UNDP accompanies Vietnam in building a sustainable food system

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other UN organizations are committed to continuing to accompany Vietnam in providing technical assistance, building policy institutions and coordination to ensure national food security and build a transparent and effective food chain; contributing to achieving sustainable development goals.

The above information was just given at the Consultation Workshop on "Draft Detailed Plan for Implementing the National Action Plan on Transforming the Food System to Transparency, Responsibility and Sustainability in Vietnam by 2030" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in coordination with UNDP and relevant parties this morning, June 24, in Hanoi.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the workshop is an important "step" to concretize the goals and tasks into actions to implement the National Action Plan in the context that this agency is taking the lead in developing the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) version 3.0 and promoting the achievement of Vietnam's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Speaking at the workshop, Dr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), said that food and nutrition security, natural disasters and climate change, environmental protection and biodiversity conservation are issues that have become more urgent than ever. Therefore, Vietnam needs to act immediately to protect people and future generations.

However, the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment also noted that sustainable production and consumption, and the transformation of the food system towards transparency and sustainability, require all parties to act together, with close inter-sectoral and inter-level coordination from the central to local levels, as well as international partners, to contribute to the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

On the international side, Mr. Patrick Haverman - Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Vietnam, emphasized that today's workshop is an opportunity for dialogue, experience sharing and discussion on how to integrate detailed action plans into Vietnam's national strategy. This is also an opportunity for delegates from the provinces to contribute initiatives, promote private investment mechanisms according to Resolution 68-NQ/TW, thereby ensuring that solutions are not only technically strong but also feasible in practice.

UNDP and other United Nations organizations are committed to continuing to accompany Vietnam in providing technical assistance, building policy institutions and coordination to ensure national food security and build a transparent, effective and sustainable food chain.

However, Mr. Patrick Haverman also recommended that the detailed implementation plan (PIP) should be developed in accordance with the context of Vietnam, accurately reflecting baselines and priorities, clearly defining responsibilities and timelines, and ensuring the most effective use of existing resources.

In particular, the Detailed Implementation Plan (PIP) needs to clearly demonstrate mechanisms for mobilizing investment and innovation from the private sector, in line with the Government's Resolution on promoting private economic development.

At the workshop, Dr. Dang Kim Son - Head of the expert group, presented a detailed plan to implement the tasks stated in Decision 300/QD-TTg. According to Mr. Son, Vietnam has made significant progress in ecological agriculture, climate change adaptation, as well as perfecting policies and institutions for the transition process. However, activities are still taking place on a small scale, lacking national-level projects and plans to mobilize international and private resources.

Therefore, in the context of localities changing their organizational structure, there is a need for more professional activities to connect the parties together. “It is time for us to build a public-international-private partnership program. In the context of no financial resources, the participation of parties will create trust to transform the food system sustainably,” said Mr. Son.

At the meeting, delegates also shared lessons learned on food system transformation among countries, the progress of implementing the National Action Plan at the central and local levels, and provided comments on the draft and priority activities of the five interdisciplinary technical groups on policy institutions, ecological agriculture, nutrition, local food diversity; food loss and waste, sustainable distribution and consumption./.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/undp-dong-hanh-cung-viet-nam-xay-dung-he-thong-luong-thuc-thuc-pham-ben-vung-5051051.html