Carbon Credits for Cocoa Agroforestry in Viet Nam - Inspired to Do More

I arrived in Buon Ma Thuot city on a beautiful sunny day for my first business trip as an intern at the ReCoPro project. We were organising a workshop to raise awareness and provide guidance on developing a carbon credit project for cocoa agroforestry. Before the workshop, a colleague took me to visit a small inner-city cocoa farm, and I listened to many interesting stories from the project area. As one of the important cocoa-growing regions in Viet Nam, Dak Lak attracts numerous development projects in cocoa. During the trip, I gained a deeper understanding of the project's field activities and interacted directly with people I had only previously met through the screen.

Drawing from my interest in this topic and previous experiences regarding carbon credits within the finance sector, I noticed many interesting differences in perspectives during this workshop. In finance, carbon credits are a financial instrument that needs issuance for exchange; in agriculture, it is about trees and plots of land cultivated by farmers, directly affecting their productivity and livelihoods. At the workshop, I noticed the interest and attention paid to the topic, sometimes furrowed brows faced with the challenges ahead, the long pages of notes participants took, and the lively discussions they engaged in.

It was interesting to hear the representative of the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shared about his work and how he helped farmers to be well-prepared before implementing carbon credit projects. He emphasised his role in providing coordination to farmers and project developers. He hoped the information shared through the workshop would be a good instruction for a thorough preparation to enter the global and domestic carbon market successfully.

Ms Nhi, an officer in the Agricultural Extension Center of Krong Ana district, further impressed me in her role as a bridge-builder. Always friendly and enthusiastic about supporting farmers, she aims to boost climate- and environmental-friendly agricultural activities in the area, such as reducing methane emissions in rice cultivation, which also has great potential for carbon credits. This is particularly important because building carbon credit projects requires cooperation among various parties, from the international to the local level. Locally, there are many difficulties, such as a lack of information and networks, language barriers, and unclear regulatory procedures. For Ms Nhi, opportunities like this workshop are valuable as they provide up-to-date information and knowledge and open up opportunities to connect with other localities and development projects. The workshop helped her understand the requirements and the process of certifying and issuing carbon credits in agriculture, the steps involved in developing a carbon project and the roles and responsibilities of different actors. Before leaving, she confirmed: "I'll try to pilot it locally."

For the project, the workshop served as the connection, catalyst and starting point for future opportunities, providing participants with information for further exploration. Being at the beginning of my career it was an opportunity for me to understand how we can support people and their livelihoods. We don't just give money to farmers, but we provide tools to help people take control of their lives: information, connections, and knowledge. I was indeed inspired to be a part of this journey, and I hope it will continue until farmers in Viet Nam are empowered to achieve a better and more sustainable future for themselves and the planet.

The “Regenerative cocoa production to support livelihood development in Viet Nam” (ReCoPro) project is implemented by GIZ Vietnam, Puratos Grand-Place Vietnam, and partners under the scope of develoPPP- a funding programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

This article was written by Minh Anh, who joined the ReCoPro project as an intern in December 2023. She brings a background in International Relations and International Business and is eager to learn more about supporting sustainable agriculture in Vietnam.