HANOI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam needs to improve supply, quality, and food safety with added value in its agriculture sector and overall food system, said the World Bank (WB) on Tuesday.
The bank made the remark in its Vietnam Development Report 2016 titled "Transforming Vietnamese Agriculture: Gaining More from Less," launched Tuesday in capital Hanoi.
According to the report, Vietnam's agriculture faces major demographic, economic, and environmental challenges.
"The country's agricultural output is exacting a price on the environment," says Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam, adding that the sector's growth has slowed down as it is vulnerable to climate hazards.
Thus the report offers various policy recommendations to address the challenges. At the same time, Vietnamese government is urged to deploy an effective combination of improved regulations, better incentives and streamlined services to stimulate as well as monitor a greener agriculture and a more effective food safety and consumer protection system.
According to WB, Vietnam has emerged as one of the world's leading exporters of agro-food commodities and is among the top five for aquatic products, rice, coffee, tea, cashews, black pepper, rubber, and cassava.
However, the country's agriculture is experiencing a low quality of growth, as shown by low profits for smallholder farmers, considerable under-employment among agricultural workers, unreliable product quality and food safety, and limited technological or institutional innovation, said WB.
