The project has commenced in three communes, Xuan Son, Xuan Dai and Minh Dai in the district of Tan Son, Phu Tho Provence. A steering committee was established to oversee the progress of the project.
In line with the participatory focus of the project commune teams have been formed, indigenous vegetables selected in each commune and workshops held to increase the understanding of participatory approaches amongst local officers, extension workers and Women's Union staff.
Farmer Field Schools (FFS) are been conducted by CASRAD and PPsD in all three communes developing Khoai species. These FFS planned to incorporate training in safe vegetable production, soils & composting, IPM and post harvest operations.
The Vietnamese Women's Union has published several articles highlighting the benefits of indigenous vegetables to diet. They also produced an International Women's Day special that interviewed Women farmers involved in the project.
CASRAD have undertaken research to establish economic benchmarks and market potential for development of selected indigenous vegetables in Xuan Dai, Xuan Son and Minh Dai communes. As a result of this study a supply chain workshop has been planned to bring producers and traders together to address the identified problems of distribution, packaging and processing.
NIMM have been commissioned to conduct taxonomic studies and chemical analysis of local bitter melon and local taro to determine their characteristics compared with more general varieties.
In NSW protected cropping trials have been undertaken of 21 different varieties of Momordica charantia, bitter melon. This research has identified several new hybrid varieties that are suitable for the Sydney market and may support an increase of bitter melon production.
A number of problems have been identified that have impacted on the ability of the project team to deliver results. These include: mis-alignment of organisational capacity and skills; poor communication; limited willingness for decision making; lack of project stakeholder identification; varied opinion regarding project focus; limited methodology scope; no clear work-plan; and lack of clarity regarding ACIAR's role. Due to the above factors, the project and associated budget is currently being re-designed and a project leader established in Vietnam. This re-designed is to be completed by June 2009.
As the re-designed project is developed and implement, it is likely that the aim will be to develop and test models that improve the profitability of women farmers who supply indigenous vegetables into transforming markets, with different communication strategies that support women farmers deliver consumer requirements. In the re-designed project, the objectives are likely to be:
Develop models that enable a competitive market position for smallholder women farmers in a transforming market.
Gain a greater understanding of consumer benefits from indigenous vegetables
Improve on-farm and through chain management to deliver safe, quality products into a transforming market
Develop communication strategies that enable women smallholder to change practice
The first stage of the re-design is the focus on a revitalisation workshop in October 2009, where existing budgets will be used to gather required information and knowledge to be presented at the workshop to facilitate the development of a work-plan.

In mid-2009, the project was redesigned, reshaping it as a research for development style project. The objectives of the redesigned project are to:
Develop models that enable a competitive market position for smallholder women farmers in a transforming market.
Gain a greater understanding of consumer benefits from indigenous vegetables
Improve on-farm and through chain management to deliver safe quality products into a transforming market
Develop communication strategies that facilitate practice-change in women smallholders
Following the project re-design, a series of scoping activities were undertaken including:
Developing an initial list of 22 potential indigenous vegetables (11 in each of Phu Tho and Lao Cai) for further consideration
Undertaking a needs analysis of women farmers (176 interviews) in the six communes the project operates in
Documenting indigenous knowledge about the production of these vegetables
Evaluating the market potential of the selected vegetables
Determining the production constraints to producing these vegetables in a semi-commercial way
In November 2009, a Revitalisation Workshop was held where the results from the scoping study were presented and discussed, and the direction for the next phase of the project determined. At the workshop a list of 6 vegetables (3 from each province) were selected and agreed upon for the project to focus on. The vegetables selected were Cai meo, Bap cai xae, Khoi tu, Bo khai, Khoai tang and Muop dang, providing a good cross-section of vegetables types (fruit, root and leafy). A workshop proceedings is currently in the final stages of production.
In the last 6 months, project activities have focussed on 3 key areas:
Developing 'best bet' management practices for the 6 selected vegetables. More than 10 trials have been instigated or planned addressing a range of production constraints including propagation, nutrition, plant density, crop management and postharvest handling. In addition a consumer preference trial is planned to determine which of the Cai meo (H'mong mustard) types is preferred by consumers.
Undertaking a more in-depth market analysis for the 6 selected vegetables. This analysis will not only provide information on the different value chains but will also identify potential marketing opportunities for each of the vegetables. Some of these will then be pursued during the final stage of the project.
Designing and developing a Farmer Business School (FBS). The 'hub' of the research for development activities will be the development of Farmer Business Schools (FBS). The FBS is the vehicle through which most project training will be delivered. Current activities are focussing on developing the 'content' (what will the training cover? and what will resources look like?) and the 'process' (how will the training be delivered?) of the FBS. Consultations with groups of women farmers (25-30) in each of the project communes to find out their training needs and preferences have also been used to shape the design of the FBS.

'How do we bring about change in the marketing and production of indigenous vegetables?' This was the focus of our Stakeholder Workshop held in Sa Pa in August 2010. The workshop attracted 63 participants including government officials, farmers, collectors, wholesalers, retailers and representatives from consumer groups.
The project team presented their latest research findings from both the production trials and value chain analyses that had been undertaken on the six vegetables under study (In Lao Cai - cai meo (Brassica juncea), bap cai xoe (Brassica oleracea), khoi tu (Lycium chinense) and in Phu Tho - khoai tang (Alocasia esculenta), bo khai (Erythropala scandens) and a local bittermelon (Momordica charantia)). Through a series of facilitated activities, participants were then asked to identify the priority production and marketing issues and put forward ideas for the types of marketing interventions that should be looked at.
Priorities identified by stakeholders have been used to set the research direction for the remainder of the project. Key activities for the marketing team have centred around: 1) understanding consumer preferences; 2) developing local and regional marketing opportunities and 3) developing a Farmer Marketing Group. Recent activities have included: 1) sensory evaluation of cai meo and khoai tang to identify consumer preferences; 2) an Indigenous Vegetable Restaurant Challenge - where restaurants competed in a cook-off designed to showcase the 3 indigenous vegetables from Lao Cai and 3) the formation of a Farmer Marketing Group in Na Hoi commune, Bac Ha.
For the production team, a total of 31 replicated or demonstration trials have been or are being undertaken looking at various production aspects including propagation, training systems, crop nutrition and intercropping. The results from these trials are not only assisting farmers as they transition into semi-commercial production of indigenous vegetables but are also feeding into the development of the production modules for the Farmer Business School (FBS).
The Australian component has looked at the potential of emerging Asian vegetables (including bitter melon, gogi and gac) and, together with a Horticulture Australia project, has looked at managing nitrate accumulation in Asian vegetables.
The 'hub' of our research for development activities is our Farmer Business School (FBS) that will cover both business and production aspects of indigenous vegetable production. The FBS will be modulised and flexible enabling trainers to utilise the resource as they see best. The resource library for each module will include a: 1)Trainers Guide - Theory; 2)Trainers Guide - Practical (step-by-step instructions on how to undertake the training and 3)a farmer resource. A cap-stone module will provide different options showing how the training can be put together. Resource development is well underway, including the development of a Value Chains DVD. Piloting of the modules has recently commenced with the Composting module in Na Hoi commune, Bac Ha, Lao Cai province, with full scale piloting anticipated to start in July 2011.