31 August 2021–AsiaDHRRA organized a ten-day field mission visit to its farmers’ organization partners and convened meetings with its members in Vietnam. Secretary-General Ms. Marlene Ramirez, Finance Manager Ms. Lorna David, and Senior Program Managers Mr. Florante Villas and Mr. Cezar Belangel were accompanied by Ms. Nguyen Thi Viet Hà, Vice-Director of External Affairs & International Cooperation Department of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VNFU). The visit and dialogues are part of AsiaDHRRA’s support to farmers’ organizations, namely VNFU, An Gian Farmers’ Union (AGFU), and Phuc Thanh Beekeeping Cooperative (PTBC) under the Farmers’ Organization for Asia (FO4A) program, in coordination with AgriCord, and funded by EU and IFAD.
A meeting with Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hong, AsiaDHRRA’s Chairperson, took place in the new office of the National Association of Vietnamese Gardeners (VACVINA) on 28 August 2022. The meeting explored how to maximize the expertise of 19 VietDHRRA members and improve the coordination mechanism among members and with AsiaDHRRA.
The mission also highlights the team’s visit to An Giang to meet with Dr. Sung Lee, Vice Chairperson for North East Asia, who is currently detailed in the province for a project strengthening the professional capacities of agricultural professors funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) at An Giang University. The meeting with Dr. Lee explored possibilities of providing technical support to palm sugar producers of AGFU.
The team also met with Dr. Bui Quang Toan, head of the Center for Agricultural Extension Volunteers (CAEV), which serves as VietDHRRA Secretariat. The AsiaDHRRA and CAEV teams also met with officials of PTBC office in Phuc Thanh Village in Xa Hoa Trung commune and Thai Nguyen province. CAEV-VietDHRRA provides advisory services to PTBC in implementing the project supported under the FO4A program.
