Baseline studies Key Findings Vietnam Presented at the second annual TMPEGS-Vietnam Meeting Nong Lam University June 2007 NLU Team

Objective: Provide a socio-economic data as a basis for the design of VIDIN development/experiments and socio- economic impact assessment of integrated vegetable-agroforestry system

Activities June-Sep, 2006 Year 2

Activities and Outputs (planing)

BASELINE STUDY (Activities and Outputs)

Training for household survey, data coding and analysis, reporting results

Conducting household survey A total number of 306 farm households with different wealth status (poor, medium, and better-off households) have been interviewed. Data collected include farm and farm household characteristics, gender roles, household income and consumption, labor availability, cropping system, production and marketing data, and other socio-economic data.

Nutrient survey: A questionnaire was developed for the household nutrient survey. The team has conducted the nutrient survey to record data on household food security and information from 3 most recent meals of 270 households.

Participatory focus group discussions with small scale farmers both women and men (SSFWM) on issues related to VAF and VIDIN technologies.

KEY FINDINGS: Most farmers in the study area have perennial cash crops (cashew, coffee, and rubber, black pepper, and fruit trees). Most back yard home garden has existing cashew trees. Vegetables are not abundant on the site. Over 80% of vegetables consumed by poor and intermediate households are purchased; only 15% are obtained from farm, garden or forest.

KEY FINDINGS: The demand for integrating vegetable in existing cashew planting is mainly for home consumption and for local market. At present there are agronomic obstacles for inter-cropping vegetables with the dominant perennials (cashew, coffee, pepper, and rubber), labor constraint, lack of suitable shade-tolerant vegetable varieties, and substantial financial and marketing constraints for commercial vegetable production, especially in the more remote and poorer hamlets.

KEY FINDINGS: Integration of vegetables with cashew trees may benefit SSFWM and will be useful for home consumption to improve SSFWM nutrition and for soil conservation.

KEY FINDINGS: There are significant opportunities for SANREM to conduct research and training that address the priority needs of farmers, and thereby to contribute to small farmer incomes and environmental protection in Nghia Trung, and watershed services in the study area and in Binh Phuoc province.