Public-Private Partnership in Rice Sector – Promitng Sustainable Value Chain

On November 16^th, 2017 in Ho Chi Minh city, within the framework of the “Rice Outlook and Launching of Public Private Partnership Rice Task Force”, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in collaboration with Bayer Vietnam introduced the PPP Task Force on Rice in order to promote the sustainable development of the rice sector, aiming to improve Vietnamese rice quality and improving farmers’ livelihood.

Mr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director General of Institute of policy and Strategy for Agriculture ang Rural Development, MARD (IPSARD), said that rice has now surpassed the primary aim of ensuring food security and became an important commercial commodity for export. “The value of global rice trade in recent years was about 23 billion USD per year. Viet Nam used to be the world’s Number 1 exporter of rice but is now in the third position and is in sharp competition.” According to Mr Tuan, there are many different negative causes on the current situation of rice production such as climate change, shrinking cultivation area, ineffective use of policies on agricultural land planning, changing of consumer preferences, weak supple chain in the sector, lack of linkage between public and private sectors, lack of an effective coordination mechanism…”

He also emphasized on the role of the coordination between public and private sectors in the rice industry. Over the past few years, some private enterprises have done well and this is a bright point,  a model that can be replicated and learned for better cooperation between public and private sectors in rice production and trade.

The official launching of the Public –Private Partnership for Rice (also known as the PPP Task force on Rice) is co-chaired by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD) and Bayer Vietnam Company; The public sector is represented by the Department of Crop Production, the Plant Protection Department, the Agro-Processing and Market Development Authority and the National Center for Agricultural Extension; The private sector has representatives such as Bui Van Ngo Agricultural Engineering Company, Loc Thinh Group and Thai Binh Seed Corporation. There are also other partners: the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV).

In the year 2017, the PPP Task Force will carry some pilot activities including 1 program in the Red River Delta and 3 programs in the Mekong Delta with an area of 1000 ha per program, establishing technical support groups to provide guidelines on sustainable rice production for farmers' groups participating in the pilot projects; developing information systems on rice databases, including farmers’ information, production information, weather, market and policy support; improving and sharing guidelines on sustainable rice production that aligns certified SRP’s standards and participate in Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) to enhance global cooperation and promote sustainable rice production.

Mr. Bui Van Kip, representative of Bayer Vietnam, co-chair of the PPP Task Force said: “Bayer Vietnam will contribute to the PPP’s orientation, objectives and strategies in the coming time. It will also take part in addressing the constraints in rice quality control such as residue management issues in rice and quality of exported rice, introducing advanced technologies to adapt to climate change, building cooperative models throughout the value chain in order to create a high quality and sustainable brand for Vietnamese rice. Since then, farmers’ livelihoods will be improved, especially for small farmers.”

Mr Nguyen Anh Tuan also stated at the conference: “I believe that, with the cooperation between public and private sectos and other partners, the activities of the Task Force on Rice will be successful, contributing to significantly improve the quality and brand building of Vietnamese rice in the world market. This is a new opportunity for Vietnamese rice industry for further cooperation and development. I hope this event will attract more potential partners to join the Task Force to help build the sustainable brand for Vietnamese Rice on the world market.”