Project aims at PPP boost in agricultural development

The establishment of public-private partnership (PPP) working groups has attracted businesses to agricultural production. However, to achieve better results, Vietnam must focus on mechanisms and policies aimed at enhancing links among domestic businesses and strengthening stakeholder coordination in fostering PPP further.  

In May 2010, the Vietnamese government and the Nestle Vietnam formed the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture in Vietnam (PSAV), a platform that brings together companies, government agencies, civil society organizations, farmer groups and research institutes to link smallholder farmers to the market. The goal of the initiative is to increase farmers’ profit and productivity while improving the environmental sustainability of their farms.

Over nine years of operation in Vietnam, PSAV has successfully run seven PPP working groups dedicated to developing commodity industries, such as coffee, tea, spices and pepper, vegetable, aquatic products and rice.

The PPP working group on agro-chemicals, for example, connects relevant stakeholders, strengthens dialogue and rational resource allocation, and coordinates with other working groups to manage the use of chemicals. The PPP working group on agro-finance halted its operation in 2016, while another group for the livestock sector has been set up.

The work of these groups has exposed shortcomings in local agricultural development, such as uniform restructuring of the agricultural sector, underdeveloped processing, low labor productivity, economic inefficiency, and high demand volatility. These inadequacies have hindered businesses from investing in the development of value chains.

Marion Martinez from PSAV told participants at the recent PSAV General Meeting and PPP Dialogue, that Vietnam needs to devise a long-term blueprint for raising public and private commitments to investment in agricultural projects. Focus should be put on building linkages between farmers and businesses in order to jointly create value chains, based on the evaluation of models under PSAV. She also urged help for farmers to access quality agricultural inputs at reasonable prices and loans in order to drive towards sustainable development.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said good PPP models are available, but their spillover and replication remain limited. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on perfecting mechanisms and policies to enhance links among domestic businesses and strengthen coordination between stakeholders in fostering PPPs in Vietnam.

Doanh called for greater research efforts and application of new technologies in agricultural production in a bid to increase the added value of farm produce and seek sustainable development.

Over nine years of operation in Vietnam, PSAV has successfully run seven PPP working groups, and has set up an additional group for the livestock sector.