New Coping Strategies Bloom
Studying the impact of COVID-19 on flower and vegetable enterprises in Vietnam as her ARSF research project has given Dr Hoa Pham the opportunity to put lessons learnt as a Meryl Williams Fellow into meaningful practice.
The Fellowship supports female agricultural researchers and scientists across the Indo-Pacific to improve their leadership and management skills, and Hoa has wasted little time in developing hers. A crop production and plant protection specialist with the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hoa is an expert in forest health and the diseases caused by nematodes and fungi.
Her work in rural Vietnam, in a very male-dominated field, has supported environmental change among subsistence farmers and, in particular, a reduction in their reliance on chemical fertilisers.
In developing her ARSF research proposal, in Vietnam’s south, Hoa drew heavily on Meryl Williams Fellowship (MWF) learnings about how to identify a goal, and design and manage a project.
“The project would not have been a success without the great support of the MWF facilitators and trainers,” Hoa said. “They provided me with the knowledge and skills to implement it, and ongoing support and feedback along the way. As a Fellow, I had been trained to manage risks and to prepare for change, and that helped me to deal with the challenges I faced.”
Hoa has been emboldened by the MWF principle that you can lead regardless of your position. The ARSF project, which investigated how social distancing and lockdowns impacted supply chains for essential agricultural products, has provided a means of applying what she has learnt in real and practical ways.
“The transport of produce to other provinces and overseas ground to a halt with COVID and, with the number of tourists/visitors coming to Lam Dong dropping by 41%, many hotels and restaurants were closed,” Hoa said. “Festivals, and celebrations including weddings and birthday parties had to be cancelled, and the flowers usually bought and shared on such occasions remained unsold. By 16 April 2020 nearly 90% of flower orders had been cancelled and flower prices declined by 70-80%. According to the Da Lat Flower Association, the income of flower growers decreased 50-80%, and 50% of growers transferred to cultivating short-term vegetables.
“I was keen to explore farmers’ perceptions of crop diversification strategies in the time of COVID and the kinds of adaptation options they were taking.”
Through a series of in-depth interviews and group discussions with 215 vegetable and/or flower producers and a further 65 traders, Hoa found that players along the supply chains reacted to reduced sales and profits in a number of ways.
“Few relied on government assistance,” Hoa said. “Some produce could not be sold at any price, so farmers didn’t even bother harvesting, choosing instead to feed their vegetables to livestock. To cope with the fall-out of the pandemic, some growers reduced their staffing levels to just family members; others ceased cultivation altogether or changed their crop rotations; while others sought alternative markets.”
Hoa said the project provided “significant and unprecedented insight” into agricultural producers’ behaviour . Those who applied digital transformation and practised agri-ecological systems or sustainable development experienced little impact from COVID. In contrast, those who depended on “middlemen” could not sell their products.
“The findings will inform responses to future crises, especially as we were able to separate business’ medium-term responses to COVID from shorter-term government social safety net responses,” Hoa said.
Equally pleasing have been the collaborative processes that have underpinned the study. Hoa mobilised eight ARSF participants as volunteers or part-time contributors to the project, including MWF mentor Dr Nozomi Kawarazuka, who specialises in the social dimensions of food security and gender analysis in agricultural value chains. Together, they gathered advice for how the vegetable and flower growers might recover from COVID-19, which was shared by five television stations, during radio interviews and at an online workshop in August 2021 that attracted 100 participants.
“The workshop was informed by the study and research, and quickly led to a discussion of resilience strategies that might be adopted beyond the COVID pandemic,” Hoa said. “By involving the leaders of these agricultural enterprises, local authorities, lecturers, researchers and students, we were able to develop an open agricultural network.”
The resulting Open Agriculture Platform, launched soon after, has so far convened four workshops to improve relationships along supply chains, share agricultural knowledge and inspire innovation. One of its co-founders, Vu Tuan Anh, has been invited to participate in two national agriculture conferences.
According to Hoa, there have been many indirect benefits of the project. A published paper and presentation given at the international Australian Agricultural and Resource Economists’ Society Conference provided global exposure, which Hoa believes may shape future foreign investment in Vietnam.
“Thanks to the ACIAR and ARSF networks, I have had opportunities to connect with experts from different backgrounds from all over the world,” she said. “I have also learnt how to build teamwork online, organise online workshops and, through the MEL training course funded by ACIAR, how to monitor and evaluate a project in the short and longer term.
“A large number of people accessed our organisation’s website to get information on how vegetable and flower growers adapted to the COVID-19 impacts. New relationships developed, too. For example, a lecturer from Da Nang University became connected with growers in Lam Dong Province, vegetable producers in Lam Dong found new outlets for selling their products, and the leaders of five local vegetable and flower companies contacted me seeking consultants to help refine strategies for their recovery from the pandemic.
“The ARSF project has enabled me to expand my work experience from forest health to agricultural development and horticultural study to include medicinal plants, gender equity in agriculture and entrepreneurial start-ups.”
Professor Derek Baker, Hoa’s mentor and director of the University of New England Centre for Agribusiness, said Hoa’s findings are likely to help countless producers and policy-makers seeking to develop resilience in existing food systems. They have enabled smallholder farmers to have their voice heard by government, which should ultimately help to improve food security.
“This project has had great results and strong outreach,” Professor Baker said. “It provides measures of COVID impacts and recovery right along the supply chain – from producers to larger enterprises, retailers and local government agencies.
“For Hoa, the ARSF project has been an important means of developing a platform and advancing her profile. She has expanded her networking and extension work, and this has helped to expand the impacts of her research, to consider the supply chain resilience problems and solutions found elsewhere. Hoa has pushed her results far into the commercial and political environment.”
Providing inspiration for female colleagues also working in the agricultural sector has been another powerful outcome of Hoa’s project. Indeed, she teamed up with fellow MWF Nur “Rina” Fajrina from Indonesia so that they might support one another throughout their ARSF projects and develop confidence as project leaders.