Vietnam boosts food supply to the world

The world is in difficult, Vietnam increases exports

According to statistics from global credit rating company Fitch Solutions, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, about 30 countries have implemented measures to limit food exports. Countries that are expected to shoulder the task of supplying raw materials to the world such as India, Brazil, and Argentina all have moved to limit exports. Economic analysts around the world said: The rise of food protectionism during this period could push costs further up, hurt consumers' purchasing power and push the country's central bank. Countries are in a difficult position when they have to control inflation and maintain growth at the same time.

Harvesting rice in Tam Nong (Dong Thap). The position as "world's kitchen" can create "soft power" for Vietnam

In less than a week, from May 18 to 23, the UN held 3 consecutive meetings on global food security, the risk of food insecurity was warned with talking numbers. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Global hunger is at an extremely serious level. In just two years, the number of people suffering from food insecurity has doubled, from 135 million before the pandemic to 276 million today. More than half a million people are living in conditions of hunger, an increase of more than 500% since 2016.”

On May 23, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on "Global Food Insecurity" without a vote. In addition to the establishment of the Global Food, Energy and Financial Crisis Response Team, the resolution calls on UN member states and other stakeholders to maintain the supply chains of agricultural and food products; emphasized the need to keep trade activities smooth and limit hoarding of food and goods.

Malaysia is the next country to stop exporting chicken meat to ensure domestic supply. Malaysia's regular customer is Singapore, a country with a huge demand for chicken meat, and is worried about finding another source to replace it.

In the context that countries are "taking a stance" to keep food security stable, Vietnamese enterprises are making efforts to export to meet the increasing demands of customers around the world. At the end of May, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) announced: Seafood exports in May continued to reach 1 billion USD, 27% higher than the same period in 2021. Thus, The industry has achieved a "hat-trick of billion USD" when the export turnover of 3 consecutive months reached 1 billion USD. Accumulated in the first 5 months of 2022, the country's seafood exports brought in a turnover of over $4.6 billion, up 42% over the same period in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that rice exports in the first four months of the year reached about 2.05 million tons, bringing in a total export value of over $1 billion, up 4.4% in volume. Vietnam's rice price is still higher than that of some traditional rice exporting countries such as India, Pakistan, and Myanmar. The Philippines is still Vietnam's largest customer, but rice exports to Africa have increased by more than 76% year-on-year.

Responsibility "The Kitchen of the World"

Faced with the risk of food shortages in the world, especially in countries where food sources are not self-sufficient, many international organizations have come to Vietnam to send messages of appreciation for the role of exporting power. agricultural exports. At the end of May 2022, at an international online conference on food security and nutrition, Mr. Rémi Nono Womdim, Chief Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Vietnam, said: “Both Russia and Ukraine are both "dominant" partners in the global agricultural market, including the fertilizer market. Therefore, the current conflict will bring many risks to countries that are heavily dependent on agricultural, fertilizer and energy imports from these two countries. That means Africa and the Middle East will be the two regions most affected because this is the market that consumes nearly 50% of the barley and corn exports from Ukraine. In this situation, the food supply from Vietnam is very important.”

In many countries with large populations, which are under great pressure for food security, at the government level we can sign framework contracts with them, which not only demonstrates the important role of the "kitchen" but also creates creating a "soft power" to reinvest in domestic production.

Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan

At the seminar, economist Safwat Wl Alfy said: As a country with many strengths in agriculture, Vietnam can completely play an important role in contributing to solving the food crisis in Europe. Africa, because Vietnam is famous for many types of food, the most important of which is rice - a cereal that can replace wheat imported into Africa.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, Vietnam is currently one of the major exporters of agricultural products in the world. In the context that the world is facing many global challenges, such as depletion of natural resources, shrinking of cultivated areas, global warming, political conflicts, economic disparities are increasing. get a raise…; The disruption in goods circulation is a strong motivation for us to connect the entire supply value chain from production to distribution and consumption, to increase export turnover. Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh affirmed: “The Vietnamese government makes the best efforts to realize the dual goal of drastically preventing and combating the Covid-19 epidemic and recovering socio-economic development. The role of agriculture becomes especially important in the context of the new normal in terms of economy, society and environment. As for community responsibility, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is committed to fully cooperating according to the signed contents in the roadmap to contribute to ensuring global food security.

Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan, a leading agricultural expert in Vietnam, commented: “Currently, 30 countries have stopped or restricted the export of food and food products and many people are worried that this problem will continue to spread. Widely, food security will become a regular "headache" of governments, not as cyclical as before. As an agricultural country, Vietnam should see the problem as a strategic opportunity. Specifically, investing in farmers to produce large and safe quality; Enterprises support capital, knowledge, market, and technology. Help these two people grow up and create a mechanism for them to work together to build industrial agriculture. When there is an abundant, stable and quality source of goods that the world needs, from the perspective of businesses and the government, we can easily agree to cooperate in providing long-term products for them. Many countries with large populations, under great pressure on food security, at the government level we can sign framework contracts with them, which not only demonstrates the important role of the "kitchen" but also creates creating a "soft power" to reinvest in domestic production.

Dr. Dao Minh So, Head of the Food Crops Department (Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology), shared the same view: "Vietnam is a country with an "abundance" of food, the export potential is still very large if the demand is high. world increased. However, the problem is that farmers need to be concerned to improve profits in production. We cannot export for the sake of the world community at all costs. Now that the cost of everything is increasing, the distribution of profits needs to be balanced so that farmers can rest assured to produce."