Theassessment was made at a two-day conference between representatives ofthe Vietnamese side, including the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment and the Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee, the UNFood and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Italian Embassy inVietnam , which opened in the province on March 25.
The 2.8 million USD project has been implemented from 2004 to 2011 insix communes, including Tam Loc in Phu Ninh district and Tien Son, TienCam, Tien Ha, Tien Phong and Tien Tho in Tien Phuoc district.
With a goal of reducing poverty and helping preserve natural resourcesthrough the development of a sustainable, high-quality market-orientedagro-forestry system, the project has focused on developing 1,500 ha ofhome and forest gardens, supported the development of businesses andexperimentally implemented micro-finance programmes in villages.
Additionally, it has developed agro-forestry extension services and a market information system.
The project has so far provided farmers with over 34,000 fruitseedlings, nearly 28,500 forestry seedlings, 40,650 kg of fertiliserand 223 kg of pesticide.
The project has improved 412 ha of home and forest gardens, fulfilling 28 percent of its objective./.