Browsing by Subject "Nordvietnam"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Insurance preferences of smallholders : results from an adaptive conjoint analysis in Northern Vietnam
    (2008) Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Fischer, Isabel
    Livestock plays a pivotal role for smallholder production systems in mountainous Northern Vietnam. Poor rural farm households are vulnerable and their livelihood systems are often so fragile and finely-balanced that a small misfortune can destabilize the households for many years. Economic risks, especially loss of livestock, are one of the major reasons for slipping into poverty. Normally, insurance systems could step in here. In developing countries however, insurance markets are usually underdeveloped. Empirical research reveals that raising livestock and selling it in case of a livelihood emergency is a particularly popular risk management strategy. Based on the results of a computer-based Adaptive Conjoint Analysis (ACA) with 155 responding households of different ethnic minority groups in Son La and Bac Kan provinces of Northern Vietnam, this article examines insurance preferences of rural farm households. In general, smallholders are very interested in livestock insurance. The ?insured animal? is the most important attribute for all respondents and the buffalo is the highest valued animal. However, the critical issue is how to design the insurance package. It is argued that the provision of adapted livestock insurance could help decreasing household vulnerability by a forward looking risk management strategy. Insurance preferences of smallholders are presented and policy recommendations are given to improve the overall situation of vulnerable households in mountainous Northern Vietnam.
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    Land titling policy and soil conservation in the uplands of Northern Vietnam
    (2008) Dung, Pham Thi My; Saint-Macary, Camille; Keil, Alwin; Zeller, Manfred; Heidhues, Franz
    In Vietnam, a quasi private property regime has been established in 1993 with the issuance of exchangeable and mortgageable long term land use right certificates. Using primary qualitative and quantitative data collected in a mountainous district of Northern Vietnam, this paper investigates the role of the land policy in the adoption of soil conservation technologies by farmers. This issue is of crucial importance in the region where population growth and growing market demands have induced farmers to intensify agricultural production. While poverty has been reduced, environmental problems such as soil erosion, landslides, and declining soil fertility have become more severe over the past years. Among the abundant literature on the impact of property rights and formal land titles in developing countries, only a few studies have focused on the adoption of soil conservation technologies: an important element in sustainable development strategies of fragile agro-ecological areas confronted with increasing population densities. Our findings suggest that soil conservation technologies are perceived as being economically unattractive; therefore, most upland farmers continue to practice the prevailing erosion-prone cultivation system. Focusing on agroforestry as one major soil conservation option, we estimate household and plot level econometric models to empirically assess the determinants of adoption. We find that the possession of a formal land title influences adoption, but that the threat of land re-allocations in villages discourages adoption by creating uncertainty and tenure insecurity. We conclude that more efforts are needed from decision-makers to promote and support the adoption of conservation practices and to clarify objectives of the land policy in order to secure land tenure and foster sustainable development in fragile areas.
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    Landslides in mountainous regions of Northern Vietnam : causes, protection strategies and the assessment of economic losses
    (2008) Zeller, Manfred; Saint-Macary, Camille; Pham, Van Dinh; Nguyen, Minh Duc; Keil, Alwin; Heinke, Antonia; Frör, Oliver; Ahlheim, Michael
    Landslides are a severe problem during the rainy season in many mountainous regions in Asia where forests have been cut so that mountain slopes are destabilized. In this study we analyze the extent and causes of landslides in a mountainous area in Northern Vietnam as viewed from the perspective of the concerned population. We also scrutinize the ideas of these people regarding suitable landslide protection measures and their willingness to contribute to the practical implementation of these measures. It shows that nearly all people living in this area feel highly concerned about the frequent landslide events and that they support the idea of government programs to mitigate the danger of future landslides. We measure the utility they expect from such a landslide protection program, i. e. the social value of such a program, in terms of their willingness to contribute personally to its implementation. Since budgets are tight in these rural areas where subsistence farming still prevails we also analyze the possibilities to measure these expected utility gains in terms of people's willingness to contribute working time instead of money to the proposed landslide protection program. The prospect of employing such an alternative means of contribution is, however, seen rather critical.
