Projects

In addition to ethical trading activities, MDI is also currently involved in three development projects in Vietnam.

M4P is a three year regional technical assistance project co-financed by the ADB, DFID (UK) and the Tokyo-based ADB Institute. The project covers three countries: Vietnam Laos and Cambodia. The purposes of the project are to (a) conduct analytical work on the functioning of markets and the extent to which the poor are able to benefit from them, and (b) to build capacity to support pro-poor market development through research activities, networking and the promotion of policy dialogue in the three project countries. The project has three components: (1) Research Activities The following research topics are currently under development: (i) Land and Labour Markets, (ii) The participation of the poor in global value chains with case studies drawn from Supermarkets, Bamboo, Base of Pyramids, (iii) Participatory Market assessments to investigate the linkages between markets and livelihoods in Urban and Rural Settings in Central Vietnam; (iv) Market and services delivery: innovative Public and Private Arrangements to improve the delivery of infrastructure services to the poor. (2) Capacity Building. The project will also promote capacity development through the use of local research institutes to conduct the research. In addition, for each research topic, there will be a formal linkage with an international “mentor”. (3) Policy Dialogue. The project will promote policy dialogue relating to market development and poverty reduction. Dialogue will be promoted via a diverse means ranging from conventional workshops and meetings to media articles to an actively managed project website. In addition, a “champion” in Government will be identified for each research topic to ensure that there is relevance to Government’s development priorities. Short policy briefs will be prepared on a number of market related topics to provide support to the policy dialogue,. These readable policy briefs will be prepared from research findings under the project as well as existing international and regional literature and research.

Commercialization of Pro-Poor Agricultural Research

See the Mini-site for this project here


Component 1: Support for pilot research commercialization activities The first component will include the following activities:

Technical support A technician from the FOSTERS brewery in Tien Giang (where there is already a protein bait facility operational) will travel to Bac Ninh province to assist the joint-venture in designing the processing machinery and factory, testing the machinery after installed, and addressing problems arising during production. The technician will required to travel to the North three times.

Stability of protein bait-pesticide premix formulation There is an urgent need to investigate (real-time and accelerated) stability and efficacy trials on bait-insecticide combinations to resolve the issue of whether the bait and pesticide can be premixed without loss of efficacy. It is suggested that this work is best done in Australia, coordinated by Griffith university. Formulation analysis could be subcontracted to any of the Australian Government Analytical Laboratories, Victorian State Chemistry laboratory (Werribee) or QLD HSS (Coopers Plains)

Demonstration models The demonstration models are essentially necessary in this case. As protein bait measure is a biological pest control, and absolutely new to poor farmers, the models enable researchers to undertake the control on fruit crops on the real fields at the localities, where farmers can attend the process from the beginning until end and see how the measure is applied, how effective the measure is and how much the measure improves their lives. The proposed demonstration model is the PTD method (Participatory Technology Development). Three crop demonstrations will be undertaken, each one lasting one cropping season. Each demonstration model is estimated to directly reach more than 1000 local farmers.

Training for distribution staff Distribution staff will be trained to provide detailed information about this biological pest control. They will be the grassroots connectors between the producer and farmers, where they can introduce about the product, its effectiveness and its usage instruction, as well as collect and return the feedbacks from farmers to the producers for improvement. More than 500 grassroots distribution staff will receive training in 10 different locations.

Broadcast on TV and radio Beside demonstration models and distribution staff at localities, the dissemination on mass media is also very important. It provides an official and accurate channel of information to all farmers. Information on the product will be broadcasted on the nation-wide and local TV and radio systems with the emphasis on the commune radio system which is always available in the rural and mountainous areas. This will include the production of television and radio programs based on the demonstration models and broadcasting around 25 times on television and more than 300 times on radio.

Component 2: Communication and Research Management The second component will include the following activities:

Communication/Knowledge Management – this activity is designed to collect information and lessons learned from the pilot research commercialization activity and disseminate that information in order to assist other potential commercialization partners for pro-poor research products. This would involve the inclusion of other potential research product commercialization partners in field visits, the convening of field days, conferences and workshops, as well as the creation and maintenance of a project website and publications.

Research Management – this activity is designed to provide overall management of the pilot research commercialization and communication/knowledge management.

Collection of baseline and monitoring data – information about baseline levels of pesticide type and amounts will be collected from at least 5 of the commodities being trialled in this project. Where possible, due to the short timeframe of this project, monitoring data demonstrating behaviour change within the client groups will also be collected and documented

International Labour Organization

The Social Dimension of Global Production Systems: The Case of the Coffee Industry in Vietnam and Costa Rica
Development objective The project aims to contribute to promoting a fair globalisation and the goal of decent work for all by addressing the social dimension of GPSs in conjunction with their economic imperatives in order to develop a policy framework for both economic and social upgrading within these global chains. A more equitable distribution of costs and benefits associated with involvement in GPSs is the ultimate development objective of this research project.

Immediate objective The project will produce a detailed study on the social dimension of the global coffee production system with reference to two countries from two different regions in the world that are competing in the global coffee market, namely Vietnam and Costa Rica. The study will contribute to policy development for mitigating the costs and maximising benefits associated with these countries’ position in the global value chain in the coffee sector.

Fieldwork in Vietnam is being undertaken in Hanoi, Dak Lak and Quang Tri. Photographs from the project are here.


 

Related resources

  • Making Markets Work Better for the Poor website here
  • Visit the ACIAR website here
  • ILO website
  • The website of DFID, one of the funding bodies of Making Markets Work Better for the Poor here.
  • Visit the ADB Vietnam Resident Mission