World Food Policy Volume 3, No. 2/Volume 4, No. 1, Fall16/Spring17 | Page 76

World Food Policy pendent quality test agency is crucial in stabilizing the dairy zone. protect the interest of those concerns and to reduce risks; association of 14 collectors in Tản-Lĩnh commune es- tablished in 2013 aiming at mutual aid, strengthened solidarity, and limited competition among collectors) have no operational protocol to undertake their mission in reality. Meanwhile, the dairy farmer groups cannot perform collec- tive actions. A national dairy manage- ment board encompassing different stakeholder representatives (produc- ers, processors, state and consumers) is recommended to improve coordina- tion between local actors and to han- dle all emerging issues and conflicts of the value chain. Dairy smallholders in Ba-Vi, like in other milksheds in Vietnam and other countries in the South, are fac- ing challenges related to strengthened health regulations and increasing re- source competition among operators that weakens the participation of small producers in the market. Innovations in the dairy industry, such as concep- tion of new products manufactured in the territory (cheese for example), will allow small producers and processors to have easier market access, to diver- sify their products and to increase their revenues. This would also help to meet other issues such as addressing season- al fluctuations of milk products, lower costs to food, or the improvement of the quality of milk. Value chain governance and territory governance A s Vinamilk, the biggest milk company in Vietnam, IDP and BVM rely on large supply net- work of smallholder farmers and inter- mediary collectors within a milkshed where milk is collected into a tank mixing milk from different producers. Bimonthly payment to farmers for de- livered milk bases on the quality test done by the companies, while collec- tors receive a collection fee. The cur- rent decentralized collection system is beneficial to processors by reducing their investment, but is argued unfair and untransparent by both farmers and collectors since milk tests are done at the dairy plants and they have to accept the results and prices published by the companies. Such quality and payment system crystalize the tensions between farmers and processors; thus, an inde- The recent strategy for eco-tour- ism development of Hanoi to 2020- 2030 opens opportunities and chal- lenges to the sustainable development of the dairy chain. From economic per- spective, a fashion trend would be to create more diversity in dairy products and tours integrated with homestay at and visit to dairy farms. Community eco-tourism contributes to higher in- come for the locals. From social per- spective, with a strong territorial iden- tity, the local chain should involve more the local farmers and artisanal and small processors. From environmental perspective, for the non-grazing dairy system characterized by the confine- ment of animals, attention should be paid to effluence management and sus- tainable development of the territory. 76