On January 6, 2026, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Association of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development and Forest Trends signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in scientific research and policy consultation in the fields of agriculture and rural development. Among other things, the two parties agreed on several priority programs, including piloting coffee production that complies with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) at the commune level in Son La province. During a working session with Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong - Vice Chairman of Son La Provincial People's Committee, the parties agreed to select Nam Lau and Muong Chanh communes as the two pilot communes for this activity. After a period of coordination with the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection, Department of Agriculture and Environment of Son La province, in June 2026, Forest Trends provided financial support and technical assistance to the focal points at the Sub-Department and the two communes to conduct a series of training sessions from the provincial to the commune and village levels.
On June 9, 2026, a ToT (Training of Trainers) program was organized for 35 trainees, comprising leaders and technical staff from communes, departments, and relevant units under the Department of Agriculture and Environment. The training covered the foundational content of EUDR, the role and urgency of production area data, as well as how to use data collection tools and manage and rectify collected data. This training session served as a foundation for commune-level focal points to provide technical support to villages in the subsequent phase; in particular, commune-level officials will be the most important coordinators for villages to continue expanding data coverage across the entire commune area.
Photo 1: Field practice for provincial-level training participants in Son La
From June 21 to June 30, 2026, Forest Trends continued to coordinate with the Son La Provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Economic departments of Nam Lau and Muong Chanh communes to conduct production area data collection training for 221 core village-level participants. Over 80% of these participants were members of village management boards, Fatherland Front committees, farmers' associations, women's unions, and village security and order groups; the remainder were officials and specialists from the Commune People's Committees and youth union members. The selection of trainees was made by the communes based on Forest Trends' consultation drawing from its experience in Dien Bien, with the aim of prioritizing capacity building for village-level teams, who have the most intimate knowledge of the local area and close relationships with farming households.
The series of training sessions was organized seamlessly, following the principle of continuous learning to enhance the training and coordination capacity of technical focal points at the provincial department and commune levels. During the training, officials from the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection and officials from the Economic departments or commune-level General Service Centers successively took on the roles of training coordinators, instructors, and hands-on guides for the participants. Therefore, Forest Trends' training activities in Nam Lau and Muong Chanh communes, Son La province, were designed and implemented with the following objectives:
- To collect production area data that not only meets EUDR requirements but also supports other management needs of the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Commune People's Committees;
- To strengthen the capacity of commune and village levels in the two pilot communes, ensuring the sustainability of production area data collection, updating, and management after Forest Trends concludes its support activities. At the same time, to create a foundation for Son La province to scale up the training-data collection model across the entire province, whether with or without external support;
- To gather additional field information and evidence to finalize the Guideline Document for Production Area Data Collection Implementation - which Forest Trends will share in July 2026.
Photo 2: Sub-department officials guiding participants in Nam Lau commune.
Photo 3: Participants divided into groups for in-room practice, experienced participants guiding others.
Following 3 training sessions in Nam Lau commune and 2 training sessions in Muong Chanh commune, as of July 5, 2026, cultivation area data meeting EUDR requirements and the data needs of the Department of Agriculture and Environment has been fully collected for 1,579 coffee plots, covering a total area of 943ha (across the two communes). Since the conclusion of the training, participants from the two communes have continued to implement field data collection for cultivation areas with financial and technical support from Forest Trends, aiming to complete production area data for all existing and newly planted coffee areas in both communes. Specifically, Nam Lau has approximately 3,516 farming households cultivating 5,368ha of coffee; Muong Chanh has 2,298 farming households cultivating 2,989ha of coffee. With a very large remaining workload, the two communes are actively coordinating with villages to urgently complete the work in July, as directed by the Son La Provincial People's Committee.
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