX were aged between 15 - 35 (What is the definition of YOUTH for the HT programme?). Most of the people were from the Kinh and Thai ethnic groups (XX% and XX% respectively) with only XX% representing other ethnic minority groups. The information from these FGDs were directly used to provide qualitative information to the report. No coding or statistical analysis of the data was completed. Province D i s t r i c t C o m m u n e V i l l a g e s S o n L a T h u a n C h a u Chieng Bom C h i e n g L y T h o m M o n V a n H o V a n H o T o M u a M o c Q a u D o n g S a n g Muong Sang D i e n B i e n D i e n B i e n T h a n h N u a Muong Phang M u o n g C h a N a S a n g Household Survey After the completion of the FGDs, information gaps were still evident. In an attempt to extract more detailed information and provide an additional opportunity to triangulate the information already found, 3 short Household Surveys were developed and administered to Households in the same Communes as the FGDs (ANNEX X). The Commune leaders selected the Households to be surveyed based on the criteria that they were Forest, Agriculture or small business orientated. Between 10-15 Households were surveyed in each commune. Due to the nature of the selection criteria, XX% of 4 households that were surveyed were also represented during the FGDs. XX% were Kinh, XX% Thai, XX% H'Mong and XX% represented other ethnic minority groups. No statistical analysis was calculated with this data, rather it was for subjective analysis and interpretation only. Market Visits To better understand the market structure, 10 market visits were organised in Son La Province. In Son La City, 3 large markets were visited, 3 Central markets were visited in both Thaun Chau and Moc Chau Districts and 1 Central market in Van Ho Province. Due to time and financial restraints, Market information for Dien Bien was was sourced from the local trade office instead of conducting Market Visits. During thetransects of each market the following information was captured: 1. Different products sold 2. Current prices and trends 3. Packaging and labelling 4. Means of transporting products to market 5. Origin of products and supply chains. This information was utilised exclusively in the Market Section of this report. Stakeholder Consultation Draft results were presented to National Government, Research, and Development NGOs stakeholders during a 2 day Workshop (Annex X). Apart from discussion and confirmation of the presented preliminary results, Stakeholders were asked to provide their input on what a) underlying system problems in the NW Region are and b) what the possible solutions are and why. This information was used to compliment and confirm those raised in the prelimary results. Missing documents to be collected from section leaders: 1. List of types of data to be collected 2. List of all data sets collected. Including Source, reference period, date and author. 3. Key Informant Interview Templates (Provincial/District and Commune Level) 4. Key Informant Interview Results 5. FGD Participant Lists 6. FGD Semi-Structured Interview Template 7. Electronic FGD results and photos 8. Copies of each Household Survey Template 9. Electronic Household Survey Results 5 Development Overview Context of region In general, the Northern Upland region is hilly to mountainous with remote rural area, infrastructure is poor and population density (person/km2) is low (Lai Chau 44, Lao Cai 101 persons, Son La: 80 persons and 54 person) as compared with northern mountainous provinces 120 person/km2. The region is less urbanized and livelihood of local people more dependent on agriculture than other regions. A large share of population is ethnic minority with more than 20 different groups. Rice and upland crops are an important source of income, it estimated about 30-35 % of agriculture GDP (GOS, 2012). Although open market economy and economic reform policies recently has greatly improved the rural economic structure, but it still face with many challenges because the poverty rate is still high and the economy of this region heavily relies on the agriculture (defined broadly to include crops, livestock, fishing and forestry) with low economic efficiency. Moreover, local livelihood resources are limited due to infertile cultivated land (upland degradation), less opportunity for income generation. Therefore, Vietnam Government continuously support for social economic development in Northwest provinces through reformed policies and different action rural programs. Income level and trend Since the beginning of this century , the Vietnamese economy has sustained high economic growth rates while markedly reducing poverty during its transition to a market-oriented economy. Since 2002, the GDP growth rate has been consistently above 7.0% and has accelerated from 7.0 percent in 2002 to 8.4 percent in 2005 (World Bank, 2006a). Despites the impacts of recently global economic crisis, Vietnam has remained growth rate of GDP at 6.3 percent in 2012 (GOS, 2012). Observing the trend of GDP of four provinces in period 2010-2012, it indicated that GDP has grown continuously over three years . Accompanying with economic growth rate of four provinces, in general, the trend of income per capita per year has also increased year by year in both the rural and urban area. The statistic data 2012 indicated that income per capita of urban area of four provinces was higher than 20 million VND per year, while it was less than 10 million VND per year in rural area. Observe the trend of income per capita in period of 2008-2012 (figure 1, 2,3,4), it has clearly showed that income disparity between urban and rural area is more clearly. The gap of average income per capita in these province ranges from 2-3 times. The inequality of income is considered as a social problem, especially income and income sources for ethnic minority in remote area. 6 30 25 Income million VND/year Income milliion VND/year 25.00 20.00 20 15.00 15 10.00 10 5.00 Urban 5 Urban Rural Rural 0 0.00 2008 2009 2010 2011 2008 2012 2009 2010 2011 2012 Years Years Figure 1: Trend of income in Lai Chau Figure 2: Trend of income in Lao Cai 30 20 15 10 5 Figure 3: Trend of incomeUrban in Son LaRural 0 2008 2010 2012 Years Figure 3: Trend of income in Son La Income million VND/Year Income million VND/year 25 25 20 15 10 5 Urban 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Years Figure 4: Trend of income in Dien Bien 1.2. Poverty level in study area Over two recent decades, the Vietnamese Government has achieved remarkable records in poverty alleviation program. World Bank reported that that poverty rate in Vietnam has sharply fell from 58.1 percent in the early 1990s to 14.5 percent by 2008 as using the “basic need” poverty line initially agreed in 1990s, this an average 3 percent per year (World Bank, 2012). Regarding to the trend of poverty rate of four studied provinces in period of 2004-2012 (figure 5) showed that poverty rate of four provinces rapidly fell after four years (2006-2009), it has a similar trend after the new poverty line established in 2010 (income per month is lower 400 thousand VND in rural and 500 thousand VND in urban area. However, unsustainable poverty reduction seems to be appeared because the rate of the near poor, who have income per month from 401-520 thousand in rural area and 501650 thousand VND in urban area, still remains at high level (Lai Chau: 9.7%, Lao Cai 11.6%, Son La: 10.3% and Dien Bien 6.8%) 7 60.00 Poverty percent (%) 50.00 40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 Lao Cai Son La Dien Bien Lai Chau 0.00 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Figure 5: Change of poverty rate of four provinces in period of 2004-2012 Figure #: Poverty Map Factors effect on the rapid poverty reduction: There are many factors have contributed to poverty reduction in Vietnam in general and particular in these provinces. First, it is essential to address the role of new reform policies relate to poverty issues, open market economy and key stakeholders in Vietnam (government ministries, the National assembly, local researchers and research institution, INGOs and NGOs and International partners) have given many efforts and released national programs to solve poverty as so far such as program 135 (I, II) and Resolution 30a/CP of the Government on the poverty reduction support rapid and sustainable for the poorest districts in the country. Second, it is a strong involvement of local stakeholders (provincial authorities/local Government, mass organizations, private sectors and commune level, pioneer farmers etc.) in implementation phase and scaling up to reduce the rural poor at communities. Of which, local Government plays a key role in successful pilot models and ensuring that scaling up is taken broadly in communities and linkage between donors and local people. The poor and near poor in rural area has been supported new varieties, input materials and technical assistances, these are incentives for the rural poor in improvement of their production system and income to escape from the poverty. Challenges for poverty reduction in Vietnam: Despites poverty reduction progress have achieved remarkable success, the task of poverty reduction in Vietnam is not complete, and in some aspects still cope with different difficulties such as the rate of economic growth has slowed, macro economy instability beginning in late 2009, poor livelihood resources in rural area and the poverty rate in rural area is still high from 5-15 times as compared to urban area (Table 1), of which, the poor in rural area mainly are ethnic minority groups and Hmong, Dao, La Hu, Cong people are remained with the higher poverty rate in these provinces. Table 1: Urban - Rural disparities in poverty in period 2010-2012 Province 2010 Total Urban Rural Total 2011 Urban Rural Total 2012 Urban Rural 8 46.78 9.88 Lao Cai 42.9 11.2 Son La 38.14 Lai Chau Na 55 47.2 10.22 55.47 41.37 9.52 49.63 53.4 35.28 9.84 44.89 27.69 7.19 35.01 Na 34.8 Na 50.01 8.11 59.23 45.28 Dien Bien Sources: Provincial statistic data 2010-2012 Na 31.9 6.98 53.82 38.24 Na Na 3.71 45.88 Malnutrition children Malnutrition remains a problem in many of the poor, isolated rural areas of Vietnam, particularly mountainous areas, it estimated about more than three million children under the age of five are malnourished (NIN, 2012). High rates of child malnutrition not only hinder the development of the children themselves, but also affect the potential of economic and social development in general. Rate of malnutrition (%)( Rate of mlnutrition (%) 50 40 40 30 30 20 20 10 Lai Châu Son La Lao Cai Điện Biên Lai Châu Son La 10 0 Lao Cai Điện Biên 0 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2004 2006 Years 2008 2010 2012 Years Figure 6: Trend of malnutrition (underweight) Figure 7:Trend of malnutrition growth deficiency Rate of malnutrition (%) 12 10 8 6 4 Lào Cai Sơn La 2 Lai Châu Điện Biên 0 2004 2006 2008 Years 2010 2012 Figure 8: Trend of malnutrition underweight per height - wasting Statistical data in these provinces indicated that the malnutrition rate has remarkably reduced in period of 2004-2012 with three types of malnutrition (underweight, growth deficiency and underweight as compare to height). Among three types of malnutrition rate of children under five-year-old in 2012, it reported that the rate of malnutrition rate underweight in four provinces occupies from 20.8-23.5%, rate of children malnourished by growth deficiency about 31.9-37.8% and 6.7-7.2% of children have been malnourished by underweight as compare with height. Of which the rate of malnutrition in rural area occupies 90% of malnourished children under five-year- old. Comparison with Asia 9 countries, the rate of undernourishment remained at 13.9% (FAO, 2012), the malnutrition rate of Vietnam is still high among Asian countries. Education and literacy rate Education Vietnam has obtained universal primary education by Vietnam national standard. The equality of education has improved on multiple aspects. In these studied provinces, the school system have newly built and renovated to fulfill the increase demand of all education levels. Every commune has nursery school, primary school; lower secondary school and upper secondary school are available in every district. Local government has put many efforts through support policies to encourage pupils go to school to build up the quality of labor resource. Table 2: Percentage of pupils at different education levels in 2012 Unit: Percentage Education level Lai Chau Lao Cai Son La Dien Bien Primary schoool (5 years) 98.34 98.96 99.18 99.6 Lower secondary school (4 years) 96.95 98.62 75.60 87.5 Upper secondary school (3 years) 79.36 96.82 16.69 51.6 Sources: Provincial statistic data 2012 Counting for the enrolment rate at right age in four province provinces, it estimates about 99.9 percent of children has enrolled at primary school. The rate of pupils enrolled into lower secondary school and upper secondary has lower trend, especially percentage of pupil enrolled to upper secondary school is less than 80%. However, rate of female pupil enrolled into upper secondary school seemed lower; it is only 70-77% of female pupils at school ages Literacy among man and woman Although Vietnam has noted that the universal primary education at primary school has obtained in 2000, the literacy rate in Vietnam approximates 94 percent. However, the rate of literacy rate in mountainous provinces is lower than as compare to others. Census survey in 2011 indicated that literacy rate in four provinces from 61.6-78.2 respectively. The literacy rate of male from 75-88.5% is higher than female 48-72.5% respectively (Table 3). Table 3 : Rate of literacy among man and women above 15 age Unit: Percentage Provinces Total Male Female Lai Chau 61.6 74.8 48.0 Lao Cai 77.8 83.2 72.5 Son La 78.2 88.5 68.2 Dien Bien 65.0 79.9 50.5 Sources: Provincial statistic data 2011 10 Employment rates The process of agricultural-rural urbanization and industrialization has created the dramatic changes in the lives of Vietnamese farmer at present. However, these changes have less effected on farmer livelihood in mountainous provinces, especially remote rural areas. Table 4: Labor force distribution by gender, residence and types of ownership Unit: Thousand persons Employment rate Lai Chau Lao Cai Son La Dien Bien Total population 403.20 648.27 1134.3 519.286 Total employer 236.9 442.39 707.2 285.923 + Male 119.65 219.59 351.85 148.158 + Female 117.25 222.80 355.35 137.765 By residence + Urban 35.81 104.4 100.56 39.515 + Rural 201.09 337.99 606.64 246.408 Employed population by types of ownership + State 24.83 39.42 53.45 39.276 + Non-State 211.26 350.28 650.18 244.579 + Foreign invesment sector 0.03 0.93 0.54 0.018 Sources: Provincial statistical data 2012 Statistic data indicated that there is a large proportion of labor force at the age 15-60 locates in rural area and employed in farming activities Table 4. Data in indicated that the employed rate in agriculture sector approximates 80 percent of labor forces in these provinces. Their livelihood mainly subjects to farming activities, off-farm and non-farm activities. The remain labor force in urban area employed in state-owned, private enterprises and foreign investment sectors The quality of labor force in these provinces has been facing with low skill and less experience, it estimated that only 11.4-15 percent of labor force above 15 year old has been trained through vocation training or short training courses with duration of 1-2 months, of which, the rural labor force has been trained as so far only 6.1-7.5%. Moreover, women labor in rural is considered as an important part in rural development, they play a vital role in farming activities and running house’s works and children care, but unfortunately, they are less to be invited attending the vocation training courses because of the gender preconception. Challenges for employment in rural area: The abundance of labor force in rural areas is not only the loss of farmland but also because of the pressure of population growth while the average cultivable land per capita is low, it estimated that working time consume for farming activities only 50% of working time of the year (Thinh 2009) due to seasonality of agriculture production. The redundancy of labor in rural area has increased social problems such as crime victims, shifting of rural labor to urban area to fine job opportunities, but the opportunities for seasonally migration are limited by low demand for unskilled labor, it cannot meet the requirement of enterprises, especially, labor force from ethnic communities with a high rate of illiteracy. The illiteracy labor force in rural area is a main cause of low labor efficiency in agriculture production as well as other sectors. Overcome to the low skill of labor forces in rural area, a National Vocation training program has launched with the aim of improvement labor skill in rural area to meet the social requirements. However, a large proportion of young people after training cannot find a suitable job, exception for trainees who attended farming skill improvement training courses. 11 Trend of private sector investment in agriculture In the last, public investment in agriculture was dominated through National programs and trajectory by Government and local authorities, private sector was not officially recognized under centrally planning economy which was put under broadly defined term of black market and informal sector (Hung et al 2011). After economic reform policies 1986, private sector has rapidly emerged and joined in agriculture and rural development, it has gave a significantly contribution in social economic development of mountainous provinces. However, the number of enterprises has invested in agriculture sector still limits because of the high risk association and low increment economic efficiency. Statistical data of four provinces indicated that proportion of enterprises invested in agriculture only 2.7% in Lai Chau, 1.7% in Lao Cai, 4.8% in Son La and 5.1% in Dien Bien province. These enterprises have operated in the form of Join-stock companies or cooperative alliances. In recently years, enterprises invested in rural area mainly are rubber, tea planting, processing factories and service provision of agriculture input materials such as fertilizer, seedling, pesticides, equipment and machineries etc. The capital invested in agriculture sector unstably year by year and ranges from 200-500 billion VND per years, of which, it estimated about 70 % of capital invested in rubber and tea plantation. Agriculture sector: These enterprises focused on the tea production and processing, coffee production and exportation. Of which, Tea joint stock companies has increased investment in production and processing because tea products are easily exported to foreign countries in recently. Forestry development sector: Under national program on rubber development in Northern provinces, Joint –Stock Rubber Companies has established in recent years in four provinces and directly invested in rubber planting. However, the rubber in northern of Vietnam still in period of vegetative growth and the economic efficiency hasn’t confirmed. Livestock and aquaculture enterprises: Aquaculture enterprises mainly focused on the fish stocking, pig farming in both piglets and fattening. However, production scale is small and the output was not enough to meet the local demand. Moreover, the quality of fingerling and piglet was low because of poor infrastructure and technique apply, as result the source of piglet and fingerling for production in these province must import from other provinces Assessment on the trend of investment in agriculture and rural area in these province by private enterprises, it reported that the capital volume for agriculture has limited as compared to 2010 (Hung, 2013) and many enterprises have been collapsed or narrowed production scale, for example in Dien Bien province 9 of 10 private enterprises in forestry sector has closed in 2011-2012 because a restricted loan from banking system and limitation external cash flow under the circumstance of national liquidity crisis in these years and collapse of real estate bubble . Infrastructure, including roads, electrification, main ports and border exchange points 1.6.1. Rural road and electricity systems Vietnam has a great supports from ADB, EU and World Bank for improvement of rural infrastructure system through low interest loan packages. Through preference loan packages, Vietnam Government has launched necessary national programs to improve rural infrastructures, both of rural roads and rural electric system have addressed by program 135 from 1999-2005. In this period, the rural road system were rehabilitated or upgraded to connect commune to each other, to district towns, or to national, provincial 12 road network. The electric systems were upgraded and massively developed new line system to communes and villages ensuring that people in remote area can assess to the national electricity grid. Under national programs on social economic development, rural road and electricity systems in four studied provinces has remarkably upgraded as so far, the road system has upgraded or new extended to commune and villages, new electricity system also have access to communes center and villages. The statistical data 2011 indicated that more than 95% of commune has road system access to commune center, however, the percent of commune has road system has been concreted only 45.45-56.12% in these provinces due to lack of financial investment. Map #: Road system in region The electricity system has covered more than 98 % of commune in these provinces; it is impressive effort of Vietnam government over two recent decades, of which the rate of commune has access to national electricity grid system from 60-79% and the rate of household in rural access to electricity from 74-95%. The rest of HH hasn’t access as so far to electricity system mainly settles in remote villages with high geography area and low population density, it requires more cost investment. 