Attending the Workshop: On the side of KAS Office (Federal Republic of Germany) in Vietnam, the sponsoring agency for the Project was Ms. Vu Thi Thu Phuong, Program Director; Representative of international organizations in Vietnam with FNF Foundation, Federal Republic of Germany. As for the guests attending the seminar, there were the Academy of Agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; School of National Economics; Ministry of Industry and Trade; The investment plan; The Vietnam Farmers Association and experts and scientists in universities, research institutes, enterprises ...
Short Food Supply Chain (SFSC) is defined as a distribution system with a direct relationship between producer and consumer that includes various forms of direct selling such as farm shops, farmers markets, local grocery store or expand by space for export. SFSC is often seen as a way to implement a more sustainable chain system, providing healthier and better quality agricultural products at reasonable prices, with more added value for product producers agriculture and environmental protection. The SFSC can also be seen as a vehicle to restructure the agricultural product chain to support sustainable farming methods and create sustainable farm-based livelihoods.
SFSCs are characterized by few intermediaries between producers and consumers, with producers sometimes distributing their products directly to consumers. The short food supply chain aims to provide consumers with products that reflect characteristics such as: local identity, nature, wholesomeness and trustworthiness. Regulatory policies to encourage the sustainable development of SFSCs have so far not been available to a large extent in Vietnam. In addition, the direct link between farmers and agricultural enterprises/cooperatives is weak with many intermediaries leading to a lack of requirements on food safety and traceability.
The form of food supply chain brings many benefits to the participants such as farmers, this method is the channel to diversify products, towards better production, cleaner, higher income higher added value and thus ensure more stable revenue; for consumers, they will be able to use clean and safe agricultural products made by their own localities with more appropriate costs; For the state, the short supply chain serves as a useful tool in the strategy of agricultural and rural development, creating sustainable livelihoods for farmers, developing cooperatives, connecting farmers, creating a safe food supply system, integrated food strategy, business and entrepreneurship development, startup ecosystem, changing production and consumption habits that are socially and environmentally friendly …
However, SFSCs are almost a new concept in Vietnam and have not yet attracted much attention. Vietnam does not have a policy to encourage the sustainable development of SFSCs. At the same time, the linkage between farmers and agricultural enterprises/cooperatives is weak; Cooperatives and farmers - key actors in the SFSC often have limited access to knowledge about safe production, marketing of products and advanced technology, Agricultural Product Distribution Systems. There are still many inadequacies and involve many intermediaries.... Therefore, households, cooperatives and businesses do not have stable conditions to meet the requirements for EU regulations.
Speaking at the opening of the Conference, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc Deputy Director of the Institute of European Studies thanked the large number of participants attending the Workshop. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc said, In the EU, some of the particularly successful short-chain agricultural supply chain models in the world can be mentioned as Italy's Campana Amica chain, which as of May 2016 has established 10,199 points of sale direct sales include farm sales, agritourism restaurants, small shops; chain Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale- Italia in the period 2004-2014 attracted more than 2000 groups and achieved an average annual sales of 90 million euros; chain Flavor and Provenance, Pays de la Loire, chain 'Le goût d'ici', Brittany, France; Website Aitojamakuja.fi website, Finland; The local food system, Szekszárd, Hungary; The NEBUS Network, Flanders, Belgium ... is achieving growth in turnover and scale is constantly expanding over the years.
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc also added that in Vietnam at present, the supply chain of Vietnamese agricultural products has only been formed through: Decision No. 1600/QD-TTg dated August 16, 2016 approved by the Prime Minister "National target program for building new rural areas for the period 2016-2020", Decree 98 dated July 5, 2018" encouraging the development of cooperative cooperation in production and consumption, Decree 57/ ND- CP dated April 17, 2018 on mechanisms and policies to encourage businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas or Decree 116/2018/ND-CP on credit policies for agricultural and rural development... To some extent, it has created favorable conditions for farmer households and cooperatives to produce and consume agricultural products, ensuring that farmers lives are constantly being improved… However, considering specifically for the short supply chain of agricultural products, the above policies have not been mentioned and there is no separate mechanism to support and monitor the development of this chain.
Vice President, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc also shared, The research team selected Son La Province as the research area, Son La has typical agricultural products such as mango, longan, avocado, passion fruit, plum, apricot, orange, tangerine, pomelo, pineapple, custard apple, banana, strawberry... are planted in a concentrated manner, on a large scale. According to the province's statistics, the whole province has 181 codes of fruit growing areas eligible for export with a total area of 4,670 hectares; in which, 130 codes were exported to the Chinese market, including: longan, mango, banana, dragon fruit, with a total area of 4,271 ha; There are 51 area codes for growing nearly 400 hectares of longan, mango, plum, avocado, which are exported to Australia, the US...
Currently, Vietnam in general and Son La province in particular have been continuing to innovate the growth model, improve the quality of growth, labor productivity and the competitiveness of the economy, and focus on the key industries. has competitive advantages, the province's potential to form key and key industries and products... in the past time has brought socio-economic development achievements to Son La province. The trend of developing chain agriculture with the goal of creating safe, high-quality, traceable agricultural products and above all, rebuilding consumers' trust in local products ... are being considered as challenges that Son La needs to find solutions to.
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At the seminar, Dr. Hoa Huu Cuong and Dr. Bui Viet Hung (Institute for European Studies), Research Team Member, reported the project's research findings with a theoretical framework and international experience on short supply chain implementation as well as findings from survey the implementation of short supply chain of agricultural products in Moc Chau, Son La. The workshop received many presentations from scientists and experts who commented, critiqued and provided opinions on the findings of the research team presented in the report.
Workshop scene
Concluding speech at the Conference, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc highly appreciated the content of the presentation reports and the comments and contributions of the participants. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc said that with the funding of the KAS Foundation (Germany) for a research project for Vietnamese scientists, it has a profound meaning, helping to identify policies and inadequacies in improving the quality of life, product quality, applying EU standards on GlobeGap, standards on food hygiene and safety, safety in production…. contributing to improving product quality, forming opportunities to export goods to the EU market. On behalf of Vietnam European Studies Assoc.Prof.Dr. Dang Minh Duc suggested that KAS Foundation continue to cooperate, accompany and continue to sponsor research on these topics for Vietnamese scientists to deploy in the following years.
Reporter.
