Strengthening Traceability and Sustainability in Viet Nam’s Coffee and Rubber Sectors

From 12 to 16 May 2025, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and in close collaboration with the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST), launched project activities under the AIM4Commodities project in Viet Nam. The country is one of four pilot countries globally—alongside Colombia, Kenya and Lao PDR—supporting efforts to improve forest monitoring, increase supply chain transparency and strengthen smallholder resilience in the face of growing market demands for deforestation-free commodities. 

The mission marked a step toward improving the traceability and sustainability of coffee and rubber—two of Viet Nam’s most important export crops—by introducing open-source digital solutions, enhancing data accessibility, and facilitating dialogue among government, producers and development partners. 

Aligning efforts to scale traceability at the national and local levels 

The technical mission began in Hanoi with a series of meetings to assess current geolocation data systems and identify opportunities for alignment. FAO and GIZ explored synergies between AIM4Commodities and the ongoing SAFE project, particularly in the provinces of Son La and Gia Lai. Both institutions expressed interest in deploying the Open Foris Ground solution to enable smallholder farmers to independently collect and manage geolocation data for their plots—an essential requirement for access to emerging deforestation-free markets. 

Discussions with VNFOREST focused on enhancing the integration of national forest and land use data into Open Foris Whisp. VNFOREST welcomed the use of open-source digital solutions to improve the accuracy of forest and commodity data, while noting challenges related to system accessibility and variations in data collection methodologies between provinces. FAO confirmed its commitment to providing solutions that are fully open-source, available in Vietnamese, and adaptable to existing national systems. 

Supporting smallholders through training and solutions 

A two-day field visit to Quang Tri province provided hands-on experience with Open Foris Ground. FAO trained members of the Khe Sanh Coffee Cooperative on the use of the mobile application, equipping farmers to map their plots and manage their own geolocation data. This represents a major step forward in enabling smallholders to enhance their own value chain transparency that have traditionally been shaped by intermediaries. 

Meetings with the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Quang Tri Rubber Group and the FSC-certified Smallholder Forest Certification Group further underscored the relevance of these solutions. Local authorities raised key issues, including data conversion challenges and discrepancies in forest definitions. FAO responded by highlighting the flexibility and interoperability of Open Foris solutions and offered technical support to help align systems and standards. 

Building momentum through national dialogue 

On 15 May, a national workshop was convened in Hanoi, bringing together over 30 participants from government, civil society and the private sector. VNFOREST opened the event with an overview of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and its implications for Viet Nam’s agricultural exports. The workshop provided an opportunity to present the AIM4Commodities project, introduce the Open Foris suite of solutions, and identify data needs, interoperability challenges and priorities for deforestation-free regulations compliance. 

Participants also engaged in discussions on IDH’s Database System for Forest and Coffee Growing Areas, a pilot initiative supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, which may serve as a complementary mechanism to strengthen Viet Nam’s compliance efforts. 

Looking ahead: empowering farmers with accessible digital solutions 

The mission concluded with forward planning to expand training and implementation activities in Quang Tri, Son La and Gia Lai. FAO will work with national and local stakeholders to roll out a series of trainings on Open Foris Ground, with all content translated into Vietnamese to ensure accessibility. These efforts aim to empower smallholder farmers with the solutions and knowledge needed to take control of their own data and to meet international market requirements. 

The mission underscored the need to improve access to existing maps and ensure data coverage for key reference years, particularly 2020. Addressing these gaps will be critical to supporting Viet Nam’s transition toward deforestation-free value chains and sustainable rural development. 

This article was originally published here.