Vietnam has a natural area of about 33,095 million ha, ranks 58/200 countries in the world in terms of area. However, the area per capita is very low, ranked 159/200 countries and only 1/6 the world average. According to the statistical data showed that as of 2010, more than 10.1 million ha of land in Vietnam has been exploited and used for the purpose of agricultural production. The area used for forestry purposes is about 15.4 million hectares. Approximately 2.6 million hectares of unused land hilly, largely barren hills have potential for forestry development (according to Decision 2282/QD-BTN & MT dated 12/08/2011 on approval and publication of statistical results of land area by 1/1/2011). Forestland and forest resources are mainly distributed in mountainous regions, the watersheds of the river systems, remote areas, border areas. Those regions are also home to nearly 25 million peoples, in which there are about 15 million ethnic minorities, accounting for about 14% of the national population. So the forest and forestland play a particularly important position in the socio-economic development, environmental protection and ecological security and defense of the country.
Forests and forestland are not only the means of production, but also the living space associated with socio-cultural traditions and crucial natural resources to maintain the livelihood of ethnic communities in mountainous areas. The history of country development proves that ensuring the lives for mountain residents plays a particularly important role for social stability, economic development, national security and defense as well as protecting the ecological environment. Community of ethnic minorities has always been firm foundation for the course of national liberation in Vietnam. Thus, the Party and State always identify primary priority of agriculture, rural and mountainous ethnicities in policies on socio-economic development of the country. Many policies on social and economic development, many programs aim to reduce poverty have been issued through the stages of development of the country, of which the most important is the policies on land for ethnic minorities in upland areas.
However, for various reasons, from a few decades ago, land and forest resources in the country is becoming increasingly degraded which causes critical problems in the society in so far. Although there is great potential for land, especially forest land, but most of the mountainous areas and areas inhabited by ethnic minority areas are under pressure on lack of production land, leading potential risk to the unpredictable conflict in many different locations. In fact, the implementation of policies on socio-economic development in mountainous and ethnic minority areas has revealed many critical issues in the management and use of land and forest resources. This has caused the lack of land for production of ethnic minorities. This issue is becoming barriers in the process of development in ethnic minority and mountainous regions in general, Vietnam as the whole.
Over the decades, land and forest resources in Vietnam have been increasingly becoming an imperative problem in the lives of local communities. This potentially leads to the unpredictable risk of conflict in many localities in upland areas. Given such tendency, this problem has grown into the challenges of the society in Vietnam, making the State and international organizations began to have interest and substantial investments to strengthen governance and protection of forest and land resources, which are the lifeblood of the local communities in particular and mankind in general. However, in spite of such kind efforts, those spiritual resources are still in a state of "critical", but without solutions at the strategic level. It can be said that the problem of degradation of forest and forestland resources in many countries in the region in general, and particularly Vietnam really need to have practical solutions.
Operation in the field of community development in mountainous and ethnic minority regions since 1995, Scientific and Technology Organizations (STOs) including Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI
[1]), Consultancy Institute on Development (CODE
[2]), Culture Identity and Resource Use Management (CIRUM
[3]) and the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Research and Development (CIRD
[4]) have conducted a range of surveys, studies and assessment of management, protection and use of land and forest resources based on customary law. Then, they have facilitated the development and implementation of pilot models in several different ecological zones
[5]. From that, challenges related to forestland of ethnic minorities as well as local governments are identified. In which the most emerged issues is the degradation of forest resources both quantity and quality. This has brought about the erosion of cultural values and religions of the ethnic minority communities for nearly 20 years ago.
The Key Farmers’ Network has been initiated from the supports of Toward Ethnic Women (TEW) and Center for Human Ecology Studies of Highlands (CHESH) and CIRD, the predecessor organizations of SPERI.
One of the studies those organizations pointed out that the nature of poverty of ethnic minority groups in mountainous Vietnam is the interference of three vicious circles. The first is the barriers in terms of language, geographical conditions, etc. This has led to the lack of opportunity of ethnic minorities to participate in the policy making process. Second, such barriers will bring about the inconfidence in self-determination the solutions to their problems, as well in the process of taking comments on making, monitoring and implementation of policies. Third, ethnic minorities lack ownership rights to use and manage natural resources – the main production means ... As it can be seen to fully escape the poverty situation, these three vicious circles must be resolved.