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    Maize boom in the uplands of Northern Vietnam : economic importance and environmental implications
    (2008) Zeller, Manfred; Saint-Macary, Camille; Keil, Alwin
    In Vietnam, the demand for meat products has grown dramatically due to rapid economic growth and urbanisation and is expected to further increase in the future. Being the primary source of feed for the country?s livestock and poultry industry, maize has become the second most important crop after rice. While this maize boom has the potential to reduce rural poverty, it promotes the expansion of agricultural cultivation into fragile agro-ecological zones, often leading to deforestation and soil degradation, especially in the uplands. Using empirical evidence from mountainous Yen Chau district in north-western Vietnam, the objective of this paper is to investigate the current economic importance and environmental implications of maize cultivation. Furthermore, particular emphasis is placed on the identification of factors influencing farmers? decision how much area to allocate to maize in order to derive research and policy recommendations. Maize is the dominant crop in Yen Chau, covering most of the uplands and generating the lion?s share of households? cash income. Although farmers are well aware of soil erosion on their maize plots, effective soil conservation measures are rarely practiced. Maize is attractive to farmers from all social strata, notably the poor, and through marketing arrangements with traders its cultivation is also not constrained by poor infrastructural conditions. Access to low-interest credit should be enhanced to mitigate farmers? risk of being caught in a poverty trap when maize revenues plummet due to pests, diseases, price fluctuations, or adverse weather conditions. To address the problem of soil degradation in the maize-dominated uplands, research is needed on soil conservation options that are economically more attractive than those promoted thus far.
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    Outreach of credit institutes and households' access constraints to formal credit in Northern Vietnam
    (2005) Dufhues, Thomas; Buchenrieder, Gertrud
    Abstract Most policy and research interest regarding rural credit markets revolves around the perception that poor households in developing countries lack access to credit, which is believed to have negative consequences for household welfare. An important feature of the rural credit market is that access to credit is easier for some groups than for others. The Vietnamese government supplied credit on preferential terms, particularly to rural households, throug state-owned financial intermediaries. The share of the informal sector was thus considerably reduced from 78% (1992/93) of all outstanding loans to 54% (1997/98) in favor of the formal sector. However, there is evidence from other developing countries that credit constraints persist despite the expansion of rural finance. Hulme and Mosley (1996) state that there is increasing evidence that the poorest 20% of the population are excluded from rural credit programs. Thus, even in Vietnam the question remains: did the Vietnamese government succeed in reaching the poor, or do groups of people exist who are still access-constrained? Quantitative (N=260) and qualitative data collection took place between March 2000 and 2001. The quantitative data comprise cross-sectional household-level data from two different districts in Northern Vietnam. The poverty outreach of formal rural lenders was analyzed using Principal Component Analysis, while access to formal credit was investigated using a binary logit analysis. The poverty outreach of the formal lenders is quite satisfactory since about 50% of all predominantly poor rural households have access to formal credit. However, the poorest households are seldom clients of formal lenders. Yet, it is not their extreme general poverty that determines their access to formal credit. The results indicate that only certain aspects of poverty, e.g. low quality of housing, have an important influence on access to formal credit in Vietnam. The poorest households simply have much less demand for formal credit. Offering new credit products would only slightly improve the credit coverage of poorer households. More promising would be a specialized pro-poor extension service to widen the scope of their investment ideas and possibilities, combined with general improvement of the infrastructure. All in all, the most appropriate tool to incorporate poorer households into the formal financial system would be mobilization of savings. Nevertheless, the number of access-constrained households is surprisingly low. One reason for the low number is the weakening or eradication of former access constraints. Some acces barriers do still exist, e.g. towards ethnic minorities or female-led households. To reduce these access barriers, the actions to be taken should be catering to the specific needs and the circumstances of those households that lack access.
