From knowing it all to learning to engage – Experiences from Australian interventions in agricultural research and development in Vietnam

Abstract

The Australian Assistance in Development organisation (AusAID) funded three projects over the last ten years as part of the Collaboration for Agriculture and Rural Development Program (CARD) with the initial objective to introduce Integrated Pest Management (IPM) based on mineral spray oil into citrus production in Vietnam. This objective later evolved from IPM to a broader Integrated Crop Management (ICM) approach and eventually to the introduction of procedures for Good Agricultural Practice (GAP). In this paper we discuss the evolution of the collaborative approaches in the consecutive projects, departing from making Vietnamese researchers introduce a preconceived, externally developed concept in their local socio‐economic and natural environments, to gradually facilitating the local partners to review potential innovations, test and adapt them, and develop management systems that suit the local conditions. This process resulted in linkages and interactions amongst local and international experts across disciplinary boundaries and between local stakeholders themselves. The final outcome of 15 years of collaborative work extended far beyond IPM, ICM and GAP resulting in the improved capacity of all stakeholders including farmers, extension and technical personnel from government organisations, non‐government organisations and private industry, scientists from research institutes and universities and representatives of local governments to respond to the local specific needs of farmers and the policy requirements of agricultural and rural development in Vietnam. The major outcome for Australian researchers was the realisation that humans (farmers) with their culture, habits and behaviours are a crucial part of the system in which our knowledge and technologies are to be utilised