New toolbox helps practitioners establish and operate PGSs

As part of the project “Capitalisation of Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) experiences in Vietnam for upscaling and institutionalisation”, supported by the Agroecology Learning Alliance in Southeast Asia, Rikolto developed a trainer’s toolbox to encourage more practitioners to support the development of PGS in their area.

The toolbox contains a series of documents to help trainers set up and operate PGS and train farmers on the BasicGAP standard. It is composed of technical guidelines on PGS for trainers, a training guide on BasicGAP and 3 posters aimed at farmers. The posters present key information on the functioning of PGS, the BasicGAP guidelines for safe vegetable production and Good Agricultural Practices compatible with BasicGAP.

The technical guidelines on PGS are divided into two sections: the first part presents an overview of PGS while the second part focuses on how to establish and operate a PGS. Among other topics, the document provides guidance on PGS governance, management, traceability, packaging, inspections, the certification process, record-keeping, the handling of complaints and violations, training recommendations, brand-building, and financial sustainability.

The training guide on BasicGAP covers 5 key building blocks: 1) soil and water management, 2) pest prevention and elimination, 3) harvest and post-harvest management, 4) wastewater management, and 5) traceability and transparency.

The target audience for this toolbox is comprised of government agencies, especially at commune, district and provincial levels, food companies interested in a low-cost but reliable mechanism to control the quality of food production in their supply chain, civil society organisations, consumer associations and development partners.

In the next year, we will upgrade existing guidance documents, translate them into English, and add more items to the toolbox:

• Technical guidelines for the application of PGS together with the Sustainable Rice Platform standard (SRP)
• Guidelines on participatory training delivery in the context of PGS

Rikolto would like to express its sincere gratitude to all the farmers, consumers, representatives of companies, local authorities and NGOs for their participation in the PGS capitalisation study. A special thanks goes to the members of the PGS task force involved in developing the PGS toolkit for practitioners: Ms. Tu Thi Tuyet Nhung, Head of PGS Vietnam’s Coordination Committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Do Thi Ngoc from Vietnam University of Commerce (VCU), Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Binh from Vietnam National University of Forestry (VNUF), Ms Pham Kim Oanh (MSc) from Vietnam Organic Agriculture Association (VOAA), and Dr. Pham Thanh Hai from North Vietnam College of Agriculture and Rural Development (NVCARD). Finally, we’re very thankful to the Agroecology Learning Alliance in Southeast Asia for enabling this project through its Small Grants Facility.

The trainers’ toolbox on PGS is work in progress and we are continuously striving to make it better. We very much welcome any feedback that would help us improve future versions of the documents. If you are interested in receiving support to establish a PGS system, please get in touch.

Hoang Thanh Hai

Vegetable and Tea Programme Coordinator

hai.hoang [at] rikolto.org

+84-24 6258 3640/41 - ext. 32