Friesland Campina Viet Nam yesterday officially started construction of a dairy zone in northern Ha Nam Province's Duy Tien District.— VNS Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Friesland Campina Viet Nam yesterday officially started construction of a dairy zone in northern Ha Nam Province's Duy Tien District.

The project aims to establish and develop specialised dairy zones for family farms, contributing to food security, creating jobs and reducing milk imports.

It is expected that by 2018, three dairy zones will have been established. In particular, each zone will host some 50 dairy farms, producing a total of at least seven million kilograms of fresh milk per year and creating 345 jobs.

Following five years of active participation in the project, each dairy farm will possess some 50-80 heads of cattle and will use cultivated grass and corn to feed the dairy herd.

In addition, the project aims to develop and implement training programs, establish a dairy cattle feed supply chain and seek financial services for farmers participating in the project.

The construction marks an important milestone for Viet Nam and has been considered one of the first encouraging steps made by the project towards the development of sustainable dairy zones in the country.

This project is the result of a partnership between Friesland Campina, De Heus, Wageningen UR, and The Friesian Agro Consultancy B.V, as well as Fresh Studio, the province's authorities, and the Dutch government within the Facility for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security (FDOV) for the period 2014-18.

In the context of Friesland Campina's Dairy Development Program, this project ties in seamlessly with the FDOV's objectives. Friesland Campina remains committed to helping address three major social problems: the increase in number of ageing farmers and the need to create brighter prospects for young farmers, the need for a higher quality of food that provides adequate nutrition to feed the growing world population and the demand for affordable food and sustainable production chains.

As the project's main partner, Friesland Campina has accepted the responsibilities of management, execution and direct investment.

Friesland Campina will establish three specialised dairy zones in Viet Nam, with two pilot dairy farms per zone, while supporting farmers' access to preferential loans for sustainable farm and dairy zone development, providing training and offering technical advice to farmers, and developing and implementing procurement and control systems to ensure the high quality of the milk as well as the consumption of fresh milk at competitive prices.

The dairy zone in the area is being touted as a model for successful collaboration in a public-private partnership.

"The mission statement of Friesland Campina Viet Nam is 'What we do matters. We believe in creating shared values with Viet Nam.' This community vividly reflects our beliefs, our commitment," said Tran Quoc Huan, the company's deputy managing director, at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Huan added that the company held no ambitions for land acquisition or generating profits. This unique business plan involves introducing only sustainable measures for the local authority to receive the highest value from the land, for the farmers to obtain land-use permits and the necessary funds to build and run effective household dairy farms, and for the Dutch partners to provide valuable expertise.

Friesland Campina has established businesses in Viet Nam for over 18 years, supplying more than 1.5 billion units of high-quality milk per year through a number of brands such as Dutch Lady, Friso, Yomost, and Fristi.

The highlight of Friesland Campina Viet Nam's exceptional CSR commitment is the Dairy Development Program, which is an ongoing effort to help dairy farmers run their businesses optimally and raise the volume, quality, and safety standards of their dairy production.

Even though Viet Nam has no tradition of dairy farming, to date, more than 4,000 Vietnamese households run a farm through the Dairy Development Program, the result of 18 years of effort and millions of dollars of investment by the Dutch company. — VNS