Farmer business school. Learning manual for business skills: Manual for facilitators

This manual was produced as an initiative of the Towards More Profitable and Sustainable Vegetable Farming Systems in North-western Vietnam (AGB/2012/059) project by the ACIAR. The document provides Farmer Business School (FBS) facilitators with the tools, skills, and knowledge that will allow them to guide farmers as they go through their FBS experience. Through FBS, we hope for farmers to improve their business skills and obtain a better understanding of the different aspects relating to the agricultural product market through a learning-by-doing method. This manual is intended for and speaks to facilitators

Osteogenesis activity of fractions extracted from Clinacanthus nutans (Burm. F.) Lindau

Osteogenesis activity of fractions extracted from Clinacanthus nutans was evaluated on an in vitro model using osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells. The results showed that all fractions, including ethanol (EtOH), n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and butanol (BuOH) were not significantly toxic to the osteoblast cells at the test concentrations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 µg/mL. The EtOH and EtOAc fractions exhibited the highest osteogenesis activity in terms of enhancement of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and mineralization activity of MC3T3-E1 cells, especially the EtOAc fraction which increased ALP activity up to 30% and mineralization activity up to 100%. Thus, the EtOAc fraction shows osteogenesis activity through stimulating activites of the two markers for bone generation including ALP and mineralization in osteoblast cells. The fraction is now under extensive investigation to isolate and fully understand the modes of action of the active compounds. 

Food systems transformation in Vietnam – research and collaboration lay the foundation

Vietnam aims to transform its food systems in a transparent, responsible and sustainable manner. To help achieve this, the new CGIAR research initiative “Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation” (SHiFT) is working with the emerging multi-stakeholder platforms in the country in order to support the planning and implementation of specific activities. This article demonstrates success already achieved

Assesment of antidermatophyte activity of oil from Curcuma longa L. in vitro

Curcuma longa L. is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant, and its essential oil showed antifungal, antibacterial, antioxydant, antivenom, and antitumor effects. The antidermatophytes of oil from turmeric was demonstrated. This study was carried out in order to evaluate inhibition activity of oil from Vietnamese turmeric against two strains dermatophyte, Trychophytol mentargrohytes and Candida albicans. The oil from Vietnamese turmeric was obtained by hydrodistillation method and its chemical composition was determined by GC/MS. By comparing with authentic reference compounds in mass spectra library Nist 98.1 and Wiley 275.L, 13 compounds of oil from Vietnamese turmeric were identified. The received results showed that, the oil is rich in turmerones (about 44%), which has been recognized as major constituent attributing to antimicrobial activity. By disc diffusion method, the antifungal activity of the turmeric essential oil against T. mentargrophyte and C. albicans was demonstrated. The MICs of the turmeric oil for T. mentargrophytes và C. albicans were 0.5%. The minimal killing time for C. albicans was 60 minutes and for T. mentargrophyte was 90 minutes after treatment with the turmeric oil

Bottom-up participatory prioritization and identification of potential actions and interventions in three A4NH benchmark sites in Vietnam

In 2019 given both secondary data and primary data from the partial baseline survey (Huynh et al., 2021), food systems profiles have been developed for each of three A4NH benchmark sites1, covering the rural, peri-urban, and urban areas (Huynh et al., 2020). Through these profiles, a synopsis of the food system was developed to characterize the existing situation, to highlight key food system challenges and to provide a baseline for measuring and monitoring future changes. Additionally, these profiles are considered as an entry point in identifying actionable policy recommendations as well as in prioritizing socio-economic development plans at the local level. Building on these food systems profiles, we recommend future work that documents the engagement process with local stakeholders to prioritize local food systems’ issues and identify possible demandbased actions, interventions, or local policy in three benchmark sites. The policy-engagement process reported on here was carried out from January to December 2020

Isolation, screening antimicrobial activity and identification of fungi from marine sediments of the area Thanh Lan, Co To, Vietnam

