About the Evaluation
Baseline Evaluation
The Project: The U.S.-Vietnam Trade in Agriculture and Food Safety Expanded Project is a five-year USDA Food for Progress-funded project providing technical services and support to trade of food and agricultural products in Vietnam. The project supports Vietnam’s efforts to expand trade in food and agricultural products by strengthening food safety and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) systems, improving the efficiency of trade processes, and reducing the time and cost to move perishable goods through key trade corridors. Implemented by IESC and funded by USDA’s Food for Progress (FFPr) program, the activity focuses on practical improvements that make compliance easier, logistics more reliable, and financing more accessible for firms operating in perishable supply chains. Core areas of work include modernizing inspection and testing systems, strengthening cold-chain and distribution capacity, and expanding access to trade and supply-chain finance to support more competitive, higher-quality trade.
Timeframe: 2026
Evaluation Approach: LINC is delivering an independent, mixed-methods baseline evaluation to establish defensible starting values for project indicators and provide an actionable picture of constraints and opportunities across food safety/SPS, cold-chain logistics, trade procedures, and finance. Our approach combines: (1) a structured firm survey of 412 market actors across key corridors and actor types, (2) targeted key informant interviews and focus group discussions with public and private stakeholders to explain the “why” behind the numbers, and (3) structured review of relevant administrative and secondary data to anchor and triangulate findings.
To support measurement of institutional and organizational performance improvement, the evaluation includes an organizational assessment component, building on LINC’s deep experience and commitment to local capacity building. Throughout, we apply bilingual instruments, strong quality assurance (piloting, spot checks, daily data review), and strict data protection and confidentiality protocols. The evaluation will produce a baseline report and a practical measurement package—datasets, documentation, and repeatable methods—so IESC can track progress consistently over time and adapt interventions based on evidence.
Reports
- No reports available at this time
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