IFC, ACOM Launch Farmer Training Centre in Vietnam

International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Atlantic Commodities Vietnam Ltd. have opened a farmer training centre to help smallholder coffee farmers in Vietnam meet international certification standards, improving farm sustainability and productivity and increasing income.

 

Some 50,000 farmers not affiliated with ACOM are also expected to benefit indirectly from exposure to best management practices, quality control training, market and price information, fertilizer recommendations, and information disseminated by the project.

 

The Farmer Training Centre in Bao Loc district, Lam Dong province is equipped with a laboratory and uses demonstration plots to introduce farmers to sustainable agriculture. Within the first three years of operation, it aims to help about 4,000 smallholder farmers qualify for sustainability certifications (like Utz, Rainforest, or 4C) for their coffee beans, which can then be sold at higher prices to global buyers.

 

The completion of the centre marks a significant step in IFC and ACOM’s cooperation to support the Vietnamese coffee sector under an agreement signed in 2010.