Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development CARD Project Progress Report 025/05VIE Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam MS2: FIRST SIX-MON
Trang 1Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development
CARD Project Progress Report
025/05VIE Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam
MS2: FIRST SIX-MONTHLY REPORT
11th December 2006
Trang 21 Institute Information
Economics and Management for Vietnam
Hanoi Agricultural University Gialam, Hanoi, Vietnam
University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
Completion date (revised)
Contact Officer(s)
In Australia: Team Leader
g.macaulay@usyd.edu.au
Natural Resources University
of Sydney, NSW 2006, a.vervoort@usyd.edu.au
Vervoort (as above)
In Australia: Administrative contact
University of Sydney,
NSW 2006, Australia
In Vietnam
Department
Rural Development Hanoi Agricultural University
trandinhthaoktl@yahoo.com
Gialam, Hanoi, Vietnam
Trang 32 Project Abstract
With very rapid growth and development in Vietnam, there is a danger of overuse and mismanagement of natural resources, thus compromising sustainable development The level of knowledge, understanding and use of the principles of natural resource economics (NRE) and management is limited in Vietnamese agriculture The designed outcome of the project is to begin to have resource management concepts used in various institutions in Vietnam (Universities, MARD, and the extension system) and to strengthen the ability to deliver knowledge, set policies and advise farmers in this area This will be approached through a participatory approach using workshops in Vietnam on NRE held by the University of Sydney staff and then staff of the participating organizations Two training workshops have already been held in Hanoi and Can Tho, Vietnam Two of the Vietnamese scholars had three months visit to the University of Sydney so as to broaden their understanding of NRE In the next stage, extension workshops at the provincial level will be held by Vietnamese staff, thus transferring the acquired knowledge to extension specialists and thereby to smallholder farmers In the final stage, a limited number of training workshops with farmers will be conducted to demonstrate the use of practical knowledge and skills in resource management
3 Executive Summary
The project is aimed at strengthening the teaching and research capacity in the field of natural resource economics in several key Vietnamese Institutions (Universities, MARD) and encourage the transfer of knowledge from the University teaching and research staff
to extension staff The project is designed to strengthen the use of resource management concepts in Vietnam through a participatory approach using workshops in Vietnam on Natural Resource Economics in three stages
The first stage of the project, that is, institutional capacity building has been approached through conducting training workshops by staff of The University of Sydney in Hanoi and Can Tho with a group of academics in Hanoi Agricultural University (26 participants), and Can Tho University (19 participants) The aim of the workshops was to enhance the capacity of the participants to pass on the acquired knowledge to extension specialists
Two research scholars from Vietnam travelled to The University of Sydney (Ms.Le Thi Kim Lien and Ms Do Thi Den) for a period of three months, and completed research projects related to the development of case studies for use in the training workshops The approach to be used in the second stage of the project is to conduct Extension Workshops in the North and South with a maximum of 30 extension specialists per training session of about one week each The workshops will be run by selected participants in the earlier Trainer Workshops held in Hanoi and Can Tho In the third
Trang 4stage of the project, pilot extension workshops for farmers will be conducted with a focus
on economically efficient natural resource management, where practical knowledge and skills in resource management will be demonstrated
4 Introduction & Background
As Vietnam is experiencing rapid development and exposure to markets, enormous pressure is put on the nation’s natural resources Because of market imperfections and failures, especially with respect to various natural resources, there is a danger of resource overuse and collapse, resulting in economic inefficiencies, and social and environmental problems
Adequate knowledge of economics and the management of natural resources becomes a crucial factor in the quest for stable and sustainable long-term development Such knowledge is lacking at the academic, research and extension levels This project will strengthen the teaching and research capacity in the field of natural resource economics
in several key Vietnamese institutions of higher education (Hanoi Agricultural University (HAU), Hue College of Economics (HCE), Can Tho University (CTU) and the Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Xuanmai Forestry University, Thai Nguyen University, National Centre for Extension, and the College for Agriculture and Rural Development Managers) This will be accomplished through assistance in curriculum development and course design and transfer of research expertise The project
is also designed to foster links between the Universities and extension system and will encourage the transfer of knowledge from the university teaching and research staff to the extension staff The University of Sydney staff members who are part of the team are currently involved in teaching and research activities involving water, land and fisheries economics, as well as the economics of the environment and sustainable development
increasing rural productivity and particularly 2.1.1 of increasing agricultural efficiency and competitiveness The project also links to strategic objectives 2.4 of reducing
