Beneo announces partnership in project supporting sustainable rice cultivation in Vietnam

In a July 24, 2025, press release, plant-based functional ingredients supplier Beneo announced its participation in a three-year project to support sustainable rice farming in Vietnam, a significant exporter of rice. Beneo will be working alongside Rikolto, an international nongovernmental organization, and CarbonFarm, a climate technology company. The project, which launched in April, will be funded by the Government of Flanders with approximately 800,000 Euros.

“This initiative clearly demonstrates Beneo's dedication to climate mitigation actions, sustainability and its proactive approach to addressing global challenges through innovative solutions,” stated Roland Vanhoegaerden, operations managing director for specialty rice ingredients at Beneo, in the press release. “We are proud and excited to leverage Beneo’s longstanding expertise in producing and marketing functional ingredients in collaboration with our project partners and Vietnamese farmers to reduce the environmental impact of rice production.”

The press release notes that using sustainable practices has been shown to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half and decrease the use of water by 30%, without losing yield, according to CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)¹.

Rice is an essential crop in Vietnam, but current cultivation practices are damaging to the soil and water, the press release explains. With the new project, at least 1,000 farmers in the will be trained in the Mekong Delta during the summer of 2025 on sustainable and efficient use of water, pesticides, and fertilizer. The practices in the training will align with Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) standards, and progress will be monitored digitally. CarbonFarm uses artificial intelligence and satellite technology to verify the use of sustainable cultivation practices and reductions in emissions and water use.

The training will be led by Rikolto, which operates programs in 18 countries, working with farmer organizations, companies, and stakeholders with the overall mission to support food and income security while addressing climate change.

Beneo will develop the market for rice ingredients certified by SRP, and will also be responsible for the ingredient processing. Through its production site in Belgium, the rice will be converted into starch, flour, and protein ingredients for multiple industries. The first volumes are anticipated to be ready this autumn, and Beneo aims to process upwards of 100,000 tons of the sustainably grown rice during the three-year project.

Reference

1. CCAFS. Putting Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) on the map, globally and nationally https://ccafs.cgiar.org/outcomes/putting-alternate-wetting-and-drying-awd-map-globally-and-nationally (accessed 2025-07-28).