Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi may be budding urban districts, but the country is still largely an agricultural community. A quick visit to the two cities’ major markets is enough evidence, and a day trip to the countryside lends even more credence to this fact. It’s not hard to believe since more than 50 million people in the country are still actively engaged in agricultural production. Indeed, Vietnam’s agricultural roots go long and deep.
And like most traditional communities, hidden behind the country’s agricultural success are the hundreds and thousands of women who constitute an important part of the country’s agricultural activities. Men have always been traditionally positioned in the frontlines of agriculture, typical as they are the head of the household and often are engaged in the first round of farming activities like ploughing and preparing the land.
But it is the women who take on the work after that, largely in charge of other tasks, from transplanting, weeding and watering, to spraying pesticides and harvesting and drying the rice. In fact, a 2006 study of the World Bank showed that the trend is heavily in favor of women, with 80% women (compared to the 60% men) actively involved in cultivation and livestock raising activities.
Beyond Rice Farming: Indigenous Vegetable Production
However, it is more than rice farming that constitutes Vietnam’s agricultural sector. Fruit and vegetable production is also a significant component of the country’s agriculture. There is a growing domestic and international market for Vietnam’s fruits and vegetable produce, and a keen interest in the country’s indigenous vegetables as a local food source. It is also only natural to think that this is one agricultural activity where women’s involvement cannot be discounted especially as vegetables and fruits can easily be grown right in the backyards of the homes.
It’s because of this that the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) decided to support a project that is two-pronged in purpose: to improve indigenous vegetable production, and bring women to the forefront of this activity through capacity–building. The project titled, "Increasing the safe production, promotion and utilisation of indigenous vegetables by women in Vietnam and Australia", started in 2008 and was a collaboration with the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Vietnam Women’s Union. The latter is the country’s foremost women’s group that has more than 13 million members. Other project partners were the Food Crop Research Institute (FCRI), the National Institute for Medicine Materials, and the Centre for Agrarian Systems Research and Development (CASRAD).
During one of the project’s workshops in 2007, then Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Mr. Bill Tweddell explained that the choice to focus on indigenous vegetables was because of the large potential of many indigenous plants that are consumed as vegetables and fruits in many of Vietnam’s rural communities. Exploring the potential of these alternative crops in terms of their production, cultivation and marketing can spell added health and economic benefits for many rural households. By building the capacity of the women to produce these crops, they would have access to nutritious food for the family and at the same time, bring in additional income to the household.
Vegetable Production and Women Capacity Building
Designed with a participatory focus, the project involved the formation of commune teams to foster the concept of community-based production, and the identification of indigenous varieties that included a mix of leafy vegetable, fruit and root crops, and annual and perennial plants. Through it all, the women-farmers were engaged in a series of workshops on safe vegetable production, soils, composting, and post-harvest operations through the Farmer Field Schools (FFS).
The Vietnam’s Women Union served as the lead organisation that mobilised and organised the farmers in the communes. Their knowledge of the local customs and extensive communication network provided the project key support in disseminating information, reaching out to the needs of the women, and providing resources and skills in microfinance and training of smallholder farmers. Since they were also largely involved in the training and communication activities, the Union was instrumental in increasing local knowledge and understanding of the healthy benefits of the vegetables, a factor that contributed to the positive and enthusiastic response of the women-farmers towards the project.
Next Steps Forward
One of the concerns that came up in the course of the project’s implementation and multi-stakeholder consultations was the need to address issues of marketing, including the need to expand market scale and look into improving the supply chain. For one, there is growing consciousness among Vietnam urban households about the need to have pesticide-free, clean, and safe vegetables and food products in the market.
Therefore, during the project’s re-design workshop in 2010, one of the major suggestions was to set up a Farmers Business School (FBS) which would serve as the hub of the project’s research for development activities. As a learning facility, the FBS has developed and put together training materials and learning resources on the production and marketing of the indigenous vegetables. These are envisioned to be made available not just to the women-farmers involved in the program but also to other smallholder communities. Part of the project’s second phase was also the setting up of the Indigenous Products Cooperative that allows women-farmers to leverage on the expanded network and market links that the cooperative offers.
Indeed, the project has translated into many significant gains for the women-farmers of Vietnam. With the growing emphasis on the need for local and safe sources of nutrition, the project has opened doors for more research on the potentials and benefits of indigenous vegetables and crops. But for many of the women-farmers like Mrs. Nguyen Thi Oanh, the project’s wins were simple, practical but relevant. The project taught them more than new production skills; it also helped triple their household income. In a country where the women’s contributions to livelihood are not easily quantified, the project had provided them an opportunity to contribute a significant amount to the household earnings and validate the vital role they play in agricultural production.
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