Ha Noi, Viet Nam - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Viet Nam and the Soils and Fertilizers Research Institute (SFRI) under the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences (VAAS) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) co-organized the kick-off meeting for the FAO-funded project “Support for development of national soil health strategy and action plan”.

The meeting set out to discuss the project intervention framework and work plan with the participation of representatives from FAO regional office and headquarters, MARD, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam Soil Sciences Association (VSSA) and other stakeholders who will be involved in the work to improve soil health management in Viet Nam.

In Viet Nam, soil health is facing many issues. Although the main degradation processes affecting Viet Nam's soils are well known, there has not been a detailed analysis of the state of Viet Nam's soils carried out. Moreover, there is no monitoring system in place to examine how management practices are affecting soil health or the positive impact that some interventions to improve agricultural sustainability and climate change adaptation and mitigation may be having. The lack of updated information on soil resources is indeed a significant barrier to sustainable soil management.

The project is designed with primary purpose to support development and roll-out of a National Soil Health Strategy (NSHS) and the National Plan for Soil Health Management (NP-SHM) 2022-2026, which will contribute to an agro-ecological and sustainable transformation of Viet Nam’s food systems.

The objective of the kick-off meeting was to mobilize key concerned stakeholders in the preparation of operationalizing the activities of the project, advising on the work plan and agreeing on the next steps going forward.
Under this Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) framework, FAO will provide technical assistance to review the NP-SHM 2010-2020, analyse and stock-take relevant global frameworks and approaches as well as models and best practices on Soil Health management.

"While being at the centre of the sustainable food systems transformation, soils also play a key role to mitigate climate change by storing large amounts of carbon – if managed properly and responsibly. This carbon storage is, in turn, crucial to soil health, fertility and ecosystem services, including food production. While working to improving one, we also work toward improving the other.FAO is committed, as a longstanding partner of the Government of Vietnam, to continue our support for a sustainable and responsible management of our soils, improving livelihoods of everyone – leaving no one behind" said FAO Representative Rémi Nono Womdim.