New-style cooperative models needed to improve farmers’ income
New-style cooperative models should be created to boost agricultural restructuring, thus helping increase farmers’ their income, says President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan.
At a working session with the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) Central Committee in Hanoi on September 17, he suggested focusing on training management staff who can forge connectivity among farmers and help them develop agriculture in an effective and sustainable manner.
The Politburo has promulgated a Resolution on building new-style cooperatives in agriculture, fishery and craft village, he said, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development along with the VFF Central Committee, Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, and the VFU has worked with local authorities and outstanding farmers, especially in the Mekong Delta – the country’s biggest agricultural hub, on this issue.
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Chairman of the VFU Lai Xuan Mon said the union has raised over VND2.3 trillion (more than US$103 million) to support farmers.
The VFU also coordinated with the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to provide farmers with loans of nearly VND80 trillion (US$3.6 billion) while connecting with businesses to help farmers buy fertiliser, agricultural machines and equipment.
The union also encouraged farmers to actively engage in new-style rural area building, protect the environment and maintain security in their living places, he added.
He also pointed out difficulties such as the widening gap between the rich and poor, unsustainable poverty reduction outcomes, small-scale agricultural production, inadequate connectivity in value production chains, poor quality of human resources, and challenges in farm produce sales.
Additionally, counterfeit products, food safety, climate change, environmental pollution and diseases are major obstacles to the agricultural development, he noted.
Speaking at a ceremony held in Hanoi on September 16 to honour outstanding farm produce in 2015, Mon said the event creates an encouragement for farmers to boost sustainable development.
Vietnam is now home to over 10 million farming households.
