Khuong farms on two small plots of rice paddies, a total of 10 sao (nearly an acre) in Dong Dat commune of Thai Nguyen’s Phu Luong district. She attributes the good harvest to the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), a package of good agricultural practices for hand-planted rice that increase yields while using less seeds, water, and fertilizers.
Today more than 1.3 million farmers in Vietnam have embraced this innovative farming method, producing more rice and earning extra income for their families. Oxfam has been helping promote SRI in Vietnam for nearly six years, and has made possible the ongoing training of farmers in the methods.
“It’s a smart investment needed to lift people out of poverty and to boost the national economy,” says Ngo Tien Dung, Deputy Director General of the Plant Protection Department in Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture.
SRI practices involve five simple steps including soil preparation, plant and water management. Farmers who use SRI transplant seedlings earlier and space them individually and in square patterns farther apart to reduce competition for light, water, and nutrients.
“I save quite a lot on seeds and fertilizers,” Khuong says. “Before I used almost 50 kg (110 pounds) of seeds for the two paddy fields, but now I use only 4 or 5 kg because with SRI, I transplant only one and sometimes two seedlings per hill instead of bunches of them.”
Robust root systems, bigger and healthier plants grow more grains of rice. Khuong now produces 2.7 metric tons of rice from her two paddy fields, as compared to just 1.8 tons grown with conventional methods, a 50 percent increase.
“I’m very pleased with the results, and I’ve stop worrying now,” she says.
According to the Plant Protection Department, farmers who use SRI significantly reduce the use of chemicals, thus growing healthier food, improving soil quality, and protecting farm biodiversity. On average, SRI farmers increase their yield by 500 kilograms (1,110 pounds), and earn extra income of $130 per hectare in just one cropping season (a hectare is just under 2.5 acres). This is a significant sum in a country where average income is around $1,200.
SRI was recently honored with the National Golden Rice Award for making positive changes in the life of over a million Vietnamese farmers.
The award is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to honor major contributions to sustainable agriculture and rural development. Fifty-six winners were selected from across Vietnam for the first biennial Golden Rice Awards, which took place in November.
SRI was the first recipient at the Golden Rice Awards ceremony, and was recognized as an innovation that helped to revitalize sustainable food production, improving food and income security for small-scale farmers in Vietnam.
“We need to build the momentum for SRI extension over the coming years,” says Ngo Tien Dung of the Plant Protection Department, who received the award for the Department’s outstanding work in promoting the farming method.
The benefits of SRI go beyond increasing yield and reducing input costs. According to a report by Africare, Oxfam, and World Wildlife Fund, SRI practices have contributed to the reduction of greenhouse gases released from agricultural activities.
By improving nutrient use efficiency, farmers reduce the use of water, fertilizers, herbicide and pesticide, resulting in reduced emissions of methane, one of the most prevalent and dangerous greenhouse gases.
Farmers also reported positive change in community relations as a result of using these techniques. SRI farmers—most of them are women—learn together and help each other in the fields. This practice has created a culture of mutual support in rural communities.
Oxfam has been supporting organizations promoting SRI in Vietnam since 2006, working closely with officials of the Plant Protection Department, and recruiting local farmers to train others. These local experts formed a core of SRI proponents and formed Farmer Field Schools that grew demonstration plots and promoted the techniques.
Because farmers who try SRI see results almost immediately, the number of SRI farmers increased five-fold from 2009 to 1.3 million in 2012.
]]>Chhoun says he is now using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) since he learned about it two years ago during training sessions with Oxfam’s partner, a local organization called Srer Khmer. SRI techniques involve cost-saving ways of planting rice: farmers use less seed, water, fertilizer, and grow more rice. Farmers can follow as many as nine steps, ranging from seed selection to the way they transplant seedlings individually (instead of in clumps of five or more plants together). SRI techniques promote the growth of stronger roots, so each plant produces more grains of rice.
Since following SRI practices allows him to plant fewer seeds and use less water, Chhoun says it is helping him save money, grow more rice in the same area, and even increase the number of harvests per year. “The techniques we’ve learned have helped us feed the family better,” he says. “I plant three rice crops a year now. Here I’ve just harvested my rice, and then I transplanted again right away.”