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    Premature fruit drop in mango (Mangifera indica L.) in Northern Vietnam
    (2011) Roemer, Malte G.; Wünsche, Jens Norbert
    Mango production in Northern Vietnam is mainly organized in farmer-owned, small-scale orchard operations. However, the production is limited due to excessive fruit drop presumably caused by unfavourable climatic conditions in combination with plant stresses during the fruit set period. There is a general belief that this phenomenon is caused by different combinations of stressing factors which may vary between regions and sites. In the mountainous area of Northern Vietnam, fruit drop of two main local cultivars ?Hôi? and ?Tròn? may be caused by environmental cues occurring particulary during fruit set. Environemntal stress factors may include excessive air temperature, low relative humidity, strong prevailing winds and little rainfall. These multiple stressors are likely associated with a time dependent change of the endogenous plant hormone auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA) exported from fruit and within the pedicel. Field trials revealed, that fruit shedding could be reduced by irrigation and plant growth regulator (PGR) application throughout the 3-year experiment study; however, it remains unclear how climatic conditons might induce hormonal response and thus enhance fruit shedding at different stages of fruit development. The present research project consists of three studies. First it was to determined which single or multiple climatic cues trigger fruit shedding in mango. Second, it was attempted to alleviate fruit abscission by PGR spray application at post-bloom and early developmental stages of the fruit in comparison with regular irrigation scheduling to reduce extensive fruit abscission. Third, the morphological changes in the abscission zone of mango pedicel during fruit abscission were studied. The timely changes of plant tissue IAA concentration and its key role in the abscission process was also evaluated. The research work was conducted in a commercial orchard near the township of Yen Chau in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The experimental design consisted of 20 randomly selected 10-year-old mango trees of each of the cultivars ?Hôi? and ?Tròn?. Half of the trees were irrigated at 3-day-intervals by mircospinkler and the remaining trees served as non-irrigated controls. For the PGR applications, 3 trees of each cultivar in 2008, and 6 trees of each cultivar in 2009 were used. In both experiments, 10 randomly selected inflorescences per tree were labelled and counted twice per until end of the fruit drop period. Fruit tissue was collected on-site from irrigated and non-irrigated trees. The fruit export of the endogenous indole-3-acetic acid was analyzed by Radio-Immuno-Assay (RIA). Further, to clarify the morphological changes within the abscission zone (AZ) of mango pedicels, samples of irrigated and control trees were collected, fixed and embedded, using a modified dehydration and embedding technique by vacuum infiltration. The results of the first part of this study indicate that the onset of the hot, dry prevailing winds induced the fruit drop. Whether fruit drop was reduced by irrigation seems to depend on the level of soil water deficiency, hence the reduction of plant water potentials. The results of the second part of the study showed that PGR applications reduced excessive fruit drop. Although all chemical treatments indicated significant effects, a single spray application of N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N-phenylurea (CPPU) and 1-naphtaleneacetic acid (NAA) effectively improved fruit retention. Furthermore, those spray applications led to a greater fruit set per inflorescennce than irrigation. However, IAA-export was not clearly affected by irrigation or PGR applications. The results of the third part of the study indicate positive effect of irrigation on fruit retention in both cultivars, which might be influenced by increased pedicel thickness thus increased carbon/nutrient availability to the fruit during critical environmental periods. Moreover, shortage of carboydrate supply to the fruit may be associated with a reduction of IAA-export out of the fruit and this in turn triggers the abscission process. In conclusion, this research proved that prevailing environmental conditons, particulary hot, dry winds, induce premature fruit drop in mango in Northern Vietnam. The identification of the physiological basis of premature fruit drop allowed the development of effective crop management strategies (e.g. PGR applications, irrigation) to overcome unfavourable environmental conditions and to reduce or even inhibit plant responses associated with premature fruit drop. The presented results suggest, that setting up an irrigation system increased fruit retention, which; however, is a great investment for farmers. It was shown that the ease of PGR application and the efficiency of the treatment is a promising alternative to irrigation in oder to prevent excessive fruit drop in mango. The development of effective, fruit drop reducing crop management strategies may also optimized crop loads and enhanced financial returns to growers.
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    Towards demand-driven financial services in Northern Vietnam: a participatory analysis of customer preferences
    (2003) Dufhues, Thomas Bernhard
    Analyzing secondary and primary data, this paper suggests a shift in national development policies from solely promoting rural credit to supporting savings activities. The household data are econometrically analyzed applying the Conjoint Analysis (CA). The CA gave valuable insights into how to improve outreach of formal financial institutes (FFIs) by adapting the credit products to client preferences and revealed an unattended demand for savings instruments. Due the enormous credit outreach of the FFIs in Vietnam, it would be more efficient to launch a credit consolidation policy and to implement a reliable and sustainable deposit collection system at the village level. However, in national policymaking a paradigm change must take place and the capability of rural households to save needs to be recognized by policy-makers.
