Rikolto (VECO Vietnam)

Rikolto in Vietnam (previously VECO Vietnam) is a member of Rikolto, an international NGO with its International Office in Leuven, Belgium. What will they eat tomorrow? The incredible variety of food on their plates is not to be taken for granted. To keep up with the ever-growing world population in a changing climate, the food sector needs more stable supply chains to provide affordable food for all, today and tomorrow. This challenge is critical: -By 2050, the global population is projected to exceed 9.6 billion. Global food production will need to increase by 50 percent to meet this challenge, which will be particularly acute in rapidly expanding urban areas. -Soil quality and water resources are already depleting and the impact of climate change is further aggravating this development. -Low prices and poverty are forcing farmers from the land and young people are turning their backs on a future in agriculture. Rikolto believes family farms are a big part of the solution. Together they produce 70% of their food worldwide, but individually they're often cut out of the trade, ending up in poverty and leaving their huge potential untapped. Change on a global scale demands that food markets become more inclusive and offer value to all actors in the food chain. Smallholder farmers must be offered a fair deal. Rikolto is ready to meet this challenge… They empower farmer groups to become solid business partners and implement future-proof, sustainable practices. They support them so that their products meet quality standards. They connect them with innovators in the food industry to explore new ways of doing business. ... to change the recipe of their food system forever Rikolto builds bridges of trust and trade, between the food industry, governments, research institutions, banks and farmer organisations around this one central question: ‘What will they eat tomorrow?’. They plant and harvest new solutions, making the food system more transparent, so consumers are able to make a sustainable choice. Mission Rikolto envisions a world with production and consumption systems that allow poverty and hunger to be eradicated and that do not burden their planet more than it can bear. Therefore, Rikolto enables and supports smallholder farmers to take up their role in rural poverty alleviation and to contribute to feeding a growing world population in a sustainable way. In 2017, Rikolto in Vietnam started a 5-year programme named “Supporting Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural Value Chain Development Benefitting Smallholder Farmers in Vietnam”. Their specific objective is that “Fruits and vegetables, rice, and tea in Vietnam are produced in safe and sustainable ways and marketed through viable, competitive and efficient chains benefitting smallholder producers.” Priorities In order to do so, they aim to contribute to what they call structural change agendas or changes at the structural level that can have a wide-ranging impact. For the programme 2017-2021, their interventions will focus on two priorities: -The promotion of sustainable and safe food policies tackling safe vegetables production, consumption and marketing that benefit smallholder farmers; -The mainstreaming of inclusive business models and practices for sustainable rice across the Vietnamese rice subsector.