A Kansan in Nam: Report from the cacao fields

I'm back in Ho Chi Minh city after a week up in Bình Phước Province. It's exciting to be back in the city--and also a little scary. I didn't have to worry about getting run over in Đồng Xoài, where the Roots of Peace office is. Yes, there was traffic, but nothing like HCMC.

The first week of my internship involved getting to know the folks in the Bình Phước Province Roots of Peace office: Tucker, the Country Director, Son and Mo, the Extension Agents, and Em Anh, the driver.

Eating lunch with Tucker, Sun, and Mo

Em Anh monkeying around in a cashew tree

World demand for cocoa is up and international traders like Cargill are pushing for more production; thus countries like Vietnam are jumping on board. Roots of Peace works closely with government agencies that are involved in the push for cacao production. The Sustainable Horticulture and Agriculture Development Pilot (SHADE) Project works with around 840 cacao farmers and began distributing cacao seedlings 3 months ago. All the farmers selected had fully grown cashew trees, which provides good shade for the cacao trees. There is a club leader for every 20-30 farmers in the project within a certain area. The club leader keeps tabs on how the cacao is doing and acts as a liaison with Roots of Peace and the government agricultural agency. Roots of Peace is focused on capacity building (giving more responsibilities to the government, club leaders, and farmers) and training for farmers to produce quality cocoa.

After I received clearance from the government, I was able to go out into the field with Tucker, Son, Mo, Em Anh, and government extension agents to do some M&E. (That's Monitoring and Evaluation for those of you who, like me, aren't familiar with development acronyms). We visited 2 different clubs and saw 6 different cacao farms. Most were doing well--and some had plants from previous government projects that were already producing cocoa pods.

On the red dirt roads

Mo interviewing a female farmer

Mo demonstrating just how tall cacao plants can grow...

This is where your chocolate comes from

It was great to see the cacao plants up close and meet the cacao farmers. It was, however, also very hot and luckily I didn't drink too much water--not sure where I would have had a bathroom break! (Men can squat wherever--but not women).

And after a long half day in the sun, we attended the weekly "working dinner" with local officials. This is "networking" at its finest. It involves meeting at a restaurant, bringing a case (or 2) of Heineiken (rice liquor if you're in the north), and eating, drinking, and more drinking. There is quite a bit of toasting that goes on--involving everyone at the table, the person next to you, the respected guest, or even the waitress. There's a cheer which challenges the other person/people to drink their whole glass ("tram phan tram" or 100%). Women are allowed to go "nam muoi" (50%). I earned the respect of many men at the table by doing a few 100%ers, but I knew my limits. I also gained a few admirer who showered me with compliments as the time passed: "Miss Summer, you veeery veeery beautiful"...and friendly, and nice, and tall, and so on and so forth. It was a lovely self-esteem boost. And I know, that should I get lonely in Vietnam, I have a few suitors just waiting for me to call.