The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and four sister UN agencies are working with the Vietnamese government to economically develop rural areas.
A joint programme is strengthening the linkages between agriculture and the development of industry, while ensuring that the environment is not damaged.
“UN Support to the National Target Programme on the New Rural Development” is the title of the joint programme implemented by UNIDO in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).
UNIDO’s focus is on strengthening the supply capacity of the fruit and vegetables sector by supporting community producers, training them on how to better use raw materials and teaching them established models of harvesting, packaging and preserving vegetables.
Speaking at the Programme’s annual steering committee meeting in Hòa Bình, Vice Minister of Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Tran Thanh Nam, noted the challenges of implementing the National Target Programme on New Rural Development (NTP-NRD). He also expanded on the need to improve the organization of production, ensure food safety, and strengthen market linkages, while preserving the rural environment, culture and social stability.
At the meeting, representatives of the UN agencies congratulated the MARD on the achievements of the NTP-NRD over the period 2010-2015, and in particular highlighted the astonishing fact that 1,526 communes and 15 districts that have been recognized as successful models of new rural development in line with the government’s set of criteria. Based on this success, participating UN agencies will continue to support the NTP-NRD over the period 2016-2020.
The steering committee members and the various implementing UN agency staff made a field trip to Cao Phong district in Hòa Bình province to learn about a successful model of crop restructuring.
The district has shifted from rice paddy cultivation to higher value crops, including sugar cane and oranges, with a resulting increase in farmers’ income. Farmers can now earn VND 160 million per hectare of sugar cane and VND 600 million per hectare of orange trees annually as opposed to VND 40 millions per heactare of rice paddy annually.
For further information, please contact:
Karl Schebesta
UNIDO Programme Manager
email
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