Since 2010, FAO has been the leading agency delivering technical assistance within Viet Nam’s National Target Programme on the New Rural Development (NTP-NRD) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and 4 other UN agencies (UNESCO, UNIDO, IOM, and UNV). The project “UN Support to the National Target Programme on the New Rural Development” implemented by five above-mentioned UN agencies aims to improve livelihoods and living standards of rural people in an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable manner through enhancing rural knowledge, designing policy and mechanism, building capacity, and developing a monitoring and evaluation mechanism.

The NTP-NRD marking its sixth year since its launch, FAO Viet Nam in collaboration with UN agencies and MARD brought government counterparts, research institutions and other involved stakeholders in Hoa Binh Province to share the success stories and lessons learned and find solutions to build on for NTP NRD the next 5 years.

During the first 5 years of the NTP-NRD, rural infrastructure and living standard in rural Viet Nam have improved remarkably, doubling the average rural income per capita to 24,4 million Vietnamese Dong  compared to 2010, when the project was first implemented.  Also, 1,526 communes and 15 districts were able to reach the NRD criteria of infrastructure. NRD has recently started to become a new positive norm in the rural area and resource contribution from the local people accounted for more than 12 percent of total resources of operating the NRD in the last five years.

Despite these outstanding improvements, FAO presented some recommendations to re-design of policy, mechanisms and actions to lift up the disadvantaged groups in remote and mountainous areas, boost up the participation of the rural people by promoting community spirit at the grass root level, and invest more on the capacity building of officers and rural facilitators, particularly from the commune and village level.

“After cooperating half a decade with the Vietnamese government on the NTP-NRD, FAO is glad to assist MARD for the next 5 years to achieve the success of agriculture restructuring process and new rural development in the coming time. We especially believe that FAO’s activities on improving food safety, food security, natural resource management, and reaching zero hunger will technically contribute the success of agriculture restructuring process and the new rural development.“ said Jong-Ha Bae, the FAO Representative in Viet Nam.

In the coming time the strategic objectives of FAO in line with Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) supporting at country, regional and global level are helping eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, making agriculture forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, reducing rural poverty and enabling inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems.