Safety accreditation for Vietnamese vegetables 

Vietnam’s farmers now have an accreditation programme (VietGAP) to guarantee the safety of their produce and help them enter the lucrative markets of Hanoi and abroad. The north-western areas of Moc Chau and Van Ho in the Son La province are highly dependent on agriculture. There has been a rise in demand among Hanoi’s urban population for the products of the north-western mountains as they are viewed as “authentic”, safe and high-quality with taste and nutrition.

The VietGAP programme is aimed at helping the farmers of Moc Chau and Van Ho supply temperate vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuces and cabbages to Hanoi. VietGAP provides guidelines on how to grow crops and manage them post-harvest to ensure food safety and improve product quality and traceability while supporting the health of producers, consumers and the environment.

Farmers participating in the project have doubled their income per hectare by supplying VietGAP-certified vegetables to markets in Hanoi compared with supplying vegetables through traditional channels. In 2018, 160 project farmers in 10 villages in Moc Chau and Van Ho supplied 1,130 tons of VietGAP-certified safe vegetables to supermarkets and vegetable stores in Hanoi. Big C Supermarkets, Bac Tom and Mega Market (formerly Metro) market certified safe vegetables from Moc Chau and Van Ho. The project is now trying to engage new retail markets to increase demand for VietGAP-certified safe vegetables.