In Viet Nam, cassava is one of the four main cash crops – rice, maize, sweet potato and cassava. Previously, cassava was a self-consumption crop, which was cultivated in the small scale by swidden practice of ethnic minorities in mountainous and midland areas, the government had no planning and development policy. At the beginning of the 21st century, when cassava became a commodity crop, mostly for export and raw material for ethanol production, the area of cassava plantation had been rapidly growing, and became out of control in many localities. The casava plantation area increases fast but the cultivation method remains “extensive and monoculture farming” or even in several mountainous places the “shifting cultivation” resulted in degradation and no more cultivable areas, particularly in steep hills, many forested areas including the protection forest lost due to deforestation for cassava production.

Climate change makes drought and water shortage more severe and local farmers in Phu Cat and Tay Son districts, Binh Dinh province in the South Centre coast of Vietnam have shifted from water - demanding crops into other crops, including cassava and peanuts, especially in the areas with the difficult irrigation. For the areas converted to cassava, soil degradation is likely extremely high especially in extensive cassava instead of intensive cultivation due to lack of fundi and proper technique. SGP project in 2008 in Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh province successfully tested the community-based sustainable and effective cassava production on the basis of intensive and intercropping (cassava and peanut) cultivation. Based on that success, the provincial government has issued a policy to support the cassava sustainable development in Binh Dinh province.

However the farmers are not yet able to fully exploit the available advantages such as the use of manure from livestock, and agricultural residues, the peanut stems and leaves to improve soil, reduce a part of investment costs, as well as the use of intensive techniques to improve productivity and quality of crops or to maintain soil fertility. The local farmers need capital support as well as capacity development through appropriate policy and mechanism, the economic efficiency would be very high, contributing to sustainable livelihood, adaptation to drought and land degradation...