Young students bring a case of Agriterra’s client in the Mekong Delta to the 2025 Food Systems Challenge at Wageningen University
At Agriterra, youth participation is key to a sustainable future for agriculture and cooperative development. If the cooperative or the farmers want to safeguard its achievements from the past and be able to respond to unpredictable changes in the fast-moving world, investment in the farmers of the future is key. We believe that youth participation is a long process that needs to involve stakeholders in an enabling environment.
Among other internal programs, during the past 6 months, together with the Empower Youth for Food (EY4F) project of Nuffic Southeast Asia, endorsed by the Netherlands Embassy in Vietnam, we have been supporting one student team (EarthFeast) from Tra Vinh University. The team is invited to develop strategies or tools that will help the Long Hoa rice-shrimp group, Chau Hung cooperative in Tra Vinh province to overcome the problem of market instability, aging workforce, climate stress and enhance the sustainability and profitability of its operations.
Earth Feast is one of the two selected teams representing Vietnam on the 2025 Food Systems Challenge at Wageningen University this September. With the solutions of
Market access via a mobile app connecting farmers to buyers.
Build an online marketplace and farm management app to connect farmers directly with consumers, restaurants, and sustainable food suppliers. Features include real-time tracking of stock, pricing, logistics, and payment systems to reduce reliance on unstable local traders.
Organic certification for rice and shrimp to increase value.
Partner with Chau Hung Cooperative to expand organic certification from rice to shrimp. Integrate QR code traceability for transparency and branding, ensuring product origin and quality, thus boosting market trust and value.
Product traceability through QR codes and smart branding.
Provide training on organic farming standards, digital literacy, and platform usage. Encourage youth participation to revitalize the aging workforce and enhance community skills.
Ecotourism to attract youth and diversify income.
Launch “One Day as a Farmer” experiences, allowing visitors to engage in farming activities. This diversifies income, raises awareness of sustainable practices, and deepens community engagement with nature-based livelihoods.
We look forward to the long-term impact of the solutions when young local solve their own problems.
https://www.empower-youth4food.com/
Agriterra was founded in 1997 by the Dutch agricultural cooperative sector: The Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Association; The National Cooperative Council for Agriculture and Horticulture; The Dutch Foundation of Cooperating Women’s Organisations and The Dutch Agricultural Youth Organisation.
As an international specialist in cooperative development, we work by using a three-track approach. We make cooperatives bankable and create real farmer-led businesses. We improve extension services to members and enhance farmer-government dialogues. We use Agripooler, our knowledge broker agency, a unique pool of hundreds of agricultural experts from the Netherlands and other countries.
Officially in Vietnam since 2017, our presence extends to 17 provinces, and we have directly supported more than 60 primary cooperatives and indirectly supported 200 cooperatives. Reaching over 80,000 farmers, Agriterra equips and strengthens farmers' organizations so they can boost their services for farmers to increase their productivity and involve youth & women leadership. Through bankable investment plans, we facilitate the development of their agroindustry to generate rural off farm and off-farm employment. We prepare farmers’ organizations and cooperatives to lobby effectively and accountably in favour of farmers to improve the agricultural enabling environment and boost rural development. As of 2023, Agriterra has provided TA to assist 35 cooperatives in accessing banking services and mobilized loans for working capital and investments of more than 2.2 million euros.
Agriterra also established a Youth Programme, which is aimed at engaging young people in agriculture, emphasizing the development of youth-led projects, youth councils, and fostering personal leadership growth. Their platform offers abundant resources, including success stories and profiles of young leaders, with the aspiration to encourage you to empower youth within your own endeavors.