Important improvements at RACO in Vietnam

Rach Lop cooperative (RACO) is located in Tan Hung commune, Tieu Can district, Tra Vinh province in Vietnam. The cooperative was established in 2016 and currently has 514 members with rice as main commodity. RACO provides a wide range of services such as input supply, technology dissemination, trainings, irrigation services and soil preparation.

Agriterra is assisting this cooperative in developing a Strategic Business Plan for 2023-2027. This plan places special emphasis on financial management, marketing strategy, and internal capitalisation.

Huynh Dang Khoa, chairman of the cooperative, tells about the significant achievements of the recent past: "Previously, my cooperative focused solely on collecting rice for sale. However, with the support of Agriterra, we have decided to add more value to our rice products and expand our market. Instead of selling raw rice, we now offer packaged rice products that are ready to use. Thanks to improved product design and a sound strategy, RACO successfully sold 119 tons of rice to various buyers in 2022. RACO expanded to 9 new buyers for their rice in 2022.”

Additionally, the cooperative has been trained in governance by Agripoolers. “In Vietnam, it is customary for the cooperative chairman and the director to be the same person, causing a lot of confusion. We have defined the roles and responsibilities of these two positions and separated various tasks. This has improved the cooperative's performance and transparency.”

Khoa hopes that these two improvements will lead to more members. "Members can take pride in the cooperative because it will always strive to maximize benefits for its members."

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