The handicrafts and furniture sector in Viet Nam employs about 1.35 million people in more than 2,000 crafts villages. Being a major source of income for smallholder farmers/landless poor, the sector has high potential to alleviate poverty. Handicrafts have been made a development priority by the Vietnamese government in order to promote human resources development, sustainable production and entrepreneurship upgrading in rural areas. The programme aims to increase income and employment opportunities for raw material growers/collectors and grassroots producers of handicrafts and small furniture, targeting 4,450 poor households in four northern provinces of Viet Nam, namely Thanh Hoa,[...]