|
Report 4 of 5:
A
Jab in Time - Vietnam
Introduction
Vietnam covers an area of about 33 million hectares and some four fifths of the country is sparsely populated, particularly the mountainous regions. About two thirds of the total land area is forested but 13 million hectares of this has lost its vegetation and so it is known as the "bare hills".
The livelihoods of two thirds of the population are based on agriculture, with rice production being the main activity. Most of the water necessary to sustain this agriculture originates in the hills or in the two main rivers - the Red River and the Mekong River - which arise in China. Most of the 2500 smaller rivers and streams which arise in the hills have watershed areas - the land which collects the rainfall to make the river - which are smaller than 500 hectares. These rivers are very important as their water is required for irrigation in lowland agriculture, for hydroelectric generation and for the industrial and domestic needs of the population. Therefore, the water resources management and watershed management are crucial. Sound watershed management is also vital to minimise the effects of flooding and drought on the livelihoods of the populations living in the mountainous areas.
Until relatively recently, the traditional shifting cultivation practices in the mountainous areas did not pose a significant threat to the watershed areas as the population was small and tended not to use agricultural sites which were subject to erosion. However, increases in the local population and migrants from the densely populated lowland regions have resulted in greater demand for more agricultural land. The use of lowland farming techniques, which are unsuitable for the mountain regions, have been found to result in serious erosion of the hillsides near the most densely populated areas.
The Hoang Bô ParticipatoryWatershed Management Project
This project was set up by the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Forestry, Government of Vietnam. The Belgian government contributed nearly US$1.5 million to the project.
The participation of the population in the project area was a core part of the project design and of crucial importance to its success. Their co-operation in managing the watershed area was essential because their livelihoods could be affected. An important feature of the project's objectives focussed on the benefits to the local communities arising from the development of integrated land husbandry in the area and the sustainable use of the watershed's natural resources. The latter would give rise to income-generating activities and improvements in crops, livestock and forestry.
The project site covers a large part of the catchment area of the Yen Lap reservoir which was created by the completion of the Yen Lap dam in 1980. For the pilot phase of the project, the Bang Ca commune, in the middle part of the watershed area, was selected because there was a relatively high pressure on land which was classified as potentially critical. It was also identified as a food-deficit area where the local population depended on the sale of forest products to purchase some of its food.
Government initiatives already in place indicated an awareness of the need for improved land and water management and development work with the people of the hills has been going on for a long time. The project fitted in well with one of the objectives of the National Forest Policy which recognised the need to develop the participation of local people in the protection of the forest and to help generate small-scale enterprises to provide produce for them.
Activities
There are about 240 families in the project area living in three villages. The houses are built mainly from wooden poles and bamboo and most have fenced gardens in which fruit, vegetables and spices are grown. Pigs are kept in enclosures and some buffalo are kept, mainly for work in the field. The field crops are rice, maize and sweet potatoes. In the shifting cultivation of the hill sites, either rice or cassava are grown. In the fallow period, after two or three crops, some eucalyptus trees may be planted. However, the production of food is not adequate and it is often necessary for the people to buy more food, especially rice. In order to do this, they generate income from the sale of their pigs and buffalo.
Although the felling of trees is illegal, there is a temptation to cut down the forest trees when other sources of income are not sufficient. The illegal cutting of trees can cause the soil on the hills to be eroded, with potentially serious consequences for watershed management. Over a period of time, the damage caused to the hillside will effect the way in which rain water is absorbed and channelled to the river. Floods can result, giving rise to great danger to the villagers and their animals. In order to help reduce the villagers' need for timber cutting, the project set up a number of support activities to help the local population to develop or improve income generation though small enterprises using sustainable resources.
Veterinary services
There have been many projects in various parts of the world to develop systems of animal health support based at community level and this project used a similar approach. By training suitable local people to recognise and treat animal diseases at an early stage, the health of the animals - and the income they generate for their owners - is much more easily maintained. Sick animals can often be treated quickly and therefore more effectively than waiting for a government veterinary surgeon to come from a distant location.
The community based animal health workers are given training and support so that they are able to provide a speedy service to the animal owners when they find illness or disease among their animals. They are taught how to identify various illnesses which are known to be common in their area, sometimes using simple but effective tests. They also have on hand a selection of drugs and other remedies to treat these illnesses so that the animals can be restored to good health quickly. They are also able to advise the animals' owners on the best ways of keeping their livestock in good health. There are some particularly dangerous diseases which they are not normally allowed to test for or attempt to treat. However, when they suspect that such a disease is present, they can call on the responsible government department to take the necessary action. This also has the effect of keeping the concerned authorities advised of the outbreaks of serious diseases at an early stage and can help to minimise the disastrous effects of "notifiable" diseases which can spread very quickly and be very dangerous to all the susceptible animals in the region.