Year-round cultivation
On a cool winter afternoon, Dieb and Chhoun and three of their children are across the narrow dirt road from their house, transplanting rice onto a rented field. Dieb is in the nursery, pulling the seedlings up by their roots. She carries them a short distance to where Chhoun is planting them in a small area flooded with about six inches of water. He wades down a straight row, inserting each individual seedling about one inch deep and 18 inches from the next.
Chhoun and Dieb were the first family in their village, Anlong Hab, to grow three crops a year. That was three years ago. Last year there were three families doing it, now there are 10. “In the wet season everyone grows rice so it’s hard to find land to rent,” Chhoun says. “Usually people don’t grow rice in the dry season, so it’s an opportunity for me to go rent their land.”
Chhoun says the added production is helping his family of nine eat better, but they still need to grow more. So finding land he can plant is a priority. “I want others to grow three crops a year also because we’re all poor,” he says, wondering aloud if he will find enough land to rent if more farmers expand their growing season.
Nevertheless, Chhoun and Dieb feel they are making progress, and their status in the community is changing as others have learned from their experience. Chhoun’s rice cultivation skills have established him as one of the most innovative farmers in the village. “I’m quite proud,” he says. “We’re poor, but people look at me and follow what I did. That’s what motivates me to do this work.”
]]>A long trek from the outskirts of the Baidoa in Bay Region brought the family here—to a new camp for displaced people called Booli Qaran, which, ironically, means “looted wealth of the state.”
It’s here that Oxfam’s partner, SAACID, has opened another center for community therapeutic care, or CTC, one of 14 the organization is now operating across the city. And it’s here that Sahro’s son, Ahmed, has been receiving care following months of sickness that left him increasingly weak.
“I really don’t know exactly what is wrong with him, but I think the problem is linked to hunger,” says Sahro. “This nutrition center is extremely important for us. Without it, hundreds of children would have already died from malnutrition.”
Implemented in partnership with Oxfam, the CTC program has been treating children since 2009. It is now admitting more than 3,000 malnourished children, like Ahmed, every week.
“We were displaced after drought killed all the animals we had. We had goats and some cattle; we also had a small farm which we cultivated in order to sustain our lives; but unfortunately there has been no rain at all, and this caused everything to die,” says Sahro.
“We endured a very difficult trip from Bay to Mogadishu, because we traveled on foot for almost 155 miles. I was carrying my sick child on my back, while my husband was carrying another child who is older than my youngest. We begged from Bay to Mogadishu—from district to district and from village to village, for food and water. In reality, we were very lucky to survive. We know of so many families who have lost relatives or children. We thank Allah, who has allowed us to come to Mogadishu together and survive.”
Opened on July 12, the Booli Qaran camp was established for rural families flooding the capital in search of food, services and employment. More than 5,000 people now live here in difficult conditions. The day after the camp opened, SAACID set up a CTC center, which, like the others it operates across the city, have been working hard to save lives.
Ambiyo, a mother of triplets, knows well how important the centers are. She brought her triplets—daughters Qaali and Naciimo, and son Abdirisaq—to one of them recently. Qaali was immediately referred to the SAACID’s outpatient therapeutic program section at the clinic, when she was found to be severely malnourished and in need of immediate treatment. Ambiyo notes that her daughter was in a state of complete frailty back then.
Her other 2 children—Abdirisaq and Naciimo—were placed into the supplemental feeding program section, which treats moderately malnourished children. As treatment has continued over two months, they have all been recovering.
“All of my triplets were weak, especially Qaali, who was so weak and sick and refused to breastfeed at all,” says Ambiyo. “The other two were weak and thin, but still breastfeeding. I was so worried that Qaali wasn’t going to make it. We were well received when I first came to the clinic and the nurses immediately said that they could help us.”
“Our daily life depends on what my husband earns with his work as a barber, and that is not enough for such a large family,” says Ambiyo. “I hope my triplets will recover from the sickness arising from malnutrition problems, especially Qaali who is the weakest. So far, so good.”
SAACID’s senior staff and management lived through the last great Somali famine of 1991-1992, and find this new crisis heartbreaking.