1.6.2 Piped potable water access Better access to safe water and sanitation, delivered by the Government programs and under support of UNICEF, will help ensure that the quality of life for people in rural communities improves, which is important for sustainability and equity of growth in Vietnam. In period of 2001-2010, the clean water program has widely implemented in rural area in the Northern provinces and obtained impressive results. It approximate 90% of HH in urban area has access to clean water and clean water tapes have been built in more than 75% of rural communities. However, the rate of HH has accessed to clean water source is relative low (Lai Chau 18.23 %, Son La and Dien Bien approximate 41% and it has better in Lao Cai 77.24 %). Table 5: Available water accessing in urban and rural area Province Lai Chau Lao Cai Son La Dien Bien Urban area Percent of HH has access to clean water (%) Rural area + Percent of commune access clean water (%) + Percent of HH has access to clean water (%) 89.52 87.88 91.67 95.55 90.91 90.20 75.50 82.65 69.46 77.24 40.30 40.81 1.6.3 Rural Market and Border exchange points This region plays an important role for trading in the Northwest region because these provinces borders with Lao PDR and China. There are 9 border gates opened in these provinces, of which 5 border gates for trading with to China and 4 border gates exchanges to Lao PDR. It estimated about 80 % of export and import good volume has exchanged through China at Lao Cai province. Major goods exportation to China consist of rice, 13 rubber, fruit, cassava starch, mineral, and import commodities are fertilizer, consumption commodities, machineries etc. Exchange with Lao PDR mainly is importing, of which 90% of imported commodities are iron ore mineral and wood-blocks. Exporting to Lao PDR mainly are seedling, fertilizer and petrol gas. Table 6: Local exchange points and border gates Province Lai Chau Lao Cai Son La Dien Bien Border exchange point Viet Nam- Lao Viet Nam- China Rural market points Percentage of commune have market points 01 03 02 - 02 01 20.2 Na 28.7 15.3 Together with improvement of rural road system, the rural market development is a part of economic development strategy has been set up by provincial authorities. Provincial secondary data 2012 indicated that the rural market system has extended from central province to district and communes as available number of local fixed market points Table 10 The appearance of fixed market points at district or commune and better rural road system which have promoted the exchanges of agro-products between villagers and outsiders. Local market channels today have dominated by private traders through business process (Luong 2013). Exchange between villagers and outsiders at fixed market points which help farmers obtain better price at farm gate as well as assess to necessary basic needs of farming input material. Moreover, available input supply and market information exchange have created the value chain in rural area for agro-products. 1.7 Ethnic/cultural diversity and general roles of women and youth 1.7.1. Ethnic/cultural diversity Viet Nam is known as a country in which many ethnic groups are living together on the same territory. In Northern provinces, there are more than 20 minority groups are settled from high mountainous area to downtown of districts or city zones in provincial center. Regarding on the ethnic composition figure 9 indicated that Thai people is a major ethnic group in Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau with largest proportion of population (34-55%). A Hmong person occupies from 18-20% of population and settles in higher mountainous region of these provinces. Ethnic composition in Lao Cai Ethnic composition in Dien Bien Kinh Kinh Hmong Thai Tay HMong Dao Dao Kho Mu Giay Ha Nhi Nung Lao Other Ethnic composition in Lao Cai Kinh Khang Other Ethnic composition in Lai Chau Kinh Thai Hmong HMong 14 Tay Dao Ha Nhi Dao Giay Giay La Hu Figure 9: Ethnic composition in four provinces Thai ethnic people plays as a key role in implementation of social economic development in Northwest provinces, they are main labor force in rural area and have greatly contributed in preserving the ethnic cultural identities in Northwest region. Moreover, Thai ethnic people has stored a lot of experience in farming skills and indigenous knowledge, as so far, they still keep the pioneer role in implementing models of poverty reduction and scaling up to other ethnic groups in communities. Kinh people is a Vietnamese majority, resettle in Northwest only 15-20 % of population, exception for Lai Chau province 35% of population and it is result of immigration in the past decades for social economic development. Although Kinh people resettled with a less proportion, they are widely keeping a leader role in state organizations at different institution levels. Other ethnic groups locate in different geographic regions, they also contributed a large labor force in agriculture and forestry production, new rural model building, create the diversification of ethnic culture and give tourism performance, especially Thai and Hmong people . On the other hand, they are giving a significant role in protecting frontier area and national territory through residential area and farming activities in near border region. 1.7.2. Role of women and young Role of woman FGD during field trip in Dien Bien and Son La province, it found that rural woman play a central role in farming activities, it estimated about 60% of workloads of farming production which was carried out by woman forces. Moreover, at family level, they also keep an important role in house works such as fuel wood collection, water collection, children care and family relationship linkage etc. In social network scope, women has participated in different social associations such as Woman Union, Farmer association etc and play key role in creating credit channels, poverty reduction network, and strongly joined in other social works at community level. However, rural ethnic minority girls and women are especially disadvantaged, are be confirmed that have lower social status, less education, fewer contacts outside of their community. Role of young generation in agriculture development In rural area, young is next generation of farmers, producers and workers, a rural economy in future cannot detach the role of young labor forces. In four provinces, it estimated about 30-32 % of population is young people with age 16-30 who will contribute for rural economy in future (Statistical data 2009). In which 80 % of young people have better education through universal primary school and higher education levels and they will be become a better labor force. FGD in studied sites indicated that, beside the school time, young people have intensively involved in farming activities, off-farm works by both of 15 labor exchange and hired labor by rubber companies in recently years and non-farm works or a part of young people moved to city zones, industrial zones, even goes to work in foreign countries and give back remittance to their families. On the other hand, it is especially, Resolution 30a issued, educated young people have more involved in social works at commune level such as leader of commune, local staff. In addition, many young people in these provinces has given a value sights in building new enterprises, business firm in the rural area . 1.8. Policy environment, distribution of decision making and role of local government, land tenure regimes As so far, various policies relate to agriculture sector has issued by government through serious of Degrees, Circulars, Resolution and legal documents to support for agriculture and rural development. The Resolution10 1988 suggested higher investment budget for agriculture and Land law 1993 was issued to confirm long term land use right is a benchmarks, the Degree 14/CP dated 2 March 1993 allowed household to borrow loan from the bank in order to develop agriculture and forestry and trading celebration for export agro-products etc. These policies have significantly boost growth rate of agriculture sector and forced rural economy rapidly shifted to private forms, as result in 2002, nonstate economic sector accounted for 46% of agriculture GDP (Dieu 2006). Decision making and role of local government in agriculture and rural development The rural and agriculture development plan is built up by the participant of different provincial divisions, of which, provincial DARD play a central role in implementing phase. In general, rural and agriculture development process is built up parallel at three levels (Commune, district and provincial level). The circulation process of plan building is illustrated by below flow chart (figure 10) The outputs of this process are agriculture development plan including (i)- Five year of master plan of agricultures and rural development, and (ii)- Annual plan of agriculture and rural development: Five years master plan of agriculture development often has built based on the target program of province on social economic development which has approved by resolution of provincial people committee. The master plan comprises action program for different sectors such as agriculture production, livestock development, irrigation etc. Annual plan of agriculture and rural development often verified year by year, it is more concreted on objectives and results of each sector. Provincial level Complete plan & submit to MPI Final meeting at province level Receive the plan from district, DARD after Complete plan Revise & complete Dept. Finance & Planning Review plan Dept. Finance & Planning District build up tentative plan District help commune to build plan Synthesis & revise Consulted meeting District Commune level Synthesis plan Function divisions build up plan Consulted Meeting at different section DARD build up tentative plan Provincial DARD help division build up plan DPI build up tentative plan Provincial PC releases the plan for build up yearly plan DPI/D OF help division , district to build up plan 16 Figure 10: Process of decision making on the land use at local level Land tenure and land use Land institution reform by land allocation policies 1993 has granted land users with land use period of annual crops 20 years and perennial crops 50 years. The main impacts of policies are the land tenure security for users has ensured and higher investment to agriculture by farmer households has increased remarkably (Camille et al 2009). Regarding types of land tenure in these provinces, it indicated that three types of land tenure are existed (1)- land owner by farmer household, (2)- Land owner by companies and (3)- land owner by state (people committees). It estimates about 90 % of cultivated land area has allocated to farmer households through land allocation policies with the land use right certification/red-book(GSO, 2012), farmer households have a right to select the best cropping systems and freely decisions to invest in their farm land. Forestland also allocated to farmer households with duration 50 years for reforestation and forest conservation which has positively changed in forestry sector by reforestation. Since 2006, rubber development program has launched in Northwest provinces under operated by Rubber Joint-Stock Companies, the forestland area under local government management before has allocated for companies. It estimates forest land area shifted from state management to rubber companies, statistical data 2012 indicated that about 67 % in Lao Cai, 49% in Lai Chau; 50 % in Son La and 12.6% in Dien Bien province for rubber planting and other purposes. Land owner by people committees mainly preserve for extending residence area of the future generation. Land tenure in Son La province (ha) 300000 Land tenure in Lao Cai province (ha) 300000 250000 250000 Companies Committee Household Companies 200000 Committee 150000 Household 200000 150000 100000 50000 100000 0 50000 0 Annual Crop Figure 11: Type of Land tenure in four provinces (ha) 300000 Land tenure in Lai Chau province Forest Aquaculture Other land Land tenure in Dien Bien province 500000 (ha) 250000 Companies Committee Household 200000 150000 400000 Companies Committee 300000 Household 200000 100000 50000 0 Perennial Crop 100000 Annual Crop Perennial Crop Forest Aquaculture Other land 0 Annual Crop Perennial Crop Forest Aquaculture Other land 17 Table 7: proportion of land tenure in four provinces Unit: percentage Types of land tenure Lai Chau Lao Cai Son La Dien Bien Committees (state) 0.01 0.29 0.34 2.06 Companies 37.95 52.28 26.79 10.37 Household 62.04 47.43 72.88 87.58 5. Institutional and civil society context, types and prevalence of NGOs, level of innovation in institutions, civil society oversight and registration The nature of civil society in Vietnam is till debate and the impacts of civil society was most difficult dimension to assess because data limitation and non-systematical monitoring. Analysis on civil society in Vietnam (Dang Ngoc Dinh, 2006) indicated that there are four types of civil organization which involved in rural development including: (1)- Mass organizations, (2)-Professional organizations (both central and local), (3)Vietnamese NGOs and (4)- Community base organizations such as farmer clubs, interest groups elderly association. Table 8: Types of civil organizations in Vietnam and it Types of civil Nam of organization Impact on rural development organization Mass organizations Farmer organization - Direct or indirect involvement in rural Women organization programs Young organization - Service delivery, policies dissemination War veterans organization - Create linkage among social groups Professional Red Cross - Charitable giving organizations Cooperative alliance -Vocation training, job creation Professional training - Volunteering services Vietnamese NGOs Research VNGOs -Promote agriculture, develop farmer’s Consultancy VNGOs skills and other different activities -Charity works International Research NGOs -Link to local NGOs and support for INGOs Consultancy NGOs agriculture, infrastructure etc. Community base Farmer clubs -Sharing information organizations Interest groups -Volunteering assistant (informal) Mass organizations have been created by Government; performing regulation is more depended on the state regulation. In term of institutional arrangement, the mass organizations has vertically established from central to local level (province, district and commune) and the operation of mass organizations covered various aspects and depends on the function of each particular organization. In rural development, these organizations has actively involved in policies dissemination, support for agriculture production through pilot models, linkage among social groups etc. 18 Professional organizations have defined as social-professional organizations which established base on the social needs, exception for “Red cross organization”. The operation of professional organization under legal regulation and focused on the vocation training, job creation etc. Regarding on the impacts of INGOs in these provinces, it reported that 13 different INGOs such as Oxfam, CARE, SNV, DANIDA etc. has been implementing in these province since 1990s. However, in recently, INGOs trend to increase a number of Vietnamese staff and increase linkage to local NGOs to operate at the rural level. The operation of INGOs and NGOs doesn’t intervene in political system, mainly focused on the improvement of agriculture, farmer livelihood, capacity building, improve infrastructure and marketing challenge promotion for agro-products. Community based organizations are established according to base on the people’s needs in various forms such as farmer club, interest groups. The functions and regulation of organization are set up by members themselves. Operation of community based organizations is flexible, varying time to time, place to place according to the particular local context. Although these are informal organizations, 6. General stakeholder and partner landscape in rural development and agriculture, key research institutions, and main development agencies including line ministries. Agriculture and rural development in Vietnam is especially concerned by Government as so far because of more than 60% of population relies on, mapping of stakeholder and partner landscape involve in agriculture and rural development (Figure 12) indicated that there are many stakeholders involved in this sector with different thematic function under different level. MARD is governmental agency performing state management functions in the fields of agriculture, forestry, fishery, irrigation/water services and rural development nationwide, including state management functions with regard to delivery of public service in accordance with legal documents. MARD directly released national programs (research programs, improvement of infrastructure etc.) and linked international agencies (NGOs) to provincial level through DARD and research institutions. MARD DARD Research Institutions Dept. of Agriculture and rural development in district Planning and Organization INGO Commune Implement and upscale Local NGO Extension service Figure 11: Stakeholders and partner landscape and intervention in agriculture and rural Market development Companies and Private MASS Organizations enterprises 19 Lower level agencies such as DARD of province, district agriculture and rural division, extension service, private sectors are implementing units and directly involved in carrying out the target programs in rural area. Of which, DARD more focused on the in administrative works and other agencies involved in production activities, capacity building, processing chain and market channel promote. Summary These province have greatly succeed in poverty alleviation, the living standard of farmer have improved through income increment. However, the gap of income between rural and urban has trend to be larger. Rural infrastructure system has greatly improved through different national poverty reduction programs and international program. Road, potable water and electricity system has broadly built and extended to remote communes, given a better livelihood for different ethnic minority groups in the Northwest region. Education system has much more improved in remote area, education in region has obtained primary universal, number of pupils enrolled in lower secondary school and upper secondary school has increased. However, the rate of illiteracy still remained, the low quality of labor force in rural area, especially, ethnic minority women, these are problems need to be concerned. Low investment by private sector in agriculture in recently has exposed because of bank loan limitation and high risk association and low economic efficiency. INGOs and NGOs have involved in agriculture and rural development sector with different activities and significantly contributed to agriculture and local people capacity building, but the week link between NGOs and local government has exposed, this relationship must improve in the future years. Inadequate implementation of policies due to weak collaboration among local institutions has partly affected on the agricultural and rural development. Women and youth in rural area has actively contributed in social economic development through farming and non-farming activities. Reference: Camille.S.M., K. Alwin and M.Zeller. 2009. Land allocation policy and conservation practices in the mountains of Northern Vietnam. Contributed Paper prepared for presentation at the International Association of agricultural Economists Conference, Beijing, China, August 16-22, 2009. Cao Thi Cam Van. 2008. Urban and Rural dimensions of income inequality in Vietnam. GSIR Working paper. Economic development & policies EDPO8. International University of Japan Dieu. P. Quang. 2006. Agriculture sector of Vietnam Policies and performance. International Congress on Human development in Mandrid. 