Farmers in Cu Ebur Commune, Buon Ma Thuat City, harvest coffee beans. — VNA/VNS Photo Tran Viet

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Around 19,000 coffee farmers in Viet Nam have adopted the international 4C (Common Code for Coffee Community) standards for sustainable production and trading with assistance from authorities and food giant Nestle.

The number is up 51 per cent year-on-year, according to a report on their programme dubbed NESCAFE Plan by Nestle Viet Nam and Western Highlands Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute.

In the last three years they have organised 923 training courses for farmers in Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong provinces in modern methods to lower their costs and improve their skills.

The programme has also offered technical assistance to 31,000 farmers.

Le Quang Dung, a coffee farmer in Dak Nong Province's Dak Wer Commune, said by taking part in the programme and training courses, farmers like him have progressively improved their practices so that they can grow produce meeting international standards.

Around 20,000ha have been certified as adopting 4C standards, twice last year's figure under the programme.

Following these standards has enabled Vietnamese farmers to sell their coffee at higher prices in the world market.

The standards, developed by the Germany-based 4C Association, are a set of social, environmental, and economic principles that farmers must comply with to progressively improve sustainability.

Compliance helps them also increase output and protect the environment.

Coffee is one of Viet Nam's key agricultural exports, with 90 per cent of the output being shipped abroad, according to the Viet Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association. The country exported 1.66 million tonnes of coffee for US$3.4 billion this year, an increase of 17.2 per cent in volume and 12.5 per cent in value. — VNS