FrieslandCampina Vietnam Main Partner in Development of Sustainable Dairy Zones

28 Jul 2014 --- FrieslandCampina Vietnam officially held the groundbreaking ceremony on the 16 July to start the construction of a dairy zone in Moc Bac Commune, Duy Tien District, Ha Nam Province.

The groundbreaking ceremony marks an important milestone and is considered to be a first encouraging step of the project for the development of sustainable dairy zones in Vietnam.

This project is a partnership of FrieslandCampina, De Heus, Wageningen UR, The Friesian Agro Consultancy B.V, Fresh Studio, Ha Nam Government and the Dutch Government within the Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV) for the period 2014 to 2018. The goal of this project is to establish and develop specialized dairy zones for family farms, contribute to food security, create jobs and reduce milk imports.

It is expected that by 2018, 5 years after implementation, three dairy zones will be established. In particular, each zone will have about 50 dairy farms, producing at least 7 million kilograms of fresh milk per year and creating 345 jobs. After 5 years of participation in the project, each dairy farm will possess a herd of 50-80 heads and will use cultivated grass and corn fields to feed the dairy herd. In addition, the project aims to develop and implement training programmes, set up a dairy cattle feed supply chain and seek financial services for farmers who participate in the project.

As the main partner in the project, FrieslandCampina undertakes the roles of management, execution and direct investment. FrieslandCampina will establish three specialized dairy zones in Vietnam with 2 pilot dairy farms in each zone; support farmers access to preferential loans for sustainable farm and dairy zone development; train and supply technical advice to farmers; develop and establish procurement and control systems to ensure good milk quality as well as the consumption of fresh milk at competitive prices.

The dairy zone in Ha Nam is considered to be a model of public-private partnership in close collaboration with national and provincial government agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the People's Committee of Ha Nam Province, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ha Nam Province. It is believed that, the cooperation, commitment and assistance of the Dutch partners who are supporting the implementation of the project will create shared value with the community.