2006. Dinh, D.N., B.T.Sinh., C. Dzung., D.N.Quang., D.B.Diem., N.M.Cuong., V.C.Mai. 2006. The emerging Civil society: An initial assessment of civil society in Vietnam. CIVICUS civil society Index Report for Vietnam. FAO. 2012. The state of food insecurity in the world: Economic growth is necessary but not sufficient to accelerate reduction of hunger and malnutrition. GSO (2012). General statistical data of Vietnam. Statistical publishing house 20 Hung. P.T. L.T.Q.Nga and D.T.Trang.2011. The strategy role of private sector in agriculture and rural development. Working paper in Vietnam. Luong.N.D. 2013. Report of trading and commercial activities of Dien Bien province 2013. National institute nutrition 2012. Statistical Data on the Nutrition Situation of Children over the Years Statistical book 2012. General statistic book Dien Bien province 2012. Statistical publishing house Statistical book 2012. General statistic book Lai Chau province 2012. Statistical publishing house Statistical book 2012. General statistic book Lao Cai province 2012. Statistical publishing house Statistical book 2012. General statistic book Son La province 2012. Statistical publishing house World Bank, 2006a. Vietnam Development Report 2006 – Business. Retrieved October 20, 2006, from the World Bank Web site: http://www.worldbank.org/reference World Bank. 2012. Vietnam poverty assessment : well begun, not yet done - Vietnam's remarkable progress on poverty reduction and the emerging challenges (English) CENTRE FOR AGRARIAN SYSTEMS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (CASRAD) ---------- o 0 o -------- REPORT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS IN THE NORTH WEST OF VIETNAM 21 Implemented by: Nguyen Van Son Hoang Thanh Tung Hanoi, 12/2013 22 CONTENT Agricultural Produce .................................................................................................... 23 1. 1.1. Main crops ............................................................................................................. 23 1.2. Livestock ............................................................................................................... 24 1.3. Tree Crops ............................................................................................................. 25 1.4. The Use of Agricultural Products in NW .............................................................. 25 1.5. Economic effectiveness of main crops .................................................................. 26 2. The Effect of Topography ............................................................................................ 28 2.1. 3. Sloping Land ......................................................................................................... 28 Technology used in production system ........................................................................ 32 3.1. Machinery ............................................................................................................. 32 3.2. Breeding ................................................................................................................ 33 3.3. Use of agrochemicals in production system in NW .............................................. 33 3.4. Large Commercial Farms ...................................................................................... 34 4. Gender discussions ....................................................................................................... 34 5. Policies for production systems in NW ........................................................................ 35 6. Conclusions and recommendations .............................................................................. 36 ANNEXES ........................................................................................................................... 38 A Note on Vietnam Specific Nomenclature In Vietnam a distinction is drawn between larger commercial farms (>2.1 ha) and smaller farms owned by a single household. In this report, the larger commercial farms will be refered to as "large farms" ("Trang trai " in Vietnamese), and the smaller household farms will be referred to as "farms" or "small holdings" (XXXX in Vietnamese).The smaller household farms are by far the most common in the North West region. 1. Agricultural Produce 1.1. Main crops Maize and rice paddy are two main crops in the North West Vietnam region, as measured by production areas and income contributions. Both crops cover an average land area of around 900 m2 per person, which can create the revenue of 1.4 and 1 million VND/person/year for paddy and maize respectively (Table 1 - Appendix). Cassava is takes up the third largest area with more than 200 m2/person on average, and is a major contribution to income in regions where it is grown. Annual crops such as soybean and peanut, and perennial crops such as tea and coffee generate significant sources of income and are the most commonly gorwn cash crops. Fruits and vegetables also play notable roles in average income, contributing 150,000VND/person/year although the land area occupied is relatively small. Figure 1 shows the land area and income generated for each major products in the region, and Table 1 shows average crop yield data for each province. 23 Figure 1 Average area and income for main agriculture products in NW Source: VHLSS 2010 Son La has the largest production area and volume produced for maize and paddy Maize yields are also the highest in Son La. In addition, Son La province which has diversified climate conditions, ecosystems and infrastructure has comparative advantages for agriculture productions with many famous products such as mango in Yen Chau district, plum and vegetables in Moc Chau and Van Ho districts, Son Tra in Bac Yen, Thuan Chau, Taro in Thuan Chau However, Lao Cai followed by Lai Chau have comparatively higher rice yields; with average production of 4.7 and 4.1 ton/ha respectively (Table 4 - Appendix).The main purpose of agriculture production in Lai Chau is for household consumption except for Cardamom and tea which are main cash crops in this province (Table 2, 3 - Appendix). Lao Cai has the potential to further develop vegetables and temperate fruits. The total areas of vegetable in 2012 was more than 10 thousand ha which produced above 100 thousand tonnes (Provincial statistic yearbooks 2012). Bac Ha and Sapa districts are main vegetable producing areas which cultivate not only in the winter season but also off-seasonal vegetables. Temperate fruits, namely plum, peach, pear and longan are developed well in the province, especially in Sapa and Bac Ha (where new variety of pear created by Lao Cai DARD was recognized by MARD in 2013). Tea is also a priority product; Oolong tea is exported to markets such as China, Japan and Taiwan. Income from cardamom is still the main source of cash income for ethnic minority (not Kinh or Thai) people living in upland areas, such as the H’Mong people in Sapa and Bat Xat districts (Provincial DARD’s report 2012). Dien Bien is well-known for aromatic rice varieties which are cultivated mostly in Muong Thanh field – Dien Bien districts (Key informant interview (KI)). The total area of rice field in Dien Bien is second highest in 4 provinces at more than 48 thousand ha producing about 160 thousand tons of rice in 2012. Coffee is main crash crop with approximately 3700 tons produced in 2012 (Yearbook 2012). 1.2. Livestock Pig raising is the most important source of cash cash income from livestock for farmers in NW by number of pig in four provinces. Pig production is greatest (at more than 450 thousand animals) in Lao Cai and Son La where the hybrid varieties of pig are most commonly used. There are also several large pig farms in Mai Son (3 farms) and Moc Chau districts – Son La province (KI). Table 5: Livestock in NW (head of animal) Lào Cai Sơn La Lai Châu Điện Biên 24 Buffaloes 123,743 156,350 Cattles 16,350 156,350 Pig 453,298 453,480 Goats 23,678 135,680 Horse 11,303 16,910 Poultry (1000 heads) 3,029 5,210 Source: Provincial statistic yearbooks 2012 97,270 14,950 170,430 25,530 8,300 929 116,194 42,031 298,573 50,947 9,457 2,593 Cattle and buffalos are raised for meat, and not commonly used for traction power in the past. The supporting programs for cattle in Son La province lead to high numbers, and especially dairy programs promote the herd of milk cows,aiming to increase the herd by 2,000 heads by 2020. There are also some projects working on improving the beef value chain for Son La such as ACIAR projects to increase the livelihood for cattle raisers in Thuan Chau and Mai Son districts. Poultry raising has developed steadily in recent years due to high demand from Hanoi and other markets. This results in high number of poultry in Son La and Lao Cai with more than 5 and 3 million of poultries for each province respectively. On the other hand, the livestock industry in Lai Chau and Dien Bien is mostly for provincial consumption. Meat production does not satisfy demand within the provinces. According to slaughterhouses in the region, at peak times (Tet holiday for example), pork and beef are transported from other provinces in to Lai Chau and Dien Bien to sell. There are some market channels to sell limitted quantity of local pigs and chickens from these provinces to Hanoi. Overall, animal raisers have to face difficulties in the high cost of feeds, weak veterinary services and unstable markets. It requires more supports from governments or other organizations to develop livestock in the NW of Vietnam. 1.3. Tree Crops Son Tra and cardamom are typical non-timber products that have been exploiting from forests. While Son tra has been produced mostly in Son La, Yen Bai, Lao Cai and Dien Bien provinces cardamom grows well in the high altitudes under the canopy of natural forest in Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces. These fruits can be used for medicine or direct consumption in Vietnam and China. China also is a large imported market of a number of agricultural goods from Vietnam such as cardamom, plum, banana and rubber. 1.4. The Use of Agricultural Products in NW Table 6 shows the proportions of commodities are used for different purposes, on average for the whole region. The table was developed based on the focus group discussions and the household survey conducted for this report. Rice, vegetables, and some fruits are the crops most commonly consumed in the household. Maize is generally used as animal feed or sold into domestic markets, cassava, tea coffee, cardamom and rubber are almost exclusively sold, and a variable proportion of fruits and vegetables are also sold. Overall, most of agricultural produce is for sale rather than for household use. The quality of meat from local animals is high, so that traders have been transporting them to city markets for sale as special products. Chickens are eaten regularly, pigs for special occasions and cattle are generally sold for out-of-province markets. 25 Table 6: Estimated purposes agricultural products in NW (Percentage) Household Domestic consumption Feed Medicine market Paddy 80 10 0 10 Maize 3 47 0 50 Cassava 1 15 0 84 Soybean 30 10 0 60 Peanut 55 0 0 45 Sugarcane 1 0 0 99 Sweet potatoes 50 15 0 35 Vegetables 40 10 0 45 Mango 45 0 0 55 Orange 40 0 0 60 Apple 70 0 0 30 Longan 20 0 0 80 Plum 3 0 0 37 Banana 10 0 0 50 Coffee 5 0 0 95 Tea 4 0 0 70 Rubber 0 0 0 30 Son Tra 10 0 20 70 Cardamom 5 0 15 20 Pig 40 0 0 55 Poultry 70 0 0 27 Cattle 5 0 0 85 Source: Household survey and Focus group discussion 2013 1.5. Export 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 60 40 0 26 70 0 60 5 3 10 Economic effectiveness of main crops Using information from the Focus Groups and Household Survey the profit average from major crops was calculated, and is presented in Table 7. The profit margins change greatly between upland crops (above 800m) and lower land crops (below 800m). For example, the net profits from one hectare of lower land maize is more than double that from one hectare of upland maize. Yields of maize in upland areas are generally lower, which may be due to poor soils and climate, but may also be due in part to the lower levels of input used by in the traditional cultivation methods of ethnic people such as H’Mong.. Although paddy and maize are most widely planted crops the economic effectiveness (net profit) of these are not high as other crops. For example, paddy can create more than 30 billion VND/ha as revenue for producers but they have to pay for a large number of input costs such as seeds, fertilizer, pesticides. As a consequence, the net profit of a ha is around 5 million compared with approximately 20 million VND for shan tea or more than 40 million VND for plum. The cost of inputs for establishing and maintaining some crops can be preventative to poorer groups and should be considered. Nevertheless, the priority policies for agriculture in mountainous areas of Vietnam aim to ensure food security so that paddy and maize are production are encouraged. In addition, some provinces have supporting policies for the development of special local varieties of paddy rice , creating high value rice crops such as Seng Cu, DS1, Tau Bay in Lao Cai, and Bac Thom No 7 in Dien Bien. The greatest profit can be generated from vegetable production, at more than 60 billion VND per ha (calculating for 1 ha of green gourd). Even bigger profits may be possible for 26 some off-season vegetables in Moc Chau (Son la) or in Bac Ha and Sa Pa (Lao Cai). However, producers have to face the risks presented by unstable markets and prices as well as the requirements for food safety. Therefore, there should be plans for vegetables production and marketing strategies for them. Temperate fruits also be relatively very profitable - more than 40 billion VND per ha. However, most of fruit gardens are scattered so that the economic benefits per household is not so high. Furthermore, perennial crops such as shan tea and coffees have comparative advantages due to their yield and quality. The income from non-timber products is an important source of income, especially for the ones who live in high altitudes such as H’Mong and Dao people. They usually do not invest in producing these crops but exploit from natural forest (Cardamom) or planted forest (Son Tra). However, the income contribution of them are indispensable at around 20 million VND per ha per year, and, crucially, there is very little investment required in terms of inputs.. There are some examples of intercropping maize with pumpkin or peanuton sloping land in the uplands. This may, or may not, be in response to the declining fertility of steep land. Table 7: Economic effectiveness of main crops Total Investment/all inputs income/turnover Profits Farming system (1000 VND/ha) (1000 VND/ha) VND/ha) < 800 m Maize 2 crops 20,155 28,000 Maize monocrop 22,300 34,800 Rice 26,220 31,500 Vegetables (green gourd) 31,000 95,000 Sugar cane 37,620 47,500 Mango 12,580 14,000 Plum 24,906 66,439 Coffee (3rd year) 18,120 25,000 Coffee (4th year) 40,200 55,000 14,900 12,500 Maize & peanut 14,100 22,400 Cassava 15,710 21,250 > 800 m Upland rice 8,250 15,400 Maize monocrop 10,955 15,000 Cassava 16,380 22,500 10,305 14,400 Maize & Pumpkin 1,375 2,400 8,250 10,800 Upland rice & H’mong cucumber 575 1,000 Son Tra 0 15,000 Cardamom 0 24,000 Shan tea 13,000 32,000 Source: Household survey and Focus group discussion 2013 (1000 15,690 12,500 5,280 64,000 9,880 1,420 41,533 6,880 14,800 5,900 5,540 7,150 4,045 6,120 5,120 2,975 15,000 24,000 19,000 27 Table 8: Economic effectiveness of livestock (VND/household/year) Chicken chicken/year Cattles (3-5 cattle) (50 Pig (5 pigs/year) 158 4,260 10,870 Revenue 2,700 9,000 12,250 Income 2,542 4,740 1,380 Cost Source: Household survey and Focus group discussion 2013The net profits from livestock were also calculated and are shown in Table 8. Livestock can generate a notable income; but are not high in comparison to some of the cash crops. .Chicken raising at the scale of 50 chickens/year can produce under 5 million VND/household cattle around 2.5 million VND and pigs more than 1 million VND per household. However, the revenue from livestock sales that is relatively high after the longtime of raising is commonly used for important lump sum purposes such as house building, wedding or purchasing expensive assets. 2. The Effect of Topography 2.1. Sloping Land Figure 2 Transect map for a village in NW 28 Land use Slope Species Natural, plantation and regenerated forest Steep (> 15o) Cultivated area (upland crops) Moderate (5–15o) steep Paddy field Flat (< 5o) Flat Son Tra, Cardamom, Cassava, maize, Paddy regenerated tea vegetable shrubs Home garden Plums, longan mango, and avocado, coffee… around home garden Rich soil mixed with gravel, Red soil, no Rich soil Soil status black colour, red gravel. layer beneath. 20–30 cm 30–40 cm 50–60 cm Soil layer Forest quality Water scarcity, Limited area for Difficulties low high soil erosion paddy Forest Build irrigation regeneration and Tree-based Potential system; add enrichment with farming system Solutions manure hybrid acacia Focus group discussion 2013 and ICRAF report 2012 Rich soil, flat with high content humus. 50–60 cm Intercropping timber or fruit tree species and coffee The terrain can be summarised into 4 areas according to the slope of land. The highest, steepest, rocky land has areas of natural and planted forests, as well as the profitable tree crops cardamom and Son Tra. The greatest part of the cultivated area has moderately steep slope where maize, cassava and tea are grown on the 30-40 cm of soil layer. However, after any years of intensively grown monoculture crops the quality of land is degraded due to erosion and depletion, and inappropriate use of agro-chemicals. The problem of degraded soil on sloping land is particularly pressing in Son La province. In addition, the irrigation systems are usually inadequate to supply the needs of the crops, and the water holding capacity of the soils is too poor due to the degradation. There is a major need to need to develop farming systems that can improve the quality of soil on these sloping areas. 