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Browsing by Subject "Vietnam"

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A case study: Fish production in the integrated farming system of the Black Thai in Yen Chau district (Son La province) in mountainous North-western Vietnam - current state and potential
(2009) Steinbronn, Silke; Becker, Klaus
Son La province is located in mountainous north-western Vietnam and belongs to the poorest regions of the country. In the valleys of this province, fish farming is one of the major activities among farmers who belong to the ethnic Black Thai minority. Up until now, the aquaculture system practiced here has not been scientifically investigated. There is generally very little data available regarding the aquaculture of resource-poor farmers in Southeast Asia. This lack of information can be partly explained by the difficulty in obtaining this data. However, a solid understanding of current aquaculture systems is necessary for any kind of future involvement. Within the course of a special research program (SFB 564), aquaculture practices in three communes of Yen Chau district (Son La province) were surveyed between 2004 and 2006. The research was conducted in a holistic way in order to obtain a detailed description of the typical local aquaculture system with its potentials and limitations. In addition, measures for improvement were developed, which will be tested during the next phase of the special research program. The data was collected and analyzed on three different levels. On the ?macro level?, general data is presented regarding the land use and irrigation system in the studied area. Data on the ?meso level? concerns the aquaculture and agriculture system and was predominantly collected through interviews with 155 farmers, 22 village headmen and other stakeholders. On the ?micro level?, an in-depth investigation based on measurements and close observation of 6 individually selected case study farms is presented. This data includes the limnological pond conditions, fish growth rates, food conversion and the profitability of the aquaculture system. The data gathered during these investigations compensates for the information that could not be satisfactorily gathered through the interviews alone. Currently, around 63% of the households in the study area produce fish in ponds. The aquaculture production is closely linked with other farming activities and is integrated into the overall irrigation system. Farmers stock different carp and tilapia in polyculture with the main species being grass carp. Fish are mainly fed leaves and by-products of crop production, weeds and manure, e.g. from buffalo. The pond system is feed-based and exhibits a more or less continuous water flow; both of these features are rather atypical for small-scale aquaculture. In the case study farms, the average fish stocking density was 1.0 fish m-2. Calculated based on one hectare, the average daily feed application was 37.1 kg dry matter (DM) and the annual net production of aquatic species 1.5 tons ha-1, of which roughly 2/3 were sold. The average conversion of feed (DM) to aquatic species biomass was 7.7:1, and the conversion of added nitrogen (feed and manure) to produced nitrogen (aquatic species) was 14.7%. The yields in the presented system are relatively low compared to other feed-based aquaculture systems. Nevertheless, it has been shown that aquaculture production contributes significantly to food security, generates income and plays a significant role in farmers? lives. At present, the local market in Yen Chau cannot be completely satisfied by the districts? fish production alone. Recently, a road was upgraded that connects the north-western mountains with the country?s capital Hanoi. As a result, fish from the more intensive aquaculture in the lowlands has started to flood the local markets. This development is expected to proceed, which will leave farmers unable to compete in the market in the future. In order to produce fish in a sustainable way, the current system must be improved so that the local fish production increases. There are various reasons that can explain the relatively low productivity in the ponds. These include an unclassifiable grass carp disease that leads to high mortalities, poor water quality, low fish growth rates caused by low quality of fish seed, low quality of feed and manure applied as well as low natural food availability in the ponds. Furthermore, farmers seem to have limited knowledge regarding basic aquaculture techniques, which may be explained by the lack of training or extension services available in this field. In the present study, a ?basket? of modification measures have been proposed. These measures concern the farms themselves (e.g. improved pond management), the institutional and political framework (e.g. support of the local hatcheries) as well as the research. The focus of the next part of the special research program will be the identification of the causative agent of the grass carp disease and the development of prevention and treatment strategies. Additionally, a modified watering and feeding management system will be tested scientifically. It is expected that this locally adapted, improved pond system will lead to significantly higher fish production.
