Representatives attend the memorandum of understanding signing ceremony. — Photo courtesy of Helvetas Vietnam

CAO BẰNG — A brand new model of cooperation and benefit sharing between farmers, localities and entrepreneurs in organic farming was officially launched on Thursday.

The memorandum of understanding signing ceremony took place at the Hà Quảng District People's Committee in Cao Bằng Province, as part of the workshop "Building sustainable cooperation mechanisms between businesses and localities in developing and managing local organic farming models”.

This is part of BioTrade project's activities sponsored by the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by Helvetas Vietnam to sustainably develop international-standard organic fields, bringing equal benefits for all related parties.

The district’s Agricultural Service Centre was chosen to represent the local government and act as the coordinator. Their staff are trained by senior experts on organic farming, and then paid by enterprises to deliver training, supervision and ongoing support to farmers as agreed. 

As part of this model, all products are fully bought by enterprises, farmers do not have to find the buyers themselves and can easily double or triple their income compared to traditional farming models. Besides, they will receive continuous support and guidance from local officials to solve technical issues during the cultivation process.

The first benefit sharing model between businesses, local authorities and farmers in organic production will be deployed in Hà Quảng and Hòa An communes of Cao Bằng Province. They have now been growing organic ginger and chili, which are targeted to be the main economic development tree of the two districts. If successful, this model will soon be replicated across the whole province. — VNS