News & Insights

Between 5 and 14 October 2017, 29 entrepreneurs from the Flanders Region of Belgium will explore northern Vietnam by mountain bike. After months of fundraising for VECO, they will learn about VECO’s projects in Vietnam and discover the country’s unique food, sceneries and culture.

How to scale up initiatives that build trust between actors in the food chain, while at the same time ensure the full participation of smallholder farmers? This blog post shares some key reflections from the workshop “Scaling up the trust networks for food safety with small farmers” where VECO Vietnam and its partners shared their experience on Participatory Guarantee Systems.

In December 2016, 29 farmers from LUSOTEC successfully passed the external audit required for the renewal of their UTZ certificate. Compliance with this international standard guarantees the sustainable production of their tea and creates new opportunities for the farmers

At the start of 2017, Tu Xa Safe Vegetables Cooperative, one of VECO’s partners in Phu Tho province, started a new collaboration with VinEco on safe vegetables supply. This article introduces this new partnership and provides some insights into Tu Xa’s transition towards becoming a reliable business partner.

On 14 April, 25 enthusiastic bikers took on Vietnamese roads for a 400-km journey across Northern Vietnam. After months of fundraising at home, they successfully completed the first edition of the Vietnam Classic. This article shares some of their insights and looks back on an eventful and inspiring 8-days.

Between 14 and 22 April, 25 adventurous mountain bikers will cycle through tea fields, rice paddies and other natural wonders as part of the very first “Vredeseilanden Classic” in Vietnam. Beyond the sporting challenge, Classics’ participants are raising funds in Belgium to support farming families throughout VECO’s international network.

In November, communication officers from VECO’s 8 offices across the globe met in Arusha, Tanzania, for VECO’s very first international communication workshop. During this 10-day event, each of them had the chance to participate in a “Learning Journey”, a two-day visit to discover some of VECO East Africa's past or current projects. This blog from VECO Vietnam's Communication Officer shares some key insights and learnings from Tanzania's very active horticultural business association.

We are pleased to share the latest edition of VECO Vietnam’s newsletter. It features some of our best stories from the past three months including a visit from H.E. the Ambassador of Belgium to one of our project sites in Phu Tho province, a case study on the preferences and concerns of vegetables consumers in Hanoi, and a video on how a small group of farmers in Ha Nam province contributes to feeding Hanoi.

Vredeseilanden/VECO’s house is under renovation. It is not however our office building that is being rebuilt, it’s our organisation. From January 1st 2017 our organisational structure will undergo a total makeover and we will become an international network organisation. This move is being done in order for us to be better prepared and able to deal with the many challenges facing the food and agriculture sector, now and in the future.

Did you know that about one quarter of households in Hanoi grow their own safe vegetables at home? And that 97% of respondents to our study are either worried (30%) or extremely worried (67.5%) about food safety? This short case study provides information on a wide range of issues such as the main motivations and obstacles to safe and organic food consumption and consumers' preferred places for vegetables shopping in Hanoi.

Last week, VECO Vietnam was very pleased to receive test results showing that LUSOTEC’s green tea is more than safe to consume and qualifies for sales on the European market.

On 4 October 2016, VECO Vietnam welcomed colleagues from VECO Indonesia for a regional learning and reflection workshop on SCOPEinsight assessment tools. The tools, aimed at assessing and monitoring farmer organisations’ capacity and performance, have been used by all VECO offices across the network with the aim of enhancing the professionalism of partner farmer organisations.

Between April 2015 and June 2016, VECO Vietnam and Duy Tien district’s Women’s Union supported farmers in Trac Van commune to strengthen a Participatory Guarantee System for organic vegetables and to improve their business, production and organisational skills. The project has now come to an end but the results of this pilot experience demonstrate the benefits of PGS for farmers and consumers and call for the upscaling of this successful model.

How to feed 7.5 million people in Hanoi in a safe and sustainable way? Answering this crucial question is the at the centre of the movie “Feeding Hanoi”, directed by Michiel Crijns. The movie was produced after 12 Belgian volunteers visited VECO Vietnam’s projects in preparation for their role as ambassadors for VECO Belgium’s fundraising campaign in January 2017.

Last Sunday, H.E. Ms. Jehanne Roccas, the Ambassador of Belgium to Vietnam, together with the Leader of the Crops Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the Director of VECO Vietnam and representatives of private businesses went on a field visit to Phu Tho province. The delegates visited a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) demonstration site for safe vegetables supported by VECO and exchanged with the members Tu Xa Safe Vegetables Cooperative, one of VECO’s beneficiaries in the province.

Since December 2015, VECO Vietnam has taken the role of national coordinator for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Rainforest Alliance’s “Mainstreaming Sustainable Management of Tea Production Landscapes” project in Vietnam. For over two years, VECO will provide training on sustainable land management practices and work with decision-makers to improve the adoption of these management approaches in tea landscapes.

Belgian volunteers arrived in Hanoi for a two-week mission in preparation for the 2017 VECO Belgium fundraising campaign. Follow their journey as they travel across northern Vietnam to document and learn about organic vegetable production and inclusive businesses.

Changes in Vietnamese people’s food consumption patterns over the past decade are fuelling the country’s ever-growing environmental footprint. But a simple change in diet can drastically lower an individuals’ greenhouse gas emissions.

A brand new report by the Environmental Working Group reveals what fruit and vegetables retain the highest levels of pesticide residues and which ones are safer to consume.

On 31/01/2016, VECO Vietnam launched the Safe & Organic Food Finder platform and held a dialogue on the Participatory Guarantee System.

In Vietnam, farmers generally apply chemicals improperly; they even use banned and restricted pesticides leading to cases of food poisoning. VECO Vietnam, together with its partner VINASTAS, is piloting and scaling-up a consumer education programme on safe vegetables. This initiative consists of the following key activities.

Through extensive dialogue with partners, research and our experience we have identified a number of key areas in the Fruits & Vegetable SSD subsector that need to change on a structural level. We call these our Structural Change Agendas (SCAs). SCAs for other subsectors are still being developed.