Ca Mau (VNA) - There is greatpotential for organic food production in Vietnam, but the industry faces anumber of challenges, experts said.

“International customers expect a very high quality of Vietnamese shrimp andother products, and prioritise organic products,” Christian Henckes, programmedirector of the Integrated Coastal Management Programme implemented by theGerman Development Agency (GIZ) on behalf of the German and Australiangovernments, told a two-day workshop titled “Organic Vietnam: DevelopmentTrends”, which ended in Ca Mau city recently.

“The Government, private companies and farmers all have to work together tomeet these standards – without harming the environment.”

Since it began in 1999, mainly in the form of Vietnamese-European projects andinitiatives, organic farming has expanded significantly in Vietnam.

An important driver has been the increasing demand for organic seafood fromEuropean retailers.

But there is a growing demand for safe and organic foods among Vietnameseconsumers, too.

Stabilisation of the organic food industry all along the value chain is essentialto foster future growth.

Agriculture and aquaculture are among the key production sectors, and they havebeen growing quite rapidly in the last two decades. However, a key challengethey face is meeting the demands of export markets for high-quality, safe,clean and, especially, organic products.

“International support from GIZ, the Netherlands Development Organization(SNV) and other organisations is really important for the sustainabledevelopment of the sector,” Le Van Su, deputy chairman of the Ca Mau People’sCommittee, said.

“Green growth is a very high priority for the development in Ca Mau since theprovince has an advantage in the form of natural mangroves.

“Ca Mau’s policy is to nudge the private sector and farmers towards sustainableproduction, with organic production being among the key measures.”

Large areas of Ca Mau shrimp farms have been certified by Naturland, an EUorganic certification agency, which helps increase value for producers andfoster economic development in general.

Several organic food production projects in the Mekong Delta are supported byinternational organisations.

The Scaling up Mangrove Ecosystem Based Adaptation in the Mekong Delta (MAM2)in Ca Mau got a grant under SNV’s International Climate Initiative.

The programme assists farmers in growing mangrove trees in their shrimp pondsto serve as food, and farmers do not use industrial feed.

There are 2,000 small farmers and four processing companies involved in theproject, with the companies paying 15 percent higher than the market price fororganic shrimp.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) runs the programme inTra Vinh and Ben Tre provinces.

Nguyen Van Hung, a farmer living in Nhung Mien Protective Forest in Ca Mau’s NgocHien district, said: “With farm training and on-the-job training under theproject, we are able to monitor the water quality of our shrimp ponds byourselves. I can measure the salinity, pH, and turbidity to prepare forstocking. My output increased by 15 percent compared to before.”

In the protective forest, 550 farmers have been certified by Naturland.

To support organic production, Saigon Co.op, one of the biggest retailers inVietnam, is committed to supporting the organic food industry and fostergrowth through a series of inter-connected activities at all levels of thesupply chain.

The workshop was hosted by the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, GIZ, SNV, Naturland - Association for Organic Farming, and SaigonCo.op.

More than 80 representatives of government agencies, the private sector andinternational organisations and farmers took part in the workshop.

All of them agreed that organic production would add value to Vietnameseproducts such as organic tiger shrimp and help protect the Mekong Delta coast.-VNA