Growing into Pumpkin Custodians: Women farmers in North Vietnam discover the power of participatory variety selection

As Typhoon Yagi wreaked havoc across parts of Vietnam in early September 2024 – leaving 299 people dead and 34 missing – many farming communities in the northern region found their fields flooded, crops destroyed, and land eroded. The Vietnamese government estimated that the costs of the damage and destruction add up to 81.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$3.31 billion). In Mai Son district (Son La province) and Sa Pa township (Lao Cai province), where Typhoon Yagi struck during the rice harvest season, farmers suffered severe losses in crop and livestock, as well as significant damage to farmhouses, greenhouses, community buildings and electricity and water facilities.

Despite these difficult conditions, two small farming groups of ethnic minority women (core members of local Diet Health Clubs) from the typhoon-stricken communities continued their on-farm research on pumpkin variety selection. The experiment – a new experience for the women as they were allowed to actively participate from beginning to end of the process – aimed to increase the diversity of key crop varieties and animal feed crops, and to build farmer awareness and skills in variety selection. Producing several interesting results, the research was set up earlier in the year with technical support from the Alliance, the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute (FAVRI), and the Plant Resources Centre (PRC) under the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS).