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From
Scaling for Impact Program
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Published on
24.09.25
By Thanh Duong, food environment and consumer behavior team from Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT
As Vietnam’s “rice bowl”, the Mekong Delta not only feeds millions but also drives the country’s agricultural exports. Yet, behind this abundance lie urgent diet and nutrition challenges: rising obesity rates, persistent diet-related diseases, and widening inequalities. Addressing these issues requires looking beyond production to consider how the entire food system shapes what people eat and how healthy they are.
On 11 September 2025, within the framework of collaboration between the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (the Alliance), the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and the Department of Cooperative and Rural Development (DCRD) under Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), NIN organized its September Scientific Seminar on the theme “Food Systems in the Vietnam Mekong Delta”. The event aimed to raise awareness among nutrition professionals and partners, and to promote a food systems approach to address emerging nutrition challenges. More than 40 participants attended, representing government agencies, UN organization and INGOs, academia, and research institutions.
Photo: Group photo, Photo credit: Ms. Van Anh, NINThe seminar featured three key presentations. Dr. Truong Tuyet Mai (NIN) introduced the National Action Plan on Food Systems Transformation in Vietnam towards Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability by 2030 (NAP-FST), underscoring the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration among ministries, sectors, and partners to effectively deliver on the plan’s objectives. She also highlighted the critical role of NIN in developing indicators and a monitoring framework to track food systems transformation at national, socio-economic regional, and local levels.
In this context, the subsequent presentation of the Mekong Delta Food Systems Profile, delivered by Dr. Tuan Thi Mai Phuong (NIN) and Ms. Thanh Duong (the Alliance), illustrated how evidence generation directly contributes to NIN’s assigned mandate under the NAP-FST. This is the first Food Systems Profile developed at the socio-economic regional level in Vietnam, providing evidence on food production, consumption, and nutrition challenges in the country’s largest food hub. This work was undertaken as part of the Work Package 2 (WP2) of the CGIAR Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) Initiative (2022–2024), now continued under Area of Work (AoW) 5.2 of the CGIAR Scaling for Impact (S4I) Program.
In the following session, Mr. Phan Van Tan, Head of the Division of Poverty Reduction and Social Security, DRCD-MAE, shared the National Zero Hunger Program linked to transparent, accountable, and sustainable food systems transformation in Viet Nam. He emphasized the importance of connecting agriculture with nutrition and introduced the Guideline Handbook for Designing Food Systems Development Projects to Ensure Adequate Nutrition – a joint product of the Department of Cooperative and Rural Development, the Alliance, and NIN. This demonstrates intersectoral collaboration efforts, though further integration is still needed to accelerate food systems transformation in Viet Nam.
In the discussion session, experts from WHO, Alive & Thrive, HealthBridge, and academia emphasized multi-sectoral collaboration, stronger engagement of youth and women, and the need for policy mechanisms to operationalize the NAP-FST. Concluding the discussion, Ms. Huynh Thi Thanh Tuyen – Lead of Food Environment and Consumer Behavior Team, the Alliance, emphasized: “To move food systems towards sustainability, transparency, and accountability, difference sectors must find common ground to act together. The food environment and diets are the shared entry points where stakeholders can begin to collaborate and take action.”
This regular scientific seminar is part of a series of activities linking agriculture with nutrition, contributing to the implementation of the NAP-FST in Vietnam. The session was highly appreciated by participants and is expected to open up new opportunities for collaboration, helping to foster intersectoral actions to improve nutrition for the Vietnamese people in the coming years.
