Environmentally friendly livelihood improvement

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Program background

In Vietnam the economic development is continuing and its GDP in 2006 increased by 8.2%. How-ever, beneath this economic growth, the gap between rural and urban livelihoods is widening. The crops especially in the northern mountainous area are becoming poorer as the farmland there is limited and deteriorating due to soil erosion caused by deforestation.

We are therefore continuing our support in the area for sustainable natural resources management so that villagers may have stable livelihoods.

Summary of activities

1. Environmentally friendly livelihood improvement and community building (Hoabinh Province)

In 1999, we created "Community Development Committees" in five villages in Tanlac District of Hoabinh Province. These committees are meant to be focal points through which the villagers can initiate and implement projects in response to issues that they themselves identify. Since 2003, we have been implementing environmental education and environmentally friendly sustainable agriculture projects in Nam Son and Bac Son villages.

In 2006, we invited an agricultural specialist from India to carry out a training programme designed for environment conservation and sustainable agriculture. This training revealed that there was severe soil erosion in the slope land of the project area. After the training, the local people started to plant trees for their community forest with an aim for preventing soil erosion.

We conducted final evaluation in January 2007, which lead to a decision to continue a project for two more years for preventing soil erosion and promoting sustainable agriculture appropriate to each hamlet. In 2007 we will concentrate on preventing soil erosion and sustainable agriculture through facilitation for training sessions, workshops and farmers' meetings.

2. Forest conservation and secure livelihoods (Sonla Province)

JVC has been working for forest conservation and secure livelihoods in Coma Village, Thuan Chau Dis-trict, Sonla Province since 1999. In this project for the minority Mon people in Coma Village, we have been endeavouring to increase their awareness of environmental threats and to encourage them for sustainable agriculture to improve their livelihoods while conserving their environment . Our efforts have developed community management of the natural re-sources in the area.

In 2006 the trees the villagers had planted for their community forest management in the early stage of the project grew well, which developed self confidence in the local people. Another achievement was that the regional government eventually issued the longsought deed of community forest to the local people. For agriculture we selected model farming households that could act as leaders in the villages and convey our messages of technical issues through them. Doing so, we supported exchanges of knowledge and technology amongst the local people. Following our project evaluation in January 2007, our intervention terminated and the project was handed over to the local people and the local government.