Soapnuts come from the fruit of the trees of the Sapindus genus (family Sapindacea). There are around a dozen species of this tree. Native to India, China, Southern Asia, parts of north and central America. The one most widely used for its detergent attributes is Sapindus mukorossi, known simply as the Soap Nut Tree or Chinese Soapberry. This tree is common in the upland areas of Northern Vietnam as well. MARKET REDUCING POVERTY OF ETHNIC WOMEN The objective of the project is to increase the income of ethnic women in remote upland areas of Northern Vietnam by supporting them in handicraft production and by assisting to find better markets and trade opportunities for their products. By buying, this Soapnuts you contribute directly to increase the income of the families living in remote upland villages in Cao Bang province. Soapnuts are environment friendly and help poor farmers increase their income.   »»»

Provincial Steering Committee of Component II Hoa Binh was organized on July 27th 2010. Mr. Martin Sommer- the Regional Director for the Swiss Cooperation Office in the Mekong Region attended the meeting and shared his thoughts about the project. This meeting was to approve the first 6 months progress report and revised work plan for the year 2010. Another Steering Committee was held earlier in Cao Bang on July 22nd 2010 to review about Cao Bang component, PSARD project. PSARD project aims to contribute to the improvement of livelihoods in the upland and ethnic minority areas of Hoa Binh and Cao Bang in terms of food security, income and environmental sustainability. The total budget of this project is 6,561,512 USD in three years.   »»»

July 15th 2010 PSARD project has supported Dong Lai village, Tan Lac district, Hoa Binh province to open a Handicraft Weaving Training Class. This class is open from July 12th to July 18th 2010 for 12 students in the commune. The two teachers are experienced handicraft weavers and they are very eager to join the training course. Pics provided by Nguyen Tu Anh/Helvetas Vietnam  »»»

June 1st 2010 The Swiss Development Minister and Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Mr. Martin Dahinden arrived in Hanoi on 30th May 2010 on a three-day trip to Vietnam. It was the first time Minister Dahinden has visited Vietnam. During the trip, Mr. Dahinden met with the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, and Vice Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Tien Dinh and Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong. In these high-ranking meetings, Minister Dahinden discussed with the Government’s leaders on a range of bilateral development issues including the relations between the two countries, economic growth and poverty reduction, social development, public administration reform, civil society as well as agricultural and rural development.   »»»

June 18th 2010 When we arrived, it turned dark already. The class with more than 25 adults has just started. Some of them attended up to grade three in the past but forgot most of it; some of them have never attended any school before. They were all eager to join the class supported by CB-GEM/ Helvetas in Cao Bang. This class was open with the aim to help them have better understanding and communication with the rest of Vietnam by using and writing Kinh language- official language of Vietnam.   »»»

June 17th 2010 Full story of Hoa Binh Women caravan   »»»

June 2010 “Since we got the breeding pig from the project, the price is higher than Muong pig. More specifically, Muong pig now is 70,000 VND per kg, the project pig is more than 100,000 VND/kg.” said Bui Van Thang, Ngo Luong commune, Tan lac district, Hoa Binh province.  »»»

Vietnam Innovation Day 2010 with the topic “Climate Change” has been launched this morning at Hanoi Horison Hotel. This event will last two days in May 5th and May 6th 2010. On May 5th, the event is open to the public and this is a Competition Day for 61 groups. The groups which join the event come from a variety of places in Vietnam and also from many Youth Unions, schools, universities and institutes. They all hope to contribute their creative ideas to solve Climate change issues in Vietnam and in the world. Vietnam Innovation Day 2010 is sponsored by AFD, UKAID, USAID and others. The event has attracted a large number of people (about 400 people) to join the event due to good promotion and advertisement.   »»»

Supporting the Vietnamese government’s decentralization efforts the programme helped to increase management capacity of commune leaders and staff in 103 communes, in the two Provinces Cao Bang and Hoa Binh in the field of planning and financial management. New Participatory Social Economic Planning procedures were applied in 25% of the communes in the two Provinces.   »»»

The exhibition held by VCCI at number 9 Dao Duy Anh street, Hanoi Vietnam on April 14th 2010 intends to find business partners to export these products into Japanese market. That is also the reason why these products are in very high quality.  »»»

There has been a myth about the H’Mong, an ethnic minority group living in the upland areas of Cao Bang province: they are so scared of water that they rarely have a wash in their life time. To discover the myth, on the World Water Day of 22nd March 2010, Helvetas Vietnam’s Representative Office in Cao Bang province organized a trip to Coc Mi village, Quang Trung commune, Hoa An district of Cao Bang, Vietnam. This is one of the poorest H’Mong villages in the upland areas of the province.   »»»

On 1st April 2010, Tan Lac- Hoa Binh Plant Protection Department in corporation with PS-ARD (Helvetas Vietnam) opened training on improving capacity on plant protection and plant protection drug management.   »»»

Join us on a journey to discover the myth: Are the H’Mong really scared of water? To discover the myth, on the World Water Day of 22nd March 2010, Helvetas Vietnam’s Representative Office in Cao Bang province organized a trip to Coc Mi village, Quang Trung commune, Hoa An district of Cao Bang, Vietnam. This is one of the poorest H’Mong villages in the upland areas of the province.  »»»

Twenty leaders of farmers’ club join a training class on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 in Yen Thuy district, Hoa Binh province. It is the first day of three day training. Lots of attendants come from far away and ethnic minority areas where Vietnamese is not the native language but Muong language.   »»»

Tan Lac is a district in Hoa Binh- 100 km from Hanoi. Today 24 commune leaders get together to discuss about the content and timeline of Women Caravan event that they will implement in 2010.   »»»

Do farmers in Northern Vietnam have access to agricultural services provided by the Government? How do farmers rate extension, plant protection, veterinary and irrigation management services? Are there differences between poor and non-poor households and how compare predominantly upland dwelling ethnic minorities with those groups mainly farming in lowland areas? An interesting analysis after surveys conducted in the two Northern provinces of Cao Bang and Hoa Binh is presented in the following report. In addition the report also provides information on the composition of the household income of those people.  »»»

In order to increase income of poor ethnic women from upland villages and promote handicraft pattern as a precious asset of ethnic groups in Cao Bang, Helvetas in cooperation with private handicraft promoters are supporting first trainings on production, design, and marketing of handicraft products made from environment friendly cotton and hemp, indigo and other natural materials.  »»»

Helvetas has launched pilot phase of the Eco-Cocoa support program, in which the first activities on quality assessment, fermentation techniques, cultural practices, and farmers identification will be initiated in the 2 provinces of Mekong Delta (Tien Giang and Ben Tre). For more information please see Eco-Cocoa Project brief introduction (pdf 126kb)  »»»