Annual Report

Over 900 tea farmers were trained on sustainable land management practices as part of a joint project with the Rainforest Alliance. In total, 3,182 tea farmers were trained in 2016 and 2017, with an average 30% increase in income due to higher prices for quality tea leaves and a reduction in their use of agrochemicals.

Together with Vietnam National University of Agriculture, we started a country-wide study to assess the strengths and weaknesses of existing Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) in Vietnam. The study will be used to refine our PGS model and develop a practical toolbox for practitioners to set up their own PGS.

In January 2017, we became an international network organisation and started our transition to Rikolto, a process formalised in April 2018 with the approval of our new name by Vietnamese authorities.

We sponsored the 5th Conference of the Food Science and Technology Network between Vietnam and Belgium (VBFoodNET) which brings together Vietnamese and Belgian academic and research institutions in the field of food science and technology.

We started new partnerships with 11 organisations ranging from universities and provincial government departments to extension centres and mass organisations such as local women unions and farmer unions. We also signed formal agreements with 10 new farmer organisations in Ha Nam, Vinh Phuc, Da Nang, Phu Tho and An Giang provinces

One of our partners, Tu Xa Cooperative, started supplying safe vegetables to VinEco, one of Vietnam’s leading safe vegetable brands. Another partner, Trac Van Collaborative Group, became a Cooperative and opened its first organic store at the local market.

We launched a new project with Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) and Gembloux Agro-BioTech (University of Liège, Belgium) to make our supported value chains more gendersensitive and to explore ways to create more opportunities for the youth in agribusiness.

We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Da Nang’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to collaborate on making Da Nang a Food Smart City.