Minister - Vietnam looks towards sustainable agriculture

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan has pledged to tackle obstacles to two projects on food safety and hygiene, and sustainable fishery development, saying that they are urgent to Vietnam’s agriculture.

During a working session with World Bank Country Director in Vietnam Carolyn Turk recently, Hoan said following the 13th National Party Congress, Vietnam set the goal of developing ecological and sustainable agriculture, and changed mindset from agricultural production to agricultural economy, thus creating multiple values.

In the document “Transforming Vietnam’s Agriculture” compiled by the WB in 2016, he said Vietnam’s achievements and obstacles in agriculture have been pointed out, along with successful models in the world that Vietnam could learn from.

He wished that Vietnam could receive support and advice from the lender and other experts during the process of building agriculture ecological system to spread to other regions, thus improving farmers’ lives.

The minister also called for the WB’s assistance in policy and strategy consultation, and mechanism renovation so as to fully tap the strength of both public and private sectors, farming enterprises, as well as farmers and cooperatives.

The Vietnamese Government has issued a resolution on sustainable development of the Mekong Delta in adaptation with climate change. However, problems regarding the shift of farming models in adaptation with reduction in water resource and extreme weather remain, he said, adding that Vietnam also needs the WB’s support in disaster prevention, and ensuring the safety of dykes and irrigation infrastructure in service of production, especially clean water and rural environment.

The WB also needs to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to build projects using loans, with priority orientations to fishery, food safety and climate change adaptation.

Turk, for her part, hoped that ties between the WB and the MARD would be strengthened in the near future. She added that challenges in the next decade will be harder than those in the past 25 years.

She wants to partner with Vietnam to develop agriculture with low carbon emissions in the future.

According to the official, apart from food safety, consumers also favour and are willing pay high for farm produce with low carbon emissions.

She also proposed cleaning water sources as soon as possible to save costs, saying the WB is ready to work with the MARD to offer financial assistance to future projects.