Empowering Vietnam’s smallholder farmers through the voluntary carbon market
On 4th of July, 2023 , the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands attended a workshop organized by the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) and Acorn, a Rabobank initiative that supports local partners and smallholder farmers in their transition to agroforestry.
Unlocking the voluntary carbon market for Vietnam’s rural communities
Held at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, the workshop included key public and private actors active in the agroforestry and/or voluntary carbon market (VCM) value chains in Vietnam, such as the Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, the Vietnamese National University of Forestry, the Embassies of the Republic of Korea and the Netherlands, as well as other local and international NGOs working in agriculture, forestry and climate change.
Ms. Ingrid Korving, the Agricultural Counsellor to Vietnam, shared opening remarks during the workshop, including insights on the joint responsibility of stakeholders in the public and private domain, as well as the important role of embassies in supporting climate adaptation and mitigation trajectories that are both genuine and economically viable.
Empowering Vietnam’s smallholder farmers through VCM
During the workshop, Acorn presented its approach to empower smallholder farmers to transition towards agroforestry, which can help improve soil health and build climate change resilience while securing more nutritious food sources. In addition to environmental benefits, agroforestry also helps farmers diversify their income. By planting trees and sequestering carbon on their land, farmers generate ex-post carbon removal units (or CRUs) which can then be sold to responsible corporates by Acorn – with 80% of the revenue flowing back to the farmers to improve their livelihoods and reinvest in their more sustainable agricultural practices.
AFoCO also presented its 10-Year Climate Action Plan, which outlines accelerated efforts amongst AFoCO member countries to draw down massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere to arrest global warming, while simultaneously advancing economic prosperity. Together, AFoCO and Acorn will strengthen their partnership to envision a greener Asia with resilient forests, landscapes and communities.
Acorn and AFoCO outlined their planned cooperation strategy to develop a pilot project in Vietnam, enabling smallholder farmers to access the voluntary carbon market. As Acorn prioritizes establishing strong and long-standing local relationships, AFoCO will be active as a local partner, connecting with farmers, gathering data, and implementing the agroforestry project, with Acorn monitoring and certifying the project and CRUs generated by it. Together, they aim to have a long-term positive impact on both the community and climate, with farmers benefiting from innovative sources of pre-finance and unlocking an additional income stream.
The Acorn approach in other world regions
The Acorn approach has already proven effective in other regions of the world. In Colombia, for example, Acorn collaborated with their local NGO partner, Solidaridad, to enable over 9,000 smallholders of their coffee farmers to access the voluntary carbon market. With 15,549 hectares of land covered and 20,537 tons of CO2 captured, the project has led to more food security for farmers as well as diversified income streams.
The future of agroforestry in Vietnam
As Vietnam is one of the world’s largest coffee producers, there is immense potential for agroforestry to bring such benefits to Vietnam’s land and communities. With three quarters of its total land area being hilly and mountainous, Vietnam is estimated to have over 1.2 million hectares of upland crops, of which the North-West (including Hoa Binh, Son La, Dien Bien, and Lai Chau provinces) possesses more than 515,000 hectares. Agroforestry projects would be a crucial approach for Vietnam, and even more so in the Northwest, to reduce GHG emissions, mitigate the negative impact of climate change, and to improve the livelihoods of local communities.
The Hanoi workshop was an opportunity to gather and share information about the VCM, and to discuss the current status of carbon projects in Vietnam while identifying key challenges in launching carbon projects focused on smallholder farmers. Eager to connect with significant partners active in the region, Acorn is working towards a partnership with both AFoCO and the Rainforest Alliance, with all parties looking forward to building a strong working relationship to benefit Vietnam’s rural communities.
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