Da Nang now has over 20 shops selling organic and safe agricultural products for their customers.  However, they have yet to be granted certificates from the city authorities due to their small-scale of operation and passive business strategies.

A local farmer working in a vegetable garden in Hoa Vang District

Meanwhile, farmers from local vegetable growing areas which meet the city's food safety standards are facing difficulties in finding consumers, and they are still passive about deciding the prices of their products.

Some organic vegetable growing areas have been created in the city, including La Huong and Tuy Loan, to bring safer vegetables to local consumers.  However, their products are finding it very hard to compete with similar types of vegetables from other growing areas in terms of prices and formalities.

In an attempt to deal with the problems, approval has recently been given by the city authorities to implement a project to ensure safe and hygienic agricultural products and seafood.  Under the project, the main focus will be on developing a safe food supply chain in the city.

Dr Le Thi Minh Hang, a lecturer from the University of Economics and one of the project’s developers, remarked that if the origin of local food is not well controlled, the quality of the food products on sale at local markets cannot be ensured.

She also said, “The new safe food supply chain will be establised based on close links amongst farmers, businesses, the city authorities, and agricultural experts.  In particular, traders will play a vital role in distributing organic food to local residents with the active support of the city authorities”.

Head of the Bureau of Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance, Mr Nguyen Tu, remarked “Productivity at local organic vegetable growing areas has yet to be ensured due to the city’s small cultivated areas, poor soils, and prolonged hot weather”.

Mr Tu added, “My unit has recently entered into cooperative agreements with some other localities which boast numerous large-scale organic vegetable growing areas, such as Quang Nam and Lam Dong provinces.  The intention is to ensure a sufficient supply of organic agricultural products for the city, which in turn will help to promote the sustainable development of the local safe food supply chain”.