Photo provided by Nguyen Thi Da Thao.
After completing a Master course in Community Development at the University of Queensland, Australia in 2012, I returned to Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry. Since then, I have participated in many projects funded by government/non-government organisations. Especially, I have been actively involved in the ACIAR project "Developing productive and profitable smallholder beef enterprises in Central Vietnam". My role as a Vietnamese team leader in this project is to coordinate related activities to achieve its objectives.
During the time working on the ACIAR project, I have had opportunities to get to know and collaborate with many researchers from Vietnam and Australia. I am impressed by their knowledge, professionalism and enthusiasm. I am also inspired by their work in helping cattle farmers escape poverty in Vietnam's rural areas. In addition, I have visited some project sites and gained knowledge about the role and influence of women in cattle producing households. These visits motivated me to do something to promote opportunities for women to participate in and benefit from cattle production in my country.
As a young woman researcher, I am well aware that the first step to achieve that goal is to equip myself with solid knowledge, skills and experience. Fortunately, I was awarded the prestigious John Allwright Fellowship (JAF) to pursue a PhD degree in Australia. The generous support from ACIAR is indeed important for JAF recipients like me to fulfil my ambition. I would like to express my sincere thanks to ACIAR and the Australian Government for offering me this exciting opportunity.
Upon the completion of my PhD course, I hope that I can contribute more effectively to developing academic and research capacity in my field of study at my university as well as in Vietnam. New knowledge, skills and experience gained during my doctoral study will make me capable of conducting independent research, as well as collaborating with researchers from other countries (especially Australia) to enhance rural women’s livelihoods in my country. In addition, as a female lecturer and researcher, I can inspire and engage young female researchers, my students and female farmers with activities that help close the gender gap for sustainable agricultural developments.