Meryl Williams Fellow to deliver quick response research into agricultural supply chains in Lam Dong, Vietnam
Meryl Williams Fellow Dr Hoa Pham has been awarded an ACIAR grant to bring local farmer voices to the table in addressing post-pandemic food security.
In April 2020 the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) announced an Alumni Research Support Facility supporting ACIAR Alumni to quickly respond to vulnerabilities in agricultural systems exposed by the pandemic. Dr Hoa Pham from Vietnam was one of forty to receive funding in the first round.
Her research project will look into the strategies that flower and vegetable growers in the Lam Dong province of Vietnam used to adapt to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings will inform local policymakers and support them in developing resilience in existing food systems.
The newly funded project provides a means by which smallholder farmers can have their voice heard by government and a basis upon which to identify and address vulnerabilities. It’s a win for inclusivity in supply chains and improved food security.
Dr Derek Baker, Director of the University of New England Centre for Agribusiness is collaborating on the project and told us:
“This project immediately appealed to me because of its reach along the supply chain: it will provide measures of impacts and recovery, and commentary on mitigating actions, associated with smallholder producers, larger enterprises, and retailers, as well as local government agencies. Retailers are often under-represented in studies relating to supply chains’ performance and resilience, and this study will offer that view. The contrast between two perishable crops, food and non-food, is also vital and addresses broader aspects of food security.”
Dr. Pham has over 12 years’ experience working as a specialist at Lam Dong Crop Production, Vietnam and is an expert in forest health and the diseases caused by nematodes and fungi, particularly pine disease. She plays an important role in reducing Vietnam’s reliance on chemical fertilizers working directly with farmers to support them to apply bio-pesticides that work in harmony with beneficial and indigenous soil organisms.
Significantly, the project team has a majority of women researchers and includes Meryl Williams Fellowship Mentor Dr Nozomi Kawarazuka, an expert in the social dimensions of food security and gender analysis in agricultural value-chains. Dr Kawarazuka’s input into this project will ensure that important gender dynamics in the pandemic response are not overlooked.
The project adds to the growing network of agricultural development research experts that is rising up around the ACIAR funded Meryl Williams Fellowship (MWF). The MWF supports female agricultural researchers and scientists across the Indo-Pacific to improve their leadership and management skills through a fifteen-month program of workshops, career development and mentoring.
Indeed, a driving factor motivating Dr Pham to apply for the ARSF grant was the opportunity to put into practice skills she gained during a Meryl Williams Fellowship executive leadership workshop in January 2020. In developing the research proposal, Dr Pham went back over the steps learned in the MWF program to identify the project goal, design the project and describe how it would be managed. In particular, she points to the project management intensive delivered by Dr Philip Harrell of the University of New England Business School as providing a solid foundation from which to establish this new project.
Another lesson from the Meryl Williams Fellowship program that has been guiding Dr Pham is the principle that it is possible to lead from wherever you are. That is, you can be a leader with influence no matter what your current position may be. In deciding to apply for the ACIAR ARSF funding, Dr Pham is living out this principle and hopes that her success will provide motivation to female colleagues working within the agricultural sector to turn their aspirations into reality.
Personally, Dr Pham has received a real confidence boost from the successful application and told us that she now feels on the right path towards building a better life for her community and achieving her own career success. She is emphatic in her praise for the Meryl Williams Fellowship team and says that Lead Trainer Dr Rebecca Spence has been an invaluable mentor and key in her success.