29 Thirdly, the flat area in valley bottoms of highly sloping lands has the best quality of soil. It is mainly used for paddy and vegetables which require good water resources. However, the total area is small. It may be possible to increase production in these areas by squeezing in a second crop of vegetables on the paddy land during the winter season (Sep – Dec) and off season from June - August. Off season vegetable crops are already produced in Moc Chau district – Son La and Bac Ha, Sapa districts – Lao Cai province. In some districts such as Sa Pa (Lao Cai), these precious flat regions are being lost to hydroelectric dams and reservoirs. Finally, the area with less steep slope is used for house building, animal’s houses and gardens. Fruits and coffee are usually cultivated in this area of rich soil and high content humus. Fruits trees can be intercropped with coffee to increase the economic efficiency of the farming system. Most small holding farms have lands in all 4 category of slopes. AltitudeTable 9 Farming systems in the study villages, by elevation Elevation Topogr Site Ethnicity Dominant farming systems aphy Flat land Chieng Ly, Thai • Maize monoculture Thuan Chau, • Paddy rice 2 crops and a vegetable Son La crop in winter province • Upland rice monoculture • Taro monoculture (Khoai so Cu Cang) • Cassava monoculture • Beans intercropped with maize and cassava • Coffee monoculture and intercropped in home garden Under • Home fruit garden (mango, longan) 800 m • Pig and cattle raising • Poultry Moderat Nhop village, Thai • Coffee intercropped with fruit trees, e slopes; Chieng Bom, native Canarium a bit commune, • Cassava monoculture rocky; Thuan Chau • Upland rice monoculture water district, Son • Paddy rice: one crop/year scarcity La province • Maize monoculture (very little) • Eucalyptus hybrid • Cattle, chicken and local pig Sloping Cha village, Thai • Maize monoculture rotated with land; Quai Nua peanuts within a year water commune, • Cassava monoculture scarcity Tuan Giao • Paddy rice (one crop/year) in district, Dien rotation with peanuts after harvesting Bien • Newly established coffee plantation province (two years ago) • Fruit trees: longan, plum, mango • Livestock: buffaloes, pigs, poultry Sloping Nong Coc A, Khang • Upland rice rotated with cassava land; village, Long and fallow water He • Son tra monoculture with high tree 30 scarcity commune, Thuan Chau district, Son La province Co Ma H’mong village, Co Ma commune, Thuan Chau district, Son La province density • Son tra and beans • Livestock: buffaloes, cattle, pigs, poultry Sloping • Maize intercropped with pumpkins land; • Maize monoculture water • Upland rice rotated with cassava scarcity and fallow > 800 m • Upland rice intercropped with H’Mong cucumber • Terraced rice • Livestock: cattle, pigs, poultry High Ta Phin 2 H’mong • Maize intercropped with beans and sloping village, Ta pumpkins and Phin • Upland rice monoculture rocky commune, • Terraced rice land Tua Chua • Shan tea district, Dien • Cardamom under natural forest Bien canopy province • Scattered fruit trees: peach, plum, pear • Livestock: buffaloes, cattle, pigs, poultry Focus group discussion 2013 and ICRAF report 2012 It is also useful to categorise the land by altitude. Table 9 summarises the different production systems at different altittudes and for the differing degrees of slope. Land under 800m elevation has a greater production potential because farmers can grow two crops of paddy rotated with winter vegetables for flat area or maize, cassava monoculture or even beams intercropped with maize and cassava in sloping area. Besides, some indigenous vegetables are grown in this area, for example taro produced in Thuan Chau (Son La). For the region with moderate slopes and water scarcity, maize is cultivated as a monoculture crop and in some provinces and it may be rotated with pumpkin, beans or peanut. Home gardens are used to grown fruits such as longan, plum, mango, as well as coffee; these gardens are well developed in Son La and Lao Cai. . Livestock is also more productive at lower altittudes because of greater feed availability. Farmers change from raising local animals to hybrid animal to reduce the time of producing and increase income. In some regions, particularly Mai Son and Moc Chau (Son La), industrial feeds are used commonly for pigs and the cattle market is well developed. The characteristics of land above 800m are more steeply sloping and rocky land with poor irrigation systems. Main crops cultivated are terraced upland rice paddy and maize which does not require as much water. Shan tea is a special product produced in all 4 provinces with large area. The quality of tea is highly appreciated and there are many tea processing companies in the region to produce exported products. Temperate fruits also grow well above 800m. Local varieties of pigs, chickens and cattle are the major animals raised above 800m. The difficulties in infrastructure lead to high costs for raising livestock. Therefore, producers try to take advantages of local feeds and the adaptability of local animals. There is almost no industrial or semi-industrial livestock raising. Instead, local pigs and chicken are raised by free range and cattle, buffaloes are taken into the forest in the day time and caught back 31 at night. The lack of feed sources in winter is a serious problems for livestock in the region which may result in many of animal deaths in cold weather. The common timings for agricultural activities are shown in a crop calendar in Table 10 (appendix). There is only one crop for each kind of product in the upland area except maize, paddy and beans in some flat land. March and April are the planting months for almost crops in the NW a part from peanut which have 2 crops/year and starts growing in January for first crop. The harvesting seasons are usually from August to the end of October or begin of November each year. The land will stop producing in winter due to cold weather in the NW, especially in Lai Chau and Lao Cai provinces where the temperature may decrease to 0oC in some high land districts. 3. Technology used in production system 3.1. Machinery The cultivation of lower land rice paddy is partly mechanized, and small tractors are used as well as buffalos or cattle. Otherwise, most land preparation and harvesting is done using man power or animal power (See Table 11 in the Appendix). Post-harvest technology, and crop storage technology, is a major weak point for gaining added value from crops (Casrad report 2012). With the exception of rice threshing machines, processing technology is rarely if ever owned by small farmers. There are examples of companies opening up crop processing plants and contracting farmers to produce the required crops (for example Cassava in Son La). Crop and Livestock Varieties Table 12 Varieties for main crops Product Main varieties Special varieties IR 8423 (CR203); San ưu 63; Nếp Nương; Séng Cù, ĐS1, gạo Tàu Khau nhoi; Khang dân 18; IR 64; Iri 352; Tẻ Bay sapa, Gạo tám nương Mộc Châu; Q5; lúa lai F1; Bắc Thơm, Paddy Điện Biên, Gạo Dâu, Hương Thơm; VL20, LC212, LC270, LC25, nếp Ngọc Chiến Bio404,TH3-3, TH3-4, HT1, Syn6… LVN 184 và LVN 14, C919, LVN 25, CP 333, LVN10, LNV61, LVN8960, LVN45, LVN14, LVN99, NK54, LVN 25, DK8868, AG59, Maize LVN 885 Bioseed 9698, B06, CP888, CP3Q, DK9901, DK9955, NK4300, NK66, NK54 KM94, KM140, KM98-5, KM98-1, SM937Cassava 26, KM98-7, SVN ĐT 84,90,96,99, 2001, 2008, AK02, 03, M103 Soybean Tomatoes, Cai Meo, Bap Cai Xoe, kohlrabi, Chayote, Khoi tu, cai cabbage, cauliflower, chayote, Khoai tang, meo, bap cai xoe, Vegetables pumpkin, green gourd, Cai xoong, Khoi Tu, Thuan Chau taro… Tam Bop, herbs, taro, Rau Sang French peach, pears Lao Cai, apple, plum, Yen Chau Mango, Hau mango, longgan, King banana, Son Tra, Fruits plum, local pear Orange, lemons, pineapple, persimmon, Cardamom, Attiso, Giao Co Lam, Tam that, Non-timber honey, asparagus, products Source: Provincial DARD’s report 2013 and KI 32 There are a large number of varieties for each crop produced in the region. For grain crops, most of varieties are modern hybrids, desirable because of the high yields produced.. Simultaneously, the resotaation and development of special (local) products such as Seng Cu rice, Bac Thom No 7 rice, sticky rice of Thai people is encouraged. A large proportion of the maize grown is high-yield varieties provided by international seed companies, namely Syngenta, CP (Charoen Pokphand), VinaSeed, Maize research Institute. Cassava and soybean are increasingly cultivated by hybrid varieties instead of traditional ones. They are supplied through Research Institutes of cassava, soybean through agriculture extension systems in provincial levels and processing company such as Cassava Powder processing company in Son La. Apart from normal varieties of vegetables including cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower cultivated in winter season, the NW is famous for a number of special vegetables that are difficult to grow in other areas such as Khoi Tu, chayote, Cai meo, and Bap cai xoe. Some safe vegetable production areas have been established in Lao Cai and Son La to supply to high-quality markets in cities or even export to China. In addition, Tam Hoa plum, pear VH6, French peach is key fruits of the region. In addition, there are somespecial non-timber products which have great values in terms of medicine and food preparation such as cardamom, attiso, Giao Co Lam. 3.2. Breeding The technologies used for livestock are not very well developed (Table 13 in Appendix). There are not any breeding companies or agents to supply the quality young animals for farmers in the region. As a result, they are cross-bred by locals to provide for household demand; breeding animals can be bought in local markets of uncertainty of the quality. Moreover, livestock rising is rarely implemented according to aa technical protocol but by the experience of the farmer, and animal housing is low quality so that producers have to face extensive ranges of diseases for animal. However, the veterinary systems at local level usually do not meet the demand for raisers; therefore, the death percentage of animal is at a high rate. 3.3. Use of agrochemicals in production system in NW The more hybrid varieties used in production systems, the more agrochemicals used for crops. According to the household survey, 100% respondents except Hmong people say that they use or have used chemicals for their cultivations. Paddy, maize and tea are main systems used pesticides with large amount due to monoculture. Chemicals are used to protect plants from weeds in paddy and maize fields and diseases for all crops except some H’Mong households in Dien Bien and Lai Chau who grow local paddy without using any pesticides. Pesticides are used from 2 – 3 times per crop for paddy and maize, depending on diseases. The frequency of using chemicals for normal vegetables such as cabbage and cauliflowers is weekly from 2 weeks after planting to 3 - 4 weeks before harvesting. This also happens for other kinds of leaf-vegetables including normal tea (not shan tea) but is not applied for local and special vegetables including Cai Meo, Bap Cai xoe… which grow naturally. The biggest challenge for using agrochemical is awareness of producer about the effects of chemicals for crops. When there are any diseases occurring on the plants, farmers immediately go to the nearest local agent to buy pesticide. The decisions made through consultants of sellers who normally do not have any experiences in disease preventions. Some farmers even do not ask for consulting, they just buy chemicals that are similar to the ones the neighbor bought. Therefore, there is more than 90% of respondents do not know 33 about the name of chemicals they used for crops. Instead, they remember the color of the bag covering pesticides. As a result, the effectiveness of disease preventions is limited. There should be a statement on CHEMICAL FETILISER use. Check the marketing report for detail. The main point is that fartilisers are often over applied or under applied; and that training is inadequate, farmers often do not follow protocol (Table 14 in Appendix) The results from Focus Group Discussion indicates that: - The positive trend observed is that the farmers use NPK instead of nitrogenous, phosphate and potash fertilizers in isolation. - Majority of farmers do not use the inputs as recommended by technical officers, especially in terms of volume, frequency and time of application. - Farmers have had the chance to be trained with the process and techniques to use inputs, including fertilizers and plant protection drug but their application is mainly affected by previous habit. - Participation in trainings on use of inputs is limited. Participants are mainly technical officers and commune leaders. Dissemination and transfer of knowledge from those training courses to farmers remain limited. For instance, farmers in Thuan Chau, Son La have never been trained in vegetable farming techniques. 3.4. Large Commercial Farms In Vietnam, there is a special category of larger commercial farm, as opposed to familyowned small holding. The criteria for a large farm, or Chang Cha in vVietnamese, is that the land area must be over 2.1 ha of production area for cultivation and aquaculture and a turnover of 700 million VND a year; or 1 million VND for a livestock farm. Farm in this category can apply for special subsidies and benefits, and are also taxed differently. These type of farms are not common in the North West region; there are only 12 in Lao Cai, 29 in Son La and almost zero in Dien Bien and Lai Chau.In Lao Cai, there were 12 farms in 2012, in which 3 farms raising livestock and remaining ones are aquaculture production (Provincial Statistics Yearbooks 2012). Pig raising farms are located in Lao Cai city while aquaculture ones are located in Sa Pa and Bat Xat district to feed salmon and sturgeon fish. In Son La, besides, 10 aquaculture farms located along Da river and the lake of Son La Hydropower Plant, major farms produce dairy cows in Moc Chau district. The average size of pig raising is 150-200 pigs/producing circle so that the total revenue is from 1 -1.5 billion compared with dairy cows farms having size of 50 - 100 cows which generate from 1 – 1.5 billion of revenue. Especially, there are some dairy cows farms having from 150 – 180 cows and the farms is located in the area of 5-7ha and invested with trucks and other machines for milk production and transportation. Therefore, the income of those farms can achieve around 100 million VND per month. 4. Gender discussions Women play an important role in production system, including making many major farm decisions; but usually do not attend training workshops or other interactions with outside the village. Firstly, they are in charge of preparing inputs and material for planting season. The decision making process of choosing the volume and varieties of crops and animals is based on agreement between both wife and husband in a household. Then women are taken to buy seeds, fertilizers or breeding animals for a new production period. Works required strength such as land preparation or pesticide spray usually belong to men. However, women involve dominantly in taking care of all plants or animals although men are usually received production information through participating in the training, workshop or meeting to discuss about technical process of cultivation or raising livestock. These lead to the 34 problems of applied new technical protocols for their productions. These also resulted from the high rate of illiteracy of ethnic women, especially for Hmong and Dao people whom female are in charge of all housewife works so that they normally have to stay at home instead of going to school as male. Harvesting works belong to both men and women but transportation of agriculture product is men’s role. Interestingly, selling and marketing activities are mostly for women who are highly appreciated by bargaining skills. 5. Policies for production systems in NW There are a number of policies at national level that support for agriculture development in NW. According to Decision No. 2331/QD-TTg, farmers can get partial subsidies from the Government through providing hybrid seeds, fertilizers, machinery (tractors, threshing machine). These policies do not meet all the demands from the poorest people as H’Mong people who lack motivations and knowledge to take advantage of the subsidy. Decision No. 800/QD-TTg aims to enhance the role of agriculture extension, apply new technical processes into production through trainings and increase investment in postharvest technology to reduce losses through reorganizing production from small holder producers to collective groups, cooperatives or companies so that the living standard of farmers will be improved and the poverty is gradually eliminated. Recently, Ministry of Science and Technology issued 2 Decisions No 1847/QĐ-BKHCN in 01/7/2013 and 1746/QĐ-BKHCN in 28/6/2013 to build the program “Science and Technology for sustainable development for North West Vietnam”. These create legal frameworks and funding for agriculture research and development. At provincial levels, each province has supporting policies for two aspects: strengthening local commercial products having comparative through trainings or providing inputs; and supporting subsistence crops through providing advice services. Table 15 Products having provincial policy supports Lao Cai Paddy, corn, soybean, sweet potato, potato. Grains Tea Tropical and vegetables and fruits (plum, pears) Industrial plants Vegetables fruits Son La Hybrid paddy, pure paddy, potato, cassava, corn. Rubber Dien Bien Lai Chau Paddy, corn, potato. Hybrid paddy, pure paddy, corn, soybean. Tropical vegetables and fruits Types of vegetables, banana Buffalo, cow, pig Rubber Livestock Cattle Buffalo Aquaculture 3 blood hybrid carp, tilapia Green crayfish, carp, tilapia Non-timber Cardamom Son Tra products Source KI, provincial level documents 2013 Cardamom Rubber, tea Fruit trees (orange, tangerine, peach) Big cattle Fish living in cold water environment Cardamom These policies normally achieve excellent results at the beginning due to the scale of application. However, it is hard for farmers, especially poor households to fully follow 35 technical process which require high investments and techniques. Therefore, the number of producers benefit from supporting policies are still limited. Provincial governments also provide incentives for private companies to set up contract farming models which provide small holders with seed, inputs and training; contract to buy the products; and processing plants are set up in the province. For example tea companies in Lao Cai, Son La, Lai Chau, and cassava in Son La. 6. Conclusions and recommendations The main findings are: A diverse range of crops can be grown in the area, including staple crops, cash crops, vegetabels, fruits, livestock and NTFPs. The farming systems can be conceptualized as above 800m and below 800m; and belonging to four degrees of slope. Soil erosion, and degradation on sloping land and the weakness of irrigation systems are critical issues which lead to a reduction in yield for crops in the NW of Vietnam. Food security is promoted in the region, and high volumes of rice and maize result. The main cash crops come from perennial trees such as tea and coffees and temperate fruits; as well as vegetables. Livestock contributes a relatively small parts of income for producers, and the vetinary system is inadequate. The income from non-timber products is important for ethnic people who live at high altitude. The use of chemicals in production system without instructions and training may result in inefficiency in plant protection. Hybrid varieties are grown for the higher yields Many local varieties exist and some are already successful in the market. Recommedations Expand cash crops to increase producers’ income by technical trainings and credits supports. Encourge bulding the production areas for procesing companies such as tea in Son La, Lao Cai and Lai Chau, coffee in Son La.. Provide techniques of cultivation on sloping land and encourge crops integrations to reduce soil erosion and land degradation. Develop endegenous and local special products to take comparative advantages of geographic and biology conditions in the NW region Increase crop rotation to enhance economic effectiveness of production systems Promote collective actions to strenthen power for small scale farmers and reduce the cost of production Support the role of women in production system through providing education and trainings References 1. 2. 3. 4. Son La Statistics Yearbook 2012, Statistical Publisher, 2013 Lao Cai Statistics Yearbook 2012, Statistical Publisher, 2013 Lai Chau Statistics Yearbook 2012, Statistical Publisher, 2013 Dien Bien Statistics Yearbook 2012, Statistical Publisher, 2013 36 5. Investigation on Agriculture, Rural and Aquaculture in Son La 2011, General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2012. 6. Investigation on Agriculture, Rural and Aquaculture in Lao Cai 2011, General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2012. 7. Investigation on Agriculture, Rural and Aquaculture in Lai Chau 2011, General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2012. 8. Investigation on Agriculture, Rural and Aquaculture in Dien Bien 2011, General Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2012. 9. ICRAF 2012, ‘Diagnosis of farming systems in the Agroforestry for Livelihoods off Smallholder farmers in Northwestern Viet Nam project’, AFLI Technical Report No. 2 10. CASRAD 2012, ‘value chains research on temperate fruits, maize and other crops based on maize and temperate fruits systems’, ACIAR project - AGB 2008. 11. CASRAD 2011, ‘Increasing the safe production, promotion and utilisation of indigenous vegetables by women in Vietnam and Australia’, ACIAR project CP/2006/112 12. CASRAD 2013, ‘Son La beef value chain research’, ACIAR project. 13. CASRAD 2013, ‘Farming systems in Hoang Lien National Park – Lao Cai’, Project of enhancing biology tourism and capacity building for Hoang Lien National Park, 2013. 