Digital forum for agricultural cooperatives

Le Duc Thinh, Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development (MARD) said that the application of technology, especially information technology and communication technology in business, was a trend that cooperatives could not stand aside and needed to take advantage to seize opportunities. That is an important need and requirement for the development of digital transformation in the agricultural sector, especially in the collective economic sector including agricultural cooperatives.

Thinh said that the clearest proof for this point of view was that in the past two years when the COVID-19 pandemic affected the production, circulation and supply of agricultural products, cooperatives that built a brand name and applied information technology did not have the supply chain disrupted and continue to maintain and promote products. 

“Thanks to the application of information technology, cooperatives have saved many kinds of costs during the crisis," he said.

Thinh said that over the past time, to develop the collective economy, develop dynamic and efficient cooperatives, contribute to job creation, income growth, hunger eradication, poverty alleviation, and rural construction and ensure social security, the Government issued guidelines and policy orientations for the development of collective economy and cooperatives in the period of 2021 - 2030.

To create favorable conditions for agricultural cooperatives to access those policies, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was developing a plan to support the typical agricultural cooperative model in the period 2022 - 2025. 

Based on the list of agricultural cooperatives proposed by the provinces and cities, the Department of Economic Co-operation and Rural Development synthesized and selected 100 typical agricultural cooperatives named “The Coop.66 group” and helped such cooperatives connect, interact, exchange, discuss and receive the best support from local management units during their digitalisation.

Coop.66 digital transformation application acts as an open forum for the cooperative community, allowing cooperatives to easily access, build an open network of partners and access knowledge resources that are completely free. Users will directly interact with local management agencies, and groups of experts with pictures, videos, clips, video calls, voice calls, and internal messages flexibly and easily.

In addition, the Coop.66 application also provides utilities to support communication, trade promotion and consumption activities, receiving information about adverse agricultural warnings, markets, prices, and support policies to member accounts through the application.

The system is implemented in compliance with the steps of information safety and security, personal data, decentralisation of data access, account management, tracking, and retrieving information about user accounts' activities transparently by blockchain technology.

Coop.66 digital transformation application is continuously invested, researched, upgraded and developed. It will be expanded nationwide soon to help form a modern, civilized and professional digital transformation community.

“Even though the cooperatives can be better-managed thanks to science and technology, the most important thing is still the process of organising production, the quality management of agricultural products on the spot needs to be done accurately and strictly. Digital technology only plays the role of helping cooperatives carry out that process faster and more efficiently,” said Le Duc Thinh.

A powerful tool for cooperatives

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao The Anh, Deputy Director of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), the Forum "Farmers cooperate and associate in agricultural production and business" had been opened for seven years starting in 2025.

The cooperative model, especially the cooperatives in the fields of agriculture and rural areas, made positive changes in quality. After a short time, with the support of the State and localities, outstanding cooperative models have begun to appear.

Đao The Anh said that currently, Vietnamese farmers were all producing on a small scale. If they want to dominate the market, reduce loss costs, and respond to market fluctuations and climate change, the production stage needed to be organised strategically and professionally. 

If people wanted to produce professionally, there must be cooperatives that are managed professionally, he said.

“The production capacity of Vietnamese farmers is very good. However, the most difficult problem for many years is how to access the market. To solve that inherent problem, it is necessary to uphold the role of cooperatives,” he said

“In the coming time, the economy in general and agriculture, in particular, must meet the requirements of digital transformation which is a tool to serve farmers, small businesses, and cooperatives for better and more sustainable production and business,” said Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao The Anh.

To implement digital transformation effectively, Thinh affirmed that firstly, cooperatives need to shape their business model methodically.

“Specifically, cooperatives need to identify factors such as target market, market segment, and quality standards. Such information will create practical values by digitalise a safe production process, towards online trade promotion via the internet", said Thinh.

Secondly, cooperatives need to prepare high-quality human resources. Training programs need to focus on digital governance in cooperatives, especially cooperative directors. At the same time, the human resources of the cooperative also need to meet the requirements of management capacity.

“Thirdly, in the process of digital governance, besides training high-quality human resources, cooperatives also need to pay more attention to many fields and activities. Digital technology is only effective when cooperatives cooperate in multi-dimensional, multi-field and diversified activities. We can't just use digital technology for a few activities. It is a waste,” emphasised Thinh.

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao The Anh, a prerequisite for cooperatives to be able to implement digital transformation is to change the governance model. 

“Digital technology will provide cooperatives with a lot of information and cooperatives need to have a good governance model to be able to handle that information,” he said, adding that therefore, first of all, cooperatives, especially cooperative leaders, need to be trained and improved in a management capacity. 

Cooperative members also need to be propagated to change their mindset from competition to cooperation and close association with each other, he added.

“Along with that, we need to provide more services for cooperatives such as production information, production consulting, pest and disease diagnosis, science and technology to develop ecological agriculture. With digital technology, cooperatives in remote areas will have easier access to those services”, emphasised Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao The Anh.

Translated by Hien Anh