Viet Nam's transformation from one of the world's poorest countries to a dynamic upper-middle-income economy in a single generation is also an agricultural story.

Not only has it sustained decades of reform and growth, agriculture has driven the country forward to realize sustained prosperity – especially for rural communities. Today, the sector employs a significant portion of the national workforce, sustains a population of more than 100 million people, and has propelled Viet Nam to the front ranks of the world's agri-food exporters – a testament to investment in food systems and championing rural development.

At the same time, as Viet Nam looks to the future, it is facing increasingly acute challenges. As one of the world’s most exposed nations to climate change, agriculture bears the heaviest burden with increasingly extreme weather events disrupting planting seasons, destroying crops and eroding the livelihoods, while saltwater intrusion degrade soils and threaten freshwater supplies that smallholder farmers depend upon. At the same time, structural pressures are mounting as the economy diversifies and urbanizes, leaving agriculture to compete for labour, land and investment. Skills gaps are widening between the sector's workforce and the knowledge-intensive, technology-driven farming systems the country will need to remain competitive in global agri-food markets. Rural poverty, while dramatically reduced, remains disproportionately concentrated among ethnic minority communities and in remote upland areas where agricultural productivity is lowest and climate vulnerability is highest. These risks – without deliberate, well-resourced and coordinated action – have the potential to undermine decades of hard-won progress. 

The challenges are real, but so are the opportunities. Viet Nam possesses key natural assets, a productive and resilient farming population, strong government commitment to agricultural development, and a track record of translating policy ambition into measurable results on the ground. The country's newly established Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is recognition that the food, land and climate agendas must be pursued together. While Viet Nam has set ambitious goals – achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, high-income country status by 2045 and net-zero emissions by 2050 – none can be reached without a productive, sustainable and inclusive agricultural sector as a foundation.

In response, drawing on its role as the world's leading agricultural knowledge and innovation agency, FAO is working with the government and a broad range of national stakeholders to strengthen agrifood systems, support the transition to sustainable and climate-smart agriculture, reduce rural poverty and inequality, and build the institutional and human capacities that Viet Nam needs to achieve its ambitious development targets.