PROJECT ASSESSMENTS - Science for Agriculture and Rural Development in Low-income Countries - page 211

2004/05: Local level analyses:

Collecting and analysing relevant aspects of spatial, socio-economic and
environmental developments in the pilot study areas.

2005/06: Integration:

Formulating scenarios and developing a plan of action.
The project was concluded by the end of 2006.
During the first project phase , in 2003 and 2004, the activities were focussed on
getting acquainted with the urban fringe problems of the two cities. Comprehensive
analyses of the developments in the peri-urban areas in Hanoi and Nanjing have
been carried out in order to identify the key problems that should be addressed in the
project and to select suitable pilot areas in consultation with the stakeholders. In both
cities available documents, statistics, survey data and policy reports, were collected,
translated and synthesized in three separate reports about land use, agriculture and
environment respectively. For that purpose the researchers in both countries visited
several research and governmental institutions as well and (together with their
European counterparts) investigated projects of integrating urban development with
horticultural modernization in The Netherlands.
In the second phase , in 2004 and 2005, the focus of the project shifted towards the
local level, in particular to the selected pilot areas, three villages in Nanjing and two
in Hanoi. In these villages a Rapid Diagnostic Appraisal (RDA) was carried out in
order to get up-to-date information on the current situation and the development in
the recent past with respect to land use and socio-economic developments. For that
purpose various local stakeholders, farmers, traders and representatives of governmental
bodies were interviewed. After that, various research activities have been carried
out, mainly focused on two case study areas, Dong Du village in Hanoi and Suoshi
village in Nanjing:

• Urbanization impact survey, to study the influence of urbanization on horticultural

development in the peri-urban area of Hanoi and Nanjing in general and on
migrant farmers in Nanjing in particular.

• Agro-technical survey, to investigate the use of water, fertilizers and pesticides

by farmers in the case study areas.

• Soil and water analyses, to investigate the quality of soil and water for sustainable

horticulture.

• Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policies survey, to study the institutional,

political and price factors influencing pesticide use in Hanoi and Nanjing.

• Organic farming survey, to explore the possibilities for introducing/strengthening

organic horticulture in Hanoi and Nanjing.

• Market survey, to explore the market potential for high value vegetable pro-

duction in the peri-urban areas of Nanjing and Hanoi.