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    Visualizing rural financial market research in Northern Vietnam through pictures
    (2003) Geppert, Meike; Dufhues, Thomas Bernhard
    One of the many tasks of financial market research is to develop client-oriented financial products. In order to ensure that the financial products reflect the necessities and preferences of the clients, profound participation of the target group throughout the whole research process is important. The use of pictures reduces problems of understanding and makes communication more interesting since everybody is now an insider in the discussion and can thus contribute his or her opinion. The use of pictures in research enhances participation and the research findings will be more target-group oriented. The extent to which the expense associated with using pictures in research ? which is not to be underestimated ? justifies the gains in terms of the information and data collected is rarely assessed. This article is addressed to researchers who investigate in similar situations and will offer them a basis of experience that they can take advantage of. The authors assume that information about the usefulness of the different techniques applied might be most interesting for other researchers. They conclude that the use of pictures in financial market research revealed some interesting results, albeit sometimes at quite a high cost. Nevertheless, the impact of supportive pictures on the quality of new knowledge is difficult to assess, since we have no way of answering the question of whether it would have been possible to obtain the same information without the suppor of pictures.
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    Vulnerability and risk management of rural farm households in Northern Vietnam
    (2010) Fischer, Isabel; Heidhues, Franz
    Despite the achievements of the ?doi moi? reform process, which was launched in 1986, Vietnam is still one of the poorest countries in the world, with 28.9 per cent of the total population (85 million in 2007) living below the national poverty line (UNDP 2007). Especially the mountainous, rural areas of Northern Vietnam are underdeveloped. Poor and near-poor farm households endure manifold risks and income shocks, which threaten their existence. Normally, insurance systems would step in to assist. In developing countries however, where access to formal insurance services is hardly available, rural farm households have developed alternative risk management strategies. The Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) of the Department for International Development (DFID 1999), was applied as an analytical tool to identify and assess risks and risk management strategies of vulnerable rural livelihoods in the Uplands of Northern Vietnam. The role of informal social networks was analyzed with the help of Social Network Analysis (SNA). An Adaptative Conjoint Analysis (ACA) was implemented to examine the potential demand for a formal or semi-formal microinsurance scheme in the area of livestock insurance. Furthermore, additional insights were gained from interdisciplinary research on issues of human, health and livelihood security, as well as from case studies on natural resource use in Southeast Asia. The central hypotheses of this research on livelihood strategies in general and adaptive strategies such as insurance in particular are that they (1) have the potential to reduce livelihood vulnerability and that (2) the differentiated knowledge of livelihood strategies is crucial for a better understanding of the reasoning behind the exploitation of livelihood assets, such as natural resources or physical assets in the form of livestock, despite the negative medium and long-term effects. Research results lead to the following conclusions: First of all, only a very elaborate use of existing capital assets can improve the livelihood situation of vulnerable households in Northern Vietnam. Living in remote mountainous regions with scarce natural resources and limited access to other assets, the preconditions are rather difficult for ethnic minority people, even more for women. Secondly, in order to improve the situation, all stakeholders have to be aware of the existing risk management strategies (e.g. raising livestock and selling it in case of a livelihood emergency is one of the most popular risk coping strategies in the mountainous regions of Northern Vietnam) and learn from both, advantages and disadvantages of currently applied strategies to translate them into effective policies. Concerning the access to financial services, people still face several constraints, as credits are often not available for certain activities or at a certain point in time. In addition, savings and insurance services, when available are not adapted to the needs. Furthermore, emerging expenditures for livelihood risks usually go beyond the scope of the dis-saving (in cash and in kind) ability of rural households. Taking into consideration the above stated situation of changing agricultural activities, including higher input use, and the resulting decline in the number of large ruminants, one should be very careful not to destroy the so far still functioning traditional social networks. Even though these networks are not able to fully buffer all shocks and crises, they are at least one asset (social capital asset) that is initially accessible by everybody and quite often a means to compensate to some degree the lack of other capital assets as depicted in the SLF. Research results point to a number of policy issues that need to be addressed if household?s vulnerability to poverty is to be significantly reduced among ethnic minority households in Northern Vietnam. First of all, poverty reduction strategies and programs need to consider a broader target group, not only the currently poor but also the vulnerable households. The promotion of innovative financial products, such as a combination of credit and insurance, especially for loans that are taken up to purchase livestock, is considered a successful approach to support vulnerable households. Finally, it is assumed that an efficient and accessible health care system would be an important alternative for securing livelihoods. In addition, im¬pro¬ved extension services and knowledge transfer for all people, especially women, could sup¬port a sustainable future development of ethnic minority households and therefore, in the long-run, lead to poverty alleviation.