A microeconomic analysis of household forest plantation in the northern uplands of Vietnam : contributions to payments for environmental services policy
(2014) Manasboonphempool, Areeya; Zeller, Manfred
It is uncontested that forests are imperative for environmental conservation and economic development. Benefits from forests are immense and multidimensional: Forests can support local livelihoods, assist poverty alleviation, and provide environmental services for local communities and greater society. Over the past 50 years, about half of the worlds original forest cover has been lost. Vietnam is among the countries where forest degradation is a serious issue. Several measures have been implemented to alleviate forest degradation, including forest land allocation and forest plantation programs. The current and growing international interest of civil society and governments in the acknowledgement of forest environmental services has become mainstream: Vietnam is among several countries who appreciate the need for payment or compensation to local communities for forest values through the payment for environmental services (PES) mechanism. Since 2010, Vietnam has officially introduced a payments for forest environmental services (PFES) scheme to pursue conservation and development goals. However, there is still a lack of knowledge for farmers preferences for policy design and implementation. In spite of a number of studies examining the impacts of forest policies in northern Vietnam, there is limited research on incentive and forest management at the household level. Such an analysis would provide insightful information and entail implications for PES policy, especially in terms of effective participation and cost efficiency. This dissertation attempts to fill this research gap by examining farmers behavior on forest management and their experiences with forest policies that are necessary for determining effective incentives that can bring about changes in behavior related to forest conservation practice in a mountainous area. The research is based on two survey rounds of 300 representative households in Da Bac district, located in the upstream area of the Hoa Binh reservoir in the northwestern region of Vietnam. As previous afforestation programs are based on a top-down approach, this dissertation contributes to the limited research on the potential demand for and farmers preferences in forest management. The analysis provides policy implications for a PES scheme where voluntary participation and cost efficiency are crucial for its success. This dissertation also contributes to a small but growing body of literature on choice experiment application to the field of forest conservation schemes in developing countries. In addition, the analysis of Transaction Costs (TCs) borne by households under the forest management scheme can contribute to the limited number of studies that have empirically analyzed private TCs, particularly in developing countries. The results of our research underline the inadequacy of previous forest plantation support and recommend that when land is limited, higher financial incentives are needed to make forest conservation attractive in a PES scheme. Depending on the contract, there exists a potential demand for forest conservation with a small subsidy or even without a subsidy if extra land is allocated. This suggests that policymakers should integrate land allocation into PES policies to obtain better cost efficiency. As the results indicate that households have different degrees of willingness to participate in forest conservation programs, we recommend that policies target PES campaigns to households who have less interest in forest conservation, such as households with livelihoods that depend mainly on agricultural production, who have not previously joined the forest programs either due to their ineligibility or distrust in local government authorities, and who have limited market access due to poor road conditions. In addition, given that the security of forests influences the decision to plant forest, strengthening monitoring mechanism or introducing insurance to reduce the risk of plantation failure is recommended as another option to promote participation. This dissertation reveals that the amount of incentives that farmers are willing to accept to plant and conserve forest instead of engaging in farming activities is higher than previous subsidies. In mountainous areas where ethnic minorities still live in poverty, a higher subsidy is expected to achieve both environmental conservation and poverty alleviation outcomes. Nevertheless, a critical question arises as to whether a higher subsidy can lead to sustainable household forest management. This question should be addressed by future research by examining longitudinal data on household livelihood and forest management under a PES scheme. It has not been possible to empirically measure TCs of farmers engaged in community-based forest management where such information would provide interesting results on this matter. The implications on this study could be developed further by expanding the survey and gathering data from participants of community-based forest management. Further research on the comparison of TCs associated with community and individual management is recommended to provide information to policymakers and researchers.