vulnerability to environmental and economic shocks and the intermediate objective 2.4.2
of increasing stability of household incomes through encouraging diversification of
production and marketing
(details of stakeholder analysis and expected impacts of the proposed activities are
provided in Annex 1 and Annex 2) that will be directly and indirectly targeted by the project The first level is comprised of academic, research and policy analysis staff at the Vietnamese institutions of higher education (Hanoi Agricultural University (HAU), Hue College of Economics (HCE), Can Tho University (CTU) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Xuanmai Forestry University, Thai Nguyen
University, National Centre for Extension, and the College for Agriculture and Rural Development Managers) They will benefit through training sessions in Vietnam held by University of Sydney staff and through visits to Australia by four staff members from the Vietnamese institutions The aim is to specifically address their capacity to pass on the acquired knowledge to the next level of beneficiaries – the extension specialists at the
Trang 5provincial level and the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) staff members They will benefit through the workshops within this project conducted in Vietnam by the Vietnamese universities It is expected that this will result in
incorporating natural resource economics principles into the guidelines, directives and advice that provincial level authorities provide for farmers The transmission to farmers will be through the district and community level extension specialists Within the project, several pilot workshops will be conducted at this level to initiate the knowledge transfer process The farmers are expected to directly benefit from these workshops through gaining skills in efficient management of natural resources on the farm, as well as
sustainable farming practices
natural resource economics in Vietnam in a layered framework In the first layer, and after considerable consultation, the University of Sydney staff will provide research, teaching and policy analysis training to Vietnamese academics, policy analysts and
extension specialists at a national level This training will be in the context of the
problems and issues identified in the farmer surveys In the second layer, those trained in the first layer will train the extension specialists and policy analysts at a provincial level The training will be designed to impact the advice and information provided to farmers
on the use of natural resources This will be demonstrated through a series of district level workshops In the third layer, pilot extension workshops for farmers will be conducted, with a focus on economically efficient natural resource management The University of Sydney will provide assistance in this process through participation and input to the curriculum design of the extension workshops The approach to capacity building through workshops and training sessions has been successfully implemented in a previous CARD project (Pilot Program)
1 4.3.1 Institutional Capacity Building: The approach to institutional capacity
building is through three types of activities: training workshops and curriculum
development at the level of Vietnamese institutions (Universities and MARD), visits of a small number of staff from Vietnamese institutions to Australia, and fostering and
initiating joint research projects in the area of natural resource economics
2 4.3.2 Communication/Outreach Approach The main approach to
communication/outreach is through extension workshops that will be conducted in the Mekong Delta at Can Tho University, the Central Coast through Hue University and in the north of Vietnam at Hanoi Agricultural University These workshops will address the strategic questions of strengthened and broadened capacity for natural resource
management training of extension personnel in Vietnam Once this capacity is built it will provide a continuing human resource base, which can be sustained into the future This will also result in an improved advisory capacity of the selected extension staff (emphasis will be placed on ensuring a balance of both males and females are trained) and an
improved ability to provide advice with an economic content in relation to resource use at the farm level
4.4.1 R&D Methodology: The approach used in the proposed project is through research
into specific resource use issues designed to allow development of training modules for
Trang 6use in knowledge transfer and knowledge base building This will also feed into the curriculum development process
It is envisaged that the project will have a significant research component in the form of economic analysis of the issues related to aquaculture, water use, land use and farm forestry A list of potential research projects is included in the Annex 3 The basic approach will be to develop simple examples using computer simulation in spreadsheets
as applied to a variety of cases of on-farm resource issues
4.4.2 Participatory Methods: On-going consultations with the major stakeholders will be
conducted in order to, in the first place determine the nature of the training and extension activities, and subsequently to obtain feedback and then re-address some of the key issues This will assist in developing the priority areas for training The expertise in HAU in participatory extension will be fully utilised (Linh, 2004) The case study material will be developed in consultation with extension personnel and a small number
of farmers Care will be taken to also ensure a balance of males and females in these consultations
5 Progress to Date
5.1 Implementation Highlights
-Inception meeting held (8th-14th January 2006) -Workshop
Curriculum and handbooks prepared for natural resource
management and extension Trainer Workshops (Handbook
attached with the report)
