Overview
This project aimed to contribute to reducing poverty and improving small-holder farmer livelihoods in the Indo-Pacific region, through more productive and sustainable agriculture emerging from collaborative international research.
Objectives were to develop and pilot digital tools to monitor VietGAP compliance in three vegetable value chains in Vietnam, and develop a business case showcasing the benefits of digital monitoring of VietGAP compliance in vegetable and fruit value chains in Vietnam.
The project developed and tested low-cost digital tools to help vegetable farmers in Son
La province to supply modern retail supermarkets and specialty retailers in Hanoi with
VietGAP-compliant, high-quality vegetables.
A smartphone app collected vegetable crop production and handled information including farmer, crop, cultivar, pesticide applications, and planting/harvest dates, required for VietGAP compliance. Low-cost Escavox GPS-enabled temperature and humidity loggers tracked consignments and monitored
conditions. The Hitachi virtual control tower, developed in Australia, was adapted to integrate and store these records, and it printed QR codes used to access data, and track consignments through the supply chain.
Consumers value an assurance that the vegetables they eat are safe, and VietGAP along with labelling and quality gives them that assurance, and they are willing to pay for it. Three cooperatives in Son La province, Tu Nhien (Natural Safe Vegetable Cooperative), Greenfarm Moc Chau, and Greenfarm Van Ho have piloted the system with AEON and Mega Market supermarkets in Hanoi, and now have the skills and tools to use digital traceability and supply chain monitoring to their advantage.
The tools developed and adapted in this project can be upgraded to provide digital traceability and supply chain quality monitoring in fruit value chains focussed on modern retail in Vietnam, and export. These tools will have direct applicability to assuring GAP compliance of high-value fruit from Son La destined for domestic modern retail and export markets.
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