To achieve Vietnam's goal of becoming a transparent, responsible, and sustainable food producer and supplier, on March 28, 2023, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 300/QD-TTg approving the National Action Plan for transforming the food system to be transparent, responsible, and sustainable in Vietnam by 2030. In support of promoting the implementation of tasks and actions to achieve the objectives set out in Decision 300/QD-TTg, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) established the Transparent, Responsible, and Sustainable Food System Transformation Partnership in Vietnam (hereinafter referred to as the Food System Transformation Partnership). The Food System Transformation Partnership consists of the Steering Committee of the Partnership; Members of the Partnership; the Partnership Office; the Interdisciplinary Technical Group on Food System Transformation; and the Partnership Forum.  

To share and introduce the interdisciplinary technical groups for the transformation of the food system and to consult with stakeholders, the MARD organized the meeting of the "Working Group on Food System Transformation" on September 25, 2024, at the Super Hotel Candle in Hanoi. The meeting garnered the interest of experts and representatives from domestic and international organizations such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (Bioversity and CIAT), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other organizations.

At the meeting, the representative from the Department of International Cooperation presented the "Plan for Implementing Tasks to Execute the National Action Plan for Transforming the Food System to be Transparent, Responsible, and Sustainable in Vietnam by 2030," which included an overview of the National Action Plan for Food System Transformation, the introduction of the establishment of the Food System Transformation Partnership, and the proposal of Interdisciplinary Technical Groups and detailed implementation plans. Accordingly, five interdisciplinary technical groups are expected to be established:

Group 1: Policy and Institutions led by MARD with an international partner as co-lead.

Group 2: Ecological Agriculture led by MARD with an international partner as co-lead.

Group 3: Nutrition and Diversification of Local Products led by the Ministry of Health, co-led by MARD and an international partner.

Group 4: Food Loss and Waste led by MARD, co-led by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and an international partner.

Group 5: Responsible Consumption led by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, co-led by an international partner.

At the same time, Mr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the Department of International Cooperation, MARD, proposed that in the future, a new toolkit on Food Security Indicators based on global indices and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) should be developed, with attention paid to nutrition aspects. He also emphasized the need to strengthen knowledge-sharing and capacity-building for stakeholders to positively contribute to and accelerate the process of transforming the food system in Vietnam to be transparent, responsible, and sustainable by 2030.

Partners such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Bioversity International and CIAT, and other partners shared the activities they are currently carrying out in Vietnam to support the transformation of the food system in the country and will continue to take positive actions to promote this process in the coming time.

At the meeting, Dr. Dang Kim Son, former Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, pointed out that the biggest challenge currently lies in connecting ministries, sectors, central and local governments, and businesses. Moreover, specific tasks must be identified for the stakeholders participating in each technical group, and leading provinces and effective businesses should be selected to join these working groups. In the current Food System Transformation Action Plan, issues of processing and logistics have not been addressed – this is an area that needs to be added as it is the most prominent and limiting factor in Vietnam. Furthermore, stakeholders need to collaborate to build a financial mobilization mechanism and establish funds to support long-term and sustainable activities.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, a representative of IFAD, stated that it is necessary to draft specific activity content for the technical groups, clearly delineating the resources (including human resources, financial resources, and institutions) and presenting these contents at the signing ceremony of the Partnership Agreement, scheduled to take place in October 2024. Additionally, the naming of the technical groups should be considered to fit Vietnam's context. Currently, the names of the five groups do not fully reflect the issues that need to be transformed in Vietnam. For example, the Ecological Agriculture group is quite broad and encompasses many issues and stakeholders. Meanwhile, issues related to carbon monitoring and carbon emissions, which are quite broad and complex, are also included in the Ecological Agriculture group.

Source: Reporter Quynh Chi - Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper.

Mr. Nguyen Song Ha, a representative of FAO, noted that Vietnam is currently facing many challenges, but there is still a significant opportunity for research and development of food system transformation initiatives from international agencies and organizations. This presents favorable conditions for Vietnam to implement the Transformation Plan by 2030. In general, Food System Transformation is a major policy that could span decades across the country and is an area with practical contributions to the development of Vietnam's agriculture and rural areas, thereby requiring coordinated contributions from multiple stakeholders.

Source: Reporter Quynh Chi - Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper.

Next steps: MARD will work with partners to promote the participation of stakeholders, assign tasks, and sign the Partnership Agreement to launch the technical working groups and implement an overall comprehensive plan.