SAACID-Somalia’s Country Director, Raha Janaqow, said, “I had hoped to never see such a hell in Somalia ever again. Yet, here we are, 20 years later, having endured 20 years of statelessness and anarchy; having to see another generation of Somalis suffer and die of starvation. I have seen so much suffering, and still I weep. I no longer know where my tears come from. All we can do is keep helping as much as we can with the resources we have, and hope for a better time.”
]]>The work of Oxfam’s partners in Japan now includes:
Oxfam America is accepting funds to support these and other efforts.
]]>We are providing funds to organizations in Japan that can assist people who might otherwise have difficulty accessing government aid. Migrant workers and immigrants, for example, who don’t speak Japanese. We’re also funding a partner focused on assisting nursing mothers and their babies. As the disaster response evolves, we'll continue to identify Japanese partners who can address unmet needs on the ground.
The Japanese government is a world leader in humanitarian preparedness and response, and it is carrying out a huge aid effort involving its armed forces, police, firefighters, and local authorities. We’d like to complement that work in whatever ways we can. But our particular expertise involves delivering clean water and sanitation facilities, and in Japan—where there are good water and sewage systems and enough water engineers to repair those that are damaged—it is unlikely that our help will be needed. There are clearly serious obstacles to getting supplies to people in need, but the government is in a better position to handle those difficulties than most outside agencies would be.
Oxfam doesn’t have a role in a nuclear catastrophe. The corporate and government authorities who are responsible for the power plants need to take full responsibility for preventing and responding to radiation releases.
When the earthquake struck, there were systems in place to warn people and protect them from what was coming, but the power of the events that followed went beyond everyone’s imagination.
What really amazes me is that a 9.0-magnitude earthquake has struck a densely populated island country, and people are not even talking about it. Clearly it triggered a tsunami and a nuclear crisis that have had far-reaching effects, but there’s very little mention of direct damage from the earthquake itself. I think that when all is said and done, Japan’s earthquake preparedness—such as its strict building codes—will turn out to have had a very positive effect.
There is no time when poverty, vulnerability, and exclusion become so apparent as at the moment of an emergency. So often, the people who suffer the deepest losses in an event like an earthquake or cyclone are the ones who couldn’t afford to live in a safe house in a safe location. When Oxfam sets out to help a community recover from a disaster, we look for opportunities to help its most vulnerable members make long-term improvements in their social and economic conditions.
When the world is hurting, you want to do something. In this case, Oxfam won’t mount a major humanitarian response, but I’m glad we’re able to offer our solidarity and support to the people of Japan.
]]>All over the world, Oxfam is responding to disasters, rushing clean water and other resources to survivors. But we are carrying out no such effort in Japan. Why?
Unlike many countries around the world, Japan has had both the means and the will to invest seriously in disaster preparedness and response. The government can deliver large amounts of aid as quickly as the conditions on the ground permit, calling for specific outside resources (such as more search-and-rescue teams) as needed. So far, Oxfam’s particular expertise in emergencies—including delivering water and sanitation facilities—has not been required.
But in every humanitarian emergency, there are those who struggle to get access to the help they need. Oxfam Japan is channeling funds to local organizations that aim to fill some of the gaps in aid—providing a hotline for non-Japanese speakers like migrant workers, for example, and assisting nursing mothers. Oxfam America is accepting funds to support their efforts.
“Oxfam is an agency focused on poverty and rights, and we prioritize the needs of women in emergencies,” says Michael Delaney, Oxfam America’s director of humanitarian response. “Thanks to the strong foundations laid by the Japanese people, our role in this emergency will be small, but our hearts go out to everyone affected by the disaster.”
]]>Sorn says she spends less time weeding her fields than she used to since she started using a mechanical weeding device she helped create with assistance from Oxfam’s partner in Cambodia, RACHANA, an organization based in the southern Takeo province. When farmers use this new tool, they can accomplish in a few hours what used to take them many days.
Oxfam supported RACHANA in designing and testing the mechanical weeders that help farmers grow more rice. Switching to innovative rice-growing systems and using a mechanical weeder can create more than 100 percent gains in production—a huge improvement for small-scale rice growers like Sorn and her sister.
