Dr Kien Van Nguyen is an honnorary senior lecturer at Fenner School of Environment and Society-the Australian National University (ANU), an adjunct associate professor at School of Medicine and Dentistry-Griffith University, and an adjunct senior research fellow at School of Rural Science, University of New England, Australia. Kien is also the adjunct professor at Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), Cambodia and a senior research fellow at HAPRI-UEH, Vietnam. Kien was the former Director of Research Centre for Rural Development (RCRD) of An Giang University-Vietnam National University. He is still acting as the senior advisor at the Climate Change Institute (CCI, formed RCRD) of the An Giang University.

Kien has promoted sustainable agriculture and agrobiodiversity using the combined multidisciplinary and intradisciplinary approach with focus on the stakeholder engagement in developing ecological-organic and sustainable agriculture and food systems in the Mekong Region. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Fenner School from 2014 to 2019 under the Luc Hoffmann Research Institute (LHI) and Mitsui Environmental Fund.

Kien graduated PhD in Sociology at the ANU in 2012 under the Australian Leadership Award (ALA). His thesis was on ‘Social Capital, Livelihood Diversification, and Households’ Resilience to Floods in the Vietnamese Mekong River Delta. 

Kien developed effetive partnerships with international researchers, donors, government agenices, NGOs, local governments, private sector, farmers and associations in Mekong countries to implement sustainable agriculture and food systems.

Kien has led 16 and co-led 18 international research projects in agroecology and food security in the Mekong Region and Australia.

Through the DFAT-funded projects, Kien has promoted organic food production, certification and trade between Australia and Vietnam under the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Program Round One and Two. 

He established Mekong Organics PTY LTD (based in Canberra) to translate science into policy and practices to promote sustainable agriculture and food systems in the Mekong Region.