In addition to ethical trading activities, MDI also participates in development projects with pro-poor or social focus in Vietnam. Some details of past projects can be found below:

M4P is an ongoing technical assistance project co-financed by the ADB, DFID (UK) and the Tokyo-based ADB Institute (Phase I only). MDI was involved in the first phase of the project.

The first phase of the project covered three countries: Vietnam Laos and Cambodia. The purposes of the project were 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 had three components:

(1) Research Activities: (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 through the use of local research institutes to conduct the research.

(3) Policy Dialogue. The project promoted policy dialogue relating to market development and poverty reduction.

Commercialization of Pro-Poor Agricultural Research

See the Mini-site for this project here

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 aimed 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 produced 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 contributed 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 was 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