37 ANNEXES Table 1: Summary information about North West Item Unit No of household surveyed Household No of people Person/household Labour Person/household Rice consumption kg/person/year Rice production kg/person/year Total revenue 1000 VND/person/year Area of annual crops m2/person Area of perennial crops m2/person Area of garden m2/person Area of forestry m2/person Area of aquaculture m2/person Source: VHLSS 2010 Table 2: Production area of main crops in NW in 2012 (ha) Lào Cai Sơn La Lai Châu Paddy 30,580 60,470 28,790 Maize 33,659 168,740 21,410 Cassava 9,305 28,100 4,360 Soybean 4,910 3,595 Peanut 1,497 1,718 Sugarcane 302 4656 58 Sweet potatoes 888 417 410 Vegetables 10,032 5,518 2,229 Mango 345 3,033 253 Orange 236 149 Apple 54 Longan 1,402 7,438 253 Plum 2,552 Banana 1,287 276 Coffee 9,717 Tea 4,075 3,499 2,802 Rubber 583 6,666 9,741 Son Tra 2,192 Cardamom 8871 5,000 Source: Provincial statistic yearbooks 2012 Quantity 348 4.7 2.7 162.0 168.4 9,916.9 1,927.3 93.7 83.6 3,053.0 21.2 Điện Biên 48,231 29,246 7,036 6,573 1,750 27 592.4 4,274 289 214 54 299 3,708 521 3,640 38 Table 3: Volume of main crops in NW in 2012 (tons) Lào Cai Sơn La Lai Châu Điện Biên Paddy 146,203 178,960 119,277 161,865 Maize 115,619 667,350 57,978 71,622 Cassava (fresh) 115,056 352,610 35,547 54,406 Soybean 5213 4,621 8,810 Peanut 1,692 1,750 2,146 Sugarcane 7,813 313,488 2,650 560 Sweet potatoes 5,067 2,564 2180 6,508 Vegetables 105,954 71,597 14,083 64,803 Mango 844 11,687 320 591 Orange 670 339 923 Apple 246 270 Longan 3972 17,827 320 907 Plum 18,381 Banana 25902 3,153 Coffee 9,969 4532.3 Tea 13708 23,903 19,599 61 Cardamom 1254 1000 Source: Provincial statistic yearbooks 2012 Table 4: Yield of main crops in NW (tons/ha) Lào Cai Sơn La Lai Châu Điện Biên Paddy 4.781 2.959 4.143 3.356 Maize 3.435 3.955 2.708 2.449 Cassava 12.365 12.548 8.153 7.733 Soybean 1.062 1.285 1.340 Peanut 1.130 1.019 1.226 Sugarcane 25.871 67.330 45.690 21.132 Sweet potatoes 5.706 6.149 5.317 10.986 Vegetables 10.562 12.975 6.318 15.161 Mango 2.446 3.853 1.265 2.046 Orange 2.839 2.275 4.313 Apple 4.556 5.000 Longan 2.833 2.397 1.265 3.033 Plum 7.203 Banana 20.126 11.416 Coffee 1.026 1.222 Tea 3.364 6.831 6.995 0.116 Source: Provincial statistic yearbooks 2012 39 Table 10 Seasonal calendar of key species at the study sites No. of Elevation Plant Location crop Jan Feb Mar (masl) species seasons Maize 1 Peanut 1 C1 Bean 2 < 800 Son La > 800 < 800 Dien Bien Hill rice Cassava Sugar cane Coffee Paddy Arrowroot Maize Hill rice Maize Peanut Bean Hill rice 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 Paddy rice 2 P Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec C2 P C1 C2 C1 C2 C1 Maize 1 Peanut 1 Hill rice 1 > 800 cassava 1 Coffee 1 P P Shan tea 1 P P P Note: P= planting; C1 = first crop season; C2 = second crop season Source: C2 KI, Focus group discussion 2013 40 Jan Table 11: Technology used in cultivating Land Product Growing Post-harvest preparation Mainly use fertilizers and Use buffalo and pesticide, use very little of cattle for traction Paddy manure Partly use Apply traditional cultivation machine method of processing Mostly use fertilizers and Lack technologies pesticide In some region, no use of any Mainly dry in the field Maize Labor and store by hanging fertilizer Not strictly apply Technical over the kitchen Protocol (TP) for hybrid maize Cassava, Use buffalo and Partly apply TP soybean, cattle for traction Use fertilizer vegetable + labor Use fertilizer Produce by experiences Fruits Some processing cooperatives Tea, Labor Mainly apply TP, use fertilizers coffee Source: Focus group discussion 2013 Table 13: Technology used for livestock Product Breeds Raising Raising by experiences, veterinary services provided Self-breeding or but there are many diseases Cattle buying in local Mainly using animal’s house Using animal’s house + free raising Local pigs Self-breeding Hybrid pigs Mostly buying Using animal’s house + industrial feeds and other feeds young pigs Not strictly apply Technical Protocol Using available feeds No use of industrial feeds Poultry Self-breeding By experiences Source: Focus group discussion 2013 Table 14: Actual use of inputs for some key crops (on 1 hectare) Rice Maize Item Unit Recom Actual mended** Actual Instructed* Seeds Kg 40-50 30-35 15-20 15-20 Nitrogenous 400fertilizer Kg 500 360-400 Chayote Actual Instructed* 300-320 300-500 400 41 Phosphate fertilizer Potash fertilizer NPK (basal dressing) NPK (top dressing) Micro-organic fertilizer Pesticide (ready for use) Kg Kg Ton Ton 150200 0 1 0.6-0.7 0.6 0.6-0.7 500-600 250 180-200 130 0.9-1 0.8-1.0 Ton Litre 0.3-0.4 0.4-0.5 50100 25-50 1.5-2 0 150-180 Source: Survey results by FAVRI in 2013 * http://baovecaytrong.com/kythuatcaytrong.php?caytrongkythuat=% ** Rice growing technique instruction by Syngenta Agricultural Medicine Company. - - - - - Key findings of production systems Main crops + Grain crops: mostly for subsistence purpose except for maize in Son La + Cash crops: mostly perennial crops plus maize in Son La Agriculture zones: Slopes and altitudes + Diversified crops (in low, middle, high elevation) + Potential to increase crop rotation + Specially, local varieties are priority for development Erosion problems Water scarcity/irrigation issues Negative climate change impacts Technologies + use machines for land preparation + applied hybrid varieties to increase yield Lack of processing techniques Inappropriate chemical uses Economic effectiveness + Some crops are high profitable Cost of inputs is also high Farms: + the number of farms are small Number of policies support for production systems (through subsidies, trainings) Women are main actors in the systems but men involve more in the training/education Proposed maps 1 Agro-Ecological Zones: Altittude and Slope 3 altitude categories : above 1500m , 1500<800m, <800m 4 slope Steep Moderate steep Flat Flat (< 5o) o (> 15 ) (5–15o) 42 Also try to include ethnic minority locations. 2. Main Commodities Main Cropping Systems. Include special examples such as off season vegetables and desired systems like fruit tre es, dairy cattle, safe vegetables… 3. Yield Map Map Yields for some key crops – e.g. Maize and Rice Paddy Useful in site selection for interventions – choose low yielding locations. 4. Varieties (crops and possibly livestock?) Where are modern hybrid varieties grown Where are special local varieties grown MARKETS & INSTITUTIONS The topic of this section is a general picture about the consumption, supply of inputs and services, and distribution for agricultural, forest and aquatic products. The participation of State officials and market institutions in setting and implementing marketing policies is also documented. III. RESEARCH RESULTS 3.1. Market demand and structure By observing market, visiting traditional markets and reviewing households’meals the research team find that essencial commodities of researched provinces are rice, vegetable, fruit, pork, chicken, beef, shrimp, fish, tea and alcohol. They are indispensable foods in daily meals of households in 4 provinces. See Table 1 for the latest statistics of year 2012: consumption of fruits and vegetables is low whereas average per capita consumption of alcohol is relatively high; alcohol is considered as a staple in the household food basket in the provinces under study. Table 1: Level of consumption of key commodities in four provinces studied (Average per capita per month) (2012) Name of products Units Lao Cai Dien Bien Lai Chau Son La Rice Kg 12.27 11.13 12.83 13.07 Vegetables Kg 1.73 1.28 0.83 1.28 Fruits Meat Shrimp, fish Tea, coffee Alcohol, beer Kg Kg Kg Kg Litre 0.37 0.35 0.22 0.99 1.81 1.52 1.34 1.35 0.79 0.73 0.65 0.93 0.1 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.79 0.97 0.99 1.1 Source: Statistical yearbook of provinces in 2013 The balance between quantity of production and consumption is reflected in figure 2 (and in Annex1). We see that rice and products from livestock (except cows and buffaloes) produced 43 are just sufficient to satisfy consumption. For other products such as fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, they can sell to other provinces and export to other countries. For aquatic products, they are also deficiency for consumption in the provinces, especially for Son La province. Figure 2: Map of four provinces with differences in demand and production for rice, vegetable, meats, aquaculture, tea-coffee. In addition to the essential commodities above, many other products are known as speciality of the areas, as detailed below. For paddy-rice products Rice is main feeding crop therefore all the 4 provinces pay much attention in developing rice field and follow the government policy of stabilizing planting area and improving productivity and quality. In recent periods, production of rice in 4 provinces has mostly increased. Rice produced ensures consumption needs in Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai Provinces. The quantity of rice produced in Son La province lacks consumption by about 60,000 tons per year. Indigenous households lack rice in 2-3 months each year. It must be purchased from delta region for consumption. Particular, in Dien Bien province, there is famous rice products in Dien Bien district that are sold in market: “Bac Thom number 7”, “nep tan” (sticky), “te dau”…Main markets of these products are Son La, Hanoi, Hai Phong… However, nowadays, there are numerous traders who take advantage of Dien Bien reputation and mix Nam Dinh rice and Southern rice to sell to market; Tourist in Dien Bien could buy about 30% the right rice products produced in Dien Bien. Therefore, the problem is how to protect rice products with a label referring to the Dien Bien geographical area. For vegetable products Son La and Lao Cai province have great potentials for vegetable production. Recently, thanks to support from some projects of ACIAR there, number of safe vegetable production areas with high quality are establish to supply for Lao Cai, Son La, and Hanoi, focused on cross-season and indigenous vegetable. Therefore, there are two marketing channels for vegetables: normal and safe (with lower quantities of chemical pesticide used) vegetable chains. Especially, Moc Chau district, Son La province has successfully established linkage between vegetable producers and distributors- shops/stalls and supermarkets in Hanoi; that is potential to develop vegetable industry in Son La and NorthWest; and from these two areas, establishing group, collectives of safe vegetable production, however they are mainly in small scales. These models operate more efficient than normal households’production in same area thus vegetable’s price is 1,000–2,000 vnd/kg higher for safe vegetables (depend on types of vegetable). Actors participate in vegetable value chain are mostly producing households and indigenous traders; these traders take responsibility of vegetable collecting, wholesaling, and transporting. Transportation agencies are normally private and use a normal truck; no one use refrigerated trucks. Introducing products to large market is easier than in the past because the highway system has improved a lot; however, there is difficulty in packaging that makes vegetable crushed. Currently, farmers have not participated in training on harvesting technique and products preservation, therefore, in summer, leafy vegetable products like H’mong mustard or choysom transported to Hanoi are withered and waning. For fruit products In 4 studied provinces, Son La is home of a large number of fruits with the high quality and high yield. In that, mango and plum are strength products in Son La. 44 For livestock products Breeding poultry and pigs is undertaken in the four provinces. In addition to that, breeding cattle is also developed in Son La and Dien Bien provinces, especially for buffaloes and cows, which are two strength products. Most products produced from livestock are not only sufficient for consumption in the province, but also sold to other provinces. For maize products For all of 4 provinces, farmers develop production of maize, especially in Son La province. Son La is the highest maize production of the studied provinces, about 6 times higher than Lao Cai, Dien Bien, and Lai Chau. Maize products produced in Son La are mainly supplied to enterprises in livestock sector in the province such as CP Thailand joint venture company and some food enterprises in Hung Yen and km 29 on the Ha Noi–Son La road. For 3 other provinces, maize production has increased slightly through recent periods, maize products produced meet local consumption demand for domestic animal feed. For tea products Tea is also one of strength commodities of the studied provinces, especially Lao Cai and Son La has tea products for export. Around tea production area, there are processing companies/factories nearby raw material area. Despite of main distribution channel through company, producers also sell tea to local collectors and mini kiln. Tea products from company are consumed domestically; a small proportion is exported to main market like Central Asia, Taiwan, Japan.... Products from mini kiln are often of lower quality and are consumed within and outside provinces. For cardamon products Cardamon production in Lai Chau has the highest increase: 13,39%/year due to the province having stable export market in China. Cardamon selling mainly depends on provincial agencies, and this channel handles 45% of cardamom exported to China. These amount of cardamom were dried by producers, then the provincial agencies have purchase them for export. Cardamon consumed in other provinces are mainly dry (90%), fresh cardamom are also sold within provinces. A summary of the different distribution channels of agricultural products is shown in Figure 3. 45 Producers Consumers Chart 1: Direct distribution channel Prod ucers Retailers Wholesale rs Retailers Collectors/age ncies Wholesalers Co nsu mer s Retailers Chart 2: Indirect distribution channel Producer Collect ing agenci es Provinci al collectin Processi ng Exporting Consumer s Figure 1: Summary of product distribution channels in North-West region Thus, products locally distributed through short channel such as rice, vegetables, fruits, maize, cassava and tea have given the producers the chance to sell their agricultural products directly to the consumers. Producers have a higher income while the consumers are better informed of the product origin. For this direct channel, there are two types of customers. They are (i) local people and (ii) tourists. According to a research on “Potential assessment of production of commercial vegetables in Son La and Dien Bien province”, these consumers are credited with “promoting” Northwestern vegetable products and they are the very persons who have brought vegetable products home and made them known to others. This means as long as the customers are provided with quality products, they will help raise the products’ reputation and vice versa. Products sold through long channels, from a social perspective, have attracted a lot of agents, including collectors at commune, district and provincial level, food processing establishments or retailers of rice, maize, fruits, tea and coffee etc. This form of sale benefits more actors and helps meet the needs of more customers outside the province or outside the country. For example, safe vegetable channel has catered to the need of safe and quality food of Hanoi people; collectors and retailers also make profit out of sales of these products and producers enjoy a more regular and stable income. However, the fact is that the division of benefits among agents is normally not fair (Source: Research results of the AGB/2006/112 46 project, 2011). The most beneficial is too often the intermediaries while the producers take the least proportion of benefit. In order to give the producers more benefit in terms of value and stability in sales, the connection between producers and processing companies and factories and retailing businesses such as supermarkets and convenient shops is essential. There is no bartering of agricultural commodity in the study sites at this time. Table 2 shows the different markets of the product value chains of the four provinces studied in the Northwest Vietnam. Table 2: Market for Vietnamese North-western products Products In-province Rice x Vegetables x Fruits x Corn x Cassava x Tea x Coffee Milk x Buffalo, Cow x Fish x Cardamom Note: x: small rate; X: Mainly Market Out-province Export X Few X Few (Laos) X China (Green plum) X X China (Cassava starch) X Japan, Taiwan, Central Asia X X X X X China Map of 4 provinces showing locations and numbers of official market places (cho’) Regarding the domestic market, most market activaties takes place in the market on market days. Sale in supermarkets and Commercial centers has been lately introduced in the provinces studied and only focuses in major cities and towns. Number of supermarkets and Commercial Centers is limited: only 4 in Son La, 2 in Lai Chau, 2 in Dien Bien and 2 in Lao Cai meet the standard. Distribution of local products mainly takes place in markets while household goods and appliances see bigger sales in supermarkets and shopping centers. At the moment, no supermarkets or Commercial Centers sell fruits and vegetables in the provinces under study. Points of collection of farming produce such as maize, cassava, vegetables and fruits are formed right in the production area, independent of market days. Price trend of major products of the localities According to a survey on the price change of some commodities in the provinces, the price of common commodities such as rice does not change much or fluctuates slightly. Price of other commodities tends to increase, especially that of vegetables and fruits. Pork has witnessed a more complicated development of price change and the price disparity is also the biggest (at least 1.5 times from 2010 to 2012). Between 2010-2011, beef price increased slightly and soared between 2011-2012. The price of beef fillet is about 240,000 VND/kg and such price is high in comparison with that of imported beef. Price of maize, cassava, tea and coffee is unstable and on a declining trend. Price of maize increases early in the harvest season but goes down at the end of harvesting season. The coffee price is under the impact of international and national market and tends to go down. 3.2. Provision of inputs and services, key players and their roles 3.2.1. Participants in supply of inputs and services in four provinces 47 According to informations collected from discussions with function departments in local and observations in fact, we see that there are many different objects involved in supply activities of materials and inputs for agricultural production (Table 3). Table 3: Main actors participating in supply chain of inputs and services in four provinces studied Actors Lao Cai Dien Bien Lai Chau Son La State enterprise x x x x Private enterprise (registered) x x x x Research Institution, University x Programme, Project Private enterprise (non-registered) Total x x x x x x x 168 125 NA* 350 NA*: no data Source: Report of Sub-department of Plant Protection in 4 provinces, 2012 For inputs of production, farmers have some problems of accessing good quality at village level and main objects supplying inputs to farmers are State enterprises and private enterprises in all of 4 provinces. And for good quality, packaging is not appropriate for smallholder’s needs. 3.2.2. Role of the State and other officials in managing supply of inputs and services to agriculture The Department of plant protection of the provincial Department of agriculture and rural development are in charge of distributing inputs and services to farmers like extension advice on which inputs to use. However, their staff’s number and capacity is low. 3.3. Commodity policies and legal environment Table 4 presents various activities undertaken by public bodies to develop agricultural value chains in the four provinces under study. Province Lao Cai Table 4: Public policies and development activities related to trade promotion in agriculture, forestry and aquaculture in 4 provinces studied Building Trade promotion Designing scheme/project/plan to brandname of develop trade agricultural commodity Develop trade activities based on the advantage of ‘linkage’ location of Lao Cai in economic corridor of KunmingHanoi - Hai Phong. Vegetable, fruit, Organize 14 trade fairs in tea, cardamom, province; 71 upland fairs; fish Participate in 4 national trade fairs; Develop 48 cardamom and tea chain. Provincial program of trade promotion in 2013-2015; Attract investor to build trading centre, supermarket to promote consumption and to sell local products. Son La Đien Bien Support organizations, individuals participating in trade promotion activities to expand production scale and market Lai Chau Develop convenience store, supermarket and trading centre that sell agricultural products; Establish agricultural products wholesale market; Develop direct distribution channel of agricultural products that trading is built by contract among famers, merchants and consumers with great consumption demand. Vegetable, milk, Organize 5 agricultural crataegus, taro… fairs with 17 300 participants. Print and publish 78 000 production & market newsletters with 260 numbers of newsletters provided to communes, extension club in the province. Dien Bien rice Cardamom In 2013, organize 7 trade fairs; participate in frontier trade fair between Vietnam – Laos; participate in trade fair to introduce products in Tuyen Quang, Lang Son and Lao Cai. In 2011 – 2013 period: Organize 36 trade fairs at district and commune level; Participate in 3 fairs in Lao Cai, Dien Bien and Bac Ninh. Source: Survey and desk review result Sources of credit for agriculture are limited in each province. Therefore, lending is low and does not meet production needs, especially for livestock activities (Decision 32/2007/QĐTTg). Support policies are mainly focused on production. Policies on trade promotion and market expansion are still limited and not well targeted: they are organized at the provincial level for larger agribusinesses rather than for smallholder farm households and small and medium enterprises in rural communities. Their capacity on business management is inadequate. Current marketing system includes private collectors come to farm gate and pay cash, so convenient. They would like capacity building to set up marketing collective groups more successful in inputs supply because can pool funds to buy inputs together. Expand on value chain with success stories of niche value chain. About policy of exporting products: Analyze why some products have managed to export, does bring more income than local markets. Export by big companies, so it creates the stable channel for farmers. But in these exportings, they also need to follow quality criteria of 49 products. Informal export market to China, farmers can distribute their products with large quantities but risky. Statistics don’t show internal trade. 