Aware of that, the activities of above organizations are started by learning from the peoples, and then try to promote their participation in implementation, decision, monitoring and decision on every stage of development projects. With such approach, the needs of the people are gradually revealed. Next, their confidence are inspired and strengthened to become the ability in self-management, self-regulation and self-responsibility.
In the field of poverty reduction, such above ways of working is known as community-based approach. In the sense of economic, that is called ‘internal inner promotion approach’. As for the ideology, that is, the people are first.
The first step for the community development is to facilitate the process of establishment of interest groups on the basis of encouraging members to express their needs and concerns. When the groups were formed, members would benefit from the participation in a quite range of activities such as training, workshop, seminar and study-exchange. Then, they together set up regulations, guidelines and make action plans. Facilitating and supporting local farmers to learn and practice skills on dialogue and negotiation especially with government officials and mass-organizations are not only measures to improve the capacity and confidence in each individual member, contribute to strengthening their roles in management and administration of each group, but also create conditions so that linking farmers from different cultural backgrounds in diverse areas, who have the same concerns to form forums for dialogue on policy implementation at the local level.
When the interest groups in communes have developed strong and stable, peoples start to raise their opinions and concerns in the public. The concept of
Key Farmers formed in according to different thematic networks derives from this progress. The Key Farmers are those who are able to access and apply knowledge, techniques properly and responsively. They work together in groups with similar interests, share their strengths and challenges. They collectively decide to connect different smaller groups to find a common interest in the higher range. These are all derived from needs of the people, but only revealed when their cognitive ability and confidence reaches a certain level.... And the network also grows up from there...
The formation of the network of Key Farmers in fact confirmed a philosophy of action that is attitude of sharing and empathy. As for the TEW, CHESH and CIRD as well as SPERI, CODE and CIRUM, the philosophy network has become the vision and strategy embedded in every activity...
When it comes to the value of spiritual and cultural realm, and indigenous knowledge of ethnic minorities, we cannot separate them from the environment in which they live, which are forests and high mountains in the watershed areas. Such values which have been formed by the close relations between local peoples with nature, often express in reality through their behaviors with the forest. Conversely, when it comes to forest, ones cannot fail to mention, come and feel the values of indigenous knowledge of those who are living and sticking at it. Then from a voluntary organization of farmers at specific locality, Key Farmers Network has gradually expanded nationwide and the Mekong sub-region via the Mekong Community Networking and Eco-Trading (MECO-ECOTRA)...
Given the scope of Network’s action in the Mekong sub-region and its concerns are not only in the field of poverty alleviation, further it starts to step on fair trade. This really is an inevitable development of the network, according to the philosophy of mutuality, because it shares a worldview that MECO - ECOTRA looking forward, which is to bring a harmonious life, justice and democracy for mountainous indigenous ethnic minorities living in the Mekong river basin, on the basis of a direction to biodiversity, rich in indigenous knowledge, contributing to preserve the cultural identities, ensure livelihood and create grassroots civil society in ethnic minority communities in such areas.
"... The Mekong River flows through six countries. In each country, there are hundreds of different ethnic groups living together, sharing the same interests as well as their conditions of existence. To ensure a real life with harmony and fairness for everyone, as well as the sprite between man and nature, there is no other way that all these countries and peoples, especially those ethnic groups live on the branches of the Mekong River sit down together to share values regarding their beliefs and cultural identities which have been formed from a river. From that, they together maintain and develop life along with the traditions of each group, each ethnicity towards the criteria of fairness and ecological balance that inherently ethnic groups have developed and nurtured for a long time. Currently, due to the unbalanced development of a society which has always considered the industrialization as criteria and dynamics of development. Such traditional values have been gradually lost. Then, our responsibility is to call their soul back. This is the goal of the Millennium and Agenda 21 that Vietnam and many other countries around the world have committed themselves to implement through the signing on the International Covenant. Additionally, this is the share of children of ethnic minorities in the new millennium, the era of exchange and trade, no other choice.
Today, the common trend of development in the world, the number of ethnic minority groups of Vietnam in particular and in the Mekong basin generally have the opportunity to expand mutual exchanges, including trading. Vietnam joined WTO, the space with no longer administrative barriers; so that the concept of MECO - ECOTRA must be interpreted according to these meanings. That is the unity, hand in hand to create eco-products based on the conservation of nature and values of local knowledge, if not; we will certainly be excluded from market.
Criteria of MECO - ECOTRA are also the moral values of the nation which are kept from our father! ... "
Cao Quang Agro-Forestry and Ecological Service Cooperative 
