On September 27th, 2012 the PAEX closing workshop was organized in Vung Tau city to assess the impacts of the programme on the extension network and hand over materials to the partners. The participants came from VVOB Belgium, VVOB Viet Nam, PAEX team, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the National Agricultural Extension Center (NAEC), IAS, MDI, CRD, AECs and Women’s Union and Farmer’s Association of 13 provinces in the South.
The Participatory Agricultural Extension Programme (PAEX) started in 2008 and will end in December 2012. This programme is promoting the use of participatory agricultural extension with a focus on Participatory Technology Development and with as one of the most visible outcomes a number of farmer clubs in 5 provinces (Ba Ria Vung Tau, Binh Phuoc, An Giang, Hau Giang and Soc Trang. It followed two earlier projects in agricultural extension (PAEP 2005 – 2007, MDAEP 2001 – 2007).
In these projects VVOB has cooperated with the Mekong Delta Research and Development Institute (MDI), the College of Rural Development (CRD) of Can Tho University and the Institute of Agricultural Scientific Technology for the South and the Agricultural Extension Centers (AECs) to implement participatory agricultural extension projects in provinces in the south east and the Mekong river delta.
During the closing workshop there were presentations of reports on sustainability, integration of PTD and effectiveness of clubs and ToT and followed by lively discussions on these subjects and brief photo stories. After five years, in which there were hundreds of training courses, workshops, experiments, sharing meetings and study visits organized for thousands of extension officers and farmers, the Programme has achieved some significant results a.o. 1) establishment of a network of 78 extension clubs, 2) the farmers’ needs has been integrated in annual agricultural extension plans, 3) establishment of the core groups of 25 trainers of the five provinces, 4) capacity on participatory extension methodology and field experiences for the staff of the two institutes, 5) development of 10 training materials/books for the farmers, the extension workers and the core group of trainers 6) establishment and consolidation of the cooperation among the clubs, the extension workers and the mass organizations and 7) multiplication of the participatory extension methods for more than 4,000 extension workers and farmers in the extension system.
The Guests/Directors from other Provinces stated that PTD was a very appropriate extension method. However they were also realistic about the possible challenges such as the passive attitude of the farmers, the limitation of extension worker’s capacity, the limited budget of AEC etc. To apply PTD to their extension activities in the future the PAEX and non-PAEX AECs shared their experiences in maintaining farmers’ clubs and in looking for potential resources. A very practical point for better sustainability of clubs could be that the club members produce the same products. This will give the farmers power to negotiate with the others from buying inputs to selling outputs. There are many resources that they can use for replication of PTD: incorporating PTD to AEC budget, using the Department of Scientific and Technology budget for agricultural development, using Mass Organizations budget, using the “New Rural Communes Programme” and applying for a separate “Participatory Agricultural Extension project” etc. Although there were some limitations in terms of extension workers’ capacity to practice agricultural participatory extension and to respond to the farmers’ needs in the market economy, AECs and the clubs confirmed that the achievements of the PAEX programme would be sustained and replicated.
The Deputy Director of the NAEC, Ms Ha Thuy Hanh, thanked VVOB for its contribution to the extension network and promised to use these materials issued by VVOB not only in the South but also in the North of Viet Nam. She also highly appreciated the performance of the PAEX to farmers and recognized PTD as one of the participatory extension methods that attracted the active participation of farmers and brought many significant changes.
The people who have contributed to the successful implementation of the programme were briefly celebrated and received an certificate. Ms Kristine Smet, VVOB Belgium, closed the workshop by thanking the partners for their contribution to the success of the PAEX programme and with high hopes that NAEC will take up the good practices in future agricultural extension training.
