CGIAR to support Vietnam’s national program for rural development under new agreement

Nine CGIAR centres in Vietnam and the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) have signed an agreement that will see CGIAR support the National Target Program on New Rural Development (NTP-NRD).

Over the past five decades, CGIAR has been collaborating with Vietnamese partners in supporting agricultural development, poverty eradication and sustainability in the country. Under the new agreement, the government will partner with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the International Potato Center (CIP), the World Agroforestry (ICRAF), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and WorldFish in implementing the NTP-NRD program which has a strong research for development focus.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on 8 March 2019 by the director general of the NTP-NRD, Nguyen Minh Tien, and representatives of the nine CGIAR centres operating in Vietnam. The signing, in Dong Nai Province in the South of Vietnam, was witnessed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong.

CGIAR-MARD NTP NRD MoU Signing, 8 March 2019, Vietnam

Minister of Agriculture Nguyen Xuan Cuong (tenth from right) and leaders from NTP-NRD and CGIAR representatives in Vietnam at the MoU signing ceremony (photo credit: IRRI/Eisen Bernard Bernardo).

The agreement covers the period 2019-2020 and commits the parties to working together to promote technical and scientific cooperation on agricultural technology research and development toward the betterment of rural livelihoods in Vietnam.

The priority areas for collaboration include the development of rural development governance models; support of farmers’ livelihood under the ‘One commune, one product’ initiatives; poverty reduction and livelihood transformation in the highlands, coastal areas, and islands; development of sustainable and climate-smart rural landscape; promotion of agro- and eco-tourism in rural areas and farmer livelihood transformation under climate change, among others.

The initiative will support the joint development of scientific and technology research programs and projects, information sharing and policy consultation. The MoU also covers capacity development and the implementation of pilot models to transfer new agricultural technology and practices.

CGIAR will help to review the initial 10-year implementation plan of the NTP-NRD in the first year and in the program’s planning for the next 10 years.

Hung Nguyen (seated left), ILRI regional representative for East and Southeast Asia, signs the MoU on behalf of ILRI with the director general of the NTP-NRD, Nguyen Minh Tien with the witness of Minister of Agriculture, Nguyen Xuan Cuong (photo credit: IRRI/Eisen Bernard Bernardo).

‘CGIAR centres in Vietnam are happy to enhance the collaboration, coordination and synergies between MARD and CGIAR. We look forward to building on this strong partnership and taking advantage of CGIAR’s global experiences to improve the lives of rural people in Vietnam through the NTP NRD program,’ said Hung Nguyen, ILRI regional representative for East and Southeast Asia.

The NTP-NRD is a comprehensive program of the government of Vietnam that aims to build new rural areas by improving the socio-economic infrastructure, protecting national defense and security, combining agricultural development with industry and services and safeguarding the environment.