Overview of the Northwest Vietnam platform, Central Mekong flagship area Jim Hammond, Lisa Hiwasaki and Hoang Thi Lua

Context and platform background Northwest Vietnam is characterized by: • Many remote and culturally diverse

communities • Large wealth and education gap between

rural and urban populations • Increasing deforestation due to shifting

cultivation and agricultural expansion • Unsustainable farming and land uses

practices • Extensive soil erosion & land degradation • Declining yields and unstable livelihoods • High poverty rate and malnutrition • Top-down government system & little

room for self-representation.

Opportunities and constraints Opportunities: • Both research partners and government

partners are keen to develop projects and ideas

• Agricultural intensification measures which can improve productivity also reduce soil erosion and degradation

• Enhancing value chains for indigenous varieties of rice, vegetable and livestock could benefit the more marginalized sectors of society.

Constraints: • “R4D platform” is a new concept for

many stakeholders, thus getting it running at the beginning is a challenge

• Highly centralized government system may compromise the institutional and social context necessary for a platform to be implemented

• Timely approval of budget allocation for the platform is integral to the planning process

• Overlapping poverty reduction and research programs makes coordination and efficient implementation of activities a challenge.

Pictures

Conclusions and ways forward • This newly emerging platform has identified entry points through a

situational analysis process. Further meetings are planned for 2014,

to further elaborate upon entry points identified. It is expected that

innovation platforms will form around the best entry points.

• Partners are enthusiastic, but genuine buy-in has not yet been

achieved, and there is still some confusion as to what an R4D

platform is or what it does. Leadership of the platform has just been

identified, and the transition from the meeting room to the field site

will be crucial to achieving real progress.

Platform progress First meeting (Aug 2013):

• An understanding of Humidtropics was achieved

• Situation analysis was launched

• A list of potential R4D platform members was discussed.

Second meeting (Dec 2013):

• Initial results of situation analysis in the region were

presented

• Ideas on entry points based on suggestions from

provincial government staff were collected.

Platform facilitation and

learning • Facilitator from NOMAFSI has been

identified

• Research led by various

organizations: ILRI, Bioversity,

AVRDC, CIP, ICRAF, and involves

local partners

• A preliminary work plan with

estimated budget has been drafted

• Reports of the two meetings exist

• Five functions of the platform have

been identified: 1. linking with

policy makers; 2. sharing and

learning; 3. coordination; 4. linking

farmers with markets; 5. capacity

building; and 6. promoting

indigenous practices/scaling up.

Lisa Hiwasaki, L.Hiwasaki@cgiar.org ● ICRAF, Hanoi, Vietnam. Prepared for a

capacity development workshop of the

CGIAR Research Program on Humidtropics, Nairobi, 29 April – 2 May 2014

http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/

This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution –Non commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License April 2014

April- May 2014

Platform characteristics • Led by ICRAF and facilitated by NOMAFSI,

a national research organization

• Funded entirely by the Humidtropics

program

• Stakeholders from provincial

governments, national research

institutions, local CSOs & NGOs, INGOs,

and the private sector

• Approximately 30% of the participants are

female

• The R4D platform operates at sub-

national level, in four provinces of

Northwest Vietnam

• As identified entry points lead to field

trials, it is anticipated that innovation

platforms will develop located around

field sites.