Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Program 124 CAPACITY BUILDING IN APPLIED NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMNET FOR RURAL AREAS OF VIETNAM Project title: Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Manag ement for Rural Areas of Vietnam Project c ode : CARD 025/05 VIE Author s : Dr . Pham Van Hung 1 , Prof. Gordon MacAulay 2 Project implementing organizations : 1 Faculty of Economics and Rural Development, Hanoi University of Agricultur e (HUA) 2 University of Sydney, Australia 1. Introduction Vietnam is one of nations, which is experiencing a rapid growth with market oriented economy development. However, the rapid economic growth has also resulted in enormous pressure on na tion’s natural resources. Because of market imperfections and failures, especially with respect to various natural resources, there is a problem due to resource overuses. This leads to arising economic inefficiencies, and social and environmental problems. According to the world’s experiences, scientists has showed that knowledge (understanding) on economics and natural resource management has been a crucial factor for sustainable and a long - term development of economies. In all management and research leve ls, including staff, researcher and extension workers, the level of knowledge, understanding and using of the principles of natural resource economics (NRE) and management is limited. The project CARD/ 025/05 VIE (Capacity Building in Applied Natural Reso urce Economics and Management for Rural Areas of Vietnam) has been designed to improve understanding and strengthen teaching and research capacity in natural resource economics and management field for the two leading universities in agriculture training field in Vietnam (Hanoi University of Agriculture and Can Tho University). The project also establish relationship among universities; extension system and encourage to transfer of knowledge from the University teaching and research staff to extension staf f and farmers. The project links to the CARD strategic objective which focuses on increasing rural productivity and increasing agricultural efficiency and competitiveness. The project also links to strategic objectives for reducing vulnerability to enviro nmental and economic shocks and the intermediate objective for increasing stability of household incomes through encouraging diversification of production and marketing. 2. Research contents and methods 2 .1 The components of the project In order to assess the level of resource use and to prepare suitable documents for each management level, the project focuses on need assessment which relates to natural resource use of farm households in 3 regions: North , Central and South.  The CARD program focuses on teac hing and training. This project also organizes series of trainings for lecturers; research on natural resource economics and management (trainings and send scholars to University of Sydney); o Course 1: Organizing two trainings for lecturers and research sta ff of Universities, research institutes at Hanoi University of Agriculture. CARD 025/05 VIE – Applied natural resource management 125 o Course 2: Organizing two trainings for lecturers and research staff of Universities, research institutes at Can Tho University. o Sending 4 scholars (2 from Hanoi University of Agri culture, 1 from Hue University and 1 from Can Tho University) to study in University of Sydney.  Organizing training workshops for extension staff from central to provincial and district levels in the North and in the South of Vietnam;  Conducting pilot work shops for farmers, farm managers, agricultural co - operatives managers and local agricultural extension staff at 3 regions: North, Central and South;  Consulting to build curriculum for undergraduate subjects such as natural resource economics, environmental economics and fishery economics for Hanoi University of Agriculture; Can Tho University.  Building websites for reporting project activities and delivering knowledge on natural economics and resource management. 2.2 Approaches The proposed project is desig ned to strengthen the capacity building in natural resource economics in Vietnam in a layered framework. In the first layer, and after considerable consultation, the University of Sydney staff will provide research, teaching and policy analysis training to Vietnamese academics, policy analysts and extension specialists at a national level. This training will be in the context of the problems and issues identified in the farmer surveys. In the second layer, those trained in the first layer will train the ext ension specialists and policy analysts at a provincial level. The training will be designed to impact the advice and information provided to farmers on the use of natural resources. This will be demonstrated through a series of district level workshops. In the third layer, extension workshops for farmers will be conducted, with a focus on economically efficient natural resource management. Communication/Outreach Approach The main approach to communication/outreach is through extension workshops that will b e conducted in the Mekong Delta at Can Tho University, the Central Coast through Hue University and in the north of Vietnam at Hanoi Agricultural University. These workshops will address the strategic questions of strengthened and broadened capacity for ec onomics training of extension personnel in Vietnam. Once this capacity is built it will provide a continuing human resource base which can be sustained into the future. 