The commitment followed an agreement signed between JICA and the Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi on October 26.

The project’s second phase will be carried out in five provinces, namely Thai Binh, Hoa Binh, Hai Duong, Binh Dinh and An Giang from 2012 to 2014. Each province will develop a model of agricultural cooperatives, which will then be applied to other regions around the country.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ho Xuan Hung, said that Vietnamese farmers are facing difficulties in agricultural production and consumption, explaining that traditional cooperatives often focus on agricultural production at the expense of crucial areas like processing and consumption. A newly-developed agricultural cooperative model will try to overcome these challenges by helping local farmers access modern production methods and technologies, he added.

Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam, Motonori Tsumo, said his agency wants to expand cooperative models following research results of the project’s first phase, which was implemented in Thai Binh and Hoa Binh provinces from March 2006 to September 2010.

Mr Tsumo elaborated that Japan has experience in developing multi-function cooperatives. The country is willing to assist Vietnam in building this model to raise local farmers’ incomes.