Review of the Second Strategy SRD’s Programme Review (2008 to 2012) Achievements and Lessons Learned Programme Review In the second strategic plan, SRD targeted an annual programme budget of 600,000 USD, mainly focusing on sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods. During the implementation of the strategic plan, SRD’s budget reached nearly one million USD in 2011 and 2012, this is fifty percent higher than targeted. The focus of SRD’s programmes has also expanded in response to emerging issues, from strong roots in advocacy, climate change has become a major theme in SRD’s interventions. The geographical coverage of SRD’s programmes has expanded beyond historical locations in northern mountainous provinces to include the central coastal regions of Ha Tinh, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Tri provinces.
Sustainable Agriculture During the 2008-2012 Strategic Plan, SRD implemented twenty-one projects in 297 villages, which benefited 17,820 farming households. To meet our aim of supporting farmers and communities towards sustainable agriculture, SRD has provided farmers with intensive capacity building, from technical knowledge to life skills and market information. Farmers in project areas have also been introduced to appropriate techniques to diversify their livelihoods: initiatives to conserve local genetic resources such as
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Strategic Plan for 2013-2017
herbal medicinal plants and traditional rice varieties. A number of innovative sustainable agriculture practices such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), slope land cultivation and the production of organic fertilisers have been successfully introduced and applied by farmers. The most remarkable achievements during the last strategic plan include the adoption of SRI as a good practice in rice cultivation by MARD, and the development of the two new varieties of rice by farmers in Bac Kan province, and the conservation of local herbal plants and traditional remedies in Yen Bai province. In order to improve poor farmers’ income through diversified and sustainable livelihood development, SRD has supported farmers with household production planning skills, the development of alternative livelihoods, information to access markets, and increased understanding of value chains and marketing. The most significant of these achievements was the improvement of the tea value chain in Yen Bai and Phu Tho provinces and the chicken value chain in Yen Bai province. Committing to support farmers and farmer organisations to enable them to participate in decision-making processes