Following a successful call for proposals in the first quarter of 2016, the ISLA team in Vietnam is preparing to implement the first projects later this month.
In December 2015, ISLA launched a call for proposals for projects in Lam Dong and Dak Lak Province. The thematic focus of the call was the responsible use of natural resources in agriculture, requesting for proposals to tackle issues such as inefficient water use, toxic loading of the water and soil, soil erosion, and the declining tree cover in agricultural areas in the two provinces.
At the closing of the call, the team received 20 concept notes from both public and private sector organizations. Proposals of private sector companies covered different agricultural sectors, including rubber, coffee, cocoa, pepper, and medicinal herbs production, whereas the public sector proposed different ideas related to integrated water resource management, modernizing irrigation infrastructure, commune level landscape planning, and forest replanting.
After assessing the concept notes by IDH and experts, seven organizations were requested to develop their concept notes into more detailed proposals. Several meetings between the applicants have also been organized between January and March in order to stimulate cooperation and complementarity between the different projects.
An example of collaboration between public and private sector originating from the project proposals is cooperation between DARD Lam Dong, ACOM and Louis Dreyfus Commodities in the commune of Gung Re. ISLA supports these three parties to align their approaches and investments in farmer productivity, infrastructure, water management and afforestation. ISLA will also work with World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) to support the public and private sector with participatory landscape planning in the commune to ensure that the investments and activities fit into a strategic framework agreed upon with farmers and other communities living in the area.
The first projects are expected to start this month and will run up to the end of 2018.