SAFEGRO adds to food safety culture in Vietnam

The two parties held a signing ceremony on July 26 in Hanoi to support selected local vegetable and pork value chains to deliver food that consumers throughout the country can consume with a guarantee of quality and safety as per international standards.

Nguyen Nhu Tiep, director general of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development said, “The difference with this project is the participation of the entire community ecosystem. Implementation activities will be diversified and richly designed to raise awareness, change behaviour about food safety, and promote food safety culture in production and food consumption.”

Within the framework of the signed cooperation, farmers in the agri-food chain will be supported through training courses and seminars on modern, sustainable, and innovative farming techniques, especially in the context of climate change.

Van Duc Cooperatives in Gia Lam district and Hoang Long in Thanh Oai district will receive technology to improve food safety management. The project will also support cooperatives to digitalise traceability, along with production planning and management systems. Moreover, SAFEGRO also supports the cooperatives to develop regulations and establish community monitoring groups composed of reliable farmers, to supervise, manage, and guide others to produce, handle, and process food safely, in accordance with regulations.

Primary and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens, in Van Duc commune in Gia Lam district will also participate in a series of activities from the SAFEGRO project, such as extracurricular food safety schemes, festivals, games, and painting contests.

By integrating food safety content into extracurricular activities at all levels, as well as communicating and engaging with actors at all stages of the value chain, SAFEGRO aims to raise awareness about food safety and change behaviours.

For the Kim Quan and Thuong Thanh traditional markets in Long Bien district, meat and vegetable vendors will be supported with training and essential tools for ensuring food safety. The market management board will be introduced to internationally recognised food safety management best practices and exposed to innovations and technology to support social and behavioural change for vendors and consumers.

The market management board will also improve their capacity to supervise and manage the market to ensure food hygiene and safety and develop plans for revitalising these informal markets.

Phan Thi Phuong Thao, project manager of SAFEGRO said, “Beside the above efforts, we also focus on digital transformation, growing the customer base, and building a sustainable brand name. In addition, we will also integrate gender in all project activities. Women and girls are at the heart of our project.”

“The SAFEGRO project aims to improve Vietnamese people's access to safe, affordable, and competitive agricultural products, thereby helping to improve the wellbeing of Vietnamese consumers,” Thao said.

SAFEGRO has received funds of VND268 billion ($11.3 million) from the Canadian government and is being implemented by Alinea International, in collaboration with the University of Guelph, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for the five years between 2021 and 2025.

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