3.4. Farmer Groups, collective forms and the role of gender 3.4.1. Farmer groups and collective forms Box 1: Dairy value chain vertical integration – the Moc Chau dairy breeds joint stock company This dairy firm in Son La Province plays a key role in the investment in cow breeds, capital, breeding techniques, ensuring the market to distribute products and organize overall chain management. This is a model of closed chain of the production, processing, marketing and delivery for dairy products. Thus, this model will be successful if enterprises have good organizing methods and products with a stable market. Farmers participating in the enterprise contribute shares equal to the value of land use rights they hold. Box 2: Collaboration of actors in the agricultural sector New models of horizontal integration by farmers have appeared recently; these are complemented by long-term business links between producers and agribusinesses. Typically, these are new models of cooperatives and cooperative groups such as the 19/5 agricultural cooperative in Moc Chau, Son La, Hoa Dao cooperative in Lao Cai, Quyet Tam cooperative in Than Uyen, Lai Chau, etc. These cooperatives undertake to provide production services including inputs for farm households such as supplying materials, fertilizers, feed ingredients for breeding animals, plant protection chemicals and vaccination for livestocks, poultry. These cooperatives are also the bridge between enterprises and farmers; they represent and protect the rights of the farmer members in contracting to supply raw materials for processing enterprises and to export agricultural products. For many cooperatives, their level of revenue currently is ten billion VND per year. Through the support of cooperatives, economic conditions of households always develop and the lives of farmers are improved. In the movement of new rural construction at present, the role and contribution of agricultural service cooperatives are very meaningful. The farmers’ collaborative groups described in Boxes 1 and 2 achieve good results in terms of production and marketing but these have only been established in some localities. Formal cooperatives mainly operate in the field of supplying inputs and services for production (Table 5). Table 5: Number of collaborative farmers’ groups and cooperatives operating in the field of agriculture and agricultural services in the provinces under study Province/Form Lao Cai Dien Bien Lai Chau Son La Collaborative farmers’ groups 733 138 143 Cooperatives 45 57 83 50 Source: Final report of 5 years cooperation from 2006 to 2010. Orientations and tasks for 20112015 period in association with the construction of new rural areas in Lao Cai province, Report on farm economy in Son La province in 2013, http://thoibaokinhdoanh.vn/441/news-detail/720876/tin-hop-tac/phat-trien-htx-trong-xay-dungnong-thon-moi-o-lai-chau.html Collaborative farmers’ groups and cooperatives in the study sites have taken their roles very well. They bring many benefits to individuals and society: creating jobs, increasing income and suggesting new forms of organizations in production and distribution of products. However, collaborative farmers’ groups and cooperatives have still many limitations: - Cooperatives and collaborative farmers’ groups have developed slowly and are unevenly distributed across the provinces. Collaborative action has often appeared and is currently concentrated in a few key districts that develop agricultural products; there are few such collective activities in districts that are less developed. - The number of cooperatives operating effectively are very limited: only about 30%. Approximately 10% of cooperatives operate badly and are overly formal (Vietnam Cooperative Alliance). - Revenue and profit of many cooperatives are very low so the income of cooperative members is low and encouragement for cooperative officers and employees equally low to commit to the cooperative in the long-term. - Organizing ability of administrative personnels is limited, they are not trained fully. - Generally, cooperative economy has not confirmed its role and position in the economy markedly at present 3.4.2. Role of ethnic minorities in markets and institutions The participation of different ethnic groups in value chain activities in four provinces is tabulated in Table 7. Table 6: Participation in chain activities by ethnicity Products Chain activities Production Collected in Collected in village/commune district/agent (Sold in village/commune center*) Rice - Kinh - Kinh (majority) - Kinh -Ethnic - Ethnic minority minority (small percentage) - Kinh (large - Kinh (majority) - Kinh scale, Vegetables majority) -Ethnic - Ethnic minority minority (small percentage) (Small scale, small percentage) Fruits - Kinh (large - Kinh (majority) - Kinh scale, Collected in province/provi ncial agent Export - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh 51 majority) Ethnic - Ethnic minority minority (small percentage) (Small scale, small percentage) Maize - Kinh - Kinh (majority) - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh -Ethnic minority - Ethnic minority (small percentage) - Kinh - Kinh (majority) - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh Cassava -Ethnic minority - Ethnic minority (small percentage) - Kinh - Kinh (majority) - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh Tea -Ethnic minority - Ethnic minority (small percentage) - Kinh - Kinh (majority) - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh Coffee -Ethnic minority - Ethnic minority (small percentage) - Kinh - Kinh (majority) - Kinh - Kinh - Kinh Cardamom -Ethnic minority - Ethnic minority (small percentage) Source: Results from focus group discussions, household surveys and market visits. As can be seen in the table, the participation of ethnic minority people mainly goes around production and collection stage in village/commune. The collection of products at district and provincial level and export agents are dominated by Kinh people. Such collection at higher level and at agents requires larger capital. Among ethnic minorities, Thai people are more active and effective in production and collection of vegetables and fruits. This facilitates their being better engaged in different stages of the chain. 3.4.3. Women and Youths Youth is an integral part of the workforce. The State of Vietnam always has had priority policies for knowledge development of youth in the mountainous area. As a large force and having the highest capacity, youth groups are active in developing the province. In all of 4 provinces studied, there are also youth movements such as Youths producing well, Youths actively participating in poverty reduction, Youths building new rural areas, etc. All activities have been performed within the mandate of the Youth Union. However, there is no form of youth organization of agricultural production and business on a larger scale. 52 Besides youths, women are always priority and interested subjects in all of fields. Not only playing the role of caring for their family, but also women participate in productive activities, social activities ... Women involved mainly in vegetables and maize production. However, for women from ethnic minorities, their participation in the manufacturing sector is limited, their life was confined by many obsolete procedures. In production, the participation rates of men and women are equal in Son La and Dien Bien. However, in phases such as preparing land, the participation of men is twice that of women. Only in Thuan Chau, where the force of men focuses on other jobs or families with special circumstances, the women still have to take on a major role in all stages of production. During harvest, the roles of men and women are the same, the participation rate of men is 43.79%, women’s is 56.21% (Source: Results of group discussions - Research on scope of the commercial vegetable production in Son La and Dien Bien, 2013 (sponsored by AVRDC) (Belongings Humidtropics Project). Due to characteristics of gender, the distribution of agricultural products is largely undertaken by women. Many women involved in small-scale marketing. Participation rate of women in this stage is nearly 4 times more than the one of men. Thus, the average level of total time involved from production to distribution by women is about 2 times higher than by men. From that, we can see the important role of women in agricultural production. Women also play the important role of preparing daily meals for their family. Women make decisions in choosing foods (about 78%) and fully prepare daily meals for their family. However, with about 22% of the remaining part, men also make decisions in choosing foods such as decisions on slaughtering chicken, purchasing beef, drinking alcohol, etc. However, women still face many difficulties due to the general condition of the Northwest region, especially women from ethnic minorities. The latter are still bound by many obsolete customs; their skills of communication using the language of the dominant Kinh ethnicity are limited; they have difficulties in expanding their social relationships. The distribution of activities in the agricultural value chains across men, women and young persons is showed in Table 7. Table 7: Role of gender in distribution of agricultural value chain activities in the four provinces studied. Production Village collection and sales District collection Province level Export Different products Ethnicity Activities Kinh (n=20) Minority ethnicity (n=20) Average Men Women Men Women Men Women 1. Production 70.00 30.00 28.33 71.67 49.17 50.83 - Soil preparation 90 10 30 70 60 40 - Planting 70 30 25 75 47.5 52.5 - Cultivating 50 50 30 70 40 60 2. Harvesting 50 50 50 50 50 50 3. Selling 50 50 0 100 25 75 Average 56.67 43.33 26.11 73.89 41.39 58.61 From the table above, we see that the participation of men and women in production activities for each ethnicity is very different. For Kinh ethnic group, the "equality" is performed more, 53 ame of roduct s particularly men are responsible for strenuous works. For minority ethnic groups, women are still main labors in the household. Great potential to build institutions and organizations arsured niche value chain of specific local products. Specialized organizations such as the Youth Union and the Women's Union have groomed talented individuals and achieved successes in all of fields of development. REFERENCES 1. Final report of 5 years cooperation from 2006 to 2010, orientations and tasks for 2011-2015 period in association with the construction of new rural areas in Lao Cai province. 2. Report on farm economy in Son La province in 2013. 3. Report of Industrial and Trade Department in Lao Cai. 4. Report of Industrial and Trade Department in Dien Bien. 5. Report of Industrial and Trade Department in Lai Chau. 6. Report of Industrial and Trade Department in Son La. 7. Report of Sub-department of Plant Protection in Lao Cai. 8. Report of Sub-department of Plant Protection in Dien Bien. 9. Report of Sub-department of Plant Protection in Lai Chau. 10. Report of Sub-department of Plant Protection in Son La. 11. Statistical yearbook of provinces in 2013. 12. Statistical yearbook of Lao Cai in 2012, 2013. 13. Statistical yearbook of Dien Bien in 2012, 2013. 14. Statistical yearbook of Lai Chau in 2012, 2013. 15. Statistical yearbook of Son La in 2012, 2013. 16. http://baovecaytrong.com/kythuatcaytrong.php?caytrongkythuat=%. 17. http://baodientu.chinhphu.vn/Home/Hoi-nghi-toan-quoc-danh-gia-chinh-sach-vung-dan-tocva-mien-nui/20134/166166.vgp). 18. http://thoibaokinhdoanh.vn/441/news-detail/720876/tin-hop-tac/phat-trien-htx-trong-xaydung-nong-thon-moi-o-lai-chau.html. ANNEX 1 Balance of production and consumption in of agricultural products in the four provinces studied (2012) Lao Cai Dien Bien Lai Chau Units 1000 ce tons egetabl 1000 tons 1000 uits tons Dema nd Outpu t Differenc e 95.45 97.619 * 2.17 13.46 105.95 2.88 - Deman d Output Differen ce 69.36 105.793 * 36.43 92.49 7.98 64.8 56.82 - 2.18 Deman d Outpu Differen t ce Dema nd 62.08 76.782 * 11.47 177.9 4.02 14.09 10.07 17.42 1.06 13.48 54 ypes of eat hrimp, h ea, ffee cohol, er 1000 tons 1000 tons 1000 tons 1000 litre 14.08 29.72 15.64 9.47 14.3 4.83 6.48 6.9 0.42 18.38 6.15 3.624 -2.52 4.55 1.6 -2.95 3.14 1.51 -1.63 12.66 0.78 14.1 13.32 0.44 4.5 4.06 0.29 19.6 19.31 0.82 6145.6 - - 6.04 - - 4.79 - - 14.97 Section 4: Natural resource management and the environment Truong Quoc Can, Hoang Quoc Chinh and Nguyen Trong Khanh The Northwest of Vietnam is a mountainous region which comprises of steep mountain ranges, highland, and dense river system. Most mountain ranges run diagonally from north-west to south-east, turning the land into scattered fields and valleys. With a dispersing network of small rivers and streams running through high mountains forest, it functions as the upstream of major rivers in the country. The Northwest region is also located on the tropical monsoon belt. The complex topography condition and the typical tropical climatic definition, with four distinctive seasons basically determine rich natural resources of the region. This section presents utilization of natural resources in agriculture and forestry, as well as discussion on the interaction between agricultural practices and natural resources and environment, identifying the issues relating natural resource management and draw initial recommendations for sustainable used/interventions. 1. Land and soils Vietnam possesses a total agricultural land area of 26.226 million hectares, of which 10.12 ha is used for agriculture production and 15.37 million for forestry, a small proportion is for aquaculture (GSO 2012, using MONRE 2011 data). The four studied provinces have 2.5 million hectares of agricultural land which accounts for 9.7% of the total agriculture land in the country. Noticeably, forest land accounts for a largest proportion of available land in the region, in particular approximately 80% in Lai Chau, Dien Bien, Son La, and 70% in Lao Cai. A land available for perennial and annual crops (including rice) accounts to smaller proportion of the regional land as well as compared to the overall country’s average level. The land belonging to Aquaculture is also small in the region. 55 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2,050 970 540 327,760 602,480 401,240 2,450 689,810 624,380 15,366,480 Aquaculture land Forest land 35,430 3,688,510 Perennial crop land Annual crop land 19,350 64,600 11,170 143,380 13,180 75,940 226,010 6,437,590 Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Lao Cai Country total 2012 2015 0 Figure 4.1. Types of agricultural land Thousand s hectars Source: national GSO 2011 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 2012 2015 2020 Dien Lai Chau 500 Thousand hestars 2020 Rice crop 250 450 400 200 Perennial plants 150 Protection forest 100 Special use forest 350 300 250 200 150 100 Production forest 50 50 0 0 2012 2015 Son La 2020 2011 2015 2020 Nonagriculture land Urban land Lao Cai Figure 4.2. Land allocation for different crops in the master plan Source: Land use master plans of Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai (2011) 56 The Northwest provinces contains of major mountain ranges with latitude, the topography condition is highly sloppy. As the consequence, 60% of the land of the region is at the sloping degree of 15% and above (MARD and APPI, 2005). This shows a high potential for soil erosion, and requires critical consideration of an appropriate cropping system and cultivation practices. With regards to the soil fertility, the classification of the Soil and Fertilizer Research Institute (SFRI) in 2005, divide the land in sloping location into 5 grades (from 2-6), based on the soil fertility and potential utilization. According to this classification, Northwest region has a very small portion (only 2.7%) of the total available land which is classified at grade 2. This land is appropriate for agriculture cultivation,. 9.6% of the land belongs to grade 3-5 which is suitable for Agro-forestry system, and the rest belongs to the grade 6 which is only suitable for forestry. According to the master plans for land use of 4 provinces until 2020 (Fig 1), there is a projected increase for production forest and protection forest. The increase mostly comes from unused land. Special use forest, paddy field, perennial crop land, and non-agriculture land increase slightly. Urban land also increases, and eventually stabilizes for Lai Chau and Dien Bien. Assuming the projection is rational, it will utilize the unused land more effectively. 2. Water and irrigation Sources of Water The North West contains the upstream of major rivers system in the north, including Hong river (running through Lao Cai), Da river (running through Lai Chau, Dien Bien and Son La) and Ma river (starting from Dien Bien). The Hong river system provides a total yearly water amounting to 83.5 billion cubic meters, of which 31% comes from Da river (Ngo Thi Kim Lan, 2012). These upstream rivers not only provide major source of water for consumption and irrigation, but also enrich the soil on the river banks, for paddy field. A dispersed network of streams and creeks also provide water source for crops. Another source of water comes from rain. Vietnam has an average rainfall at the level of 15002000 mm annually (http://www.nchmf.gov.vn/web/). Among the four studied provinces, Dien Bien has an annual rainfall of 1200 – 1450 mm, which is slightly lower than the country’s average. In Son La and Lao Cai, rainfall level ranges from 1600 – 2500 mm; and the highest rainfall level is in Lai Chau which ranges from 1800-2800 mm annually. The distribution of rainfall is not equal throughout the year. Normally, almost 2/3 of the rain fall in these provinces comes during June to Sept with average rainfall often higher than 300 mm/month, while there is much lesser raining during the other months in the year, especially, rainfall during October to February in these provinces often less than 100 mm/month. Unequal distribution of the rainfall throughout the year cause the surplus of surface water during rainy season and severe shortage of water during December to February, consequently affects the cropping pattern and seasoning. Steep terrain also causes strong river flow, so the sediment deposit is unstable. Table 3.1 and 3.2 in the Appendix detail the average annual rainfall and river watermark in 4 provinces. There is no clear trend in change of annual rainfall and river watermark. However, changes in raining pattern are mentioned by local farmers that the rainy season is now shorter with heavier rain, but raining water become more sacred during the dry season. 