2.3 Implementation Methods 2.3.1 R&D Methodology The approach used in the proposed pr oject is through research into specific resource use issues designed to allow development of training modules for use on knowledge transfer and knowledge base building. These modules will help to increase communication efficiency and knowledge delivery as well as understanding of leaders and farmers about natural resource management. In addition, knowledge from trainings will facilitate information updating and curriculum development in universities. Under the project, there are various small scale studies in the field of fishery; water and land use and forestry. These studies are carried by scholars and supervised by professors from University of Sydney 2.2.2 Participatory Methods On - going consultations with the major stakeholders will be conducted in order to, in the first place determine the nature of the training and extension activities, and subsequently to obtain feedback and readdress some key issues. This will assist in developing the priority areas for training. 2.2.3 Methods to Address Capacity Ga ps The project has direct and indirect objectives aiming at target beneficiaries including lecturers; researchers; and policy makers from universities and research institutes; agricultural extension staff and agricultural staff at Pham Van Hung & Gordon MacAulay 126 provincial and district l evel; farmers and farm managers. The gap in knowledge on natural resource economics and management is well defined and filled in. 2.3 Dissemination Strategies The project itself is built around disseminating training outcomes to smallholder farmers and na tural resource users in Vietnam. The ultimate role in the dissemination of the outcomes to small - scale farmers will be played by the Vietnamese extension personnel that will be trained under the project. This role will be enhanced through initial farm lev el pilot workshops conducted within the scope of this project. These workshops will be designed to ensure the flow from economic theory and applied economics (improved capacity of the academics, policy makers and extension staff) to natural resource manage ment on the farm (delivered to the small holder farmers). 3. Results and discussions 3.1 Training, workshop The central feature of the project has been a series of workshops in which 296 people actively participated. The process was to provide trainin g in resource management to a group of academics who then provided the training for the extension workshops and then the extension specialists provided training for a series of Pilot farmer workshops (3 workshops). The list of completed workshops is prov ided so as to reflect the extent of the key activities over the life of the project.  Training Workshop, Hanoi (12 - 16 July, 2006) with 26 participants  Training Workshop, Can Tho, (17 - 21 July, 2006) with 19 participants  Extension Workshop, Hanoi (22 - 26 Janu ary, 2007) with 25 participants  Extension Workshop, Can Tho (29 January to 2 February, 2007) with 26 participants  Extension Workshop, Hanoi (16 - 20 July, 2007) with 26 participants  Extension Workshop, Soc Trang (23 - 27 July, 2007) with 20 participants  Pilot Farmer Workshop, Van Giang (16 - 17 January, 2008) with 30 participants  Pilot Farmer Workshop, Soc Trang (23 - 24 January, 2008) with 30 participants  Pilot Farmer Workshop Vinh, Hung Nguyen, (14 - 15 July 2008) with 33 participants  Pilot Farmer Workshop Van Gia ng, Hung Yen (18 - 19 July 2008) with 30 participants  Pilot Farmer Workshop Soc Trang (21 - 22 July 2008) with 31 participants  Roundtable on Resource Management Issues in Vietnam (17 July 2008) with 31 attendees In addition, 4 research scholars visited the U niversity of Sydney for approximately 3 months each and each produced a significant research paper in the field of natural resource economics and management. The outcome of the training workshop has been highly appreciated by participants. In particular: 3.1.1 Competency Assessment of Academic Staff Competency assessment requires that a standard is set against which to test the level of skills of a person or persons in relation to what is ex pected. This is clearly best done by observation of what people do rather than what they say. For the purposes of this project a set of questions were asked before and after the training and then for a smaller group a significant period after the trainin g in a Post Training Survey. This can only be a very limited assessment and therefore can only be indicative of the outcomes from the program. The level of knowledge and the capacity of the academics involved in the training were clearly lifted as reflect ed in the pre and post workshop knowledge tests. The average score for a set of knowledge questions about issues relating to natural resources