Hanoi, Vietnam – AsiaDHRRA, together with Collectif Stratégies Alimentaires (CSA), Vietnam Farmers Union, and the Asian Farmers Alliance for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), successfully co-organized the “Workshop on Knowledge and Experience of Agricultural Cooperatives in Vietnam and Delivery of Services to Accelerate their Growth and Development” on 27-29 March 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam. It was made possible for AsiaDHRRA through the Knowledge Management task in AgriCord on agri-cooperatives. Invited were other AgriCord member agri-agencies working in Vietnam, namely, Agriterra , We Effect , and FFD who anchors the KM task. Other key national organizations provided substance to the workshop such as the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Cooperative Association.
The workshop was a follow through of from the 2016 ASEAN Cooperative Business Forum (ACBF) held in Manila and from the Post-ACBF Regional Planning Workshop by FOs that were both co-organized by AFA, AsiaDHRRA, We Effect, and, CSA together with the government of the Philippines through its Cooperative Development Authority.
The follow-through national workshop was among a series of initiatives that would help local partners in Vietnam strengthen their cooperation among themselves, with other stakeholders, including the government. It was aimed at:
- Sharing of knowledge and experiences on good practices for strengthening and supporting agricultural cooperatives in market access, value chain participation and provision of services to their members;
- Providing inputs for review of agricultural cooperatives on the form of best intervention practices that can serve as model for intervention strategies to strengthen agricultural cooperatives.
- Determining key priority focus areas of work that would help accelerate the growth, strengthening of agricultural cooperatives including mechanisms of cooperation among primary agricultural cooperatives;
- Providing greater and deeper understanding on the dynamics of agricultural cooperatives vis-à-vis international principles an characteristics agreed and set forth by the members of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA);
- Gathering important insights on the processes involved in transforming old cooperative models to the new cooperative model based on the 1997 Cooperative Law and its revisions in 2003 and 2012 ; and
- Identifying areas of collaboration and cooperation among partners in working with agricultural cooperatives in Vietnam.
It was participated by at least 70 participants representing cooperative leaders from different communes, districts, and, provinces, as well as from national alliances such as VNFU and Vietnam Cooperative Alliance.
Click here to download summary of workshop results.
