Oxfam and VCCI hold meeting to plan the GoRice project’s private sector engagement
On 14 August 2026, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Oxfam in Vietnam held a meeting to develop the implementation plan for the GoRice project’s private sector engagement component.
The meeting brought together representatives from the Embassy of Canada, government agencies, research institutions, rice businesses, and cooperatives to discuss key priorities for implementation.
The GoRice project aims to improve the socio-economic and environmental well-being of rice producers, particularly women and ethnic minorities, through sustainable and climate-adaptive rice production. The project promotes low-emission rice production, consumer demand, and a stronger measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) system.
Nguyen Trung Thuc, Director of VCCI’s Project Management Unit, outlined the goal of building a functioning, low-emission rice value chain where farmers, cooperatives and businesses share benefits, costs and risks transparently.
Luong Dinh Lan, Senior Manager of the Sustainable Livelihoods and Climate Change Adaptation Program at Oxfam in Vietnam, shared about the project’s multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Project Coordinator at VCCI, presented the project component led by VCCI
Nguyen Hoai Chau, Senior Development Officer at the Embassy of Canada, highlighted Canada’s support for technology transfer in emissions measurement, fertilizer use and post-harvest management.
She emphasized market-based approaches, green finance, and multi-stakeholder collaboration as key to mobilizing investment in low-emission agriculture. She also noted GoRice’s potential to contribute to a national standard for measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) emissions.
Tran Thanh Hiep, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of An Giang, affirmed the project’s alignment with Vietnam’s Program “One million hectares of high quality, low emission rice”.
He identified two key challenges: strengthening linkages across the agricultural ecosystem and expanding access to green finance. He noted that only a few businesses and cooperatives have so far accessed green credit under Decree 55, while highlighting the importance of agricultural inputs in advancing green agriculture.
Partners highlighted the role of businesses in developing higher-value rice products and ensuring fair returns for farmers. Businesses and cooperatives called for better access to green finance, markets for rice straw and fair purchasing arrangements for low-emission rice.
Pham Thai Binh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung An High-Tech Farming Joint Stock Company, welcomed the GoRice project as timely and highly relevant and emphasized the need for swift implementation.
Vo Van Vang, Deputy Director of the Vinh Binh Raw Material Area at Loc Troi Group, said the company currently operates rice areas in An Giang and Can Tho under the national “One Million Hectares of High-Quality and Low-Emission Rice Program”; however, access to green finance remains a challenge. Addressing this barrier would enable the company to expand its rice areas. He also shared challenges in finding markets for rice straw, despite the large volumes currently collected.
Nguyen Danh Dung, Director of Tien Dung Cooperative in Can Tho, appreciated GoRice’s focus on women and ethnic minorities and committed to supporting women’s participation. He also called for fairer purchasing prices, technical support, and more equitable contracts between farmers and businesses.
Nguyen Thanh Nhi, General Director of Thai An Food Joint Stock Company, emphasized that the project should prioritize benefits for farmers, followed by businesses. He suggested starting with concrete models and reviewing previous programs to identify ways to better serve farmers’ interests, including reducing the use of key inputs such as fertilizer and water, which remain heavily used in rice production. He committed to working alongside farmers and cooperatives to offer better prices for their rice and connect their products with higher-value markets.
The “Greening our rice: Gender-just, low-carbon, rice value chains in Vietnam” (GoRice) Project is implemented from 2025 to 2030 in Can Tho, An Giang, and Vinh Long provinces. The project is expected to benefit more than 48,000 rice producers, apply low-emission farming techniques across 180,000 hectares of rice-growing land, and reduce approximately 748,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
Funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the project is implemented by the Departments of Agriculture and Environment of An Giang, Vinh Long, and Can Tho; Oxfam in Vietnam; the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI); and the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Resources.