Recognizing women’s work in Vietnamese agriculture

Rice farmers and partners of the newly formed Thanh Cong Rice Cooperative in Ke Sach district.

Sweden is working together with partners in Vietnam to strengthen gender equality, among other places in the Vietnamese farming of rice and shrimps.

To see results of GRAISEA, the regional program Gender Transformative and Responsible Agribusiness Investment in South East Asia, Anette Andersson from the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok, together with Åsa Heijne, Sida – Styrelsen för Internationellt Utvecklingssamarbete, and Ambassador Pereric Högberg, Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi, visited Oxfam in Vietnam, an international confederation fighting the injustice of poverty, in the Sóc Trâng province in Vietnam.

The aim of GRAISEA is to involve more women and to recognize the work done by women in agricultural value-chains, to link small scale producers with buyers, and to improve regional regulatory frameworks in ASEAN for sustainable and responsible farming practices.

Members of the Thanh Dat Shrimp Cooperative in Hoa Tu 1 commune.

During the visit they met with farmers, local partners to Oxfam Vietnam, local government representatives, private sector actors and participated in gender awareness training.

With the newly formed Thanh Cong Rice Cooperative in Ke Sach district, farmers are applying more sustainable farming methods when planting the next harvest and will thus increase the total yield, reduce the negative greenhouse gas emissions and sell the rice to a higher price.

GALS introducing exercise to Thanh Cong Rice Cooperative.

Together with GALS, Gender Action Learning for Sustainability, the cooperative is also working for improved gender equality. GALS had trainers introduce an exercise to map the distribution of unpaid work and income generating between family members for the partners of Thanh Cong Rice Cooperative, Thoi An Hoi commune.