Training workshop on livelihood models for cadres and people in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province

Training workshop on livelihood models for cadres and people in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province

Within the framework of the project entitled “Supporting the implementation of people’s livelihood activities to minimize threats to biodiversity and mobilize communities to participate in the conservation of wetlands in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province” implemented by the Biodiversity Conservation Agency (BCA), Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in collaboration with the Center for Environment and Community Assets Development (CECAD), a training workshop on livelihood model was held on December 13 was held in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province in the Red River Delta.

Attended the workshop , there were representatives from BCA, NEA, CECAD, experts from the Division of Seas and Project Coordinator of the project in Thai Binh, Provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DoNRE), Division of Fisheries, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), Thai Thuy District People’s Committee, and Thai Thuy District Offices of Natural Resources and Environment and Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as representatives from Thuy Truong, Thuy Van, Thuy Hai, Thai Thuong and Thai Do and members of the Clam Farming Cooperative, households engaged in clam farming and households that live around the Thai Thuy Wetlands Area in Thai Binh province.

The training in Thai Thuy district

The training aimed to 1) introduce an ecological clam farming model and its importance; 2) promote the cooperation and linkage economics in Product Value Chain and introduce the operation regulations for a sustainable clam farming cooperative group; and 3) provide technical guidance on sustainable ecological clam farming. The workshop was followed up by a field visit to an ecological clam farming site in Thai Do commune.

It was so refreshing to see all participants were interested in the training and expressed their desire to have the same cooperative, which promotes sustainable clam farming and value chain linkages in the own communes at the end of the field visit to the model. All participants witnessed the differences between the ecological clam farming model and the intensive clam farming model. The main criteria to evaluate the success of the model are among many others, as follows:

  • Lower clam density (6 to 12 times less)
  • Larger size of the clams
  • Faster harvesting time
  • Reduction of diseases

The first results observed by the participants on the tidal mudflats were significant (see photos attached). The clams in the ecological model looked much larger than those in the intensive model. We are confident that the favorable farming environment in the ecological site would eventually increase the yield of clams and stabilize the income for clam farmers if the project expands to a larger area. The harvesting time is March 2020. We all hope that the ecological clam farming model will produce positive outcome, thus contributing to conservation of wetlands in the region, while sustaining the income of the clam farmers.