LY VAN DONG was one of the local people chosen by the project to undergo a ten-day training programme to become a "paravet". He is now able to help the people in his area to keep their animals healthy. If income from the animals is secured in this way, the people do not need to go into the forest to cut wood which helps to preserve the watershed environment.
Beekeeping and honey production
There is a demand for honey all over the world and it usually finds a good price if the quality is high. The quality and flavour of the honey depend very much on the local plants on which the bees forage and the amount of honey they produce varies according to the availability and suitability of the local plants.
In many places, there is also a market for the beeswax left after the honey has been extracted and this is used for candle making and polishes. The bees themselves also provide a very valuable service by pollinating plants and crops as they go about the business of collecting nectar and pollen.
While the collection of honey from the nests of wild bees is still widely practised, it is more efficient to provide a home for the bees in some kind of hive. This should be located close to the source of bee food so that the bees do not have to fly over long distances to forage. There are many different types of hive which suit particular locations and climates as well as the preferences of the different kinds of bee - some species prefer to build their homes in the open. It is important to give the bees the kind of home in which they will be happy and comfortable. For example, the Oriental Honeybee, Apis cerana, survives well in areas where forage is limited but is inclined to leave if the hive with which it is provided does not offer a very good living environment. If the home is not suitable, the whole colony will simply fly away.
Different species of bees vary in their reaction to disturbance of their hive, some being extremely aggressive. TRUONG VAN SINH's bees are quite calm but it is usually wise to wear protective clothing and to subdue the bees by the use of a smoker before opening the hive to remove the honey. This will reduce the risk of stinging which is very unpleasant and can be very dangerous to some people.
When the honeycomb has been removed from the hive, there are several ways of extracting the honey from the beeswax structure. The centrifugal extractor used by Sinh is very effective and easy to operate but needs the honey production of a number of hives in order to make its purchase worthwhile. However, the price of good quality honey (Sinh sells his honey for the equivalent of US$5.25 per litre) can provide a skilled beekeeper with an additional income of 3-4 million Vietnamese Dong (about US$210 - 280) each year.
The honey spinner works in a similar manner to a washing machine drier. The wooden tray where the honey is deposited by the bees is hung in the middle of the honey spinnner and it is rotated manually. Honey is thrown out from the tray by the centrifugal force around the spinner's wall and on the floor.
Tofu making
Although the highest quality protein is found in animal products (meat, milk, eggs and fish), these products are expensive and often beyond the financial reach of many people. The soya bean is high in nutritional value and provides a satisfactory alternative to animal products. It belongs to the legume family (also called pulses) and contains good quality protein, oil, vitamins and some minerals.
The production of tofu from soya beans consists of two main steps:
1. the preparation of soymilk;
2. the coagulation of soymilk to form curds which are pressed into tofu cakes.
1kg of dry Soya will produce 2kg of TOFU.
The soya beans need to be first soaked in cold water overnight. When the beans split open easily and are flat on the inside, they are drained and washed in clean water. A hand mill or meat grinder can be used to grind the beans into flour. Boiling water is gradually mixed with the pulpy flour and then it is left to cook gently for 20 minutes, with regular stirring to avoid burning. The cooked milk is sieved to extract the soymilk from the pulp, using a filtering cloth - made from nylon or other porous material - it is placed into a sieve over a pot. The sides of the cloth are held in each hand and moved up and down to roll the pulp back and forth so that it forms a ball. The cloth is twisted tightly over a clean container while pressure is exerted onto it to extract the milk.
The soymilk is then boiled for 3 to 5 minutes with continuous stirring. The pot is removed from the heat and 2 tablespoons of vinegar added for every litre of soymilk and stirred constantly. When large white curds can be seen floating in a clear yellow liquid, called whey, the soymilk is ready to be filtered through a clean cloth into a suitable mould. The same method is used here as used in straining the soymilk. To form the tofu into a block, the cloth containing it is pressed with a weight for about 20 minutes to reduce its water content.
ITDG would like to acknowledge the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), in particular Anne De Lannoy and Kumar Upadhyay, for providing the original material on watershed management, veterinary services, beekeeping, honey production and tofu making.
For further information, please contact:
This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the DFID.
|
