Improving livelihoods for small-scale farmers

Promoting organic agricultural products to international friends

The role of PGS for small-scale farmers

Delivering the opening remarks at the workshop, Mr. Phạm Minh Đức, Vice Chairman of VOAA, shared: The Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) is a certification system developed by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), dedicated to controlling agricultural products produced by small-scale farmers.

Since its initiation by IFOAM in 2004 from farmers' movements in Latin America and Europe, PGS has now been adopted in 77 countries with 235 PGS initiatives established in both developed and developing countries as an initiative to help smallholder farmers connect their products to the market.

According to Mr. Đức, the PGS system in Vietnam was established in 2009 within the framework of the project “Development of Organic Agriculture in Vietnam” implemented by ADDA Denmark in collaboration with the Vietnam Farmers' Union, and PGS is currently encouraged for application by the Government through Decree 109/2018/NĐ-CP.

Currently, numerous organic production PGS models have emerged across localities nationwide. VOAA has adopted a policy to connect PGS initiatives nationwide into a unified network to support their development and ensure that these PGS systems operate in alignment with the core values of PGS while adapting to the specific conditions of each locality.

“After 2 years of efforts in ideation and development, the ESUP project proposal was completed and approved by CISU (Civil Society in Development, Denmark),” Mr. Đức stated.

Sharing with Mr. Soren Thorndal Jorgensen, Chairman of ADDA Denmark, and numerous delegates attending the workshop, VOAA Chairman Hà Phúc Mịch stated that Vietnamese organic agriculture has actively integrated with global trends. Following the issuance of Decree 109/2018 and the Scheme for the Development of Organic Agriculture in Vietnam for the 2020 – 2030 period (Scheme 885), the development of organic agriculture in Vietnam has been vigorously promoted.

“To date, the entire country has more than 50 provinces and cities with organic agricultural production models, and more than 20 provinces, following the issuance of Decree 109 and Scheme 885, have implemented policies to promote the development of organic agriculture locally,” Chairman Hà Phúc Mịch shared.

Establishing a national PGS network

At the workshop, Mr. Soren Thorndal Jorgensen, Chairman of ADDA Denmark, introduced: In 1999, ADDA began its operations in Vietnam with a vegetable project in Hanoi. By 2000, it began building an organic project with the Vietnam Farmers' Union. In 2004, Danida approved an organic project with a budget of 2 million USD. In 2011, the Organic Agriculture Association was established. In 2012, the organic project concluded.

A new organic project with VOAA was implemented over 3 years (2016 – 2019) funded by CISU. Currently, the ESUP project has been approved and is being implemented over 3 years (2022 – 2024), funded by CISU, continuing the cooperation with the Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association. Hanoi, Hà Nam, Hòa Bình, Tuyên Quang, Thừa Thiên Huế, Hội An (Quảng Nam), and Bến Tre are the localities participating in the project.

The project strives to have 6 localities in Vietnam unified into a national organic PGS network before December 31, 2024; network members will expand agricultural business operations to gain greater market access.