Twenty fresh vegetable producers from Lam Ha and Duc Trong District in Vietnam’s Lam Dong province joined the localized training on food safety and Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) on May 23, 2019. The training is part of the action plan implementation of Vietnamese participants under the New Zealand Aid Programme-supported PROSAFE Project.  

Drawing on the current food safety situation in Vietnam, the training highlighted the importance of mitigation of food safety hazards and adoption of Good Agricultural Practices. Experiences in setting up a fresh safe vegetable producing cooperative (Tan Ha Cooperative) that subscribes to VietGAP standards were also shared to provide concrete examples to the vegetable growers. Mr. Tran Nho Hoang, leader of Tan Ha Cooperative shared that the training brings useful information on VietGAP standards especially as he has changed just shifted his main crop from coffee to fresh vegetable.

The training was organized and facilitated by MI participants in the food safety courses this year — Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Cong, consultant and trainer; Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, quality assurance supervisor at The Fruit Republic; and Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuoi, lecturer at Da Lat University. The PROSAFE Project aims to strengthen public and private partnerships on promoting food safety among fresh horticultural value chains in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam.