Raising agricultural productivity in Vietnam isn’t rocket science

Author: Malcolm McPherson, Harvard Kennedy School
After profound advances in manufacturing and services, most observers now believe that Vietnam is well-positioned to meet its principal Vision 2035 goal of achieving upper middle-income status. But sustained agricultural gains are by no means assured. Key agricultural officials recognise this. In 2013, the governmentintroduced an ‘agricultural restructuring’ program and revised the Law on Land. Major international agencies, including the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, have urged broad-based reform. Action so far has been limited primarily because crop, livestock and aquaculture production continue to rise. Vietnam’s policy makers — well known for their conservatism — see radical reform as premature. This is a serious mistake.A farmer throws seeds to plant on a rice paddy field in Ngoc Nu village, south of Hanoi, January 2015 (Photo: Reuters/Kham).At the end of the Vietnam War, agriculture in Vietnam employed around 75 per cent of the total workforce and produced roughly 10 million tons of rice, the country’s staple. The majority of Vietnam’s population of 50 million was significantly undernourished. Agricultural recovery was slow, blocked by the government’s collectivisation policies. Formal reform efforts through Directive 100 in 1981 partially freed up agricultural markets. They accelerated with doi moi (renovation) in 1986 and the Law on Land in 1988. The latter granted land use rights to households and stimulated a dramatic response from farmers. Tiếp tục đọc “Raising agricultural productivity in Vietnam isn’t rocket science”

Rural market becoming more attractive to manufacturers

Last update 12:00 | 23/10/2017
VietNamNet Bridge – Rural areas, where 70 percent of the population lives and where the average income per capita has been increasing rapidly, is a market with great potential.

 

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A report by Nielsen shows that the market growth rate in rural areas in the first quarter of 2017 reached 12.4 percent, making up 51 percent of total revenue of fast-moving consumer goods, while the growth rate was just 6.5 percent for urban areas. Tiếp tục đọc “Rural market becoming more attractive to manufacturers”