FAO Representative Jong-Ha Bae hands over a portable tillage machine for soil preparation to the Van Ho Cooperative Chairwoman

Son La province. FAO is helping Viet Nam achieve higher food safety and quality standards, with an innovative vegetable sector project benefiting consumers and farmers.

The outcomes and impacts of this project, titled “Strengthening Vietnamese SPS Capacities for Trade: Improving safety and quality of fresh vegetables through the value-chain approach (Phase II)” - funded by One UN Programme (2012-2016) through FAO and implemented by the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute (FAVRI), have just been outlined in a final review workshop in Moc Chau district, Son La province.

The workshop reviewed and evaluated project impacts on local vegetable production in Son La and further policies to promote safe vegetable production in the province. The expected workshop outcomes were strengthened linkages between vegetable sector stakeholders and enhanced knowledge sharing between them nationally and in Son La.

A broad spectrum of participants attended the workshop, including representatives from the FAO, departments of Agriculture and Rural Development from Hoa Binh, Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Son La provinces, Moc Chau and Van Ho districts as well as To Mua and Van Ho communes’ People’s Committees, Van Ho and Tam Duc Cooperatives, UNIDO, the National Coordination Office for New Rural Development (NCO-NRD) and distributors and retailers from Ha Noi.

Workshop participants also visited two vegetable cooperatives at Van Ho and To Mua communes, while FAO also provided two portable tillage machines for soil preparation as a final project ‘bonus’ to cooperative members.

The project aimed to enhance the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measure (SPS) capacities of the vegetable sector nationally and at project sites by capturing domestic and international market fresh vegetable opportunities during 2013-2016.  It took advantage of each locality to promote local vegetable cultivation and implementation of safe production to significantly improve farmers’ incomes in key vegetable growing areas. In particular, the project allowed ethnic minority farmers from Son La to improve their perception and knowledge of safe vegetable production in compliance with VietGAP, the vegetable value supply chain as well as the importance of market linkages in production and distribution.

The vegetable sector is an important source of employment not only at farm level, but also at collection, distribution, processing and retail levels. One of the critical constraints to achieving this target is the vegetable sector’s lack of capacity to assure safety and quality of its produce across the value chain. Major problems facing the sector include excessive use of pesticides and agricultural chemicals and the lack of awareness and application of good agricultural practices (GAP) at farm level. The sector has also been constrained by poor post-harvest handling practices resulting in a deterioration of product quality.

Drawing from project lessons and experiences, in 2016, a FAO-funded study “Promoting Vegetable Sub-sector Development in Son La: Opportunities and Challenges” allowed the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD) to provide an evidence base as well as policy recommendations to promote the vegetable sub-sector’s development. The objective was to create higher value crops compared to other traditional ones in Son La and enable small farmers’ participation in the vegetable supply chain for large markets, such as Ha Noi.

For more information, please contact Nguyen Hoang Linh at [email protected]