Overcoming adversity is a trait that has won accolades for Hanoi-based scientist Nguyen Thanh Hien. She created BioGro, an inexpensive, bioengineered fertiliser to encourage Vietnam's farmers to reduce chemical fertiliser usage. It took 10 years before Hien hit upon the right strains of bacteria from rice plant roots mixed with peat soil and sugar. Without thousands of dollars worth of laboratory equipment, Hien made do with a 40,000 Vietnamese dong (US$2.70) cooking pot with three holes punched in the lid.
Then Koen Den Braber, an agriculture consultant, convinced Hien to start organic vegetable farming as a research project. When they realised they had to do something with the vegetables, the seed for Hanoi Organics sprouted. Together with Phan Dinh Nam, a local businessman, they started the company with US$2,000 in September 1999.
That December, Hanoi Organics began a subscription scheme selling seasonal vegetables at a fixed price to 20 customers, all expatriates. By May 2000, sales volume had gone from 40 kilos a week to more than 500 kilos a month.
The company struggled through the first summer when customers left on vacation and farmers grew local leafy vegetables that failed to appeal to buyers. But, by April 2001, monthly sales were more than 700 kilos and the company had 60 subscribers and two restaurants. Subscribers pay 21,000 dong for a two-kilo pack, or 23,000 dong for a home-delivery pack.
Initially, only two farmers in the Tu Liem District, 20 kilometres northwest of Hanoi, committed to growing organic produce. Organic farming is more labour intensive as farmers must plant multiple crops, some which provide natural pest protection to other crops and no chemical pesticides are used.
But as foreign researchers and visitors started to visit the organic plots, other farmers wanted to cash in. Hien's stringent quality controls meant that only two more farmers from a group of 27 candidates qualified.
Farmer Nguyen Van Sanh says the payoff is that he gets an income every month, instead of just four months a year. Hanoi Organic farmers earn about 10 million dong a year. According to the General Department of Statistics most recent data, in 1999, a farmer earned an average monthly income of 225,000 dong.
Den Braber says a mistake the company will not repeat is buying all the vegetables produced. This year, Hanoi Organics purchased 600 kilos of produce monthly, and the farmers sell the surplus themselves. The company wants to expand into fruits, tea and rice and is interviewing farmers in other districts. Another goal is to gain the trust and business of educated Vietnamese professionals. Local produce grown with sound agronomic practices and government pesticides are sold under the "Clean Vegetable" label. However, most Vietnamese distrust the label because there is no quality control. Hanoi Organics uses the clean vegetable pricing as a price setting guide, but their produce is marketed as organic and is inspected by FOODLink, the Vietnam association for organic agriculture.
According to Nguyen Duc Trieu, chairman of the Vietnam Farmers Association, the annual agricultural growth rate is 4.3%. The main challenge Vietnam faces is "increased competition from regional and global integration" which has forced the agriculture sector to increase overall production and to produce competitive export-quality goods. The government plans to cultivate mountainous and coastal areas, and apply new technologies to planting crops. Widespread organic farming is not a strategy the government has considered. Hien equates organic farming with sustainable farming. "Organic farming is the only way our country can continue to feed our people. Sooner or later, Vietnam's agriculture sector has to move in this direction."
Mike Zeiss, agriculture adviser, CIDSE (International Co-operation for Development and Solidarity) says that Hanoi Organics is the only company marketing organic produce in Vietnam. "There is definitely a market for organic produce in the big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Danang," Zeiss says.
Other cities are part of Hanoi Organics' vision. But Den Braber and Phan are currently fully occupied developing the market in Hanoi. "We make enough money to run the business, but not enough to invest in new areas," says Den Braber. The company makes about 10 million dong a month. "But millions keep escaping," he says referring to the costs of buying produce, maintaining the delivery van and salaries for the driver, administrator and vegetable packers. The founders do not draw a salary from the company yet. But Den Braber believes if the company can beat this summer's high temperatures and hard rains, then "we'll be OK".
As well as marketing clean produce, Hanoi Organics wants to develop a separate, but complementary business. "We want to start a waste disposal business to support sustainable agriculture. Biodegradable waste is like gold to organic farming. Fifty percent of the landfills are made of potential organic compost. Hien sighs: "It is very difficult to get Vietnamese people to change, but eventually we will run out of space for landfills."
While profitability is a goal, Hien derives satisfaction from a different benchmark. When farmer Van Sanh talks of renting additional land to farm, Hien smiles: "When you see farmers willing to invest in the land, you know we've been successful."