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The Third Planning Workshop for the Vietnam Agroforestry Capacity-Building (VACB) Project was held during 3-5 August 2000 in Quy Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province, south-central coastal region of Vietnam. The workshop was co-organized by the Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute (VASI) and ICRAF, with support from the Sida-funded VACB project. VASI’s Agricultural Research Center for South-Central Coastal Vietnam, based in Quy Nhon, co-hosted the meeting and provided valuable technical and logistical support.

Participants came from a rich and diverse range of research institutes, national ministries, academic institutions, provincial and district organizations, non-governmental organizations, and international organizations and projects involved in agroforestry. In all, some 60 colleagues from over 40 different institutions/projects contributed to the workshop deliberations. They represented a growing informal network of VACB collaborators throughout Vietnam. There was a deliberate decision to invite more colleagues from the central part of the country as well as from provincial and district organizations to the Quy Nhon workshop.

The gathering in Quy Nhon provided a good opportunity to review the progress of the VACB project in 1999, discuss the key activities of the limited work plan in 2000 – which is being supported by an extension grant from Sida – and brainstorm on activity thrusts to be included in an eventual second phase of VACB (should it become operational in 2001). The first day of the planning workshop was devoted to visiting field sites and various agroforestry models and farmers in three districts of Binh Dinh Province.

Some of the noteworthy observations, outcomes and trends emerging from the workshop in Quy Nhon included the following:

• The informal VACB network is expanding and reaching deeper to the grassroots level. Training and other activities are increasingly involving staff from provincial- and district-based organizations such as: Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, Agriculture and Forestry Extension Centers, Agriculture and Forestry Extension Stations, and agriculture and forestry vocational schools. At the planning workshop in Quy Nhon, 25 participants (or about 40% of the total number) were from provincial and district organizations.

• It was recommended that agroforestry capacity-building strategies and programs in Vietnam should increase their focus and activities on addressing the needs of organizations at the provincial and district levels. Moreover, younger staff and women should be increasingly targeted for capacity-building activities as this represents an investment for the country’s future.

• During the second full year of VACB collaboration (1999), significant progress has been made by VACB partners in seven areas of collaboration, namely: information, training, policy, indigenous fallow management, conservation farming, tree domestication, and modeling of complex agroforestry systems.

• The 1999 work plan that emerged from the 2nd VACB planning workshop in Hue proved to be realistic, and was successfully implemented by various partners with support by 9 small grants from VACB, ranging from US$5,000 to US$15,000 per grant.

• The networking and collaborative spirit grew stronger among network partners. Most of the VACB activities were jointly carried out by multiple collaborating institutions.

• VACB continues to seek ways to link and collaborate more closely with SEANAFE, DSO, MRDP, SFSP and other similar initiatives and projects.

• The 2000 work plan, which is supported by a modest extension grant from Sida, is limited in scope and primarily aims to consolidate much of the work and results emanating from the first phase of VACB. There are plans to finalize and disseminate the major studies and reports (in both Vietnamese and English) in the form of a VACB Working Paper Series.

• An innovative program approach and proposal has been formulated for the next phase of work. This will include support for: the second phase of VACB, developing similar collaboration with Lao partners, and regional collaboration and linkage activities. This proposal has been submitted by ICRAF to Sida and other prospective donor partners.

The planning workshop in Quy Nhon ended on a very positive note and high spirits. The network partners showed a strong sense of collective ownership and pride about what has been achieved during the first two years of VACB, as well as a high level of enthusiasm, optimism and commitment for strengthening future collaboration.

WORLD AGROFORESTRY CENTRE - SOUTH EAST ASIA
http://www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/sea