As part of agricultural restructuring, cooperatives are increasingly asserting their role as production organizers and key connectors to markets, guiding farmers into value chains.

Quyen Phong Agriculture Cooperative in Tan Yen commune.

Many have proactively sought and signed contracts with businesses and supermarkets to secure product offtake, forming relatively stable linkages.

Alongside market connections, brand building is emerging as a strategic direction. Through cooperatives, products are standardized in terms of processes, adopt VietGAP standards, and are linked with traceability systems, packaging and labeling.

With established brands, agricultural products can command higher prices and access modern distribution channels.

However, the cooperative sector still faces significant bottlenecks. Most cooperatives are small or very small in scale, with limited governance capacity, insufficient capital and a lack of market information.

Operating conditions remain challenging, as many lack stable headquarters and must rent or borrow premises. Integration into international markets is also modest.

According to the provincial Cooperative Alliance, only about 0.2% of cooperatives are engaged in official import-export activities, while around 8% participate through informal channels.

Most international cooperation still relies on intermediaries, indicating that cooperatives have yet to build sufficient capacity to directly access global markets. This represents both a limitation and considerable room for future growth.

These realities highlight the need to upgrade the cooperative sector in a more professional and efficient direction. First, cooperatives themselves need to innovate governance thinking, proactively approach markets, and enhance negotiation and standardized production capabilities.

At the same time, stronger internal linkages are required to expand scale and develop new-style cooperatives capable of leading value chains. More practical support mechanisms are also needed in terms of land access, credit, infrastructure and human resource training.

In particular, strengthening linkages between cooperatives and enterprises, distribution systems and trade promotion organizations should be seen as a key lever to expand markets.

Cooperatives are playing an increasingly important role in connecting agricultural products in a context of intensifying competition.

By strengthening their role in market linkage, production organization and brand building, cooperatives not only help farmers stabilize output but also contribute to shaping a modern, transparent and sustainable agricultural sector, raising rural incomes and enhancing the overall value of the province’s agricultural products.

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