Sorn is among 100 families in the area growing rice using an array of special methods called the System of Rice Intensification, or SRI. SRI represents an accessible form of innovation for small-scale farmers like Sorn: it boosts yields through different ways of plowing fields and improving soil fertility, and of planting and transplanting rice. SRI helps the plants grow stronger and more resistant to pests and diseases. It doesn't require special seed varieties. And because the plants are healthier, the farmers need less fertilizer and pesticides, which saves them money and preserves the environment.
One of SRI’s techniques involves transplanting single seedlings farther apart, instead of transplanting them in bunches. The distance helps seedlings grow stronger roots. SRI farmers plant their seedlings in rows, so they can weed around the plants more easily. A mechanical weeder helps them speed up the process.
In Sorn’s village of Prey Pa’e, RACHANA found a metalworker named Ben Pen who was willing to work with the local farmers to develop the weeders. With RACHANA’s help, in 2009 he began to adapt designs from India and other countries; he optimized them based on feedback from women farmers. Sorn and about 20 others tested five prototypes. With Pen, they developed one- and two-wheel weeders, which farmers use for different soil and weed conditions. The weeders weigh between 4 and 12 pounds. Each of them has a long handle with which the farmers push narrow wheels with steel spikes, churning the earth and tearing up the weeds.
Most of the farmers responsible for testing the weeders were women. Though men help prepare the soil and assist with the harvest, women do most of the work in the fields. Pen and RACHANA wanted to make sure that the weeder designs are suitable for them. “These weeders are helping women avoid back pain, and neck pain,” Pen says. “They can stand up, and it’s a lot faster.”
Sorn moves down the rows between the rice plants pushing the weeder in front of her like a lawn mower. The tool splashes through a thin layer of water, cutting up clumps of grass and mud.
“There’s quite a difference when you use the weeding tools,” Sorn says. “If you weed by hand you only get the top of the weed, you don’t get the root, and it grows again. When you use the weeding tool, it destroys the root and churns the weed into the soil—it’s better for the soil.”
Sorn farms a little less than two acres. Having the weeder helps Sorn and her sister get their weeding done faster. She says saving this time and labor is particularly important for her now: her husband passed away and her six children are all grown and have left the village to work and study. She’s 55, alone, and needs the help.
RACHANA’s research showed that by combining weeders with SRI, farmers could increase their production to average 5.6 tons per hectare, up from an average of 2.2 tons using traditional techniques. (A hectare is about 2.45 acres.) The organization ordered 900 of the three most popular weeders from Pen; it is selling them to farmers across the country. The tools cost about $20—a significant investment, prompting groups of two or three neighbors to buy the tools together and share them.
The investment is worth the time saved: the women in Prey Pa’e say it takes three people two weeks to weed a hectare, and by the time they finish, the weeds are already growing again. “With the weeder, three people can finish in one morning,” says Pen Rat, who was part of the prototype testing team.
Sorn says she helped test the one-wheel weeder, and suggested that Pen lower the angle of the handle, so women would be pushing at waist level. “I thought women would have more strength to push and pull,” she says.
Simple forms of innovation, like these mechanical weeders, encourage farmers to come together, share their ideas, and play a role in developing technological improvements for their farming. This type of endeavor is just a small part of Oxfam’s work to transform agriculture for the poorest farmers in Cambodia.
Farmers like Sorn Ken confirm this: “Having this weeder is like having another person,” she says.
]]>Oxfam staff in Tokyo say that, though they have experienced many earthquakes, they have never seen buildings shake the way they did on Friday. Aftershocks and rolling blackouts are keeping the population weary, while the threat of a nuclear meltdown is looming.
Oxfam has been ready to assist but is not launching a major humanitarian response at this time. We usually focus our resources on communities where governments have been unable—or, in some cases, unwilling—to provide for their people. But the Japanese government has a tremendous capacity for responding in crises, and a clear commitment to using its resources to the fullest.
And—particularly in the midst of a nuclear crisis—we do not want the demands of coordinating the work of outside aid providers to draw on the resources of the government.
Nevertheless, in emergencies there are always communities that fall below the radar and cannot easily access humanitarian relief. Barriers of language or residency status, for example, can have tragic consequences at times like these.