57 3,000 annual rainfall 2,500 2,000 Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Lao Cai 1,500 1,000 500 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 Figure 4.3: Annual rainfall in the four province in last three years Source: provincial GSO 2012 Utilization of water resources in Agriculture: The government has paid major attention in developing the irrigation system in the four provinces. In Son La, there are 2,572 irrigation constructions; this number in Dien Bien is 815. The system of irrigation could cover 70 - 90% of the rice land areas in the provinces. However, irrigation system yet to be sufficient; for example in Lao Cai, there is always 800 - 9.000 hectares of rice land is under frequent water shortage (Lao Cai statistical yearbook 2012). According to the assessment of water resources in Dien Bien (Dien Bien DONRE, 2011), the canals are insufficient for channeling water to the field. The province and districts build the main canals, but communes do not have budget for in-field canals. There is no budget for land clearance and exploitation of unused land. Land use management is also weak, causing difficulty in irrigation planning Due to the lack of budget, there are not many water pump stations available, and not all are operating effectively (key informant interview, DARD Dien Bien). In Muong Cha district, most people grow only one rice crop during rainy season, due to water shortage during dry season. In Dien Bien district, the irrigation system seems better, providing sufficient water for 4000 ha crop (Dien Bien district Bureau of ARD, 2012). The quality of irrigation system is also a question. In Lai Chau, irrigation system operates at only 75% of capacity (Lai Chau statistical yearbook 2012)., due to quality of technical design and construction, incorrect hydro-meteorology calculation, and insufficient training for technical staff. Especially, the lack of adequate staff at commune level is an issue. There are about 254 irrigation staff at commune level, but most do not receive sufficient training. Water contamination In the four studied provinces, concern on water contamination has been recorded in all the interviews and focus discussion with relevant stakeholders. There is, however, very little 58 published official data on the issue. Among the four provinces, the DONRE of Dien Bien has conducted a study of its water resource in 2011. According to the results of this assessment (Dien Bien DONRE, 2011), in the Appendix Table 3.3, a majority (27 – 100%) of water samples has chemical substance and bacteria beyond A1 limit, and some even beyond B2 limit. This clearly indicates a high level of surface water contamination in Dien Bien. The increasing risks of water contamination have been attributed to urbanization, industrial, processing activities. Districts do not have proper waste management planning. Many hospitals and pulp paper factories do not have waste treatment facilities. In addition, lack of proper water treatment at community and household level is another cause of contamination. In 3 provinces, number of communes having waste collection service and wastewater discharge system is very low. At household level, the figures are also striking. More than 70% of households in Lai Chau have no toilet, and 80% have no bathroom. In Dien Bien, the situation is similar, with 45% has no toilet and 70% has no bathroom (Lai Chau and Dien Bien GSO, 2012). % communes having waste collection service % communes having wastewater discharge system Son La % communes having water supply station Dien Bien % households without toilet Lai Chau % households without bathroom 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Figure 4.4. Coverage of essential hygienic facilities Source: provincial GSO 2012 3. Forest Forest area of 4 provinces accounts for 13% of total forest in Vietnam. Provincial figures show an upward trend in forest area in recent years. Per district, the trend is also generally up, but some districts show fluctuation in forest area. Forest coverage is higher than the 40% of the country average, particularly Lao Cai at 51% and Son La at 47.7%. Provincial figures show a prevalent natural forest in all 4 provinces. Natural forest accounts for more than 90% of forest area, except for Lao Cai having less than 80%. That means planted forest is less than 10% of forest area. Of planted forest, Son La and Lao Cai have more trees older than 3 years, more than the 80% national average. Dien Bien has many trees younger than 3 years. In Lai Chau, about 25% of planted forest is rubber trees. 59 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 Lai Chau 300,000 Dien Bien Son La 200,000 Lao Cai 100,000 0 2010 2011 2012 est. Forest area (ha) Figure 4.5: Forest area in the last three years Source: provincial GSO 2012 Provincial forest master plans to 2020 put an emphasis on protection forest and production forest. Protection forest would be largest of the 3 types. Special use forest would be maintained at current level. The provinces have set ambitious target for forest development. Lai Chau plans to increase forest coverage to 45% in 2015 and >50% in 2020. Forestry sector growth projected at 7-9% annually. Likewise, Lao Cai plans to raise coverage to 53% in 2015 and 55% in 2020. However, deforestation still exists in the region. There are several causes of deforestation, of which shifting from forest to agriculture land is a major issue. As population grows and agriculture production expands, there is a need for more land, exerting more pressure to forest. In Muong Cha, where 65% local population is H'mong, slash and burn happens frequently. Another major cause of deforestation is illegal logging. Due to large forest area and insufficient law enforcement, it is difficult to monitor and prevent all illegal logging activities. Issues such as limited number of forest rangers, poor equipment, low compensation, uncomfortable working condition... have been mentioned as a big challenge for the task of law enforcement. Rubber expansion also impacts forest quality greatly. In Thanh Nua commune, interview with forest patrol villagers revealed the controversy between local villagers and rubber company. Before the rubber plantation programme implemented, the forests were protected by the community. Although they were not provided with any type of land use rights document (Redbook), they could access to harvest non-timber products. Few year back (2009) the government allocated 490 ha of forest land for a rubber company to plan rubber trees. Villagers were given “red books” for the land, which already planted with rubber trees. Surprisingly, the people receive “red book”, but do not know where their forest land is. They has been banned from accessing the forest, though they are the “red books” holders. In Na Sang commune, due to recent rubber expansion, local households have to walk further to collect fire wood. Rubber currently accounts for 70% of forest area in Na Sang. As part of the national wide project on rubber development, both Lan Chau and Son La plan for a sharp increment in rubber plantation. This could be considered a potential risk to reducing the functional value of forest in the region, in terms of biodiversity and natural resource protection. 60 Rubber masterplan of Lai Chau 35,000 Rubber plantation in Son La 25,000 30,000 20,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 15,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 5,000 0 0 2008 - 2010 2011 - 2015 2016 - 2020 2010 2011 2012 2015 Figure 4.5. area under rubber plantation in lai Chau and Son La Source: DARD rubber plantation reports of Lai Chau, Son La 4. Genetic resources and bio-diversity Locating with in the tropical belt, Vietnam is considered very rich in biodiversity. It is estimated that the country possesses 12 000 plant species, among those 2 300 species are used as food, 3 300 used as medicine, feed, oil or other products (MONRE and WWF 2012). In regards to the fauna diversity, Vietnam possesses 210 species of animals, 840 sp. of birds, 296 sp. of reptiles, 162 sp. of Amphibian and 2 742 sp of fish (MONRE, 2005). In the northwest region, Hoang Lien Son is one of the major centre of bio-diversity in Vietnam, running through Lao Cai and Lai Chau. The four provinces also lay in the heart of the Terrestrial ecosystem of Vietnam, which is considered the richest biodiversity ecosystem. According to the genetic resource maps published by the National Plant Genetic Resource Center (http://www.pgrvietnam.org.vn/), Lai Chau and Son la is a major center of Root and tuber crops, while Son La, Lao Cai is home for Graminaceous plants. Son La also has a high density of genetic resource centers of vegetable species, while the entire four provinces possess significant diversification of legumes species. So far, there are more than 30.000 samples of 490 species of crop have been collected and conserved (MOST, December 2013), almost all of them are being conserved using ex-situ techniques. Insitu conservation of crop genetic resources in Vietnam has still not received adequate attention. There have been different projects with activities implemented by 20 agencies, including initial surveys, designing of the conservation location or forming farmers groups for insitue conservations, so far there is not any program or activities has gained the full results of the 5 contents of on-farm conservation, and there are no conservation areas/ sites of which is maintained and sustained operation (Vu Manh Hai et al 2011). Forest plays a significant part in conserving the regional ecosystem and biodiversity. In the region, even though forest quantity is increasing, forest quality is being degraded. Hunting and illegal wildlife trade also threatens valuable species, affecting the ecosystem. Some agriculture practices, such as shifting cultivation, cause great danger to the forest and ecosystem. Thousands of hectares of forest have been destroyed, with it the loss of habitat. In addition, illegal logging also threatens the valuable tree species and reduces forest quality. 61 Infrastructure development causes another major impact on the forest and ecosystem. The region has largest hydropower damps in Vietnam, including Hoa Binh and Son La hydro electric damps, there are also many hydropower plants has been constructed including small and mini plants. While being considered important to socio-economic development in government plan, hydropower damps create negatively impacts on the ecosystem and biodiversity, such as causing losing, fragmentation of the habitat, and impediments for species migration or invasive species propagation… (ICIEM and Bird Life International, undated). Monoculture practice, with high external inputs is another strong driven source of biodiversity deterioration, soil erosion and environment degradation. The household survey and focus group discussion revealed that, there are only 2-3 varieties of rice and 2-3 varieties of maize are used in the productions of these crops. A recent research by Hoang Thi Lua et all (2013) also concluded that, the dominant farming system in all agro-ecological zones in the three northwestern provinces was mono-cultivation of staple crops (maize and rice) on sloping land. This trend is predicted to further increase with the strong orientation from government towards promoting high yielding and unified agricultural products, including maize, rice, tea for exporting. In the forestry sector, according to the master plan for rubber plantation, only in Sonla 50 000 hectares of natural forest will be converted to rubber, by 2020, Dien Bien and Lai Chau also target to plant 30 000 ha of rubber in each province. 5. Indigenous knowledge and local practices The changes in living style and the adoption of new modern agricultural techniques resulted in number of changes in terms of production practices in the region. Previously, local people did not use fertilizer, but they do now, in face of lower productivity. Excessive use of fertilizer, coupled with mono-cropping practice, cause significant long term impact to the soil and water. According to the feedback from the extensions officers during the interview with key informants in Dien Bien district Bureau of ARD, the use of plant protection chemicals and pesticides by local people is uncontrolled. Farmers do not follow the guidance of plant protection staff and extension staff. In addition, plant chemicals and pesticides of unknown origin are smuggled to the local. Empty bottles of chemicals and pesticides are mainly disposed on the field, or thrown into canals, rivers and streams. Statistic from Dien Bien and Lai Chau revealed that less than 5% of the used bottled are collected for proper treatment (Dien Bien and lai Chau Statistical Yearbook 2012). The agriculture and animal waste is another source of environment contamination. In Dien Bien and Lai Chau, only 50 - 60% of the agriculture and animal waste is treated to make fertilizer, the rest is discharged directly in to the environment. Recently, some processing plants have been operated in some localities, one of the popular examples is the processing of edible canna to obtain starch; waste from processing edible canna is not handled in accordance with regulation, and pollutes the water. Though there has been little literature on the use of indigenous knowledge, the terrace cultivation of Thai people was recorded. According to Nguyen Thi Hong Vien in 2009, Thai communities have established their own human culture ecosystem. Milpa cultivation system played important role in Thai daily life. They implement series of traditional technological methods, including land selection, land clearance, firing, turning land up, cultivation, crop rotations… in milpa production. It is concluded that the milpa cultivation system of Thai communities has many positive features in land management and protection. 62 Another example of applying indigenous knowledge on environment protection is the tradition of Ha Nhi people in Lao Cai province, documented by Tran Huu Son (2009). The Ha Nhi communities used the combination of supernatural power and construct the forbidden forests of the community; on the other hand, the strictly punishment help to reinforcement of the rules. The forest protection system of Ha Nhi ethnic minority was illustrated in the formula, which a combination of 1) building people belief on supernatural power, operation of a monitoring and management system with representative of community as the “assignments of gods”, and 3) a strict rule for punishments of violations. Recently, there have been emerging initiatives to utilize and preserve endogenous resources, such as using herbal medicine, raising local endogenous pig and chicken, good buffalo breeds in Lai Chau, rice, mango, orange, or red pomalo in Dien Bien. 6. Related laws and policies Vietnamese government has issued number of laws and decrees to protect bio-diversity and environment. Some of the major relevant laws and polices include: 1. Environment Protection law, number 5/2005/QH8 issued by the parliament on 29 November 2005. This Law provides for activities of environmental protection; policies, measures and resources for environmental protection; rights and obligations of organizations, households and individuals in environmental protection. The subjects of application applies to state agencies, organizations, households and individuals in the country; overseas Vietnamese, foreign organizations and individuals carrying out activities in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 2. Law on protection of water Resources: number 17/2012/QH13 issued on 21/6/2012. The Law defined that water resource comes under the ownership of the entire people under the unified management of the State; organizations and individuals are entitled to exploit and use the water resource for life and production. At the same time they have the responsibility to protect the water resource; prevent, combat and overcome the harmful effect caused by water as prescribed by law. The State protects the legitimate interests of organizations and individuals in the exploitation and use of the water resource. Under this Law, the water resource comprises surface water, rain water, underground water, sea water in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Law regulates the management, protection, exploitation and use of the water resource and the prevention, combat against and overcoming of the harmful effect caused by water. 3. Bio-Diversity Law: Issued on 13 November 2008, effective on 01 July 2009. This Law provides for the conservation and sustainable development of biodiversity; rights and obligations of organizations, households and individuals in the conservation and sustainable development of biodiversity. The Law applies to organizations, households and individuals in the country, overseas Vietnamese, foreign organizations and individuals carrying out activities of or related to the conservation and sustainable development of biodiversity in Vietnam. 4. Law on Forest protection and development: issued on the 03rd December, 2004, effective 01 April 2005; This Law provides for the management, protection, development and use of forests; and forest owners’ rights and obligations. The Law applies to State agencies, domestic organizations, households and individuals, overseas Vietnamese as well as 63 foreign organizations and individuals involved in forest protection and development in Vietnam. In cases where international agreements which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded to contain provisions different from the provisions of this Law, the provisions of such international agreements shall apply. 5. Land law 2003: Issued on December 10, 2003. This Law governs the powers and responsibilities of the State as representative of the ownership of land by the entire people for uniform administration of land and the regime for administration and use of land; and the rights and obligations of land users. The Law applies to the following entities: 1) State bodies exercising rights and discharging responsibilities as representative of the ownership of land by the entire people and carrying out the task of uniform State administration of land; 2). Land users; and 3). Other entities involved in the administration and use of land. The Land Law was reviewed and passed by the parliament in November 2013. Programme The largest and most impacts program in forest development and protection 5 million hectare forest targeting 43% coverage in 2010, approved in 1997, this is also called project 661. • Payment for Environment Service – PFES: In 2004, the government of Vietnam, drawing on the concept of PES (Payment for Environment Service), laid the foundations for nationwide program of Payment for Forest Environmental Service (PFES), set out in the revised of Law on Forest Protection and Development. In 2008, Decision No.38 established conditions to support PFES pilot projects in Lam Dong and Son La, and in 2010, Decree No. 99 mandated the implementation PFES nationwide. • The development of Rubber plantation, in this plan, each province of Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien has been assigned to develop 10 000 ha of rubber plantation per provinces. • Some small projects and programs of donors and NGOs (ADB, GIZ, ACIAR, Care, Plan, AAV, Helvetas, Oxfam, CCD…) References 1. Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), Report on planning for irrigation development to 2020 in Dien Bien 2. Dien Bien Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dien Bien master plan for land use. 3. Dien Bien Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DONRE), Report on assessment of water resource in Dien Bien 2011. 4. Dien Bien General Statistic Office, Dien Bien statistical yearbook 2012. 5. Dien Bien district Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development (BARD), Dien Bien district, Dien Bien Province, Agriculture Sector Annual Report, 2012 6. Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and FPD, 7. Hoang Thi Lua, Elisabesth Simelton, Ha Vu Tiep, Vu Duc Toan, Nguyen Thi Hoa, Nguyen Van Chung, Phung Quoc Tuan Anh, Diagnosis of Farming system in the Agroforestry for Livelihood of smallholder farmers in Northwestern Vietnam project, ICRAF working paper, 2013. 8. ICIEM and Bird Life International, Biodiversity and development of the hydropower sector: lessons from the Vietnamese experience, a Briefing paper (undated) 64 9. Lai Chau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Rubber plantation reports of Lai Chau. 10. Lai Chau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lai Chau master plan for land use. 11. Lai Chau General Statistic Office, Lai Chau statistical yearbook 2012. 12. Lao Cai Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Lao Cai master plan for land use. 13. Lao Cai General Statistic, Lao Cai statistical yearbook 2012. 14. Lê Thái Bạt Vietnam soil science association, Report on planning for effective shifting cultivation in the Northern mountainous region, 2005. 15. MONRE and WWF, Biodiversity; Climate change and biodiversity conservation in a changing climate for Vietnam, 2012. 16. MOST, December 2013, 17. National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecast , http://www.nchmf.gov.vn/web/ . 18. National General Statistic Office, National Statistic yearbook 2011. 19. National General Statistic Office, Results of the 2011 rural, agriculture and fishery census, 2012. 20. Ngo Thi Kim Lan, assessment and analysis on the current situation of Da river water via Hoa Binh province and recommendation for protecting the water environment, an MsC thesis, 2012 21. Nguyen Thi Hong Vien, Thai traditional knowledge in milpa cultivation in of Son La city suburban areas – Science and Technology Journal of VNU, volume 25, 2009 pp132 – 137). 22. Son La Department of Agriculture and Rural Development: Son La master plan for land use. 23. Son La General Statistic Office, Son La statistical yearbook 2012. 24. The Plan Genetic Resources Center (PGRC), website http://www.pgrvietnam.org.vn/ 25. Tran Huu Son, Indigenous knowledge of the Ha Nhi ethnic minority in forest protection in Vietnam (undated). 