Attending the seminar were comrades: Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Le Thanh Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Dong Thap province; Pham Thien Nghia, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Thap province; along with international organizations, leaders of departments and branches of provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands, representatives of 145 guild halls in the province.
The clubhouse – the power of a community institution
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, the initiator of the association model, shared: Actually, if something bad changes for the better, I call it a revolution. The association model is a revolution because it has greatly changed the way farmers live, think, and work into an organization, a community institution. From now on, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will pay more attention to community institutions, first of all, community co-management of aquatic resources, forest management, then planting area codes, farming area codes..., all of which are transferred to the community for management.
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Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that the guild model has greatly changed the way farmers live, think and work. |
Because according to Minister Le Minh Hoan, only people sitting together can understand every "nook and cranny", the core of the problem, leaders and professional managers do not have enough space, time and mindset to approach problems in small-scale, fragmented agriculture like this. "The average production area of only 0.26 ha/person is too small for us to seek big things, if we want to reach out to the big sea, we have to gather people together", said the Minister.
The Minister believes that people's initiatives are always more practical because they directly do the work. By joining the club, people have opened a new path for themselves. The Minister said, let's call them kind people. Kindness has its price and is very high. Kindness will become a brand and consumers always look for it. "The club is a community gathering that not only brings economic benefits, but also a community space for us to live happily together. Spiritual life, space, and harmony from the house to the village, to the community are important. That is the ultimate goal of the club or any community institution. That harmony is what we need to sell," the Minister said.
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Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee Pham Thien Nghia said that the establishment of the association model has maximized its effectiveness. |
Chairman of Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee Pham Thien Nghia said that the establishment of the association model has maximized its effectiveness in gathering farmers, sitting together to change their mindset, changing the way of doing business from small-scale production to cooperation with each other and linking with businesses to form large-scale production areas.
It is estimated that by the end of 2023, Dong Thap province will have 100% of communes meeting new rural standards (NTM), 36 advanced NTM communes, 2 model NTM communes and it is expected that 8 district-level units will complete and meet NTM standards, reaching the finish line 2 years ahead of schedule. The province also has 357 OCOP products with 3 stars, 4 stars and 1 product with 5 stars. This result is the effort of the entire political system and people, including the role of the association - a community institution with a voluntary and self-governing model.
Changing the face of the countryside
Mr. Chang Dong Hee, Chairman of the Saemaul Global Foundation (SGF), commented that the spirit of the Dong Thap province club model is very similar to the Saemaul Undong New Village movement in Korea, which is “diligence, cooperation, and self-reliance”. He assessed that this is a rather unique model, well planned and managed, and a tool to achieve a revolution that changes the face of the countryside. In order for the club to develop more strongly, he said that it is necessary to have the support and guidance of local authorities, and at the same time, to build standards and regulations to specifically evaluate the success of the club.
This is also one of the directions for other community models to learn from, as well as to strengthen training not only for leaders and leaders of the association but also for some state officials who directly participate with the people in this rural development program. Along with that, some scientific technologies should be applied suitable to each local situation.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, National Coordinator of the Global Environment Facility Small Projects Grant Program, under the United Nations Development Program UNDP/GEF SGP, assessed: 145 guild halls are a valuable asset and need to be preserved and promoted. She suggested that the leaders of Dong Thap province use this valuable asset to approach and attract more international resources for the locality. Because all international programs are aimed at farmers and the disadvantaged. She also advised the guild halls to open their doors to welcome young people to have a successor generation in the near future.
Mr. Truong Cong Cu, General Director of Vietnam Fumigation Joint Stock Company (VFC), PAN Group said: VFC has had a support program with farmers in Dong Thap and the Mekong Delta for over 10 years. Recently, this program has been upgraded to "Integrated Field" to support farmers to improve production, including farmers participating in the club.
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Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee signed with PAN Group the Project "Improving income for rice growers" |
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra My, General Director of PAN Group said: "We will work with Dong Thap province to build a closed value chain model, in which we provide people with sustainable agricultural solutions, with inputs being quality seeds, standard cultivation processes, and solutions for pest prevention and control. Then, we will link it with the consumption and branding of final agricultural products. The solutions aim to reduce input costs while maximizing productivity and quality, from which we expect to achieve two important goals: reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural sector, especially increasing income for people."
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"Integrated Field" supports farmers to improve production, including farmers participating in the club. |
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