The project trained 45 technicians from 12 communes of Ba Vi District on the usage of bio-fertilizer and techniques of compost making and using. 12 training courses on the techniques for microbial nitrogen fertilizer and compost making and usage were organized for 450 trainees from the 3 pilot communes and other 9 communes of Ba Vi District. Another 15 training courses were also provided for 750 members of the Women?s Union from different communes in the district.
- Three Women and the Environment clubs were established in 3 pilot communes. The clubs organized 9 exchange meetings with the theme of using bio-fertilizer and sustainable use of soil and sustainable agriculture, which attracted participation of many union members.
- 1,200 leaflets that provided instructions on techniques for bio-fertilizer usage were disseminated to members of the community.
- A competition on knowledge of sustainable agriculture and environmental issues were organized
- In order to make use of locally available peat and human labor resources and to lower the production cost of bio-fertilizer, the project supported construction of a bio-fertilizer production mill in Tan Linh Commune, which was expected to supply bio-fertilizers to the community of Ba Vi District. 450 households (250 households from the 3 pilot communes and 200 households from the other 9 communes of Ba Vi district) were provided with 9.4 tons of bio-fertilizer for trial use in 1999.
- The mill produced 44.8 tones of bio-fertilizer in 3 operations and sold to the community at VND 1,000 per kilo in 2000 and 2001. In particular, 4 tons of bio-fertilizer was supplied for free to the community.

- The community applied bio-fertilizer mainly for rice paddies. Additional uses were for vegetables, tea-tree and fruit trees. Results of bio-fertilizer application have shown that bio-fertilizer made the soil softer and more fertile than chemical fertilizers. The cost of inputs for a bio-fertilizer treated acre of rice was VND 7,000-10,000/sao less than bio-fertilizer ? free rice paddy.
- Production of bio-fertilizer in Tan Linh Commune was smooth thanks to the abundant peat resource in the locality. Thanks to this, the project was able to support production of low cost and transport ? convenient bio-fertilizer.


Project sustainability
- Major participants to and beneficiaries of the project (the Women?s Union and the government of Ba Vi District, Women?s Union and the community of the project participating communes) were aware of the importance of active environmental protection and conservation of soil resources in the local sustainable socio-economical development.
- The model of bio-fertilizer use and production was highly evaluated by the local governments, relevant agencies and communities and has brought about visible benefits for the participating community. The application of bio-fertilizer has preliminarily beneficial in terms of reclamation of degraded land, contributing to reduced need for chemical fertilizers, lowered production cost, increased crop productivity and increased incomes for the community.
- The locality has already had a mill with sufficient equipment for bio-fertilizer production. The workers team of the mill has managed to draw many experiences through their pilot operations.
- The community were financially and technically capable to invest into bio-fertilizer production (since the bio-fertilizer was produced locally, the production cost was low. Although result of project evaluation indicated that the community recommended lower market price of bio-fertilizer, most of them accepted the price of VND 1,000/kg as sold by the bio-fertilizer mill during the project life.
- Relationships and cooperation between the local authorities and relevant agencies of Ba Vi District, the Women?s Union, the communities of the participating communes and technical experts from Vietnam National University of Ha Noi, and GEF/SGP were built and strengthened through the implementation of the project activities.
- Organization of the Women?s Union was reinforced with more diverse activities, which helped enhance the reputation of the Women?s Union among its members and the community in general. This improved image of the Women?s Union, in turn, helped promote the role of other public organizations in encouraging members of the community to be involved in protecting the local natural resources and the environment.

Project replication

- The project has trained a team of qualified trainer-of-trainer technicians who had full understating about the use of bio-fertilizer and who helped transfer the knowledge to the community through technical training courses on bio-fertilizer use in coordination with the district Women?s Union.
- The project has successfully developed a demonstration model of community bio-fertilizer use in three project communes as well as other communes of Ba Vi District. All of the participating households (100%) mastered the techniques for bio-fertilizer application and said that these techniques were not difficult; the process for using bio-fertilizer was simple.
- Degraded and exhausted soil is a popular phenomenon in the most part of Ba Vi District. Local governments and relevant agencies as well as the community had the willingness to seek for technical solutions to soil reclamation and to reduce dependence on chemical fertilizers.

There is no plan for scaling up by GEF funding.
The community continues to invest to the workshop to produce bio-fertiliser for sale.
There is no linkage with other GEF initiatives
There is no clear policy link.