Vietnam
Despite production abilities and capacities that have made Vietnam one of the world's largest rice exporters, many rural families struggle to earn enough income to survive.
Our Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has been investigating the problem by assisting and participating in studies into rural land use in Vietnam. Using the data recently collected from 600 surveys of rural households, linear programming models are being formulated to analyse possible adjustments of farming, land use, rural credit availability and land use rights.
According to Professor Gordon MacAuley, from the Faculty's Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vietnam has a population of about 80 million people and the land holdings of 80 per cent of the population are so small that it is very difficult for families to generate enough income. However, if you allow substantial flexibility in the trading of land, there is the possibility that this may cause mass migration to the cities. Factors such as accommodation and housing, inadequate schooling and transport difficulties need to be addressed in this context. Research fellow Sally Marsh has assisted Professor MacAuley in the study.
Already there has been substantial migration to the cities and the opportunities for off-farm employment are growing. However, the skill sets of people from rural areas are not always compatible with those required by non-farm employment. Moreover, the employment opportunities in cities are probably not growing rapidly enough to sustain the migration from rural to urban areas.
We have enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Hanoi Agricultural University, which has extended to include Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research is also supporting the joint research. A recent workshop on Vietnam was hosted by the Faculty, involving the International Rice Research Institute, academics, researchers, policy decision makers and students who discussed the complex social and economic developments in Vietnam.
