Shaping a new mindset for South-South agricultural cooperation

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment organized the Meeting on Promoting Viet Nam - Africa Agricultural Cooperation and officially launched the South-South Agricultural Cooperation Working Group. As part of the event, a panel discussion on investment and development was held, bringing together domestic and international agricultural experts and representatives from the private sector.

A systemic approach

Speaking at the panel discussion, Vinod Ahuja, FAO Representative in Viet Nam, noted that many past agricultural cooperation programs had fallen short of expectations because they focused primarily on isolated technical solutions, whereas the sector's challenges were systemic and required a more comprehensive approach.

According to him, many projects were not sufficiently driven by farmers’ actual needs, remained limited in scale, and lacked mechanisms to ensure sustainability once external support ended. As a result, South-South cooperation should go beyond deploying experts or transferring technology. Instead, it should be built as a long-term partnership aimed at strengthening capacities, developing institutions, and fostering mutual learning.

Sharing the same view, François Roger, Regional Director for Mainland Southeast Asia at CIRAD, argued that South-South cooperation should be understood beyond the traditional framework of technical transfer.

“Developing countries are fully capable of generating new knowledge together and co-designing solutions tailored to local production conditions and socio-economic contexts. Vietnam and African countries each possess unique strengths that can complement one another, ranging from dryland agriculture, agroforestry, and biodiversity conservation to community-based development models. The core value of South-South cooperation lies in connecting these practical experiences to advance development collectively,” he emphasized.

Proposal for building a long-term cooperation mechanism with Angola

From the perspective of a business directly investing in Africa, Thai Kieu Huong, Vice Chairwoman of Xuan Thien Group, noted that in Angola, technology transfer represents only one component of agricultural development.

According to her, one of the greatest challenges is changing production practices. Agriculture in Angola remains largely subsistence-based, fragmented, and small-scale, with many farmers still unfamiliar with modern commercial farming systems. As a result, businesses cannot simply replicate production models from Vietnam; instead, they must conduct research, adapt their approaches, and tailor solutions to local conditions.

Xuan Thien Group is currently implementing an integrated investment model in Angola that encompasses the development of raw material zones, procurement systems, processing facilities, and product distribution networks. The model draws on Vietnam’s agricultural development experience while being adapted to Angola’s specific natural conditions, social context, and market realities.

In November 2025, Xuan Thien Group broke ground on the Agrostars Industrial Complex in Angola’s Cuanza Sul Province, with a total investment of USD 672 million. The project comprises an agro-processing complex, a bio-organic fertilizer plant with an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons, and a large-scale raw material development program. Under its long-term strategy, the project aims to develop approximately 500,000 hectares of cassava-growing areas and more than 1 million hectares of plantation forests through multiple phases.

Alongside its production investments, Xuan Thien Group is collaborating with leading Vietnamese research institutions, including the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, and the Tay Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, to implement variety testing programs, transfer technical know-how, train agricultural extension officers, and support smallholder farmers.

According to Tran Lam Dong, Deputy Director of the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences, after conducting surveys in Angola and in countries with similar conditions, including Brazil, Laos, Thailand, and Malaysia, the research team adopted an approach that combines lessons from international research with field-based trials.

To date, more than 20 eucalyptus species, 15 acacia species, and several other tropical forestry varieties have been tested. Initial results indicate that several of these varieties exhibit strong growth performance and high adaptability to Angola’s climatic and soil conditions.

Beyond technical solutions, experts emphasized that Angola should continue to improve its policy framework for traceability, sustainable forest management, and carbon credits to create a stronger foundation for long-term investment.

The experience in Angola highlights that effective South - South cooperation is not merely about technology transfer. Rather, it involves jointly building capacity, strengthening institutions, developing human resources, and establishing sustainable agricultural value chains. This is also the direction that many international organizations and policymakers believe could pave the way for a deeper and more comprehensive phase of cooperation between Viet Nam and African countries in the years ahead.