before the Training Workshops was an average score of 43.1 per cent correct answers in Hanoi and 53.8 per cent in Can Tho. These percentages rose to 71.7 per cent in Hanoi and 65.6 per cent in Can CARD 025/05 VIE – Applied natural resource management 127 Tho after the training. These are average numbers and clearly an improved understanding was gained in relation to some issues and not so for others. The more technical ar eas were less well understood but for some of the basic ideas such as an externality and discounting and compounding there was significant change. Results from the Post Training Survey who that all the respondents who attended the Training Workshops said they had changed their thinking about resource management, they incorporated materials into their educational materials, changed their methods of teaching and had developed new materials relating to resource management. This implies a significant shift i n the capacity and perspectives of this group of academics and this is likely to continue to grow and develop. 3.1.2 Competency Assessment of Trained Extension Staff The success of t he workshop evaluations for the Extension and Pilot workshops demonstrated the capacity of university and extension staff to provide excellent quality training as a result of the training they were given along with their existing capacities and skills. I n the case of the set of Extension Workshops in July 2007 the average score on a set of questions related to natural resource issues was 42.9 in Hanoi and 45 per cent in Soc Trang. These scores increased to 58.2 and 65 per cent after the training. The re sults from the Post Training Survey also reflect use of the materials provided in the Extension Workshops. Clearly, new skills and ideas have been gained which allow material from the training to be used in extension activities. Of the 25 respondents 22 (88 per cent) said they had incorporated material from the training into their extension work and 20 (80 per cent) had changed their methods of training as a result. A total of 15 (60 per cent) had developed new materials relating to resource management a nd 15 (not a matching 15 people) had changed the materials they provided to farmers. These results do not measure the extent of the changes but reflect the use of ideas and materials and imply an expanding set of skills obtained in the training. On a more subjective level there was also significant capacity development for some of the presenters at the Extension Workshops who had not previously used PowerPoint. All presenters very successfully utilized this medium. Both University of Sydney staff and sen ior staff of both Hanoi University of Agriculture and Can Tho University provided support and a level of mentoring for the academic and extension staff during their presentations. A total of 28 different people presented one of more presentations over the set of workshops (excluding University of Sydney staff). This included both university trainers and extension trainers. 3.2 Curriculum Change A detailed discussion was provided in the Project Technical Report No 1 (Milestone 3) of the draft curriculum proposal for an Environmental and Resource Economics course in the Faculty of Economics and Rural Development at Hanoi University of Agriculture and the course Environmental Economics in the School of Economics and Business Administration at Can Tho University. The content of training workshops on natural resource economics and management has been utilized by lecturers of the two universities and combine in their teaching lessons for both undergraduate and post gradu ate level. 3.3 Website Documentation and Use The Resman (short for Resource Management) website is located in and maintained by Hanoi University of Agriculture. The site contains most of the PowerPoin t presentations made at all the workshops, the discussion papers, policy briefs and decision - making tools. Additional training materials have also been added to the site and there is opportunity for comments and discussions. Over 20,000 hits have been ma de to the website. Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Program 128 3.4 Smallholder Benefits Smallholder benefits from the project are expected to flow directly from the reported workshops as a result of providing training directly to farmers, albeit a re latively small number. Although, only 3 workshops were organized for farmers at three regions, they have been promoting awareness of a large group of farmers on environmental problem in the intensive production environment which is simply done by the shar ing of experiences that was undertaken. However, over the longer term the benefits of having provided training to a group of academics and also extension workers has provided some of the necessary background support for the work at the farmer level. Also , as a result of the pilot workshops there is now a small number of people who have prepared teaching material and actively participated in presentation of training to farmers on significant resource management issues under general guidance. Overall, while the smallholder benefits from this project are expected to take some time (3 - 5 years) to start being apparent, a number of the necessary steps have been undertaken towards the delivery of a set of smallholder benefits targeted to the better management of agricultural resources. 