(VOVWORLD) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the German Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ) have jointly sponsored the Vietnam Green Innovation Center in Agriculture and Food Project (GIC Vietnam) in an effort to improve agriculture in the Mekong Delta region. Kien Giang, one of six program participants from 2020 to 2024, has been trying to improve its agriculture value chains, specifically rice and mango.
 A rice production model in the Mekong Delta region |
The GIC project, which has received approximately 7.5 million USD in non-refundable ODA from the German government, is making farming systems more sustainable, improving natural resource management, and increasing resistance to climate change.
The 5-year GIC Vietnam initiative hopes to help 20,000 small farm households improve their produce and increase their income 15-20%. 12,000 participants will be taught ways to mitigate negative environmental impacts.
Kien Giang has called on businesses and corporations to invest in rice and mango value chains.
But the large-scale fields usually associated with sustainable production links haven’t been established yet, because local farmers are used to small-scale production. Businesses and farmers haven’t yet agreed on a stable output market for products. And there are the ongoing risks of natural disasters and epidemics.
Le Quoc Anh, Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said Kien Giang is enthusiastic about the GIC project and the local administration has pledged 750,000 USD for it.
He said, “The project is a practical way to improve farming and market access. The participating provinces all expect that the measures and solutions will improve product quality and value, and help state management agencies at all levels adjust their policies to link domestic and foreign agricultural production and sales toward sustainable rural development in the region, including Kien Giang province.”
 Kien Giang is making great efforts to innovate value chains for rice and mango. |
GIZ’s Deputy Country Director Oemar Idoe said agricultural production in Kien Giang and the Mekong Delta is being challenged by climate change and the current production model must be changed before the agricultural sector faces even greater difficulties.
“Innovations have been identified in the first set of training for farmers. With today's planning and engagement workshop, GIC and partners are reaching out to enterprises of food and agriculture sector and the public in general to make it approach agriculture innovations visible to identify concrete collaboration opportunities and to exchange on priorities and objectives for the future. In these challenging times, dialogue, coordination and cooperation are imperative, especially when prosperity and food security are at stage of a global scale,” said Oemar.
Successful change will require close coordination by everyone involved in the value chain, innovative solutions, capacity building to exploit those innovations, promulgation of innovations through market-based mechanisms, and strong government support.
Agricultural innovation includes innovation in the production process, the production organization, and market connections, and the beneficiaries include farmers, cooperatives, and enterprises.
Kien Giang and other Mekong Delta provinces, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, are creating raw material zones, sustainable farming systems, value chain links, and a value chain of qualified agricultural products.