(The story is the inspiration and pride that we want to share with our partners)
Vietnam is a country whose culture is based on agriculture.Over many generations, agricultural culture has become a speciality of Vietnamese culture, with people always honoring, adhering to, and harmonizing with nature, and sustaining community and village lifestyles. Rural Vietnam is currently confronted with numerous significant issues. Natural disasters and floods are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change. Agricultural farming overuses chemicals, causing serious degradation of land and water resources. Farmers are attempting to migrate to urban regions in search of jobs and income, causing the structure of village communities to gradually change and in danger of disintegration.
In 2016, Northwest investment and development Co.,Ltd- Agriate Vietnam was established with the vision of becoming a pioneering complex to build and replicate the Vietnam Heritage Agriculture ecosystem. Agritage Vietnam has a mission to preserve and develop Vietnam’s Heritage Agriculture.
Agritage is an abbreviation for Agriculture and Heritage, which is a combination of two English words. Agritage is a term that means “heritage agriculture.” Starting from the pride of a country with a long-standing agricultural culture, Agritage Vienam respects the nation’s indigenous knowledge and the cultural values of the ethnic groups residing on the S-shaped strip of land.As a result, we strive to devote and contribute our best efforts to preserve, build, develop, and spread the Vietnamese people’s traditional values and indigenous knowledge to Vietnamese dwellers and friends around the world.
Agritage Vietnam is currently operating in three fields: Agriculture; Education; and Experiential travel.
- In the field of agriculture
Agritage Viet Nam builds heritage farming villages. We cooperate with international organizations, domestic and foreign enterprises, local government agencies and ethnic minority communities… to jointly build a Heritage Agricultural Village.
A heritage agricultural village is described as a location that possesses all five elements, including (i) sustainable livelihoods and food security. Residents of the Heritage Agricultural Village will provide enough food for their families and communities via their work and application of indigenous knowledge, combined with the application of science and technology in agricultural cultivation. They also get jobs and generate income through the village’s agricultural production and commercial operations.( ii) Biodiversity in agriculture. We try to diversify the species of animals, plants and microorganisms in the activities of farming, aquaculture, and forest product exploitation in the village. By maintaining natural farming activities such as using homemade micro-fertilizers, growing plants and grasses in a symbiotic way, and eliminating pests and diseases according to the principles of natural disasters, etc., it has helped farmers in Heritage Agricultural Village respond to drought, erosion, landslides and enriches soil microorganisms. Indigenous genetic resources or precious genetic resources from other regions are collected, stored and propagated in the village to serve farming activities of the community or to share with other regions.(iii) The system of indigenous knowledge in agricultural cultivation is restored and preserved. For example, at Van Ho Heritage Agricultural Village, where the inhabitants are mainly Thai and Muong ethnic groups with a typical valley culture. They have a long history of using water power and controlling water sources for agricultural cultivation. Agritage Vietnam and the community have come together to restore and use water pipes and ditches for agricultural farming. (iv) Cultural value system and community organization. Residents of the Heritage Agriculture keep the community’s cultural elements together. We promote community tourism so that people can both have jobs, generate income, and be proud of their roots. By forming Community Cooperatives with the participation of villagers, existing community structures will be respected, and community autonomy will be maximized.The community cooperative will be an organization that represents the villagers’ interests and collaborates with different partners to provide development opportunities for Heritage Farm Village residents. (v) Typical landscape system. A real Heritage Agriculture village is also a place where landscape systems with characteristics of community culture can be preserved. For instance, at Van Ho Heritage Agricultural Village, which is home to Thai residents with a typical valley culture. They live in harmony with streams and forests. Therefore, through many generations, they still together preserve natural fish streams and old forests. Coming to Van Ho Heritage Agricultural Village, we will be amazed by the overlapping images of forest trees, vegetation, and a pristine cave system. The pure stream with native fishes, in particular, is brought into the hamlet to protect rather than to catch. Especially, the pure stream with natural fishes is included in the village regulation to protect rather than to catch.
Nowadays, Agritage Vietnam, with the support of the Australian Embassy and the People’s Committee of Van Ho district, Son La province, and a community of more than 60 Thai and Muong households in Butt village, Chieng Yen commune, Van Ho district, has built and put into operation the first model of Heritage Agricultural Village in Vietnam. Van Ho Heritage Agriculture Village – Van Ho Agritage is operated by Dong Rung Van Ho Cooperative, owned by the residents in the village. Agricultural farming and livelihood activities in Van Ho Agritage focus mainly on growing wet rice – a traditional product associated with the long-standing culture of the Thai people. Te Rau rice variety, which is a native rice variety, is popular in the market but does not have a brand name. Te Rau rice is currentlybeing distributed to the domestic market with high quality in the city under the brand name Rice Dong Rung Te Rau. In addition, indigenous seed products and tubers that have nutritional value and are popular in the domestic high-end market are also collected and propagated in the village. Indigenous knowledge of the Thai people is kept and thoroughly applied in wet rice cultivation through water pipes and ditches leading water from streams to fields.
How does Agritage Vietnam disseminate and duplicate the values of Heritage Farming Villages? In fact, it is not easy to find a replication site that fully meets all 5 criteria about Heritage Farming Village. Therefore, we selected the replication site according to its ability to meet two of the five identification criteria for Heritage Agricultural Villages. Agritage+ sites, for example, are replication sites that meet the two criteria of sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity in agriculture.These Agritage+, after being selected, will join the agricultural supply chain of Agritage.
Agritage Vietnam builds and develops the Dong Rung Agricultural Product brand. The Dong Rung Agricultural Product is a distribution channel for agricultural products made in Heritage Agricultural Villages, local cooperatives are accompanying us in practicing natural farming, responding to climate change. Dong Rung Agricultural Products performs the role of brand development, product marketing and the establishment of distribution channels.
- In the field of tourism
Experiential tourism and ecotourism are organized in Heritage Agricultural Villages and are considered as a bridge to help us spread the pride of Vietnam’s agricultural culture and of each ethnic group living in the world. Vietnamese land. Visitors to the Heritage Agricultural Village have accommodation to rest and experience agricultural farming activities with the community, enjoy the system of natural landscapes, collective cultural activities of the community, Typical dishes and fresh air of the land are practicing natural farming.
Agritage Vietnam builds the Dong Rung Tourism brand to organize tours to visit Heritage Farm Villages and Agritage+ sites.
- In the field of education
Agritage Vietnam aims at life skills education programs for Vietnamese children. We believe that each community has knowledge created in the process of working and living with nature. For hundreds of millions of years, indigenous people have handed down and practiced this knowledge. The Vietnamese people need to understand and appreciate the indigenous knowledge values of the nation. That is the core value that makes the difference of each country, each community. Therefore, life skills education programs organized by Agritage always aim to provide opportunities for Vietnamese children to learn and experience the indigenous knowledge of each community.
Core Values of Agritage Vietnam
Agritage Vietnam focuses on the following five core values:
Trust: Our staff always believe in the philosophy of the Enterprise and put their faith in customers and partners.
Respect: We respect the laws of nature, biodiversity, people and local culture.
Autonomy: We always aim for financial and resource autonomy in our activities.
Indigenous: We contribute to promoting the preservation and spread of original values, traditional cultures, farming methods based on indigenous knowledge of ethnic minority communities.
Sustainability: We aim to create ecological diversity, environmental friendliness, sustainable socio-economic development and positive impacts in all fields.
