Việt Nam shares OCOP experience with African countries

With its practical experience, Việt Nam is emerging as a bright spot in promoting South-South cooperation, sharing approaches, technologies and policies to enhance the value of rural products.

Fourteen agricultural ministers from African countries have attended the High-Level Inter-regional Knowledge Exchange on One Country One Priority (OCOP) Product Models in Hà Nội on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The event was co-organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Trần Thanh Nam said Việt Nam envisioned OCOP as a model for building inclusive, competitive and sustainable value chains, improving income and quality of life.

“OCOP is more than a brand - it is a framework integrating government, businesses, cooperatives and communities into an ecosystem of innovation, capacity building, quality control, branding and market connectivity,” he said.

To date, Việt Nam has over 16,800 OCOP products rated three stars or higher, showing major improvements in quality, packaging, and branding. Over 60 per cent of producers have reported average revenue growth of 18 per cent annually.

Nam proposed several directions for South-South Cooperation in support of the OCOP Programme aligned with FAO’s 'Four Betters'. These include establishing networks and mechanisms for sharing policies, technologies and markets among countries developing OCOP products; Piloting public–private–community partnerships to mobilise financial, technical and indigenous knowledge resources.

Nam said: “To bring these directions into reality, we call for strong support from international organisations, financial institutions and bilateral and multilateral development partners to promote South-South Cooperation and help countries effectively implement OCOP - toward a dynamic, inclusive, culturally rich and sustainable agriculture."

Nguyễn Đỗ Anh Tuấn, head of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said this was the first time a knowledge exchange event between African countries and Việt Nam on OCOP had been held, opening up a new space for cooperation among developing countries in sustainable agriculture.

With its practical experience, Việt Nam was emerging as a bright spot in promoting South-South cooperation, sharing approaches, technologies and policies to enhance the value of rural products, aiming toward the 'Four Betters' - better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life, he said.

Beth Bechdol, FAO deputy director-general, said the FAO One Country One Priority Product initiative was launched in 2021 to support countries in promoting agricultural products. These products were largely overlooked and often underutilised, but with unique geographical and cultural traits.

To date, 95 countries have identified 56 special agricultural products that are rooted in their geographies, cultures and traditional diets, according to the FAO official. At a time when agrifood systems face mounting pressures, exacerbated by the fact that 75 per cent of the world’s food comes from just 12 plant and five animal species – OCOP offers an opportunity to diversify production, strengthen food security and build resilience to shocks.

She praised Việt Nam’s One Commune One Product programme for being a cornerstone of the country’s rural economic development strategy.