The project aims to reduce poverty in 6 communes in Vietnam through market-oriented agroforestry. Over 1 year: - 1,770 households improved 314ha of home gardens with high-value crops like banana and mangosteen. - 752 households improved 107ha of forest gardens, enriching species. - 40 village savings groups were formed with over $25,000 in savings. - 5 entrepreneurs received loans for businesses like incense making. Lessons included: incentives for adoption worked best; changing mindsets takes time; and commune-level extension was most effective. Emerging models included integrated savings-loans and supporting local entrepreneurs. Remaining challenges are institutionalizing successes and

1. Project on Market-Oriented Agro-forestry to
Reduce Poverty in Quang Nam Province,
Vietnam
“Improving gardens and support systems
to reduce poverty”
Presentation during the “International Symposium on Sustainable Land Use and
Rural Development in Mountainous Regions of Southeast Asia” on 21-23 July 2010,
Hanoi, Viet Nam

2. The Sites in Central Viet Nam
Six communes in two districts,
Quang Nam Province
Tien Phuoc Dist
• Tien Ha, Tien Cam
• Tien Son
• Tien Phong
• Tien Tho
Phu Ninh Dist
•Tam Lọc

4. The Players
• Donor: Italian Government
• Executing Agency: FAO
• Implementing Agency:
– Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD)
of Quang Nam Province
• Local officials in 6 communes and in 2 districts:
– Tien Phuoc District (Tien Ha, Tien Cam, Tien Son, Tien Tho,
Tien Phong)
– Phu Ninh District (Tam Loc)

5. Objectives
Development objectives (vision)
1. Contribute to Quang Nam’s efforts to reduce
poverty
2. Help conserve natural resources by supporting
sustainable and high quality Market-Oriented
Agro-Forestry (MOAF) systems
Specific objectives
With 6 communes:
Improve and/or develop 1,500 ha of market-driven
gardens
Strengthen enterprise-oriented coops and groups
Pilot viable micro-finance with village groups
With province and 2 districts:
• Strengthen extension delivery system
• Develop market research information system

6. PROVINCE OF
QUANG NAM
The process of translating innovative practices into
reality and leaving a legacy of lessons and models
for scaling up and replication
DISTRICTS
OTHER
COMMUNES
COMMUNES
OTHER FARMERS
IN 6
COMMUNES
FARMERS
IN 6
COMMUNES

7. Baseline diagnostics from PRA,
consultations, and field visits
 Marginal soils - sandy to sandy loam, low
organic content, acidic, easily drained soils
 Typhoon-prone area
 Ave annual rainfall of 2,200-3,500 mm; rainy
months during Sept-Dec
 Small farm size holdings – Ave of 0.5-1.4 ha
 Home gardens crowded with 10-15 species/ha
 “A little of everything “from harvests of crops
and sale of livestock
 No on-site product consolidation before
marketing
 Limited processing of farm products
 Layers of middlemen from farms to markets
 Monopsonistic market for pulpwood
 Low prices of pulpwood, cinnamon bark

8. Baseline diagnostics from PRA,
consultations, and field visits
 Unmanaged home gardens -60 to70% –
overcrowding with low market value species
 Low-value species planted in high value farms
 No thinning in most densely-planted forest farms
 Diseases of black pepper, citrus, ginger & turmeric
 Proliferation of inefficient mini-sawmills
 Limited capacity in delivering client- & market-
oriented extension services
 Fragmented market information systems
 Limited local supply of high value planting
materials
 Limited access to financing
 Too focused on subsidized loans instead of savings
promotion
 23% -70% belong to poor HHs
 Limited HH labor

9. HH Income- Major Sources
HHIncome
sources
% ofHH
Income
from
rice
% ofHH
income
from
fruits
% ofHH
income
from
livestock
% ofHH
income
from
black
pepper
% ofHH
income
from
other
crops
% ofHH
income
frompulp-
wood
% ofHH
income
fromsaw-
timber
Gardens
=62% 0.13 0.12 0.25 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.03
Off-
farm=38%

