Central Regions Livelihood Improvement Project (Package 1: Kom Tum Province) (TA 3800-VIE)

The project was the first major externally supported integrated socio-economic development initiative in the area and established a sound social capital foundation on which to undertake development activities. A critical feature of the project was to develop innovative natural resource management strategies linked to social development objectives. Immediate objectives were to:

• Improve households food security in a sustainable manner;
• Improve households income of the poor through improved and better quality on-farm productivity and off-farm income-generating opportunities;
• Develop community capacity to utilize and manage scarce resources;
• Strengthen the capacities of service-providing institutions (both government and others) to respond to grassroots initiatives so that they can deliver improved services in upland communes;
• Transfer project implementation knowledge to provincial staff. 

The project scope, indeed, consisted of five components:

• Household food security;
• Income generation;
• Community development;
• Institution strengthening;
• Project management.

The implementation of the project incorporated sustainable management practices within a sustainable agricultural and rural development (SARD) framework due to the unique and fragile physical environment. Communities were assisted to design and implement their own programs. The participatory processes assisted the development of trust between all ethnic groups. This approach was consistent with the Government’s rural development strategy and its policy of promoting democracy at the grassroots level.