The SADU Vietnam project supported the development of agro-enterprises in upland communities in three Vietnamese provinces. It did this through developing six value chain pilots for crops like cassava and cattle. The project worked to improve market access and transition farmers to more commercial production. Emerging results included more resilient smallholder production and marketing systems benefiting over 2,000 households, as well as curriculum developed to share lessons learned.

1. Introduction SADU Vietnam is a project implemented by CIAT and partners, with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The project has supported the development of agro-enterprises in upland rural communities in Hoa Binh, Dak Lak, and Thua Thien Hue Provinces of Vietnam, with the aim of generating sustainable income and employment opportunities for ethnic minority and other poor farming households. SADU Vietnam manages to achieve impact, both in terms of livelihood impacts and in mainstreaming the development of agro-enterprises, by a careful balance of development and research. Tiago Wandschneider and SADU Project Partners in Vietnam SADU Vietnam, CIAT Asia, 46 Vong Thi, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, Vietnam Small-scale Agro-enterprise Development in the Uplands of Vietnam (SADU VN) The financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is acknowledged gratefully . Project activities: The main activities of SADU Vietnam have included: Development of 6 value chain pilots: Cassava, Cattle, Potato, Persimmon, Chayote, and Banana Documentation of approaches, processes, and lessons Sharing of lessons Development of manuals Training, mentoring, and advisory services Value Chain Interventions: Market linkage development Transition to more commercial and competitive production systems Collective action for market access Development of commercial support services and input distribution chains Improvements in the design and implementation of contract farming schemes Market-oriented diversification Emerging results: More resilient, competitive, and sustainable smallholder production and marketing systems Direct income benefits to more than 2,000 resource-poor and ethnic minority farming households Marketing extension curriculum developed for: - National Agricultural and Forestry Extension Centre (NAFEC) - College for Managers of Agriculture and Rural Development (CMARD) - Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Lessons: - Entry points for intervention - Working with agribusiness for pro-poor innovation - Strategic use of subsidies for scalability and sustainability Develop impact-oriented, pro-poor value chain pilots DEVELOPMENT Assess processes, outcomes, impacts and lessons RESEARCH Mainstream approaches, tools and lessons DEVELOPMENT