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Final Project Report Available
The final project report is available now. This report gives an overview of the activities of the SEARUSYN project and the results achieved in the 2003-2006 period.
For more information, please contact the project coordinator(e-mail:ben.kamphuis@wur.nl).
- Ben Kamphuis
Project officially finished, but reporting still in progress.
After the successful policy seminars a year ago the project team concentrated its activities on completing and integrating the results of the different research activities. For that purpose in March and April this year progress workshops were organized in Nanjing and Hanoi. In both cities round table meetings were organized with stakeholders in the different fields, i.e. on organic farming, IPM policy strategies and rural-urban planning. In these meetings the invited stakeholders from a broad range of organisations provided feedback on the research results presented by the project team. These meetings illustrated again the challenging tasks planners, policy makers and researchers have with respect to the planning of new rural-urban areas in the fast growing cities of Asia. The discussions in the various meetings made clear that a more participatory approach and a more open cooperation among planning institutions may help in finding better, more integrated solutions. The academic institutions could play an important role in the planning process by monitoring the implementation of land use plans, elaborating ideas for productive green zones, forming a think tank with planners and by improving cost-benefit analyses. It may be expected that the recently founded "New Socialism Rural Area Institute" at Nanjin will play such a role in the new rural policies of the Chinese government.
In the meantime many reports have been completed and can be down-loaded from this website, others are in preparation and will become available in the coming weeks.
- Ben Kamphuis
Successful policy seminars in Nanjing and Hanoi
The policy seminars in Nanjing and Hanoi were both attended by 50-60 people, of which about 35 from other organisations than the project partners, from commune level up to municipality level. In Nanjing three different scenarios for the pilot area Suoshi were presented and in Hanoi two scenarios for the pilot area Dong Du. The scenarios were presented during a poster session, which provided the possibility for free discussions among the participants.
The scenarios were introduced by the Chinese respectively Vietnamese project coordinator. Before that, high-level officials from municipality government presented their view on rural-urban development of Nanjing respectively Hanoi. The seminars in both cities were concluded with an expert panel discussion. One of the major conclusions was that the seminars were very useful, because they provided an opportunity for experts in different fields and from different levels of government to discuss freely an important issue in the development of the cities.
Whether the proposed scenarios for the pilot areas will become reality is not that important, but the idea to integrate certain types of agriculture in green zones is. Consultations among experts in smaller groups are recommended to explore the possibilities for productive green zones further.
- Ben Kamphuis
Policy seminars about productive green zones
The planned policy seminars are scheduled on November 19 in Nanjing and on November 26 in Hanoi. During these seminars, the project teams in both cities will present their view on the future development of a pilot area to urban and rural planners and policy makers. Based on intensive consultations with farmers in the pilot areas and interviews with several urban planners, the teams have designed different scenarios for future land use. The first drafts of these scenarios have been prepared in close co-operation between the Vietnamese respectively Chinese researchers and Dutch researchers during workshops in September/October. The scenarios show that it is possible to maintain part of the horticultural production in new urban areas. The purpose of the policy seminars is to invite urban planners and policy makers to discuss the possibilities of productive green zones in their towns. The results of the seminars will be published in a few weeks time after the seminars.
- Ben Kamphuis
Towards combining research results
The project teams in China and Vietnam are working hard on finalizing the various project activities that have been started in the past months. Farmers meetings have been organised to discuss their options for the future. Policy makers and urban planners have been interviewed on their vision on integrating horticulture in urban areas. Samples have been taken to assess the water and soil quality in the case study areas. Technical surveys on nutrients and pesticides use have been carried out and various people have been interviewed for surveys on organic farming and integrated pest management. In addition, about 400 households in both Nanjing and Hanoi have been interviewed on the impact of urbanization on farming, marketing, income development and expectations for the future.In the coming months, the results of the different research activities will be combined in order to identify and design integrated solutions for rural-urban functions in peri-urban areas in general and the case study areas in particular. The results will be presented and discussed in policy workshops that will be organised in both cities in November 2005.
- Kamphuis
Exploring options for the future
The Searusyn project is in a crucial stage, now, from information gathering towards designing options for the future. During the first two project years, the project teams have collected and analysed a lot of information on the developments in the peri-urban areas of Nanjing and Hanoi (All project reports can be found under "results"). In the coming months they will focus on two case study areas, one in each city, trying to identify and design some options for sustainable horticulture in these areas. For that purpose, meetings with farmers will be organised as well as with policy makers and other stakeholders at municipality and district level, to find out what the farmers want and what the real possibilities are.
This explorative phase will be supported by several research activities, such as investigations on water and soil quality, integrated pest management and marketing. In addition, a survey will be carried out on the impact of urbanization on farming and farmers in the peri-urban areas of both cities.
It is planned that these different research lines will come together during a policy seminar in both cities, at the end of 2005.
- Ben Kamphuis
Rapid Diagnostic Appraisals in Hanoi and Nanjing
In July and August, a Rapid Diagnostic Appraisal has been carried out in several pilot sites in Hanoi and Nanjing. After an extensive review of several potential sites, these sites were chosen based on criteria set during the progress workshop in the Netherlands in May. The RDA's were focussed on areas near the cities that will be urbanised in the coming two to ten years.
In both cities, a group of about 20 researchers and students visited the selected pilot sites and interviewed farmers and village leaders. In addition, city level stakeholders who are responsible for urban planning and implementation in these areas were interviewed. The RDA's in both cities were carried out in a two weeks period; the first week was used for intensive training of the researchers in RDA methodologies and the second week for interviewing and reporting. The RDA's were concluded with a feedback meeting to the stakeholders.
Reports with the major results of the RDA's will become available soon.
The major aim of the RDA's was to get detailed information on the social and economic developments in the pilot areas in relation to the urbanisation process, in order to determine the following steps in the project. Important in that respect was to find out whether there are farmers in these areas who would like to continue farming and whether there are possibilities for maintaining or developing sustainable horticulture in those areas. It is expected that the project in both cities will proceed with a group of farmers to explore options for the future, while at the same time actions will be taken to involve urban planners more intensively in the project.
- Ben Kamphuis
Siebe van Wijk in Hanoi
On behalf of LEI and Wageningen UR, Siebe van Wijk is outposted in Hanoi (Vietnam) for a two year period. His main responsibilities are the management of the VEGSYS project and backstopping several other research projects such as SEARUSYN, MAPET and ProPoor Horticulture. Besides these activities, he is also acting as the liaison officer in SE Asia for Wageningen Univerisity and Research Centre. During his stay Siebe is hosted by the Centre for Agricultural Research and Ecology Studies of Hanoi Agricultural University. Siebe can be contacted in Hanoi through the following mobile phone number: 00 84 (0)9 12346134. Siebe will keep using the same e-mail address as before: siebe.vanwijk@wur.nl
- Ben Kamphuis
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