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Goat raising has increased in Lao People's Democratic Republic due to meat demand from Vietnam. Goat production is low input using free grazing and minimal husbandry. Technical constraints are well known but socio-cultural contexts are poorly understood. This paper describes qualitative research on farmer's motivations, experiences and learning pathways, to improve goat husbandry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 smallholder goat farmers in Lao's South-Central province of Savannakhet. The interviews revealed that farmers relied on their experiences and observations of goat raising in their communities to make their management decisions. Trial and error was a valued learning strategy. Farmers took guidance from the exchange of goat raising experiences with other goat farmers and preferred participatory learning that fostered discussion in familiar village settings. Lao smallholder goat farming systems are a product of compromise across a number of resources. Project interventions that required low investments of labour, land or capital were most readily implemented and adapted by farmers. This study questions the assumption that project interventions are inherently optimal and beneficial for smallholder farming systems. Recommendations propose how farmer's experiences, constraints and preferences can be incorporated into development approaches to ensure management system changes reflect the desires of smallholder farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selecting an appropriate formwork system becomes complex as one must take into account various factors and their impacts in order to make informed decisions tailored to each specific project. Thirty-three influencing factors were identified specifically for consideration when choosing the formwork in the Vietnamese context. After analysing data collected through a survey with these persons working in the construction field, the study has identified primary groups by using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Next, the study creates an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to compare the alternatives for selecting formwork within the scope of considering the evaluation criteria discovered from the previous factor analysis step. The results of this investigation clarify the primary determinants influencing the choice of formwork systems and concurrently pinpoint the optimal alternative via the formulated model. Additionally, the outcomes of this study aim to enhance managerial awareness concerning formwork techniques and promote the widespread utilization of decision support tools in high-rise construction projects. This initiative has the potential to improve the accuracy of planning operations and enhance the success of construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable food systems require mechanisms that assure consumers about the sustainability of agricultural production. Building on the existing literature on the impact of sustainability standards, this study is the first to assess the effectiveness of participatory guarantee systems (PGS) for the certification of organic produce. The study uses representative farm-level data on local vegetable value chains in northern Vietnam and uses a broad set of sustainability outcomes as well as counterfactual analysis, including systematic robustness checks. The results show that PGS significantly improves farm profitability (+117%), agroecology performance (+40%), and gives farmers more choice of sales channels (+23%). However, PGS had no significant effect on returns to labour and reduced the average crop yield. Capacity development on nursery practices, transplanting of healthy seedlings rather than direct seeding, reduced tillage, and collective crop planning and management are some of the innovations that can counter adverse effects on crop yields, increase soil health as well as improve returns to labour, and thus attract more youth to farming. Overall, the study shows that organic PGS can make vegetable production more economically viable and more agroecologically sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]