How to accumulate land so that farmers benefit the most?

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Asian Economic Outlook 2017 and Vietnam Economic Outlook 2017-2018 report shows that agricultural reform remains key for Vietnam to boost growth this year and next.

The report forecasts Vietnam's economy to grow 6.5% in 2017 and 6.7% in 2018 thanks to increased activity in manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, banking and tourism.

Attracting foreign direct investment will continue to boost domestic manufacturing while helping to increase Vietnam’s export earnings even as regional and global trade flows continue to decline.

Vietnam's middle class is also growing, and is forecast to double from current levels to 33 million people by 2030, which will also help increase personal consumption and boost retail trade.

However, according to Mr. Eric Sidgwick, ADB Country Director in Vietnam, agriculture has always been an important driving force for Vietnam's economic growth, especially when Vietnam implemented reforms in this sector in the late 1980s.

However, in recent years, under pressure from increasing international competition and low domestic labor productivity, growth in this sector has slowed down to only about 2% per year since 2011.

Vietnam’s average agricultural output per worker is only one-third of Indonesia’s and less than half that of Thailand and the Philippines. Therefore, a strong transformation of the agricultural sector, making it more efficient and sustainable, is essential to raising GDP growth.

In particular, it is necessary to create conditions for stronger competition in agricultural supply chains and post-harvest processing, build rural infrastructure to support agricultural products with higher value, apply technology to improve productivity, and create stronger links between agricultural research institutes and farmers.

Resource management must also be more sustainable, including policies that encourage land accumulation, as currently over 80% of cultivated plots are less than 1 hectare in size.

However, according to Mr. Eric Sidgwick, ADB Country Director in Vietnam, the ultimate importance of land accumulation and plot conversion is that farmers must benefit. "We must find a way to increase the profits and profitability of farmers from agriculture," Mr. Eric Sidgwick emphasized.

Therefore, according to Mr. Eric Sidgwick, land accumulation is not only an economic issue but also a social issue. Therefore, it takes time for farmers to change their thinking, from how to consolidate land to what crops to grow for real economic efficiency.

According to this report, Vietnam's agricultural sector is forecast to improve in 2017. Vietnam has also set a target of 2.8% agricultural growth this year.

According to Xuan Phong/baotintuc