IFAD Vietnam on the right track Independent Office of Evaluation

Hanoi, 17 November 2011.

About 100 people gathered for IFAD Vietnams National Roundtable workshop on Thursday. During the course of the day, the investigative findings of IFADs Independent Office of Evaluation were released and discussed. A 119 page report was handed out to attendees which represented the culmination of many months valuable research and assessment. The purpose of this, the second evaluation of its kind to be conducted for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Vietnam, was to assess the performance and impact of its activities here and to generate findings and recommendations to help form the basis of a Country Strategic Opportunites Program (COSOP). IFAD has funded operations in Vietnam since 1993, with the total amount of lending so far at US $257 million. Representatives from various organizations attended the workshop including: IFAD, IFAD Independent Office of Evaluation (Rome), Vietnam Government (Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Office of the Government, National Committee for Ethnic Minorities) and several development organizations (FAO, Lux Development, USAID, NZAID, IrishAID, UNDP and others). The day began with an address from the workshop chairperson, Director General Hoang Viet Khang, Foreign Economic Relations Department, Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). Keynote addresses were given by Mr Ashwani Muthoo, Deputy Director (IOE) and Mr Basil Kavalsky, Consultants Team Leader (IOE). Both presented the findings and recommendations of the Vietnam Country Programme Evaluation (CPE).

In a nutshell, the evaluation concluded that:

1. The partnership between IFAD and the Government of Vietnam is positive overall; 2. A new shift to a greater market-oriented focus has been effective, although a number of important challenges remain, such as participation of the private sector and access to rural finance; 3. The sustainability of benefits needs improvement; 4. Pathways for scaling up successful innovations need to be more strategically defined and pursued; 5. Non-lending activities need to be more strategic and adequately resourced and followed up: more policy dialogue at the central level; increased scaling up of successful innovations; greater capacity of non-lending activities and grants to fill specific knowledge gaps. Luciano Lavizzari, Director, IOE, summarizes, "The evaluation concludes that, over the last 18 years, IFAD has contributed significantly to the Government of Vietnam's efforts

to reduce poverty. As the only agency working exclusively with the rural poor, IFAD is recognized both by its peers and by the Government as having promoted local-level decentralization and participatory decision making. In particular, the Fund has worked with the central and provincial governments to support the devolution of responsibility for designing and implementing development programs, which has contributed to strengthening their ownership and sustainability. Moreover, broadly speaking, operations financed by IFAD have led to increased agricultural productivity, rural incomes and social and human capital".

Main evaluation recommendations were:

1. A strengthened pro-poor market-oriented approach; 2. More realistic geographic coverage; 3. A more favourable credit environment for smallholders; 4. Closer partnerships with multilateral organisations and the private sector; 5. Increased counterpart funding from the Government; 6. A strategic approach to the conservation of natural resources. Throughout the day the workshop progressed with panel discussions that included audience participation. These featured experts such as Dr Ngo Huy Liem, independent consultant; Dr Nguyen Dinh Cung, Deputy Director, Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM); Dr Dang Kim Son, Director General of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD); An afternoon break out session involved the formation of three working groups, each discussing one of three key topics: 1. Addressing ethnic minority poverty in Vietnam; 2. Challenges of the programmes market-oriented approach, which include engaging the private sector; 3. Strategies for scaling up innovations. The workshop drew to a positive close with IFAD Vietnam Country Program Officer, Atsuko Toda highlighting the way ahead with future directions for the Vietnam Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP). She presented the following three key strategic objectives, as recommended by The Country Programme Evaluation (CPE): 1. Accelerate the transition in the rural sector toward sustainable market led development in poor provinces and associated regions; 2. Substantially improve poor rural womens income from commodity and labour markets; 3. Enhance the resilience of poor rural households natural resource and economic asset bases to climate change. Following discussion, final remarks on the Vietnam COSOP were made by Mr Shyam Khadka, IFAD Senior Portfolio Manager who commented that Vietnam was among top seven best country programmes that the team had evaluated. The workshop concluded with a closing statement from Ms Nguyen Yen Hai, Deputy Director General, Foreign Economic Relations Department, MPI.