With more than 90 percent of Vietnam's poor living in rural and remote communities, sustainable agriculture and stable livelihoods are critical to poverty alleviation and the country's development. In order to reduce the number of people living in poverty, the government and development actors in Vietnam have been focusing efforts on supporting livelihood development for the poor over the last decade. Remarkable achievements have been attained through these efforts. There are, however, many factors continuing to negatively affect farmers, including increased cost of living and rising input costs. In addition, the consequences of applying intensive, unsustainable farming practices, the degradation of land, water and other natural resources has increased vulnerability to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. The combination of these factors has pushed many farming families into poverty.

SRD, formerly the International NGO - CIDSE, has a strong history of working effectively with rural people to empower communities to manage their livelihoods sustainably.  We have been assisting rural people develop more sustainable forms of agriculture and diversify livelihoods for over 30 years.  

SRD works mainly in the mountainous northern region of Vietnam. These communities are most vulnerable, as in the mountainous areas there are limited opportunities for developing sustainable livelihoods. Over the years SRD has expanded, and we now also have several projects in the poor central areas of Vietnam.

Local farmer tending to herbal gardens in Cam An commune, Yen Bai Province

Many of the poor communities SRD works with are also ethnic minorities. Approximately 10 million people in Vietnam belong to one of the ethnic minority groups. Ethnic minorities face particular challenges in developing sustainable livelihoods, as they are often marginalized, with higher poverty rates and lack of education.

SRD conducts a wide range of sustainable agriculture projects, working on a diversity of issues, both in technical and institutional interventions. One of the strong focuses of SRD is to empower farmers and strengthen farmer's organizations. We also promote and initiated application of different techniques including the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), waste management, irrigation, farming and animal husbandry techniques, and infrastructure development. We utilize a wide variety of tools and methodologies in our sustainable agriculture projects.  All of our projects have a strong emphasis on building the capacity of local people and local partners, and utilize participatory approaches, such as Famer Field Schools, Focus Groups, and Training of Trainer courses to empower local people to develop their own livelihoods, and ensure the sustainability of the projects.