-Trainer Workshops held in Hanoi with 26 participants and Can Tho with 19 participants
in July 2006 and Workshop evaluation reports were completed (Refer to Annex 4-9 for details)
-Two research scholars (Ms.Le Thi Kim Lien and Ms Do Thi
Den) chosen and travelled to Sydney -Mini research
projects initiated and completed by two Vietnamese
scholars (Refer to Annex 10 and 11 for abstracts of these
research projects)
-Agricultural Knowledge Information System website established and database implemented (http://www.hau1.info/card/index.php?newlang=english)
5.2 Smallholder Benefits
At this initial stage of the project the necessary investment is being made in training academic staff in resource management so there has not been an impact at the smallholder level at this stage These impacts will be reflected in the pilot training at the farmer level later in the project
Trang 75.3 Capacity Building
The first stage of the project is about institutional capacity building designed to allow a group of academics, particularly in Hanoi Agricultural University and Can Tho University, but other universities as well, including Thai Nguyen, Vinh University, Forestry University, Hue University, Hai Phong University and MARD Two training workshops have already been conducted in Hanoi and Can Tho by University of Sydney academics
Pre and post workshop competency tests were conducted among the participants to compare their knowledge level before and after workshops The results were very satisfactory, in the post workshop competency tests A survey was conducted to determine the personal impressions of the participants toward the workshop outcome and the evaluation results of the survey showed that the trainees were quite satisfied with the workshop contents and quality They seemed to be quite sure about getting positive impacts in their future career development from knowledge gained during the workshop Two research scholars from Vietnam arrived at The University of Sydney, and have completed research projects related to the development of case studies in resource use
Ms Do Thi Den, who arrived on 22nd July and departed on 22
nd October 2006, carried out research entitled
“Technical Efficiency of Shrimp Farming in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam” Similarly, another research scholar Ms Le Thi Kim Lien, who arrived on 27
th
August and departed on 1
st Nov 2006, undertook a research project entitled “An Inquiry into Four Alternative Systems of Shrimp Culture in the Lagoon area of Thua Thien, Hue, Vietnam”
5.4 Publicity
At each of the workshops, banners were used acknowledging both the participating Universities and also CARD and AusAID funding The Handbooks delivered at the workshops all contained logos and acknowledgement of the source of funding from AusAID through the CARD program
Newspaper articles were obtained for both workshops in Hanoi and Can Tho Two articles on our project workshop in Can Tho were published in two newspapers: (a) Hau Giang Newspaper, July 21: Capacity Building Project for Implementing and Managing the Natural Resources Economics (Thuc hien du an nang cao nang luc kinh te va quan ly tai nguyen thien nhien) (b) Can Tho Newspaper, July 25: Training on Natural Resources Economics and Management (Boi duong kien thuc kinh te va quan ly tai nguyen thien nhien)
Information on the workshop in the north was posted on 18 July on the web site of the National Agricultural Extension Centre (NAEC), MARD The link is as follows:
http://www.khuyennongvn.gov.vn/?act=XemChiTiet&Cat_ID=46&News_ID=3719&Lin ksF rom=http://www.khuyennongvn.gov.vn/Home.asp
Trang 85.5 Project Management
The project team in Sydney have set up a series of approximately fortnightly meetings and link to the project team in Vietnam using email
6 Report on Cross-Cutting Issues
6.1 Environment
As the current work on the project has involved training in resource use and related environmental issues the effect of the work must be seen as positive in an environmental context through the enhanced understanding that workshop participants have been given
of resource management and the related environmental issues For example, issues of water use, fisheries management and policy, forestry management, etc were considered
in the training
6.2 Gender and Social Issues
In the workshops the balance between males and females was as follows:
Hanoi 14 males and 12 females
Can Tho 12 males and 7 females
7 Implementation & Sustainability Issues
7.1 Issues and Constraints
Thus far there appears to be little in the way of constraints on the work relative to what was planned However, it is clear that significant time and effort is required for even academics and administrative staff in government to gain an in-depth understanding of resource management issues and their analysis In this area progress was somewhat slower than expected
7.2 Options
a) Reduce the extent of coverage of material and provide a more intense level of training
in
specific areas
b) Expand the number of sessions by using parallel teaching in the North and South
However, none of the above are recommended at this stage
7.3 Sustainability
The project is involved in human capacity building The capacity developed will be
Trang 9transmitted and sustained through use in academic institutions and eventually the extension systems and to farmers
8 Next Critical Steps
The project has achieved the relevant milestones as specified in the project proposal The next critical step is the preparation of curriculum and handbooks for the Extension Workshops to be held in Hanoi and Can Tho in January 2007 One Extension Workshop will be conducted in the North and one in the South with a maximum of 30 people per training session of about one week each It is a training program at the Provincial and District level that will be run by selected members of those trained in the Trainer workshops held in Hanoi and Can Tho