Successful agricultural transformation is the engine of Vietnam's growth

Vietnam’s agriculture and food system are at a turning point. Despite its successes and great opportunities, the sector also faces major demographic, economic, and environmental challenges.

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This is a content in the Vietnam Development Report 2016 of the World Bank (WB) published on September 27 with the theme "Transforming Vietnam's agriculture - Increasing value, reducing inputs".

Analyzing in detail the opportunities and challenges in the agricultural sector, the WB report affirms: To maintain its competitive position in the international market, Vietnam needs to improve product quality, food safety, and increase value.

The World Bank has recognized the remarkable progress of the agricultural sector, with Vietnam becoming a leading exporter of agricultural products and food and among the top five largest exporters of seafood, rice, coffee, tea, cashew nuts, black pepper, rubber and cassava.

However, the WB stated: The quality of agricultural growth is still low, reflected in a number of phenomena such as low profit margins for small-scale farmers, high unemployment rates among agricultural workers, low product quality and food safety, and weak technological and institutional innovation.

Besides, agricultural growth is still mainly based on increasing crops, increasing the use of inputs (fertilizers) and natural resources (water).

According to the WB, the current growth momentum based on volume is not a long-term direction.

Mr. Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director in Vietnam analyzed: The agricultural sector produces products at a high price to the environment, so changes are needed to overcome these challenges, contributing to ensuring future agricultural growth and better meeting the needs and aspirations of the Vietnamese people.

Faced with the problems of Vietnamese agriculture, the WB proposed a number of recommendations such as: Improving the effectiveness of State management; strengthening preferential measures, rationalizing service provision, thereby encouraging and monitoring the development of green agriculture, improving the effectiveness of the food safety system and protecting consumers.

The State should also consider applying policy tools to better manage risks in agriculture, creating an ecosystem for agricultural enterprise development.

“A flexible, market-based and knowledge-based agricultural system with less state intervention will be essential for more successful modernization,” the WB recommends.

According to Chinhphu.vn