10. Basic information on land resources,
population, and income (2007)
Parameter Tien
Cam
Tien Ha Tien
Son
Tien
Phong
Tien Tho Tam Son Tam
Loc
1. Total land area (ha) 1,710 3,784 2,324 2,070 2,580 5,402 3,440
1.1 Agricultural land (ha) 961 1,257 826.1 480 923 1,544 1,384.8
1.2 Forestland (ha) 665.3 1,920 519.7 1,011 488 3,090 753
1.3. Unused land 597 501 800.0 523 533 768 1,206.8
1.3.1 Potential for forest
production (ha)
487 300 650.0 400 530 714 1,167.3
1.3.2 Potential for agriculture 109 201 150 123 3 54 39.55
1.4. Others 106 178.2 56 637 - 95.2
2. No. of households (HH) 668 879 906 995 1,448 1,104 1,804
3. Ave. agri land/HH ( in ha) 1.4 1.4 0.9 0.5 0.6 1.4 0.8
4. Ave. annual income per capita
(mil dong)
2.80 2.80 3.0 3.05 3.54 2.650 4.44
5. Ave. annual income/
capita poor HH (mil. dong)
2.18 2.15 2.0 1.94 1.92 1.80 1.40
6. No. poor households 152
(23 %)
328
(37 %)
589
(65 %)
694
(70%)
868 (60%) 523 (47%) 413
(23%)

11. Can Market-Oriented Agro-forestry Demonstrate
How Households can get out of POVERTY?
Subsistence farming
Self-sufficiency
Increased HH income
Agro-forestry
Poverty Threshold Line = VND 1.7 m/capita
HH Income in VND
Time

12. Will Collaborative Implementation Work?
1,500 ha gardens
Rural enterprises
Microfinance
Model
Strengthened
extension delivery
system
Market research
information system
developed
Garden
owners,
entrepreneurs
PROJECT
with
6 communes,
2 Districts,
Provincial DARD
Assist
OUTPUTS

13. Will Single Message in all
Activities Sink in?
Tag Line: “Improving gardens and support
systems to reduce poverty”
Meaning:
“Improving the market-orientation of agro-
forestry enterprises combined with responsive
support systems will increase household incomes,
increase household asset values, and reduce
poverty in Quang Nam”.

14. Where do we start?
Enterprises Products – goods & services Buyers & consumers
1. Home gardens
Fruits, spices, livestock,
timber, essential oil, grains,
leaves, bark
Tien Ky, Tam Ky,
Hoi An, Danang
2. Forest gardens
Pulpwood, saw timber,
non-timber sp
Traders, sawmills (27 in
Tien Phuoc, 17 in Phu
Ninh)
3. Nurseries
Planting materials of high
value spp - fruits, spices,
timber, ornamentals
Garden owners
4. Savings &
Relending
Relending, advisory, and
training services
Members of savings
groups
5. Agri- & forestry
rural
enterprises
Processed agro-forestry
products; inputs for gardens
Consumers of incense
products, farmers

15. A. What Garden Technologies will
Improve Market Orientation?
Enterprises Specific Strategies
1. Home
gardens
Planting high value short-, medium-, and long-term agro-
forestry species and eliminating low-value species
Reducing number of species from 10-15 per ha to 4-5 per ha
Improving management of high value local crops such as black
pepper
2. Forest
gardens
Timber-oriented thinning and pruning densely-planted forest
farms combined with 50% labor subsidy
Enriching forest farms with long-term high value species such
as Khaya, Hopea and Acquilaria spp (source of agar)

16. B. What Enterprises will Support
and Improve Value Chains?
Enterprises Strategies
3. Nurseries
Contracts with local cooperators for raising high value planting
materials to pump prime enterprises
Technical training, cross visits, and linkages with established
nurseries and sources of seeds, cuttings, and suckers
4. Savings &
Relending
Support for savings and relending from % of per diem and labor
subsidy with matching fund & repayments from enterprise loans
5. Agri &
forestry
enterprises
Training on technical operations, business planning, pre-
operations;
Enterprise loans for buying equipment & initial working capital.
Repayments to savings and relending groups.