Marine environment is rich in natural product resources, including marine microorganisms, especially fungi which are not only seen as a potential source of highly applicable bioactive substances but also can provide for science new chemical structures. The objective of this study is to isolate and screen fungal strains with antibacterial activity from the marine environment. Twenty five strains of fungi were isolated from marine sediments of Thanh Lan, Co To island and assessed on antibiotic activity against 7 tested microbial strains, including three Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, Salmonella enterica ATCC13076), three Gram-positive bacteria (Enterococcus faecalis ATCC29212, Stapphylococus aureus ATCC25923, Bacillus cereus ATCC 13245), and the yeast Candida albicans ATCC10231. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the tested microorganisms was determined for the crude extracts obtained from the culture broths after ethyl acetate extraction and vacuum rotary evaporation. Three strains with the highest antimicrobial activity M26, M30 and M45 were capable of inhibiting 4 - 5 of the 7 tested microorganisms with MIC values from 64 to 256 μg/ml, depending on each tested strain. Morphological and phylogenetic investigations based on 18S rRNA gene sequences of the three selected strains showed that strains M26 and M30 belonged to the genus Penicillium, whereas strain M45 belonged to the genus Neurospora. The sequences of 18S rRNA gene of three strains M26, M30 and M45 were registered on GenBank database with accession numbers: MH673730, MH673731, MH673732, respectively. Research results showed that marine environment has a great potential in isolation of fungal strains for the search for antibacterial substances as well as other biologically active compounds

Ho Chi Minh's Thoughts On Control Of The State's Power And Lessons For Vietnam

In Vietnam, the State’s power is unified, agencies shall assign, coordinate and control each other in the exercises of the legislative, executive, and judicial powers. This is necessary to prevent abuse of power and ensure the state’s power. The Constitution 1946 was written by Ho Chi Minh (1890 -1969) and created a mechanism and foundation to control the state’s power in Vietnam. Nearly, in the Constitution 2013, the issue of controlling state power is recorded. The assignment and control are reflected in the assignment of the scope of power to each state agency. From the approach of philosophical, social philosophy, and political philosophy, through research and analysis documents in Ho Chi Minh Complete Collection; of previous researchers and policies, legal of Vietnam’s Government on control of the state's power and lessons for Vietnam today. The result shows that Ho Chi Minh’s thought on controlling power has shown the basic contents related to asserting that the power owner belongs to the people and focusing on supervision; use the Constitution to limit state power. The article also gives experiences when studying Ho Chi Minh's thoughts on state power control over Vietnam today

Impact of Vocational Education and Training On Decent Job Opportunities Regarding Information and Communication Technology

Vocational education and training plays a crucial part in the creation of decent job. The fast growth of information and communication technology (ICT) during the past ten years has increased work opportunities for laborers. This research uses the yearly labor force survey data to study the impact of vocational education and training on decent job opportunities for employees in the context of Vietnam's information and communication technology development. The logit model results indicate that the 2020 rate of decent jobs is still low, at approximately 25.6 percent. However, vocational education and training and the advancement of ICT positively affect decent job opportunities. This long-lasting impact affects laborers in various areas, regions, and industries. These findings suggest that vocational education and training and ICT must play a significant role in transitioning from precarious to more secure employment, so laborers must acquire professional knowledge and information technology skills

A community participatory intervention model to reduce the health risks from biogas wastewater in Hanam Province, Vietnam

In Vietnam, using biogas to treat livestock waste is common, in particular on small holder farms. However, most small holder farms do not know how to use biogas correctly and wastewater can affect health and the environment. Using a participatory approach with farmers and other stakeholders we developed and implemented a set of interventions in Hanam province to reduce health risks from biogas wastewater. Twenty-four pig farmers were selected as a "core group" to be instrumental in developing the interventions and training other farmers to correctly use biogas. The intervention model was piloted for 6 months. Several outputs were obtained including i) approval and enforcement of a "huong uoc - village law" on environmental protection; ii) training of 24 farmers from the core group in communication skills to share information on using biogas; iii) development of a 6-step program of pig cage cleaning to limit waste loaded to biogas to improve the efficiency of biogas production; iv) a health monitoring books for humans and animals for use by families in the community. The results provided evidence that applying the participatory approach can lead to improved knowledge and practices of farmer using biogas and can reduce the health risks from biogas wastewater