Market Access for the Poor - Supporting 24,000 households in Northern Vietnam
SNV joins Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and other partners to celebrate the achievements of SDC-funded Market Access for the Poor (MARP) three-year programme. The event attracts nearly 200 participants from a broad range of sectors, including the government, donor community, NGOs, private companies, direct beneficiaries and the media.
MARP supported more than 24,000 households in eight provinces in Northern Vietnam, of which 94% are from nine different ethnic minority groups and 46% of beneficiaries are women. The USD-4.8 million SDC invested in MARP over three years led to a total income increase of USD 8.5 million among the participating farming households. The poverty rate of the beneficiaries decreased from 39% in 2013 to 25% in 2016.
“After three years, the farming households, the processing factories, the people in charge of marketing and the local governments have more trust in each other and more confidence, skills and capacities for continued growth and dealing with the challenges of the future. How to bring the MARP experience to more households in remote areas will remain a challenge that Vietnam is facing” - says Mr. Samuel Waelty, SDC representative in Vietnam.
SNV has made significant contributions to the success of MARP, through our “Spice of Life” project. The project aims to improve the income and livelihoods of small producers through the improved productivity and sustainability of spice production, strengthened relationships with processing and trading companies. The spice value chains that SNV supports include cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. The role of SNV in making MARP a good success is appreciated by independent evaluators, for the efficiency (conversion rate as high as 3.4), impact and sustainability. Over three years, the SNV-managed project have delivered the following results:
10,162 households, 98% of which are ethnic minority groups in four provinces benefited
6,830 household seen increase in their incomes
USD 4.75 million value created in return of USD 1.03 million invested
3,520 local staff at all levels trained
“The key to SNV’s success is that we motivate local communities through building their trust in the companies they work with. We establish direct linkages between small producers and the markets and remove the “middle men” so as to increase the poor farmers’ income. Though our focus is placed on local communities’ benefits, preserving the environment is always SNV’s priority. This is done through our technical training for farmers on cultivation, processing and even basic hygiene and sanitation. SNV actively seeks other partners and potential donors to scale up this success” –says Le Anh Tuan, Manager of SDC-funded “Spice of Life”.
