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Ho Chi Minh City, March 8, 2017
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is supporting the Loc Troi Group to roll out sustainable agricultural standards and practices throughout its rice-production value chain in the Mekong Delta. Improving rice production will help Vietnam’s agri-sector expand its global market share, increase profitability sustainably, and improve farmer livelihoods.
IFC and the Loc Troi Group, a leading provider of agricultural services and products in Vietnam, introduced the project to local stakeholders today in Ho Chi Minh City. IFC will work with the Loc Troi Group over the next two years to help it conform to agricultural standards and practices developed by the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP), a multi-stakeholder partnership to promote resource efficiency and sustainability, both on-farm and throughout the rice value-chain.
“This new and unique partnership will help provide better returns to shareholders and create brighter futures for farmers,” said Huynh Van Thon, Chairman, Loc Troi Group. “This will be of huge benefit to us as we go about building a specific rice brand with high quality and competitiveness in international markets.”
About 4,000 farmers will learn about new farming practices that will help them grow high-quality, high-yielding, and sustainable rice. The project will be implemented first as a pilot and subsequently scaled up. IFC is partnering with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which will provide technical support to Loc Troi and the farmers within its supply chain.
The Loc Troi Group pioneered the building up of the rice-production value-chain model in Vietnam and has around 25,000 farmer households in its fold. The group is looking to manage a sustainable rice supply-chain in the Mekong Delta,
which is known as the "rice bowl" of Vietnam
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The project is being supported by the Government of Canada. "We are very pleased to support IFC's efforts to improve Vietnam’s agricultural competitiveness while applying climate-smart practices,” said H.E. Mr. Richard Bale, Consul General of Canada to Vietnam. “We believe the private sector has an important role to play in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth through initiatives such as this one, which will benefit thousands of farmers, both women and men, across the Mekong Delta.”
This new initiative is in line with Vietnam’s recent Agricultural Restructuring Plan (ARP), an ambitious move to enhance the sector’s competitiveness and better position it to respond to international market opportunities. Despite being a leading rice exporter, Vietnam faces competition in price and quality from market players such as Thailand, India, Pakistan, and emerging countries like Cambodia and Myanmar.
“IFC and the Loc Troi Group share a common interest in linking up Vietnamese rice farmers to the global supply chain to capture the industry’s full potential,” said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR. “This partnership will create opportunities for farmers through sustainable farming, improving their productivity and quality of life.”
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Loc Troi Group
Loc Troi Group, established in 1993 and formerly known as An Giang Plant Protection Joint Stock Company, is a leading provider of agricultural products and services in Vietnam. It has been a successful pioneer in building value chain models for sustainable rice production, focusing on developing and sharing value across the supply chain, especially among farmers. More than 1,300 engineers of its field force have established close links with 25,000 farmers to help reorganize production and provide seeds and agricultural inputs for about 60,000 hectares of large scaled rice fields. It has five processing plants equipped with advanced technology which provide various varieties of high quality, traceable rice products for domestic and international markets. For more information, visit
www.loctroi.vn
and
http://www.facebook.com/loctroiag
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