Research Cooperation for Sustainable Rural Development in Vietnam_RDViet (2008-2011)
16.04.2009 10:08
The Government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of Sweden - Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) signed an agreement on continued and final research cooperation for the priod 1July 2008 to 31 December, 2011. The Research Cooperation for Sustainable Rural Development in Vietnam (RDViet), among 14 projects and programs is continuously supported for implementation.
Within this period, the project continues to further develop existing research and teaching capacity at the institutions in Vietnam, to enable them to carry out multi-disciplinary research designed to promote development and reduce poverty in the rural areas. This research and capacity building program combines approaches in social and natural sciences, systems analysis, natural resources management and rural livelihoods analysis. The Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry has the main responsibility for implementation and co-ordination. There are a number of emerging issues in rural Vietnam that demand attention and can lend themselves to the development of strategic research capacity. Issues that need better understanding and evidence of what is happening include: understanding on the extent of landlessness and land fragmentation and the linkages of this to rural poverty, technological change and policies; the dynamics and persistence of poverty in the mountainous regions of Vietnam; migration and livelihood diversification; and market access and impacts on the poor. By building better evidence based understanding of these and related issues, the last phase of this program is expected to improve the analytical research capacity among the partners. There is a need for new generation of professionals with a broad and interdisciplinary training and a capacity to handle questions of research, training, extension and communication regarding natural resource management, sustainable livelihoods and rural-urban interfaces from economical, ecological and social viewpoints. At present five of the agricultural universities offer training programmes including RD at undergraduate level and in the period 2004-06 over 400 students have graduated with a BA/B Sc in Rural Development. One university (CTU) has initiated a local master programme in RD and extension in 2006. Only Hanoi University of Agriculture offers PhD-training in Agricultural Economics and RD. More qualified staff is needed for other universities to meet the criteria set by the Ministry of Education and Training for offering Master – and PhD-training in RD. The intention is to continue along the same path as 2004-2007, allowing the students to graduate and to strengthen the research environment further. Capacity objectives: The objective of the proposal is to continue the efforts to strengthen existing competence through creating a platform and network for co-operation between different universities and institutions bringing together experience from different disciplines. Four PhD students are expected to graduate within the Program (one in 2008 (+ one Licentiate), two in 2009 and one in 2010). Two of these graduate at Chiang Mai University and the others including the Licentiate at SLU. It is also expected that 30-40 Master Theses (international and local) will be defended during the next four years. Support will also be provided to post-Docs and to researchers in research management capacities.
Research objectives: The objectives are:
To strengthen the experience of multi-disciplinary research and links between natural and social sciences in developing the understanding of sustainable rural systems.
To strengthen the experience of holistic approaches to research, like systems thinking and livelihood analysis.
To strengthen the relevance of the research into policy and practice in rural development and the livelihood situation of the rural population.
Expected Results:
It is expected that the program will result in an improved quality of research education in rural development in agricultural universities in particular skills, and capacity to critically analyse rural change and communicate with evidence based arguments. It is also expected that research capacity is strengthened in key areas of rural change including assessment of policies for rural livelihoods, land property right issues, diversification of rural livelihoods, rural markets and institutions, the changing roles of women in rural areas and poverty in relation to the environment. More specifically the results will be: - Four PhD theses and one Licentiate completed - One post Doc supported - around 20 MSc theses completed - Local MSc curriculum developed including training material - one book on rural change and one on decentralization and rural development - 15-25 research papers in international peer reviewed journals - 10-15 research papers in national journals - A number of proceedings from scientific meetings