26. Vu Manh Hai, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hue, La Tuan Nghia, Pham Thi Sen, Vu Van Tung, Vu Linh Chi, Vu Xuan Truong, Luu Quang Huy, In-situ conservation of crop genetic resources in Vietnam, current status and solutions (undated). Map 1: Land distribution by different topography and soil types Map 2: Forest distribution and forest quality Map 3: Biodiversity map 65 Appendix 1: Land use status Table 1.1: Agriculture land use in Vietnam, categorized by users (ha) Category Total By users Households, individuals Commune PCs Agriculture 10,126,100 9,053,600 230,900 production Forestry 15,366,500 4,414,800 140,200 Aquaculture 689,800 569,400 49,200 Other 26,100 9,300 9,600 Source: national GSO 2011 Table 1.2: Agriculture land use in four studied provinces (ha) Province Total Annual crop land Lai Chau 413,810 Dien Bien 758,050 Son La 490,940 Lao Cai 888,410 Total four 2,551,210 provinces Country total 26,226,410 Source: national GSO 2011 Table 1.3: Lai Chau Category 2008 Agriculture production land Forest land Special used land Homestead land Source: Lai Chau statistical yearbook 2012 Table 1.4: Dien Bien Total 64,600 143,380 75,940 226,010 509,930 Rice 23,630 60,820 33,250 37,270 154,970 6,437,590 4,120,160 2009 - - 2010 90,024 402,485 8,494 4,233 Domestic economic organizations 643,200 Other domestic organizations 63,600 9,200 2,241,000 38,300 2,900 4,991,800 18,600 2,900 16,700 3,000 900 Perennial crop land Forest land Foreign organizations Aquaculture land 19,350 11,170 13,180 35,430 79,130 327,760 602,480 401,240 624,380 1,955,860 2,050 970 540 2,450 6,010 3,688,510 15,366,480 689,810 2011 89,742 418,699 9,798 4,374 2012 84,209 422,299 12,032 3,827 66 Category 2008 Agriculture production land 120,487 Forest land 623,616 Special used land 9,457 Homestead land 3,350 Source: Dien Bien statistical yearbook 2012 Table 1.5: Son La Category 2008 Agriculture production land Forest land Special used land Homestead land Source: Son La statistical yearbook 2012 Table 1.6: Lao Cai Category 2008 Agriculture production land Forest land Special used land Homestead land Source: Lao Cai statistical yearbook 2012 2009 154,845 602,566 9,148 4,667 2010 154,547 602,478 10,357 4,661 2011 154,419 602,073 10,358 4,638 2012 154,093 602,021 10,748 4,671 2009 - 2010 261,439 624,380 18,431 7,351 2011 261,484 624,564 19,130 7,352 2012 287,251 633,717 19,438 7,358 - 2010 84,003 324,321 18,045 3,755 2011 83,396 333,605 19,899 3,825 2012 84,181 334,301 20,404 3,893 2009 Table 1.7: land use for shifting cultivation in the four studied provinces (ha) Province Annual crop land Total Shifting Shifting cultivation cultivation land land per capita (m2) Lai Chau 71,000 37,100 1,278 Dien Bien 114,300 65,400 1,563 Son La 214,800 170,900 1,855 Lao Cai 59,200 32,500 607 Source: report on planning for effective shifting cultivation in the Northern mountainous region 2005 67 Appendix 2: Provincial master plan for land use Table 2.1: Lai Chau Category 2012 Agriculture land - Rice crop - Perennial plants - Protection forest - Special use forest - Production forest - Aquaculture area Non-agriculture land Urban land Unused land Source: Lai Chau master plan for land use Table 2.2: Dien Bien Category 507,243 26,230 18,204 338,172 32,019 52,107 707 36,965 362,670 2012 Agriculture land - Rice crop - Perennial plants - Protection forest - Special use forest - Production forest - Aquaculture area Non-agriculture land Urban land Unused land Source: Dien Bien master plan for land use Table 2.3: Son La 757,140 60,412 12,585 376,499 46,334 179,187 961 24,087 175,062 Plan to 2015 581,986 34,526 31,595 364,422 37,701 72,323 623 38,398 18,816 286,495 Plan to 2015 824,712 58,907 24,224 407,156 46,781 209,832 1,227 27,494 19,286 104,084 Plan to 2020 633,132 35,570 38,444 377,477 41,300 100,040 677 42,328 19,556 231,419 Plan to 2020 893,011 57,340 33,517 423,113 47,581 257,413 1,470 34,652 21,208 28,627 68 Category 2012 Agriculture land - Rice crop - Perennial plants - Protection forest - Special use forest - Production forest - Aquaculture area Non-agriculture land Urban land Unused land Source: Son La master plan for land use Table 2.4: Lao Cai Category Plan to 2015 944,167 36,943 45,056 404,699 50,469 205,638 2,443 68,396 14,928 404,881 2011 1,008,333 36,351 59,559 418,689 54,778 247,174 2,436 72,096 21,266 337,015 Plan to 2015 Plan to 2020 1,076,470 35,600 83,916 429,657 59,000 277,433 2,425 77,038 31,472 263,936 Plan to 2020 Agriculture land 420,665 464,491 - Rice crop 22,376 23,215 - Perennial plants 19,346 19,422 - Protection forest 150,475 161,097 - Special use forest 45,014 45,268 - Production forest 138,812 171,743 - Aquaculture area 2,115 2,352 Non-agriculture land 37,512 42,406 Urban land 25,278 33,455 Unused land 180,211 131,491 Source: Lao Cai master plan for land use Table 2.5. Level of land slope in the northern mountainous region 507,660 23,700 22,902 170,000 46,000 201,700 2,488 50,072 50,005 80,657 Level of slope (%) Region/sub-region Level I (0 – 80) Level II (8 – 150) Level III (15 – 250) Level IV (> 250) 69 Regional 5 38 31 26 - North West 3 37 30 30 - Central 6 40 35 19 - East West 7 43 35 15 Table 2.6. Land classification land by fertility The northern mountainous region (million ha) Rank Total Total North West Central North East Score Area Score Area Score Area Score Area - Level 2 3,33 39 0,41 16 0,09 11 0,21 12 0,11 - Level 3 1,60 50 0,52 9 0,05 21 0,14 20 0,33 - Level 4 0,91 21 0,28 6 0,02 7 0,05 8 0,21 -Level 5 2,06 72 0,76 28 0,25 25 0,38 19 0,13 - Level 6 16,93 152 7,88 60 2,90 45 3,27 47 1,71 Total 24,83 334 9,85 119 3,31 109 4,05 106 2,49 Source: MARD and NAPPI, 2005 Table 2.6. Characteristics of soil in Lai Chau and Dien Bien (layer 0 – 25cm) Property Soil Code Clay (%) Organic matter (%) PHKCL CEC Cu Zn Co Mn 70 Hs Hv Hq Fs Fv Fq Fa 28 30 22 25 30 35 26 32 8 12 8 10 26 28 22 25 28 34 26 30 7 10 69 8 13 1,34 1,50 0,80 1.20 3,3 3,8 3,2 3,6 1,5 1,8 1,2 1,4 0,6 1,0 0,4 0,6 1,0 1,6 0,6 1,0 4,0 4,6 3,8 4,2 1,2 2,0 0,8 1,5 4,2 4,8 4,0 4,5 0,4 0,6 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,8 3,8 4,0 3,6 3,8 3,2 3,5 3,2 3,4 3,6 3,8 3,4 3,6 3,2 3,6 14 18 12 16 16 20 14 18 68 57 10 12 8 10 12 14 10 12 57 46 58 26 4 10 8 10 68 1 2 1 2 26 1 4 8 10 68 1 2 1 2 - 1,5 2,0 1,0 0,6 1,0 0,6 0,8 23 2 24 1 2 5 40 40 VÖt VÖt VÖt VÖt 0,4 1,0 0,2 05 0,2 0,5 0,1 0,2 0 0 0 0 20 50 40 110 3 4 23 VÖt VÖt 0 0 - 0,6 0,8 0,4 0,6 VÖt VÖt - VÖt VÖt - Source: Lê Thái Bạt, Vietnam soil science association 71 Appendix 3: Water resource Table 3.1: annual rainfall (mm) Province 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2,150 1,841 2,554 Dien Bien 1,624 1,416 1,975 Son La 1,210 1,176 1,405 1,786 1,743 1,785 Lai Chau 2,924 2,205 2,150 Lao Cai Source: provincial GSO 2012 Table 3.2: river watermark (mm) Province Station Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Lao Cai 2009 2010 2012 2011 Muong Te 28,203 28,186 28,205 28,209 Nam Giang 20,567 20,574 20,826 33,839 Ta Gia 35,718 35,698 35,698 35,676 Nam Nua 47,132 - 47,362 47,130 - 47,404 47,132 - 47,472 47,143 - 47,496 Nam Muc 22,654 - 22,964 22,647 - 22,881 22,653 - 23,112 22,647 - 23,070 Song Da - 10,777 10,858 11,628 - 27,964 Song Ma - 27,790 27,795 10,805 - 27,757 Song Hong 75,700 - 78,450 75,570 - 80,380 Song Chay 67,750 - 71,490 67,750 - 75,260 Source: provincial GSO 2012 72 Table 3.3: substance measurement of surface water in Dien Bien Category Sample measurement 2006 Note 2007 5 - 18 2008 9 - 100 2009 6 - 352 NO2 (mg/l) 0 - 0.96 0.01 - 0.713 0.003 - 0.566 NO3 (mg/l) NH4 (mg/l) P (mg/l) Fe (mg/l) 0.395 - 5.419 0.041 - 8 0.011 - 0.117 2.2 - 4.5 0.009 - 0.214 39% samples have over 1 mg/l 3.5 - 5.2 0.74 - 5.079 0.096 - 0.257 0.074 - 0.117 6.13 - 6.76 3.21 - 5.31 BOD (mg/l) 3.2 - 14.6 3.5 - 18.4 2.1 - 6.2 COD (mg/l) 6 - 31 6 - 30 4.2 - 13.6 0.15 - 1.9 0.6 - 0.9 TSS (mg/l) DO (mg/l) Oil (mg/l) E Coli Coliform 9 - 38 100% samples have over 1 mg/l 3 - 320 MNP/100ml 110 - 2000 MNP/100ml 0.05 - 0.32 27% samples over A1 limit 20% samples over B2 limit 20% samples over A1 limit 6.7% samples over B2 limit All samples within A1 limit 33% samples over A1 limit All within A1 limit 0.5 mg/l is considered the threshold 100% over A1 limit 40% over A2 limit 6.7% over B1 limit 100% over A1 limit 80% over A2 limit 6.7% over B2 limit 60% over A1 limit 13.3% over A2 limit 6.7% over B2 limit 100% over A2 limit 53.3% over B1 limit 6.7% over B2 limit 98 - 4,826 MNP/100ml Source: report on assessment of water resource in Dien Bien 2011 73 Appendix 4: Irrigation Table 4.1: Irrigation area in Dien Bien 2004 (ha) Demanded irrigation area vs Actual irrigation area "Chiem" crop "Mua" crop "Chiem" crop "Mua" crop 18,160 25,167 7,676 12,632 Table 4.2: Irrigation capacity in Dien Bien 2004 (ha) Item Units Designed irrigation capacity Dam Pump station Reservoir Temporary irrigation work Total vs Actual irrigation capacity 293 1 11 495 "chiem" crop 8,128 270 895 2,240 "mua" crop 10,429 270 957 3,493 "chiem" crop 5,670 95 446 1,464 "mua" crop 8,222 95 507 3,808 800 11,533 15,149 7,676 12,632 74 Appendix 5: Forest Table 5.1: Change in forest area in Vietnam (ha) Year Forest area Cover Total Natural forest 1943 14,300,000 14,300,000 1976 11,169,300 11,169,700 1980 10,683,000 10,180,000 1985 9,891,900 9,308,300 1990 9,175,600 8,430,700 1995 9,302,200 8,252,500 2000 10,915,600 9,444,200 2002 11,784,600 9,865,000 2003 12,095,000 10,005,000 2004 12,306,900 10,088,300 2005 12,616,700 10,283,200 Source: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and FPD Table 5.2: Forest area of four studied provinces (ha) Province Total area Forest area Natural forest Per capita Planted forest 92,600 422,300 583,600 744,900 1,049,700 1,491,400 1,919,600 2,090,000 2,218,600 2,333,500 43.2% 33.7% 32.1% 30% 27.8% 28.2% 33.2% 35.8% 36.1% 36.7% 37% 0.57 0.31 0.19 0.14 0.12 0.12 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.15 0.15 Planted forest Total More than 3 years Of which Less than 3 years Cover (%) Lai Chau 906,879 403,081 371,825 31,256 16,319 6,806 Rubber & special plants 8,130 Dien Bien 956,290 393,344 377,120 16,223 7,571 8,653 - 40.2 1,417,444 635,231 611,636 23,596 21,081 1,168 1,347 44.7 638,390 334,893 261,484 73,409 64,720 8,181 508 51.2 33,098,208 13,862,043 10,423,844 3,438,200 2,765,793 398,443 273,963 40.7 Son La Lao Cai Country total 43.7 75 Table 5.3: Change in forest area in four studied provinces (ha) 2012 est. Province 2010 2011 Lai Chau 383,890 390,759 393,987 Dien Bien 347,225 349,461 384,691 Son La 586,193 625,786 633,687 Lao Cai 327,755 333,612 334,893 Table 5.3: Provincial master plan for three types of forest to 2020 (ha) Province Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La Lao Cai Plan to 2020 680,299 760,450 885,000 417,934 Type of forest Protection 360,893 424,199 423,992 170,089 Special use 41,275 46,516 62,978 46,070 Production 278,131 289,733 398,028 201,775 76 Table 5.4: Provincial master plan for forest protection and development to 2020 (ha) Category Lai Chau 2011 - 2015 2016 - 2020 Son La 2011 - 2015 2016 - 2020 409,902 479,145 724,730 770,000 - Special use forest 29,038 31,078 50,653 55,000 - Protection forest 244,719 269,887 348,446 380,000 - Production forest 136,144 178,179 325,631 335,000 Reforestation 119,080 51,500 182,500 4,000 - Special use forest 5,400 5,000 18,400 4,000 - Protection forest 95,180 7,500 88,207 - Production forest 18,500 39,000 75,891 Newly planted forest 20,340 34,100 41,050 41,878 Forest protection - Special use forest and protection forest - Production forest 6,350 10,400 15,750 4,737 13,990 23,700 25,300 37,141 Timber harvest 20,740 71,100 540,000 700,000 - Protection forest 15,000 46,200 - Production forest 5,340 23,500 400 1,400 - Bamboo 77 Appendix 6: Rubber plantation Table 6.1: Lai Chau provincial master plan of rubber plantation (ha) 2016 - 2020 2008 - 2010 2011 - 2015 Newly planted area 5,797 ~14,000 ~10,000 Total accumulated area 5,797 ~ 20,000 ~ 30,000 Table 6.2: Son La rubber plantation (ha) 2010 Total rubber plantation 5,400 2011 6,394 2012 6,755 2015 ~ 20,000 78 Appendix 7: Genetic resource maps Genetic resource map of Lai Chau and Son La Genetic resource map of Son La and Lao Cai 79 80 Appendix 7: Treatment of livestock waste Table 7.1: Lai Chau District Type of treatment Biogas Lai Chau town Tam Duong Fertilizer 20.69% 0.84% Muong Te 48.74% 56.52% Sin Ho 55.36% Than Uyen 98.32% Average Discharge into river, creek 6.96% Other 65.52% 49.58% 0.84% 34.78% 1.74% 40% 24.11% 14.29% 3.57% 2.68% 1.68% 0.87% 88.7% 2.61% 0% 61.0% 6% Table 7.2: Dien Bien District 7.83% 3% 13% 17% Type of treatment Biogas Dien Bien Phu Discharge into lake, pond, field 3.45% 60% Phong Tho Tan Uyen Discharge into sewage 10.34% 3.33% Fertilizer Discharge into sewage 73.33% Muong Nhe 8.96% Muong Cha 23.33% 20.15% Discharge into lake, pond, field 23.34% 34.32% Discharge into river, creek Other 30.6% 5.97% 21.67% 55% 81 Tua Chua 0.68% 69.18% 30.14% Tuan Giao 1.67% 55% 15.83% 2.5% 2.5% 22.5% 68.33% 21.11% 0.56% 0.56% 9.44% 42.66% 9.79% 2.8% 41.95% 2.1% Dien Bien Dien Bien Dong 0.7% Muong Ang 4.2% 95.8% Average 0.50 53.13 14.31 6.15 Appendix 8: Discharge of used case/bottle of plant protection chemicals Table 8.1: Lai Chau District 13.21 12.70 Manner of discharge On the field Collect, bury, burn 57.85% Dump into canal, river, creek 38.86% 52.1% 42.86% 18.99% 81.01% 63.2% 36.8% Phong Tho 56.25% 33.93% 9.82% Than Uyen 57.26% 41.88% 0.85% Tan Uyen 86.84% 10.53% 2.63% Lai Chau town Tam Duong Muong Te Sin Ho Table 8.2: Dien Bien District 3.29% 5.04% Manner of discharge 82 On the field Dien Bien Phu 26.67% Dump into canal, river, creek 33.33% Muong Nhe 90.98% 6.02% Muong Cha 57.65% 14.12% Tua Chua Collect, bury, burn Dumpster Others 40% 3% 27.06 1.17 100% Tuan Giao 97.85% 2.15% Dien Bien 51.52% 32.12% 16.36% 52% 40% 8% 42.74% 57.26% Dien Bien Dong Muong Ang Appendix 9: Use of agriculture inputs Table 9.1: Application of inputs on major crops in the Northwest Input Paddy Maize Practice In theory Practice In theory Seeds (kg) 30 - 35 40 - 50 15 - 20 15 - 20 Organic fertilizer (kg) 0 800 - 1000 0 800 - 1000 Fertilizer (kg) 1,500 - 1,700 840 - 980 1,435 1,040 - 1,200 Pesticide, herbicide (kg) 0.4 1.2 Table 9.2: Supply of rice varieties in Dien Bien District Self supplied Chayote Practice In theory 450 600 0.3 170 780 Supply Supply Extension Cooperative Supply agent Others 83 company 58.62% service Dien Bien Phu 41.38% Muong Nhe 38.78% Muong Cha 85.83% Tua Chua 95.95% Tuan Giao 33.66% 30.69% Dien Bien 26.01% 65.9% 0.58% 90% 0.67% 4% 87.39% 0.84% Dien Bien Dong Muong Ang 61.22% 0.83% 5% 0.58% 5% 3.33% 2.03% 2.03% 26.73% 8.91% 2.31% 4.62% 4.67% 0.67% 5.88% 5.88% 84 Appendix 10: Living condition of households Description Lai Chau Dien Bien Son La 94% 93% 94% % households using coal stove - 0.06% - % households using LPG stove 5.5% 5% 4.5% % households using biogas stove - 0.54% 0.3% % households using electric stove - 0.32% 0.4% % households using other types of fuel for cooking - 0.47% 1% % households having built-in bathroom 9% 12% 20% % households having other types of bathroom 9% 18% 35% % households without bathroom 82% 69% 45% % households having built-in toilet 2.5% 2.8% 3.6% % households having outdoor toilet 4.4% 3.5% 10% % households having other types of toilet 20% 47% 71% % households without toilet 74% 46% 15% % communes having water supply station 80% 82% 76% % communes having wastewater discharge system 15% 3% 2.7% 2% 4% 6.4% % households using fire wood for cooking % communes having waste collection service 85 Appendix 11: Programs / projects on natural resource management Table 11.1: Lai Chau's spending on environmental related programs (million vnd) Amount of fund Program National Target Program on Clean water and Rural environmental sanitation New Rural Development Program Program on forest protection and development DANIDA program (ARD-SPS) Program 661 (5 million ha of forest) Program on rubber expansion Program on sustainable forest development Program on reforestation, and forest protection contract with households 20042008 80,982 2009 2010 26,667 24,118 2011 2012 2013 est. 38,300 30,300 27,203 18,000 15,821 15,250 38 2,000 10,000 45,000 16,565 6,688 26,305 10,000 80,230 21,864 116,344 64,194 85,972 20,001 87,508 391,776 462,236 456,129 202,829 297,444 17,917 16,565 3,883 74,540 Table 11.2: Son La's biogas program Newly constructed bio-digester 2009 238 2010 200 2011 145 2012 191 2013 85 86 Write up of ‘Conclusions’ Session, 25th Jan 2014 Through the work done in this report, and through discussion with all section authors, the major problems in the region were identified. Drivers of these problems were also identified, as were potential solutions. The problems are: The large disparity between different sections of the population; namely between urban and rural populations, and between the rural Kinh (and to a lesser degree Thai) and the other ethnicities in the region. The disparity is in terms of income, of education, and of opportunity. There is a lack of data in this report about the ethnic minorities, which is symptomatic of highly marginalized people. In addition, there is a disparity in education and opportunity between men and women. The poor productivity, and sometimes poor quality, of agricultural crops. This is driven by soil degradation and erosion on sloping land, caused by excessive monocropping and intensive cultivation of maize, as well as cassava and upland rice. Another driver is forest degradation, sometimes due to rubber plantations, but also due to other deforestation. Malnutrition levels are still far too high, and could be improved with interventions that promote dietary diversity, including diversification of production. Increased diversity, quality and quantity of vegetables and fruits could be grown in the region (and are in some places); an additional barrier to improving nutrition is changing local cooking and eating habits to better utilize locally available diversity. Low prices and low market access for rural products make it difficult for many farmers to increase their incomes. There is great uncertainty for both the farmers as to what products they will be able to sell, and uncertainty for the buyers as to what the farmers will produce. The explanation for this is that value chains are, in general, poorly managed and fragmented. There are however some examples of successes . Note that the challenging terrain and long transport times exacerbate this problem, and that some transport infrastructure is currently being upgraded (highway through Son La to China). The pollution of waterways with sewage, manure effluent and agrochemicals (both from excessive use in fields and inappropriate disposal of packaging) was identified as a problem, but perhaps not as immediate as the above four points. An overarching problem, and compounding factor of other problems, was the poor understanding and poor implementation of the policy framework (by whom?) designed to protect the natural environment, promote improved farming techniques, facilitate trade, and conserve natural resources. Towards Entry Themes Many of these problems play out on the degraded sloping land that covers much of the region. Improving the management of sloping land was identified as a major entry theme. Another theme identified was to ‘diversify, intensify and integrate farming systems’. The development of entry points should focus on: the slope and altitude defined eco-zones identified; special indigenous products; farmer training and inputs provision; value chain development; improving dietary diversity. 87 Considering the four agro-eco zones, initial suggestions for intensification options were: Forest/rubber Land: NTFPS, integrate forage, fodder grass and livestock. ( There is a major opportunity in two provinces which plan to boost rubber plantations) Upland Crops: Integrate temperate fruit and nut trees with staple crops Lowland Valleys: Off-season rotation of vegetables in paddy land Diversification of Home Gardens (called VACs in Vietnam): Traditional and Local vegetables, Fruit and nut Trees, Aquaculture. Farming Interventions should aim to halt and even reverse land degradation; on slopes that often includes erosion; and to curb the excessive use of agri chemicals. Main agricultural training techniques suggested were: Composting and Manure Composting (which may help address the issue of polluted waterways); Advise on Chemical Input use; Intercropping. There are a number of good examples of well organised value chains in the region already: Good examples already, namely: Dairy Farming Contract Model, Dien Bien aromatic rice, Safe Vegetables, Green Plum to China, Cassava processing company(?), Tea exporters. It should also be noted that the local government representatives were very keen to develop value chains for indigenous products. Regarding the improvement of nutrition a few key issues were identified: to improve dietary diversity through improved access to diversified crops and animal speciesimprove food safety, improve food preparation techniques (in home and for value added sales), and to really change behaviour – not just to grow other crops, but to actively use them. The targeting of interventions towards different groups needs consideration. The rural Kinh and Thai generally have more and bigger farms, using higher inputs; and so may have a bigger environmental impact. They also have more traction in value chains. Interventions targeting the Rural H’Mong, other ethnic minorities, will have a greater affect upon poverty alleviation and disparity. Women of all ethnicities are generally more disadvantaged compared to men due to poorer education, sometimes a poor grasp of Vietnamese language, poor inclusion in value chains and poor uptake (what about access) of subsidies and extension opportunities. It was agreed that the Youth should not be actively targeted, although successful interventions might discourage out migration. The wider problem of poor policy implementation may be possible to address through capacity building or inclusion in platforms addressing some of these topics. 88