Japan donates approximately USD 200,000 to develop organic agriculture in Dong Thap

On March 25, the Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City awarded non-refundable aid from the Japanese Government to the Seed to Table organization to implement the project "Sustainable community development through training human resources in the fields of organic agriculture, food processing, and business management" in Dong Thap province.

Mr. Ono Masuo, Consul General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City, said that in the 2020-2023 period, Seed to Table organization (a non-profit organization) has implemented the project "Developing organic agriculture and improving livelihoods for small-scale farmer households through the processing of organic agricultural products and educating awareness of environmental protection for teenagers, as well as local development associated with preserving the environment” in Dong Thap province. The development of organic agriculture and the dissemination of ways to achieve organic agriculture certification have contributed to improving farmers’ livelihoods.

"From these achievements, in 2023, Seed to Table continued to implement the project 'Sustainable community development through training human resources in the fields of organic agriculture, food processing, and business management' (referred to as 'project') in Dong Thap province. This year is the second year the project has continued to receive aid, with a total aid capital of USD 195,277," said Mr. Ono Masuo.

According to Ms. Ino Mayu, Chief Representative of the Seed to Table organization, Vietnamese agriculture has great potential, but the training of human resources in the fields of organic agriculture, agricultural product processing, and business management still has many problems that need to be resolved.

“The project implemented in Dong Thap focuses on three fields: organic agriculture, agricultural product processing, and business management. In particular, we focus on training local human resources so that after we 'withdraw,' there will still be experienced human resources and the means to do and develop agriculture," said Ms. Ino Mayu.

During the first year, the project organized training sessions related to sanitation management and relevant legal policies for teachers and students of the Community College, staff of the Center for Agricultural Services, Irrigation Structure and Rural Clean Water Exploitation Management, and many farmers in Dong Thap province. At the same time, everyone jointly participated in researching and processing to create new products from mango, a specialty fruit of Dong Thap province, such as dried mango and mango ice cream.

In the second year, the project will continue to organize training sessions on organic agriculture, business management, etc. At the same time, expand research and processing to create new products from many other typical agricultural products of Dong Thap province, such as lotus, mango, etc., to supply the market. In particular, this year, the project will organize for those who have participated in the training to go to Japan to visit and learn experiences.

"I hope that after returning from Japan, each of you will have accumulated many useful things about Japanese agriculture as well as the experiences of experts in community development based on environmental protection, sustainable socio-economic development based on the production, processing, and trading of organic agricultural products, and preserving and promoting local traditional culture. From there, apply them to the agricultural development and business management of the project in Dong Thap province," Mr. Ono Masuo said. He also pledged that the Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City will accompany and support the Seed to Table organization’s project to the maximum extent possible.

On behalf of the leaders of Dong Thap province, Mr. Huynh Minh Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, sent a thank you to the Japanese Government, the Consulate General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Seed to Table organization for supporting the province since 2019.

According to Mr. Huynh Minh Tuan, thanks to the help and support of the project implemented by the Seed to Table organization, issues of raising awareness about environmental protection, community health, and improving income for small-scale farmer households were significantly improved. This result is achieved by farmers and students being trained on organic agricultural farming techniques and equipped with knowledge of sustainable agricultural development by taking advantage of available local resources. At the same time, access to product consumption markets is also gradually improving.

"This is a valuable source of motivation and an important premise for Dong Thap province's agriculture to gradually develop in a safe and sustainable direction to meet the increasing needs of consumers. Thereby, contributing to successfully implementing the province's organic agriculture development plan for the 2021–2030 period," said the Vice Chairman of the Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee.

“Recently, we invited 11 Japanese experts in the fields of organic agriculture, agricultural product processing, and business management for training in Dong Thap. Experts commented that Dong Thap's agricultural development potential is very good and can be developed further. Especially as for expanding the market for Cat Chu mango, many experts are ready to support connecting with the Japanese market if Dong Thap can produce organic mangoes.

Therefore, in the next 2 years, we will try to help Dong Thap products improve their value and quality and be able to be present in the Japanese market," said Ms. Ino Mayu, Chief Representative of the Seed to Table organization .