Simexco

Hauts plateaux du centre

Krong Nang

Réserve du mont Kumbira

Local Indicators

Forest Positive Coalition

LandScale

About The Initiatives for Sustainable Landscapes (ISLA) in the Central Highlands-Vietnam
The Central Highlands of Vietnam is home to 95% of all coffee production and over 60% of pepper production in Vietnam, making the Central Highlands the second-largest coffee producer and exporter and the largest pepper exporter in the world. 
In the landscape programme, IDH brings together businesses, governments, farmers, communities and civil society to build sustainable governance models in the sourcing landscape. Through our PPI approach, we create areas where agricultural products are grown sustainably (Production), forests and natural resources are safeguarded (Protection), and communities thrive (Inclusion). IDH focuses on 2 key commodities: coffee and pepper. See below:
Coffee
Vietnam is providing employment opportunities for hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers. The Central Highlands region, encompassing provinces such as Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Kontum, Gia Lai, and Dak Nong, serves as the primary hub for coffee cultivation.
For the coffee sector, the programme focuses on supporting a large sustainable sourcing landscape through the PPI compact approach for sustainable coffee production and income improvement.&nbsp;
In the new context of the European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) going to be effective soon, IDH is bringing together government bodies, NGOs, and private coffee businesses to foster knowledge sharing, develop and implement cost-effective solutions for EUDR compliance.
&nbsp;Pepper
As the co-chair (together with the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture of Rural Development, and the Vietnam Pepper &amp; Spices Association) of the Pepper Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Task Force, IDH is collaborating with multi-stakeholders to support the sector sustainability and market requirements. 
Through the partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam Pepper &amp; Spice Association (VPSA), the European Spices Association (ESA), American Spices and Trade Association (ASTA) and Sustainable Spices Initiatives (SSI), international and domestic companies and CSOs, we co-design and co-implement the joint projects, which provide cross-sector solutions on smallholder farmer livelihoods, working conditions, agrochemical use and climate change issues.

Central Highlands

This project introduces a PPI compact at district level via the first pilot at part of Ea Tan, Ea Toh and Dlie Ya communes of 5,200 ha. This region is selected because of its special features. This PPI compact is not demarcated by administrative borders, but by the sourcing border of company. Coffee from this whole area of 5,200 ha is sourced by a single local coffee company of Simexco via cooperatives and small traders. This area has about 30% of ethnic minorities, with very high poverty rate of 10%. This area is facing a number of issues including: (i) highest chemical input use in Dak Lak province (70% of farms overuse of chemical fertilizer higher than recommended, 60% of farms overuse of pesticide, including the use of banned pesticide according to the market requirements); (ii) water issues: 17% of farms having no access to water source and 100% of farms using 30% of water volume higher than recommended, which lead to the loss of productivity by up to 30% in dry year of 2016 adn 2019.

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Mount Kumbira Reserve

Together IDH, JDE and Simexco aim to strengthen coffee farming practices in Krong Nang district in Dak Lak in Vietnam. Simexco will deliver services to farmers to improve GAP practices, agro-input use via soil testing, collector incentivizing and spraying teams, and water-use efficiency via testing of irrigation systems. Simexco will, together with the help of IDH, set up a service delivery model to provide farmers with access to these services.

SDM project with Simexco

Key activities of the Project will focus on raising awareness and capacities of coffee farmers on climate change adaptation, rational input use to reduce emissions of unwanted substances (e.g. nutrients, pesticides, GHG) to the environment. Along with capacity building activities, 130 demo plots will be developed and used as training grounds for Farmer Field Schools. Farm management data (through the adoption of Farmer Field Book) will be collected during the project duration to enable a quantitative estimation of the emissions of fertilizers, energy and pesticides and shared with farmers to stimulate better agriculture practices. Particular emphasis will also be put on the involvement of youth in coffee farming.
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Ultimately this should contribute to reducing a number of natural resource risks in the Central Highlands region, including: seasonal water scarcity, water pollution, and soil degradation. The Project will also contribute to reduced GHG emissions and a reduced carbon footprint of coffee, improved farm resilience to climate change, and a diversified farmer income.
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To reach these objectives, specific attention will be given to the following questions:
<ul>
<li>Is there a business case for farmers to change their current practices?</li>
<li>How can different stakeholders in the Central Highlands region cooperate in order to strengthen landscape level impact and/or strengthen the farmer business case?</li>
</ul>
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Building progressive insights on these topics should assist the partners to strengthen the implementation model so as to identify the upscaling potential. In assessing the program on a 6-monthly basis the Parties will re-assess the understanding of these key questions. For this purpose the Parties will share real-life data and the on-the-ground experiences and expertise of the implementing partners. Commonly documenting this learning journey will increase the in-depth understanding of how to attain the shared vision.

Supported Initiatives

Central Highlands

Krong Nang

Mount Kumbira Reserve