Sustainable rice was back in the spotlight in Viet Nam today as our Executive Director, Beverley Postma, delivered opening remarks at the SS Rice News Convention in Da Nang.
Beverley joined Tobias Breunig from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in setting out the challenges and opportunities for commercial rice traders and how they can future-proof the rice industry against the volatility and impact of climate change.
Both speakers applauded the positive steps already taken by governments and businesses in Asia and called for greater levels of cross-sectoral collaboration in efforts to lower GHG emissions. In Vietnam, 30% of GHG emissions stem from agriculture, with 48% due to rice cultivation, which also contributes 75% of the sector's methane emissions.
Viet Nam’s One-Million Hectare Low-Emission High-Quality Rice Program seeks to improve the quality and value of rice production in the Mekong Delta and stands as a testament to Viet Nam's leadership and commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Grow Asia is pleased to be facilitating this journey towards greater public-private collaboration and is working with Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and leading business partners including Olam Agri, Bayer | Crop Science, Cargill, Visa, and Bain & Company, to build a blended finance solution that will address barriers to market and unlock access to financial services for the millions of smallholder farmers and rural businesses.
In her speech, Beverley highlighted the vital role of demand drivers for stimulating faster transition in the supply chain, and she highlighted Grow Asia’s partnership with the World Economic Forum’s First Movers’ Coalition, which is placing a new focus on rice. The coalition will mobilize buyers and connect them with Viet Nam’s newly launched Food Innovation Hub, which is designed to identify digital technology and marketing solutions that are necessary to accelerate the transformation of the rice sector across Southeast Asia.