3.5 Capacity Building The broad focus of the project is on capacity building at the academic, extension and farm levels. As noted above there were 28 people involved in providing training sessions to participants as well as the three academics from the University of Sydney. This involved a total of 160 sessions of which Vietnamese presenters presented 76 sessions and most had attended the training or extension workshops. For the five Pilo t farmer workshops the development of extension specialists in giving presentations in workshops in the area of resource management has been significant. Nine specialists all presented well - prepared presentations for significant periods of time. They wer e assisted by their own colleagues and also by the academic staff at Hanoi University of Agriculture and also Can Tho. This represents a significant development in teaching capacity in the area of natural resource economics. In addition to development of a teaching capacity there was development of research capacity as well. Four research scholars spent about three months each at the University of Sydney and learned skills in relation to the development of research papers in natural resource economics. CARD 025/05 VIE – Applied natural resource management 129 4 . Conclusions and recommendation s The challenges to the environment in Vietnam are very large indeed. Particularly is this the case with water pollution and the degradation of its quality. Many farmers are aware of the problems but unclear as to how to reduce them. Thus, it is essential that more training is provided in the area of natural resource management and that this has a high impact. The three - tier process used in the project seemed to work well and provided a sense of linkage from academic pro gram to farmer level. The training of leading extension personnel at university level in natural resource management seems also to be important as relatively few of the extension specialists seemed to have detailed knowledge in this area. However, gainin g significant impact at the farmer level is likely to need farmer - level training but also demonstration and ‘hands - on’ experience. To evaluate impacts of trainings provided by the project is very challenging due to the highly variable learning styles, the personal nature of learning and the fact that it is a labour intensive process. It is also important that the numbers of participants in group - learning environments are not too large or again impact is lost. These factors have been managed in the project as well as possible with the use of groups that are not over 25 for the Training and Extension workshops and not over 35 for the Pilot farmer workshops. It also became apparent over the life of the project that there has been significant growth in the res earch and teaching resources going into environmental and natural resource use areas. Encouragement was given by the project activities to this investment. This is an encouraging sign in that there will eventually be significant progress in alleviating some of the worst resource use inefficiencies and effects of pollution and waste. However, it also clear that the institutions and organizations in Vietnam will have to find their own way through the web of resource and environmental issues, not the least of which, is the development of their own methods and approaches to teaching and research designed to resolve the issues they face. References 1. Project No. 025/05VIE, “Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam”. F inal report 6 (Milestone 11). CARD Program. Available online: www.resman.edu.vn. 2. Project No. 025/05VIE, “Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam”. Report 5.5 for Milestone 10 (Reporting for Milestone 10 and Revis ions to Milestone 11). CARD Program. Available online: www.resman.edu.vn. 3. Project No. 025/05VIE, “Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam”. Report 5 (Milestone 9). CARD Program. Available online: www.resman.edu.v n. 4. Project No. 025/05VIE, “Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam”. Technical Reports 2 and 3 (Milestones 6 and 8). CARD Program. Available online: www.resman.edu.vn. 5. Project No. 025/05VIE, “Capacity Building in Applied Natural Resource Economics and Management for Vietnam”. Progress Report (Milestone 7). CARD Program. Available online: www.resman.edu.vn. . Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) Program 124 CAPACITY BUILDING IN APPLIED NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMNET FOR RURAL AREAS OF VIETNAM Project title: Capacity Building in. using of the principles of natural resource economics (NRE) and management is limited. The project CARD/ 025/05 VIE (Capacity Building in Applied Natural Reso urce Economics and Management for. Management for Rural Areas of Vietnam) has been designed to improve understanding and strengthen teaching and research capacity in natural resource economics and management field for the two leading universities