The objective of this policy baseline assessment was to provide a snapshot of the views and perceptions of policy-makers and key-actors in different domains directly related to food system in Vietnam. This work contributes in Vietnam to the Food System for Healthier Diet flagship implemented as part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) CGIAR Research Programme.
The research was based on primary data collected in Vietnam from Aug. to Sept. 2017, completed by secondary information from peer-reviewed articles and gray literature. The primary data was obtained through two types of surveys: (1) a series of face-to-face open-ended interviews conducted with keyinformants; and (ii) an on-line semi-quantitative survey administered to a larger group of key informants.
The aim of the face-to-face interviews was to unpack and reveal the main stakeholders, narratives and power-relationships existing around the current legislations, practices, regulations and policies related to food systems. As for the on-line survey, a semi-quantitative questionnaire focusing on the beliefs, attitude, skills, and knowledge (BASK) of the key-actors was administrated in relation to the main issues characterizing the food systems in Vietnam.
The analysis was organized around five structuring issues that were identified by a group of keyinformants during a preliminary workshop. Those five key issues are: (i) urbanization, (ii) climate change, (iii) food safety, (iv) food trade policy, and (v) agro-biodiversity.
Thirty seven experts and decision-makers were interviewed face-to-face and 91 responded to the online BASK survey. The complete set of data generated through the on-line survey is downloadable from the link provided in Appendix C and the data collected during the face to face interviews is synthesized in Annexes D, E, F, G and H appended at the end of this report.
Overall the respondents considered their own knowledge and the knowledge of their colleagues within their respective institution in relation to food systems to be acceptable. The analysis also indicates that the different actors included in the survey do perceive themselves and their institution as relatively well equipped to comprehend food systems. The responses related to capacity reveal however a slightly different situation where both urbanization and climate change were identified as sectors for which key actors lack capacities in relation to food systems.
An important aspect of the baseline assessment revolved around the ‘healthy’ dimension of the food systems. In this regard the analysis suggests that the current situation is considered by many keyinformants as non-satisfactory in several domains, including food safety, level of trust of consumers, accessibility of healthy food by the (urban) poor, and existence of supportive policies.
The data shows that for the vast majority of the respondents the main issue is related to food safety, followed by environmental health. At the same time all respondents, irrespective of their backgrounds, also consider that the current food system policy agenda reflects poorly the reality on the ground, and to a large extent is heavily influenced by advocacy –as opposed to evidence.
In terms of actors, the analysis highlights the very strong influence of the central authorities (ministries and related departments) which were systematically identified as the key players in relation to various issues around food systems. On the other end of the spectrum, civil society, end-users and their representatives (e.g. consumer organizations) seem to be still relatively marginalized in the direct decision making process.
https://a4nh.cgiar.org/files/2018/10/Policy-agenda-analysis-Vietnam-full-report-final.pdf