Gender and Ethnicity in Vietnam Agroforestry Landscapes: Lessons for Project Implementation

Abstract

The brief summarizes learnings and outcomes from the Agroforestry for Livelihoods (AFLi) project, implemented by World Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Northwestern Vietnam. The project took place in two phases over the period of 2011 to 2021, it sought to encourage farmers to adopt agroforestry systems to combat environmental degradation and to diversify their agricultural products. The second phase of the project (AFLi-II) focused on the development of market-based agroforestry and forest rehabilitation.

The brief explores the benefits to women from participating in six AFLi exemplar landscapes and the gender-based constraints and opportunities women faced in participating in and benefiting from the project focusing on two ethnic minority groups including a Thai community in Hat Lot, Son La province and a H’mong community in Toa Tinh, Dien Bien province. The brief highlights the implications of barriers to women’s empowerment in agriculture to the success of agricultural interventions. Lastly, it provides recommendations for agricultural projects and extension staff to become more gender responsive