Vientiane Organic Products Market - Revisited

This morning I revisited the Vientiane Organic Products Market. I had posted on my first visit to this market and an organic farm when I was working in Vientiane, Laos in December 2012. In many developing countries, organic farming had not been very sustainable as it involves more risks compared to conventional farming. The major risks are related to pests and diseases management in compliance to organic certification requirements. Coupled with consumers unwillingness to pay premium prices for organic products, we do see many organic farming efforts being abandoned. In many cases, organic farmers are also constrained by a lack of market access for their produce. 

I arrived at about 8.00 am and the market was very active. Being alone there this time, I spent more time wondering around the market. There are many types of fresh organic vegetables and other products on sale. There are also many customers. I decided to buy some and found their prices are very reasonable for organic products.

With the continuous support by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in promoting organic farming in Laos, this organic market is still very active and doing well, with ample supply from the farmers practicing organic farming. This is an important initiative in strengthening the organic farming value chain in linking producers to the market and consumers. 

Green chillies

Baby brinjal (egg-plants)

Stalls of fresh organic produce

My support: I bought some of the organic products

Organic Mandarin Rice

Organic Black Rice

Ready mixed varieties of beans

Organic Red Beans

Organic Bananas

Honey from Nature Forest

Organic lettuce for my sandwich

Nice mangoes: very sweet

Turnips

Well organised market

Beautiful and Fresh

Lunch in Vientiane, Laos

I arrived in Vientiane, Laos on the morning of 17 March 2013 (Sunday). This is my 7th visit to Laos in 5 years. I started working in Laos in 2009 when I made 3 working visits, followed by 3 more visits in 2012. This is my first visit this year. I have always enjoyed working and visiting Laos. It is a pretty nice country to live in, with its friendly people. There is no "rush", although lately with its fast paced development there are more traffic in the city of Vientiane. I particularly have no problem with the food in Laos. There are a wide variety of local Lao food which I enjoyed, although at times it is a challenge to try some of the food that my Lao colleagues are always very keen for me savour whenever we go visiting the provinces. Each province have their own specialties. And I am always keen to try. 

In Vientiane, apart from the local Lao food, there are a mixture of Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and western food. When I arrived on Sunday, I decided to go for my favourite Vietnamese fried spring rolls. As it was still quite early and I was not very hungry after having eaten in the airplane, I decided to have a take-away lunch set to eat in the hotel. It comes with 4 spring rolls and a generous serving of fresh salad. Instead of spring rolls, you can have BBQ sausages, which is also my favourite choice. My lunch set cost 18,000 Lao KIPs (USD2.20). 

Lunch set for one person

Fried spring rolls with fresh rice noodles

Fresh salad of lettuce, celery, basil and mint

Raw bean sprout, cili and slices of cucumber, gourd and garlic

Grounded peanuts and cili paste

Sweet sour honey sauce dip for the spring rolls