Food for Progress

Counterpart International (Counterpart) has partnered with communities living just outside the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park to promote sustainable livelihood and introduce Counterpart's trademark Forest Gardens. Through on-site visits and sample farming plots, Counterpart's programs offer farmers the tools they need to grow a greater variety of crops, increase the productivity of their land and offer more nutritious meals to their family. Stable family incomes ensure entire communities can develop and maintain self-sufficiency.

Vietnam: An Ecological Rarity
The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Quang Binh province, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is considered one of the most important ecological zones in the world, with more than 850 square kilometers of unique karst landscape offering shelter to over 80 species of rare and endangered animals, nine of which are rare primates. The livelihood of families before Counterpart's intervention were dependent on exploiting the natural forest for wildlife hunting and small-scale logging; Counterpart's work in this area helped preserve the prized natural resources.

Forest Gardens: Providing Income, Preserving Nature
The technique focuses on planting economically valuable crops that mimic the natural forest in farmers' plots, thereby creating natural habitat corridors at the fringes of an important biodiversity reserve, and at the same time providing families a means of income.

The Green Future Fund
With the Quang Binh Women's Union, Counterpart established a community-based microfinance fund called the "Green Future Fund." Counterpart sponsors entrepreneurship and business development training and assistance so families can decrease their dependence on the natural forest for their livelihood and can provide better food security for their children.

A Healthy Child Takes a Healthy Community
Infant mortality in remote areas is nearly eight times greater than in urban areas of Vietnam. Working with the Department of Health of Quang Binh, Counterpart promotes the health of mothers and children under five years old through technical training for health professionals and community leaders, monitoring children's growth and health awareness activities for the whole community.

Counterpart also built four playgrounds at schools in Vietnam. Each playground has its own first aid station, where a community educator teaches children about mine safety and awareness. The program was made possible though the US Department of State School Playground Safety/ Unexploded Ordinance Education program. Please read more on The Construction of Playgrounds in Vietnam.

Awareness is Key to Proper Health and Nutrition

Making Money Outside of the Forest

Green NGO Strives to Improve Life in Bo Trach (article in Vietnam newspaper)

Photos: © Victor Pinga/Counterpart International.