Land Use Dynamics in Vietnam: Impacts of Reforms

1. Land Reform, Land Use and Rural Environment: A Case of Vietnam Ha Thuc Vien Nong Lam University- HCMC, Vietnam Tel: (848)-37245411; Fax: (848)-37245411 E-mail: htvien2002@yahoo.com Presentation for the International Conference on Sustainability Science – Asia, 23rd – 24th November 2009, AIT, Bangkok, Thailand I would like to acknowledge my special thank to ICSS for providing me stipend to participate this conference

2. Theory of land use change • Land use change describes the structure of the change in uses of land from one type to another. • Land use changes are considered as a result of land use – society interactions. • According to Coccossis (1991), Population, resources, technology and institutions are identified as four sets of factors that influence on land use. • Institutionally, land tenure is considered one of the key factors that defines patterns and changes in land-use systems. • Land use changes may have both positive and negative influences on natural resources and environment. Ha Thuc Vien

3. General background of Vietnam • Current population: 85 million, 73% of them living in the rural area and their livelihoods relying on agriculture and natural resources • Since 1986, Vietnam’s economy: has been reformed towards market oriented system, economic growth rate: 6.7% - 8.5% per year • Economy shifts from agriculture base to industrial and service structure • Agriculturally, extensive and subsistence agriculture has been gradually replayed by intensive and commercial one Ha Thuc Vien

4. Land Reform in Vietnam • “Product contract” initiated in 1981: subcontracting land owned by cooperatives to farmers and they undertaken some tasks of production while the cooperative controlled largely the finial products. • The 1988 Land Law:Land owned by cooperatives was subjected to allocate to individual households for a 10 – 15 year term. • More radical reform was adopted under the 1993 Land Law. This law sets a framework for land allocation and titling to individual households for stable and long-term use of lands with five land use rights. Ha Thuc Vien

5. Land use change following land allocation and titling reform • Land use and cropping patterns largely determined by agro-climate factors, but also changes to respond land tenure environment and market liberalization. • Increasing intensive uses of land resources and expanding cultivated land into marginal areas. • Shifting cropping patterns towards certain tradable crops, such as rice, coffee, rubber, cashew nut, pepper and aquaculture, etc. • More land devoted to industrial and commercial crops Ha Thuc Vien

6. Land use change following land allocation and titling reform Table 1: Land Use Change between 1995 and 2007 Unit: 1000ha (Source: Calculation from data provided Vietnam General Department of Statistics, 2009) Ha Thuc Vien

7. Land accumulation, land fragmentation and land loss Table 2: Large Farm Development between 2000 and 2007 Unit: Farm (Source: Calculation from data provided Vietnam General Department of Statistics, 2009) • Land accumulation and large farm development (373,200 ha to 663,500 ha between 2000 – 2007) • Increasing land loss (8% to 19% between 2000 and 2007) • 23.8% of households own less than 0.2 ha of cultivable land • Land fragmentation: each household own 7-8 plots, 10% < 100m2 Ha Thuc Vien

8. Crop yield and productivity trends Table 3: Trends in yields and outputs of major crops Unit: million tones (Source: Calculation from data provided Vietnam General Department of Statistics, 2009) Ha Thuc Vien

9. Land use change and Environment • Shifting from subsistence to commercial and high value crops • Intensified uses of land resources for short-term benefits by increasing application of chemical fertilizer, pesticides, high yield varieties, deep ploughing techniques  soil and water contamination and soil degradation and depletion, biodiversity loss, deforestation • Few long – term investment can be observed (Neef, et al., 2000). Ha Thuc Vien

10. The buffer zone Ha Noi Cat Tien National Park The study villages Ho Chi Minh City Study Villages • Three villages located in the buffer zone of Cat Tien National Park in the Southern upland of Vietnam, are the homeland of three distinctive ethnic groups. • Land allocation and titling started in 1993 and not yet completed Ha Thuc Vien

11. Land use change following land reform Table 4: Household Land Use from the Sample (Source: A household survey 2004, 2005, 2009) • Expanding landholding • Shifting land from annual crops (dry rice, cassava, sweet potato) to commercial crops (fruit trees, cashew nut coffee, pepper etc., ) fish pond, livestock production. • Intensification and diversification of land use become main trends Ha Thuc Vien

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13. Effect Mechanism 1. Tenure Security Effect of Land Reform Table 5: Local perception on land titling and tenure security [1]*“More rights” here refers to those who have land titles (LTCs). Ha Thuc Vien

14. Effect Mechanism 2. Improving farmers’ institutional credit access Table 5: Household Access to Credit Source: A household survey 2004, 2005,2009 Ha Thuc Vien

15. Effect Mechanism • 3. Effect on agricultural investment and land use dynamics • Land use strongly determined by upland agro-ecological systems, but • Tenure security and access to cheap credit  investment intensification (2- 5 times) • Increasing crop diversification and shifting from traditional and subsistence crops to high-value, commercial and industrial crops, inland aquaculture • Household’s initial endowments, access to productive assets, market liberalization, infrastructure improvement and population growth  shifts in land use patterns and intensification and diversification of land uses • Shifts in household livelihoods Ha Thuc Vien

16. Land reform, conservation, national park, and land use change and environment • Establishing national park  ending shifting cultivation and excluding local access to land  land use intensification • Land use intensification due to land reform, market liberalization, technology innovation, population growth  over application of agro-chemical fertilizers, pesticides, HYVs, less use of manure  land degradation, losing local varieties, loss of biodiversity, reducing land productivity. • Low local awareness on degradation of natural resources and environment • Favouring in short-term benefit behaviours while no long-term investment adopted • High risk due agriculture intensification and market fluctuation Ha Thuc Vien

17. Conclusions • Land reform together with other sectoral reforms (market, rural finance system, extension etc.), population growth, and technology innovation have significantly influenced land use towards intensification, diversification, high-value and industrial crops, land accumulation and land loss, increasing agriculture outputs. • Level of intensification is also very much dependent on farmers’ initial endowments and access to production resources. • Farmer favor in short-term benefit behavior while not take into account long-term investments  degradation of natural resources and environment. Ha Thuc Vien

18. Policy Implications • Extending land use rights term, improving rural credit system and production services to support households’ agriculture production. • Strengthening farmer’s capability towards sustainable agriculture practices by providing them sufficient technique and knowledge for integrating both agriculture development and the environment protection. • Towards community-based natural resource conservation. Ha Thuc Vien

19. Thank You for Your Attention.Looking forwards training and research collaboration with you in land and resource management for sustainable development Turn animation off Ha Thuc Vien