17. C. What Incentives and tools will facilitate
adoption of market-oriented practices?
Assistance in commune-led planning and
implementation
Full funding for approved commune agro-
forestry plans
One on-site technician per commune
Regular feedbacks and updates
Subsidized inputs and support for
equipment, working capital and pre-
operations of enterprises
Contracts to pump prime nursery
enterprises
Training, cross visits, study tours
Expertise for analysis, design, prototyping,
and evaluation

18. Are the Interventions Working?
Enterprises Status after more than a year
1. Home
gardens
1,770 HHs improved 314 ha of home gardens, each HH
planting 20 high value seedlings.
Banana (51% of seedlings) as the high value short-term
crops
Mangosteen (16%) as the long-term species
Citrus – pomelo & mandarin (11%) as the medium-
term crop
Agreement on an approach for reviving Tien Phuoc
black pepper after assessment
Seedling survival of 74% based on sampling
2. Forest
gardens
752 HHs improved 107 ha of forest gardens with
species enrichment using Khaya senegalenses and
replanting keo after the typhoon in September

19. Are the Interventions Working?
Enterprises Status after more than a year
3. Nurseries
Trained 18 potential nursery cooperators on plant
propagation, nursery mgt, and business planning; BUT …
Only 7 committed to raise high value planting materials
with initial business contracts to prime up the initial nursery
enterprises
4. Savings &
Relending
Formed 40 village savings & credit groups with a total
savings of more than VND 50 million
Repayments of 5 enterprise loan contracts amounting to
VND 172 million to be part of savings & credit group
accounts
Commune relending policies finalized for approval
5. Agri &
forestry
enterprises
Trained entrepreneurs on the technical aspects and
business planning of incense making, making pre-mixed
fertilizer, and trading of feedmeals and fertilizer
Enterprise loan agreements with 5 entrepreneurs in 3
communes

20. Has Client-Responsiveness of
Extension Services Improved?
• More active commune technicians in partnership
with project staff in assisting garden farmers
adopt market-oriented practices
• Limited participation of district and province
technicians
• Mixed responses on serious training needs
assessments with follow-on institutional
commitments
• “What’s in it for me” attitudes prevail

21. Lessons Learned
• Assessment and analysis may help refine interventions, and
figure out innovative, effective, & efficient entry points
• A cost center approach in fully funding commune-led planning
and implementation may trigger active participation and counterpart
commitments from local leaders and farmer participants
• Incentives that support farmer’s self-interests could facilitate
adoption – subsidized inputs for improving home gardens, matching funds
for savings, partial subsidy for wage labor for improving forest gardens.
• A savings-oriented microfinance with matching fund
can link and integrate various project interventions such as training,
subsidies, production contracts, and enterprise loans.

22. Lessons Learned
• Supporting local interests may give rise to acceptable
combinations of short-, medium-, and long-term agro-forestry species
(e.g. bananas and durian, bananas and mangosteen, Khaya and Hopea as
long-term forest species, reviving black pepper)
• Improving market orientation and client-
responsiveness are changing mind-sets which does not
happen overnight.
• Right combinations of local cross visits, study tours,
and village training ignite adoptions. “To see is to believe” -
coffee and black pepper in central highlands, nurseries in the south,
banana- and citrus-based home gardens, farmer-owned khaya and hopea
farms, etc)

23. Emerging Models
• Commune-level extension services is more effective
in changing farmer’s behaviors & facilitating
technology transfer among garden owners.
• Integrating job generation, training, and enterprise loans
with savings-focused microfinance program at the
commune level
• Supporting self-interested local entrepreneurs with
training, priming up contracts, and/or working capital loans:
 Enterprise-oriented village nurseries for raising high value
planting materials
 Local processing or manufacturing based on competitive
advantages in raw materials and access to markets
 Mixing, repacking, and direct trading of inputs for home
and garden forest improvements

24. Remaining Challenges
• Institutionalizing emerging models
and best practices in:
– microfinance,
– enterprise-oriented village nurseries, and
– commune-led extension delivery system
• Determining initial subsidy for improved
home and forest gardens in marginal lands
that may yield at least 40% environmental
benefits

25. XIN CAM ON!
Thank you !XIN CAM ON