“Making the most from the least” by aligning SAPLING’s future phase interventions with National Target Program

This blog has been authored by Thinh Nguyen-Thi, ILRI

The CGIAR Initiative on Sustainable Animal Productivity (SAPLING), has been implementing activities in Vietnam since 2022. It aims to contribute to transforming livestock value chains in the Northwest Highlands of Vietnam to make them more productive, resilient, equitable and sustainable. To achieve this goal, SAPLING has been leveraging collaboration with various stakeholders, including the government and private sector, through co-design and co-investment.

As Phase I of SAPLING in Vietnam wraps up in 2024, it is crucial to review and build on the initiative’s outcomes to plan for the subsequent phase for greater impact.

Key among the programs that Phase 1 of SAPLING has collaborated with during this period is the National Target Program (NTP). Lessons from this work are highlighted below.

Availability of National Target Program (NTP) for livestock development

The Vietnamese government has many policies and programs for improving the lives of impoverished ethnic minority communities in the country’s mountainous regions, which are also the target intervention regions of SAPLING. Aiming to boost the socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas from 2021-2030, the National Target Program (NTP) has a budget of VND 137,664.959 billion (USD 5.4 billion) for Phase I (2021-2025).

The program consists of 10 projects with different priorities, including:

• Project 1: Solve the shortage of residential land, housing, production land, and running water.
• Project 2: Planning, arranging, arranging and stabilizing population in necessary places.
• Project 3: Developing sustainable agricultural and forestry production, promoting the potential and strengths of regions to produce goods along the value chain.
• Project 4: Investment in essential infrastructure, serving production and life in ethnic minorities and mountainous areas and public service units of the ethnic sector.
• Project 5: Developing education and training to improve the quality of human resources.
• Project 6: Preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development.
• Project 7: Taking care of people’s health, improving the health and stature of ethnic minorities; Preventing child malnutrition.
• Project 8: Implement gender equality and solve urgent problems for women and children
• Project 9: Investment in the development of ethnic minority groups with very few people and ethnic groups with many difficulties.
• Project 10: Communication, propaganda, and advocacy in ethnic minorities and mountainous areas. Inspect, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Program.

Out of the 10 projects, Project 3 and Project 8 are aligned with SAPLING’s interests.

Challenges in executing NTP and SAPLING’s support

Despite being a commendable initiative, the NTP has encountered numerous obstacles during implementation. By March 2024, less than 14% of its designated funds had been spent nationwide. (https://baotintuc.vn/chinh-tri/go-vuong-trong-thuc-hien-chuong-trinh-muc-tieu-quoc-gia-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-20240522120029691.htm)

Project 3 of the program provides two main types of production support: (1) support for value chain-oriented production development, and (2) support for community-based production development. The distinctions between these two types of support are detailed in the following table.

Son La Province excels in crop development and has established successful value chains for key crops such as mangoes, plums, sugar apples but faces challenges in developing livestock value chains. In 10 districts of the province, no livestock value chain proposals have been approved due to lack of the necessary conditions for livestock value chain development. Thus, SAPLING advised that in Phase I (2021-2025) of the NTP, the districts should focus on community-based production rather than value-chain oriented production.

The main support for community livestock production under the NTP include the following activities:

• Establishing community groups and provide technical training according to the needs of group members, improving group management and operational capacity.
• Transferring new science and technology innovations for consistent application in production and quality management.
• Providing breeding animals, supplies and equipment necessary for production.
• Supporting advertising and commercial promotion of goods and services.
• Organizing field trips to study effective projects among localities.

These support activities align with SAPLING interventions, which aim to introduce innovations in three key areas of livestock productivity – genetics, feeds and forages, and animal health – and to promote collective actions through farmer groups for improved production operations and market connectivity. The partnership between SAPLING and the NTP can capitalize on each program’s strengths to create a greater impact, with SAPLING offering expertise and NTP providing financial resources.

Opportunities for SAPLING and NTP collaboration in the future

The goal of both SAPLING and NTP is to develop sustainable livestock value chains to enhance the livelihoods of poor ethnic minority groups. However, successful value chain development requires the involvement of capable enterprises or cooperatives, which are attracted only when production meets their standards for volume and quality. Therefore, focusing on community-based livestock development is a starting point to increase herd sizes and productivity. This will lay a solid foundation for transitioning to value chain-oriented production in Phase 2 (2026-2030).

Key areas of collaboration that SAPLING should consider in a future phase include:

• Using a value chain-based rather than village-based approach: Identifying target livestock value chains and developing a clear pathway for their development, which will help determine the geographic boundaries and key value chain nodes for prioritized interventions.
• Engaging the private sector early: SAPLING Phase I has identified potential enterprises/cooperatives with large markets willing to invest in the development of livestock value chains in Son La Province. However, the main challenge is that the current livestock sector falls short of their standards. Thus, future SAPLING work should involve these stakeholders early, particularly during the project design phase, to understand their requirements and potential investments, and then adjust the production strategy accordingly.
• Adopting a Training of Trainers (ToTs) rather than Training of Farmers (ToFs) approach: Local government has technical units that are in charge of transferring new technology innovations and receive annual fundings for ToFs. Therefore, a second phase of SAPLING could concentrate on ToTs for the staff of these units to capitalize on their existing personnel, financial resources, and networks for ToFs. This approach will aid in capacity building for local staff and broaden farmers’ access to the project’s innovations beyond the designated project areas.

These focus areas should be collaboratively discussed and designed by all key stakeholders (SAPLING, local government, and private sector) Vietnam, specifically focusing on the NTP from the start of the new phase to ensure alignment.

“Local governments have sufficient financial resources for livestock development but lack the necessary expertise, an area where international projects excel. Therefore, to achieve significant and widespread impact, collaboration is essential. It’s important to comprehend the existing local policies and programs from the outset and align your project design with them,” said by Mr. Hoang Van Oanh – Director of Tien Thanh Cooperative.