In Dien Bien province, agrifood systems have long focused on food security but are now diversifying due to increasing private investments, higher productivity and connection to markets for inputs and outputs. Agriculture has shifted from subsistence to commercial, entailing farm-level intensification and regional specialization on some cash crops such as cassava, coffee or rubber. In the Mu¿ng Thanh valley, which stretches over Dien Bien district and the outskirts of Dien Bien Phu city, the production of rice, vegetables and fruits as well as the farming of cattle have quickly expanded. Food production is mainly scattered among small-scale farmers, few of them belonging to an active cooperative. A few commercial and larger-scale farms have developed recently, for the production of industrial crops. Part of the production is consumed by farmers or supplied to Dien Bien Phu city through short-distance value chains, while the surplus are marketed through long-distance networks to neighbouring provinces, Hanoi or to China. In turn, part of the food consumed locally (such as animals for meat, dairy products, oil seeds, etc.) is sourced from other provinces. Small and medium-scale food-processing activities mainly focus on rice milling and transformation while food is distributed locally through a decentralized network of wet markets, street markets, specialized shops and small supermarkets. However, in Dien Bien province agricultural intensification has resulted in environmental degradation, soil erosion and pollution, and concerns for food safety. Several initiatives led by local authorities and food system actors try to lower the environmental impact of farming, to improve connections within value chains and to improve trust in the quality and the origin of the food products. Local authorities have taken steps to reduce inputs and to improve safety, notably through the promotion of more sustainable patterns for agriculture. Some private actors have developed an “organi