Roll-out training on value chain analysis and action plan for CSSP in Bac Kan province of Vietnam

The roll-out training on value chain analysis and action plan (VCAP) for IFAD’s executing partners of the Commercial Smallholder Support Project (CSSP) in Bac Kan province – Northern Vietnam was taken place from 28^th to 31^st May 2019. The training was jointly organized by the Bac Kan CSSP Coordination Committee and Centre for Agrarian Systems Research and Development (CASRAD) – a member of the VCB-N. This was the second roll-out training, carried out by CASRAD and co-organized by the CSSP in Vietnam. The first one was organized for the CSSP staff and partners in Cao Bang province.

The training was attended by 24 participants representing functional departments of Bac Kan province, Na Ri, Pac Nam, Ba Be and Ngan Son districts and communes including CSSP‘s Coordination Committee, District Agriculture and Rural Development, Planning Division, Financial Division, Women’s Union, Commune People’s Committees, Cooperatives and Production Units.

CSSP is an IFAD financed loan project, being implemented in 35 communes of the 5 districts in Bac Kan province for the period from 2017 to 2022. The project aims to contribute to sustainable poverty alleviation based on market system approach and climate change adaptation.

Although starting from 2017, the market and value chain component of CSSP has so far not yet been implemented due to the lack of capacity at district level to identify and analyze the potential value chains and subsequently to design the intervention plans.

The VCAP training was seen by the participants as a starting point in promoting partnership among actors in the value chain, from local suppliers, producers, traders, local government and relevant service providers. By providing basic knowledge, hand-on tools and methods on accessing value chain and market system, the actors became capable to develop criteria for the selection of relevant value chains and to design feasible intervention plans to upgrade the selected value chains i.e. Cana and local chicken in Na Ri district. The trainees also understood and emphasized the role of small medium enterprises and cooperatives in input supply, creating added value to agricultural products and connect smallholder producers to larger markets. Climate change adaptation and the enabling environment were other factors that need to be considered in the process of developing inclusive market strategies.

Action during the training