Hello all and welcome to my first official blog post!
For my thesis research I will be working with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) based in Hanoi, Vietnam. My research will be conducted under CIAT’s Weather Forecasting for Coffee Sustainability (WEFOCOS) project.
My research is unfortunately looking a little different than expected due to COVID-19 and the travel restrictions that were implemented as a result. Instead of doing an in-person placement in Hanoi, I’ll be doing all work remotely. Nonetheless, I am still very grateful to be working with CIAT on such an interesting project!
CIAT is part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, better known as CGIAR, which is a partnership of 15 research-for-development organizations. CIAT works with partners in developing countries to develop a more sustainable food system and improve livelihoods through agricultural and environmental research-based solutions. More on CIAT and their mission can be found here.
The WEFOCOS project aims to deliver climate services to coffee farmers in Vietnam’s Central Highlands by incorporating weather forecasts into agricultural advisories. The project will develop a novel climate forecasting system with accompanying decision support tools for farmers with the goal of improving the efficiency and sustainability of coffee production, as well as reducing farmers’ vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
As a coffee lover myself, it’s very exciting to be researching a crop that I have so much personal interest in. The irony that my research is focused on coffee and that I will probably drink an excessive amount of it to complete my thesis is certainly not lost on me. While I wish I could be enjoying some Cà phê sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee) as I work, my home brewed coffee will have to make do for the time being!
My thesis research will be focused specifically on identifying suitable channels to improve the delivery of climate information services to marginalized coffee farmers in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
This will require an assessment of the sector’s value chain in order to identify the information channels that farmers of different demographics can access, as well as which actors may be best-suited for delivering information to farmers. Additionally, I will be identifying constraints that impact marginalized farmers’ access to information and services.
As part of my research, I will be analyzing CIAT’s dataset from their WEFOCOS household survey to determine which farmers can be considered marginalized in their access to information. The WEFOCOS survey was administered to 400 households; both a primary farmer and a secondary farmer (opposite gender) were interviewed for each household. The survey gathered information on coffee farming practices, access to information (weather, advisory, etc.), adaptation practices, exposure to extreme weather events, access to financial services such as credit and more.
With the support of my supervisors at CIAT, we will also conduct qualitative interviews with coffee sector stakeholders to acquire more insight into farmers’ access to information, constraints in the delivery of information, and what could be done to improve the delivery of advisory. We’ll be interviewing various actors along Vietnam’s coffee sector value chain, from industry professionals to farmer group leaders, in an effort to develop a comprehensive understanding.
More posts to come soon!