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

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 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.

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 23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 3

23 – 24 November 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.

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 23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 5

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 6 Land use change following land allocation and titling reform Year Total Distribution Annual cropsPerennial crops Total Cereal grains Other annual crops Total Industri al crops Fruit trees 1995 (ha) 10,028.38, (ha) 13, , Comparison (ha) 3, Comparison (%) Table 1: Land Use Change between 1995 and 2007 Unit: 1000ha (Source: Calculation from data provided Vietnam General Department of Statistics, 2009)

November Ha Thuc Vien 7 Land accumulation, land fragmentation and land loss No. Regions /-% Total 57,069116,22259, Red River Region1,64614,73313, Northeastern Region2,7934,6461, Northwestern Region Central Region7,20615,1697, Central High Land3,5899,2405, Southeastern Region9,58616,8707, Mekong Delta31,96755,02323, 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

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 8 Crop yield and productivity trends Crop Output of crops (tones)Output 07 – 95Yield /- (ton)+/- % Paddy rice Maize Total cereals Tea Coffee Pepper Cashew nut Rubber Table 3: Trends in yields and outputs of major crops Unit: million tones (Source: Calculation from data provided Vietnam General Department of Statistics, 2009)

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) November Ha Thuc Vien 9

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 10 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 The study villages The buffer zone Cat Tien National Park Ho Chi Minh City Ha Noi

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 11 Land use change following land reform Land use change following land reform Types of land use1997 (ha)2004 (ha)-/+ (ha) 1. Agricultural land Wet rice land Other annual crop land Industrial crop land Fish pond Forest land Total land (Source: A household survey 2004, 2005, 2009) Table 4:Household Land Use from the Sample 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

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23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 13 Effect Mechanism Perception HHs withHHs without LCT Number (71)% Number (48)% Satisfied Not satisfied Having more rights*6592unobservable [1] [1] * “More rights” here refers to those who have land titles (LTCs). 1. Tenure Security Effect of Land Reform Table 5: Local perception on land titling and tenure security

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 14 Effect Mechanism Forms of creditAmount (mil. VND)Percentage of households (%) 1. Private credit in Total credit in Land-collateral credit Private credit Table 5:Household Access to Credit Source: A household survey 2004, 2005, Improving farmers’ institutional credit access

23 – 24 November 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

November Ha Thuc Vien 16  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 Land reform, conservation, national park, and land use change and environment

23 – 24 November 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.

23 – 24 November Ha Thuc Vien 18  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 p roviding them sufficient technique and knowledge for integrating both agriculture development and the environment protection.  Towards community-based natural resource conservation. Policy Implications

23 – 24 November 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