• Angola and Vietnam signed their first agricultural cooperation memorandum during a December working visit.

• The agreement supports the Vietnam–Angola Agricultural Cooperation Action Plan for 2025–2030.

• Vietnam will provide technical training and expertise to help Angola reduce food import dependence.

Angola and Vietnam took a new step in bilateral agricultural cooperation last week. During a working visit held from December 9 to 14, the Vietnamese delegation from the South-South Agricultural Cooperation Working Group announced the signing of its first cooperation memorandum with Angola’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

According to information reported by Vietnam Agriculture News (VAN), the partnership aims to implement the Vietnam–Angola Agricultural Cooperation Action Plan for 2025–2030. The two countries signed this action plan in August as part of celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Specifically, the memorandum commits both parties to implement projects during the first three years of the action plan. These projects will focus on rice, cassava, and soybean production, as well as forestry development. Vietnam will train Angolan technicians in Vietnam and will deploy experts to Angola to transfer know-how and support small-scale farmers. The program will prioritize rice production in Lunda Norte province.

“From December 21 to 27, 2025, Angola will send 10 technical officers to Vietnam to take part in a training program. In return, Vietnam will dispatch a delegation of experts to Angola to assess project implementation conditions, which will serve as the basis for preparing technical reports,” the same source reported.

Vietnam ranks among the leading players in the global rice market. The country stands as the world’s fifth-largest producer of milled rice after India, China, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Vietnam produced 26.7 million tonnes during the 2024/2025 season. The Asian country also ranks as the world’s second-largest rice exporter after India, having shipped nearly 7.9 million tonnes to international markets during the same period.

For Luanda, the agreement provides technical support to modernize agricultural and forestry value chains. The government aims to leverage this cooperation to increase domestic output and gradually reduce reliance on food imports. In Southern Africa, Angola ranks as the second-largest food importer after South Africa.

In Angola, spending on food imports averaged $2.58 billion per year between 2021 and 2023, according to data compiled by UNCTAD. Key import items include palm oil, poultry meat, rice, wheat, wheat flour, and sugar.

Stéphanas Assocle