Farmers in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai arejoining alliances to enhance the value of their agricultural products aspart of a project that uses funds from a governmental loan from theWorld Bank.
Le Van Linh, deputy director of the province'sDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province istaking advantage of the national Agricultural Competitiveness Project(ACP) to lift production and sale of several key products.
"Coffee, pepper and cows for meat are the ones prioritised," said Linh, who is also director of the ACP in Gia Lai province.
Alliances with farmers producing other items, including mushrooms and sugarcane, will also be formed.
The Vietnam ACP project is conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development, focusing on central provinces, including Thanh Hoa,Nghe An, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Gia Lai.
It is fundedwith 75 million USD from the World Bank's International DevelopmentAssociation loan and Vietnamese Government support.
TheACP in Gia Lai (Gia Lai ACP Unit) plans to set up 11-12 alliances, withan 8.2 million USD fund, to link farmers in one specific agriculturalsector to enhance the competitiveness of local agro-products, accordingto the Gia Lai ACP Unit.
In November last year, the GiaLai ACP Unit succeeded in forming an alliance of farmers who grow coffeetrees in Chu Prong district.
One hundred farmers, whoseproducts in the past were sold directly to traders, have joined togetherto produce a coffee product under the brand name of Utz.
"The Utz product is being exported globally," said Hoang Van Tuan, a co-ordinator of Gia Lai ACP Unit.
Last July, 80 households raising cows for meat in Kong Chro Districtand a local enterprise formed an alliance in which they learn feedingtechniques that will help fatten up cows for sale.
"Farmers in the district's An Trung Commune here raise cows and sellcows to traders individually, but they don't know how to feed cows tofatten them up before selling, resulting in low profits," said Tuan.
"The alliance members learn feeding techniques. The local Van Bauenterprise will collect the farmers' cows after the feeding process.This brings more income to cow farmers," Tuan said.
Farmers in the alliance also take advantage of local feed sources likegrass, sweet corn, rice bran and sugarcane to feed cows, according toformulas gained from the alliances training programmes.
Forty percent of the total expenses from the feeding process will berefunded by the Gia Lai ACP Unit to the farmers after each harvest ofcows, based on the invoices or receipts given by the farmers.
"ACP is not a project that provides 100 percent funding to farmers.Farmers get 40 percent of the total cost and they must pay for theremaining 60 percent," Tuan said.
"The project alsodoesn't give money in advance to farmers before the work is done, butrefunds them based on compliance with the project's regulations byfarmers," he added.
This way of support is believed to help farmers become independent from other assistance and to develop a living on their own.
"The project's main principle is good because it helps farmers exploittheir own capability and prevents them from relying on others," saidHoang Phuoc Binh, deputy chairman of the Chu Se Pepper Association.
The association includes pepper farmers in districts Chu Se and Chu Puh in the province.
In mid-July, the World Bank decided to assist the association to form two alliances of pepper farmers.
One is for growing pepper in a sustainable manner, with the aim ofincreasing the quality and yield of the well-known Chu Se pepper.
Another is to gather outstanding pepper farmers in a plant that produces white pepper./.
Le Van Linh, deputy director of the province'sDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the province istaking advantage of the national Agricultural Competitiveness Project(ACP) to lift production and sale of several key products.
"Coffee, pepper and cows for meat are the ones prioritised," said Linh, who is also director of the ACP in Gia Lai province.
Alliances with farmers producing other items, including mushrooms and sugarcane, will also be formed.
The Vietnam ACP project is conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development, focusing on central provinces, including Thanh Hoa,Nghe An, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan and Gia Lai.
It is fundedwith 75 million USD from the World Bank's International DevelopmentAssociation loan and Vietnamese Government support.
TheACP in Gia Lai (Gia Lai ACP Unit) plans to set up 11-12 alliances, withan 8.2 million USD fund, to link farmers in one specific agriculturalsector to enhance the competitiveness of local agro-products, accordingto the Gia Lai ACP Unit.
In November last year, the GiaLai ACP Unit succeeded in forming an alliance of farmers who grow coffeetrees in Chu Prong district.
One hundred farmers, whoseproducts in the past were sold directly to traders, have joined togetherto produce a coffee product under the brand name of Utz.
"The Utz product is being exported globally," said Hoang Van Tuan, a co-ordinator of Gia Lai ACP Unit.
Last July, 80 households raising cows for meat in Kong Chro Districtand a local enterprise formed an alliance in which they learn feedingtechniques that will help fatten up cows for sale.
"Farmers in the district's An Trung Commune here raise cows and sellcows to traders individually, but they don't know how to feed cows tofatten them up before selling, resulting in low profits," said Tuan.
"The alliance members learn feeding techniques. The local Van Bauenterprise will collect the farmers' cows after the feeding process.This brings more income to cow farmers," Tuan said.
Farmers in the alliance also take advantage of local feed sources likegrass, sweet corn, rice bran and sugarcane to feed cows, according toformulas gained from the alliances training programmes.
Forty percent of the total expenses from the feeding process will berefunded by the Gia Lai ACP Unit to the farmers after each harvest ofcows, based on the invoices or receipts given by the farmers.
"ACP is not a project that provides 100 percent funding to farmers.Farmers get 40 percent of the total cost and they must pay for theremaining 60 percent," Tuan said.
"The project alsodoesn't give money in advance to farmers before the work is done, butrefunds them based on compliance with the project's regulations byfarmers," he added.
This way of support is believed to help farmers become independent from other assistance and to develop a living on their own.
"The project's main principle is good because it helps farmers exploittheir own capability and prevents them from relying on others," saidHoang Phuoc Binh, deputy chairman of the Chu Se Pepper Association.
The association includes pepper farmers in districts Chu Se and Chu Puh in the province.
In mid-July, the World Bank decided to assist the association to form two alliances of pepper farmers.
One is for growing pepper in a sustainable manner, with the aim ofincreasing the quality and yield of the well-known Chu Se pepper.
Another is to gather outstanding pepper farmers in a plant that produces white pepper./.
