Developing the organic Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) in Tân Lạc District

Nearly 50 delegates attended the workshop

Participants and background of the workshop in Tân Lạc

Nearly 50 delegates from Hòa Bình Province and Tân Lạc District, including the Chairman of the Tân Lạc District People's Committee, leaders and representatives of the Farmers' Union at all levels, Women's Union, agricultural extension, Plant Protection, Division of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the head of the Tân Lạc Organic Intergroup along with representatives of farmer groups, attended the workshop with the desire to jointly build and develop a PGS system for Tân Lạc District.

Building on the initial achievements of Seed to Table in implementing the project to improve livelihoods for people in Tân Lạc since 2011, under the direct guidance of Mr. Koen den Braber – Organic Agriculture Project Advisor and Ms. Từ Thị Tuyết Nhung – Organic Agriculture Technical Advisor of ADDA, the Tân Lạc Organic Production Intergroup was established and joined the PGS Vietnam system after nearly 2 years of preparation.

To strengthen and improve the capacity of the producer groups, Seed to Table sought the assistance of lecturers from the Northern College of Agriculture and Rural Development (NVCARD), especially Dr. Trần Thị Thanh Bình, to provide training on inspection monitoring, preliminary processing and packaging, marketing, and accounting to help the groups operate effectively and sustainably.

With the farmers' efforts, 4 organic production groups in Tân Lạc were granted their first organic PGS certification in June 2014, and PGS-certified products began to be introduced to the Hanoi market.

Barriers to be overcome

• The geographical distance between the Tân Lạc Intergroup and the Hanoi market was too far, significantly limiting the transportation and preservation of fresh products.
• The scale of production organization was still fragmented and small, failing to steadily meet the demand of customers and distributors in the PGS system.
• The support and partnership of sectors and agencies in Tân Lạc District were not as extensive as hoped, somewhat limiting the ability to replicate and sustain production models.

The birth of PGS Tân Lạc

In 2015, CECAD, with funding from VECO, was implementing a project to assist farmers in Tân Lạc in establishing organic production groups with the desire to join the Tân Lạc Intergroup within the PGS Vietnam system. From the clearly identified obstacles, the PGS Vietnam Coordination Committee met with stakeholders and proposed a plan to establish a separate organic PGS system in the district.

On September 29, 2015, with strong consensus from the workshop, a new PGS system was born under the name PGS TÂN LẠC. The Tân Lạc PGS Coordination Committee was elected, comprising 9 members, to promote subsequent activities on the existing foundation of an Intergroup under PGS Vietnam.

It is hoped that with the strong involvement of the Tân Lạc District authorities and the continuous drive of the non-governmental organizations Seed to Table, CECAD, and PGS Vietnam, PGS Tân Lạc will soon establish the credibility of its quality assurance system in the market.