The 13th Party Congress opened a new direction with the strategic goal of "Ecological agriculture - Vibrant countryside- Innovative farmers". Vietnam's agriculture has another chance to address most of the difficulties and challenges affecting the sector, creating a jump in the transition to become a "Transparent – Responsible – Sustainable" food producer and supplier, as stated by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the United Nations Food System Summit in September 2021. In addition, the transition contributes to the commitment of becoming a carbon-neutral country by 2050, as affirmed by Vietnam’s Prime Minister at COP26.
Vietnam's agriculture not only feeds 100 million Vietnamese people but also stands among the top 15 leading agricultural exporters in the world, reaching markets in over 190 countries and territories. Consumers demand higher quality, safer, more nutritious and more accessible agri-products. Vietnam’s agricultural production and exports need to become greener, more humanitarian and more reliable. New markets require agricultural production conducted in a responsible manner to consumers and environmental sustainability to the globe. On the contrary, the market also requires customers to be responsible for producers. They must be treated fairly and safely in work, living environment and social policy. Moreover, Viet Nam's agriculture has to show stronger accountability to the international community, especially in terms of resource conservation, biodiversity, emission reduction and climate change response.
The wind of change is blowing. The world is changing. Every country has its own plans to move towards prosperity. The wind of change will be a push for those who know how to seize the opportunities, on the contrary, it will be a drag for those who remain quietly on the sidelines. Vietnam’s agriculture cannot afford to stand on the sidelines or be passive in coping with VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) since the price of standing still will be too high.
(Mr. Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam)
Vietnam’s agriculture and rural areas need to transform progressively to capture opportunities, integrate and develop along with the 4.0 Industrial Revolution. Development thinking needs to shift from agricultural production to agribusiness; from the productivity- and volume-driven approach to the value-centered approach through integrating different value systems into the products; from resource extraction to resource enrichment in order to promote sustainable production; from self-sufficiency to integration into the flow of value chains and global development trends.
In other words, it is important to shift from local to global perspectives, and from short-term to long-term and sustainable thinking. We should aspire to achieve "green values" that are stemming from "green transformation, green consumption, green economy".
With this new thinking, Vietnam can confidently set an aspiration to build an ecological and carbon-neutral agriculture powerhouse, instead of remaining as a food volume powerhouse. As one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, Vietnam can become a powerhouse based on the conservation and promotion of biodiversity values.
As a country of long history, rich traditions and cultural diversity, Vietnam’s agri-food system can embed those values in its products and agriculture practices. Those values can raise the profile of Vietnam’s agri-products, and the country can become a powerhouse in innovations to integrate cultural values in the agri-food system.
The promotion of green, biodiversity and cultural values will be a breakthrough so that Viet Nam can become the Asian food innovation hub instead of an exporter of raw products with low added value and high dependence on exhaustive extraction of natural and social resources.
Innovative Thinking - Joint Action
Possessing strategic geo-economic advantages, a complete and connected transport infrastructure including domestic and inter-national waterways, railways and roads, along with strengthening governance capacity and digital transformation, Vietnam could also become an agri-food logistics center in the Asia-Pacific region, and an agro-processing center for Southeast Asia, minimizing the instability of the global agri-food supply chain in the future and offsetting the supply-demand imbalance in the global agrifood market and its impacts on farmers and consumers in Vietnam, in the region and the globe.
To transform itself, Vietnam’s agriculture cannot stand alone. The sector needs the companionship and support of other ministries, central and local agencies, international and domestic organizations, communities and individuals. It is important to promote ownership and engagement of farmers, women, youth and the whole community. It is essential to implement comprehensive and robust strategic solutions to improve the governance capacity of cooperatives, small and medium enterprises in rural areas, and engage farmers, especially the youth, in agricultural production. Farmers need long-term and equitable access to resources, especially land, and special attention must be paid to vulnerable groups such as the poor, smallholding farmers, ethnic minorities, women and young people.
It is also required to reform the management and delivery of public investment support services to turn farmers into the key drivers of a vibrant rural economy. In addition, the private sector should be incentivized to participate in responsible and green investment, the development and application of technical innovations, and the effective operation of public-private partnerships.
It is essential to create a healthy and effective development environment through administrative reforms and application of advanced science and technology, to promote research and development in agriculture, with innovations and digital transformation in agriculture as the core driving force.
Digital transformation, accompanied by green transformation and institutional reforms will help develop a multi-value, integrated agricultural ecosystem. Digital transformation will help create sustainable agricultural product value chains towards better traceability, food safety, standardization of quality, e-commerce, financial services, distribution, information and technical support.
It is also critical to promote deeper international integration, develop domestic and cross-border innovation networks and strengthen international cooperation in research, forecasting and establishment of an information system for early warning of natural disasters and diseases, for sustainable management of land, water, biodiversity, forests, transboundary water resources and marine resources...
With “Innovative Thinking” and “Joint Action”, we make the impossible become possible!
Governance reform, innovation, and international integration are the three key engines that will turn Vietnam's agriculture from a food-volume powerhouse into a ecological and carbon neutral agriculture powerhouse and neutral, and a Transparent – Responsible - Sustainable food supplier to the world.
About the authors:
*Mr. Le Minh Hoan is Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development
Ms. Carolyn Turk is the Country Director for the World Bank in Vietnam.