“The Japanese state has the means to reach 99% of the population,” says Oxfam Japan Executive Director Akiko Mera, “but there will always be some who need more specific assistance.”
During the coming weeks, Oxfam Japan will channel resources to local organizations that can connect vulnerable groups with the assistance they need. Oxfam America is accepting funds for those and other efforts.
]]>Tragedies such as this compelled Thach to serve as president of the commune agricultural cooperative. When he was elected to this post in 2001, he says he made a commitment: “I told myself to find new technology to help farmers get a better life.”
In his research about ways to help farmers in Dai Nghia, Thach learned about a new and innovative way to grow rice, Vietnam’s most important food crop and the main source of nutrition for many small-scale farmers. It’s called the system of rice intensification, SRI, and involves techniques that help farmers save money on seed, fertilizer and other chemicals, and cuts down on labor needed for transplanting.
Oxfam and the Plant Protection Department, which is part of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, have been running farmer field schools to help rice farmers learn the new techniques, and in turn teach other farmers about SRI. Oxfam began this work in Cambodia, and then expanded it to Vietnam in order to help small-scale farmers learn new farming methods, develop their skills to analyze and solve agricultural problems, and teach each other to improve their farming.
Thach was excited about bringing SRI to his village. “I saw with my own eyes the obvious benefits of SRI in all the places I visited,” he says. “So when I introduced the method to my farmers, I knew exactly that victory was on my side.”
Despite his confidence, Thach knew there would be doubts among the farmers. For example, SRI recommends transplanting single rice seedlings, instead of bunches of them. Many farmers did not believe this would increase their yield. “How can one rice seedling produce more than four or five seedlings together?” Tran Minh Tien, member of the Dai Nghia Agricultural Cooperative, said as he recalled farmers’ reaction when Thach first introduced SRI in the commune.
But Thach was willing to take the risk. In 2006, he made a bold promise to the farmers, “If you apply SRI and the yield is lower than the yield from your ordinary practice, I will take my own money to compensate for your losses.”
With this assurance, he convinced 50 families to try SRI on a 10-acre plot. Initial successes attracted more farmers to try SRI. Farmers learned from each other as they helped their neighbors work in the field, and they all witnessed more and better rice in the SRI field. The number of SRI farmers in the commune tripled in less than a year, and in the spring crop of 2008, all the 2,000 members of the cooperative applied SRI on the entire commune’s 420 acres of paddy land. “I’m very happy to win this confidence from all the farmers in my cooperative,” Thach said. “It is my most precious achievement.”
Farmers in Dai Nghia work closely with Thach to grow two rice crops and one non-rice crop including soybean and vegetables per year. Those who used to spend one month to transplant their rice now spend from 10 to 15 days. This allows them to have more time to do other work such as raising livestock or growing vegetables.
“Now I have more time to become a seller at the market, and my husband has more time to work in construction,” said Nguyen Thi Dua, one of the first women who started using SRI in the commune. “We earn a little more income for our family.”
All farmers in Dai Nghia are now embracing this growing method with results that are boosting household incomes, helping them to send their children to school, and fund other essentials.
The Plant Protection Department reported that on an average field just smaller than an acre, farmers can save $53 per year of two rice crops on seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and on hiring labor for transplanting. The combination of input savings and yield increase contributes to extra income of about $70 on the same size of paddy land. That’s enough to pay for one year of school or two year’s worth of seed for the next growing seasons.
Thach takes pride with this achievement for the commune. “I’m proud to see farmers in my community increase their income and improve their living conditions,” Thach said. “SRI has brought about a better life for Dai Nghia.”
Thach and other farmers have been concerned about the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in Dai Nghia. The fertilizers were actually decreasing soil fertility and making the rice plants even more dependent on artificial fertilizers. A lot of pesticides were released into the environment to kill pests such as stem borers, but the chemicals also killed beneficial soil bacteria and other valuable species including fish. Some of the chemicals travelled into the air, soil, and water sources, causing environmental concern for the people who depend on the resources. But the rising prices of these chemicals forced them to find alternatives.
Growing SRI rice reduces farmers’ reliance on pesticides; the plants are farther apart, which makes them healthier and more resistant to pests. Thach says he can see the effects of less spraying of pesticides: “I think SRI creates a better biodiversity condition for the rice field. There are more fish and other creatures living in the field.”
Nguyen Thi Dua, an SRI farmer in Dai Nghia, said due to the wider spacing of seedlings, her rice plants get better exposure to sunlight and have stronger roots, which reduces vulnerability to pests. “I don’t need to spend too much money on buying pesticide anymore,” she said. “The fields are looking good, and I’m pleased with the clean and sound environment.”
Thach remains committed to exploring new and better ways to grow rice and to sustain the environment. Farmers who used to grow barely enough rice for family consumption now have a surplus.
But perhaps most importantly, farmers in Dai Nghia are open to new ideas. “SRI is a success in Dai Nghia commune,” says Tran Minh Tien. “We’re now working with the [Hanoi] University on organic rice, and the research over the last year shows some success. This can lead us to adding more value to our rice, and a safer product for consumers.”
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Some 400 people representing a cross sector of society in Cambodia gathered under the hot, sunny sky at a tcktcktck campaign event in Phnom Penh this week. They were calling on world leaders to reach a fair, ambitious, and binding global climate deal at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen later this week.
“Time to Act is Running Out! It’s Time for Climate Action!,” chanted the crowd.
Many people could hear the loud chants from the Royal Palace and the Independence Monument, which stand a few hundred meters away. Some stopped by and watched while the campaigners formed an hourglass and the earth that’s trapped in the hourglass. It got more exciting when the campaigners ran down from the top to the bottom of the hourglass to demonstrate that the earth is dissolving like sand.
“World leaders are going halfway through the UN climate negotiations, but they are doing nowhere near enough to tackle the climate crisis,” said Brian Lund, East Asia regional director of Oxfam America. “So, we are calling on world leaders, especially leaders of rich countries who have more resources and technology, to increase their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to provide more financing for poor countries like Cambodia to adapt to climate change.”
While the UN climate conference in Copenhagen has largely centered on emissions reductions, poor countries like Cambodia are focusing more on financing that could help their communities adapt.
“We are demanding that climate negotiators in Copenhagen press countries with major greenhouse gas emissions to take their fair shares and put money on the table to tackle the crisis,” said Boonny Tep, Executive Director of Save Cambodia Wildlife, and a participant of the event. “It is a crucial moment to join this global force to demand for a climate justice, and I hope today’s event as well as events like this around the world will encourage world leaders to reach a fair and safe climate deal at the UN conference.”
At the tcktcktck campaign event, Lund said that rich countries including America, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and some European countries must meet their global climate responsibilities and provide financing for developing countries like Cambodia, so that poor communities, especially small-scale farmers can protect themselves from the unavoidable consequences of climate change.
Cambodia is striving to rebuild itself after three decades of civil wars, which left almost two million Cambodians dead. Its development efforts are often hampered by natural disasters. Cambodia has been identified as one of the most vulnerable countries in Asia to climate change due to its (currently) low adaptive capacity and limited resources to address the issue. One in three Cambodians lives on less than a dollar a day and 80 percent of the population make their living in the agricultural sector.
]]>Achieving farm resilience requires building up the resilience of vulnerable farmers by developing their skills, expertise and voice while supporting their use of agro-ecological farming practices. Building resilience depends not just on how farmers manage resources, but on how well local, national, and global institutions support farmers. Agro-ecological practices can empower vulnerable small-scale farmers, offering them both greater control over their lives and an accessible means of improving their food security, while decreasing their risk of crop failure or livestock death due to climate shocks. Vulnerable farmers can use agro-ecological practices to build resilient farms and improve their livelihoods, achieving multiple benefits: 1. improved food security; 2. adaptation to a changing climate; and 3. mitigation of climate change.
People-centred resilience consists of five principles which should guide how investments in vulnerable farming communities are designed and implemented. They are:
Following these principles ensures that investments support farmers in their efforts to become food-secure and adapt to climate change. Four institutions central to delivering people-centered resilience are: secure land rights; dynamic farmer associations; responsive agricultural advisory services; and public support for environmental services.
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