Accessing rural finance, The rural financial market in Northern Vietnam
(2007) Dufhues, Thomas; Heidhues, Franz
During the transition of the Vietnamese economy, adaptation of the financial system was one of the most challenging reforms. A major task of this reform was to expand the financial systems outreach to the emerging private sector and household (HH) economies, especially in rural areas. Therefore, state-owned financial intermediaries such as the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (VBARD) and the Vietnam Bank for the Poor (VBP) have been established. Despite general successes in terms of credit outreach, certain population groups seem to have been bypassed by both banks. Furthermore, the strategy pursued by national financial policy has focused mainly on credit supply. Other financial services that potentially have a deeper outreach, e.g. savings products, have been neglected by the government. The overall objective of this research study was to create knowledge on the factors that impede or support access of rural HHs in Northern Vietnam to the formal financial system. Access can be hampered at different levels of the financial system, namely macro/meso level, intermediary level and HH level. A joint analysis of the three levels is therefore appropriate. This implies different methodologies and data collection methods. Thus, this cumulative thesis is divided into four main sections investigating different levels of the system and applying different methodologies (i.e. literature review and information economics, principal component, binary logit, and conjoint analysis). The data collection took place between March 2001 and 2002 in two provinces of Northern Vietnam. In total, 260 HHs were surveyed. In addition, qualitative data were collected at all levels. Furthermore, secondary data were collected from relevant institutions. The rural financial market in Vietnam is still dominated by the aforementioned subsidized financial intermediaries, impeding the establishment of viable financial services. Through the creation of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) (the successor of the dissolved VBP since 2003) the Vietnamese government has separated political lending from commercial lending. Evidence from development banks in other countries suggests that the VBARD, now freed from political lending, is likely to dismiss its peasant clientele and concentrate on wealthier farmers. The question is how long the Government can finance the VBSP, and who will serve the rural poor after the government stops the subsidies and the VBPS cannot carry on its operations? The sustainability of the financial system is still threatened by an accumulation of non-performing loans amassed by state-owned enterprises. In addition, the problem of non-performing loans is spreading to rural HHs. Apart from representing macro-economic threats to the financial system, this moral hazard behavior is hindering the establishment of viable rural financial intermediation. The breadth of outreach of the formal rural lenders is immense. However, the poorest HHs are seldom clients. But general poverty (as captured in the poverty index) does not significantly influence access to formal credit. This means that the poorest HHs simply have much less demand for formal credit products. Improving credit products or offering new credit lines would only slightly improve the credit coverage of poorer HHs. A more promising approach would be to introduce a specialized pro-poor extension service combined with a general improvement in the infrastructure. Nevertheless, the number of access-constrained HHs is surprisingly low, at 16%. One explanation may be the eradication of former access constraints through locally disbursed group credits. However, considering the anecdotal reports of very low repayment rates, the price of eradicating these access constraints has likely been a decrease in financial sustainability. Nevertheless, some barriers to access continue to exist, particularly for ethnic minorities or female-headed HHs. To reduce these access barriers locally-oriented actions should be taken catering to the specific needs of those HHs. The establishment of the VBSP represents an attempt to broaden access in general. But it is questionable whether HHs that do not have access today, or do not demand the existing products, will demand loans from the VBSP. A more sustainable way to promote outreach would be to improve the knowledge of access constrained HHs about credit application procedures. Ethnic or gender diversification of bank staff could broaden the information networks available and could create more awareness of those groups inside the institution. In contrast to the enormous credit outreach, formal savings are rarely used by rural HHs. However, this low effective demand for savings is due to inappropriate services and not to lack of willingness of the rural population to save. Thus, the most appropriate tool to incorporate poorer HHs into the formal financial system would be mobilization of savings by providing adapted services.
Agricultural sciences in upland Northern Vietnam : situating research in a dynamic environment
(2006) Friederichsen, Rupert
This paper aims to provide an introductory overview over the socio-cultural context of Northern Vietnam to agricultural researchers. The paper focuses on the interplay between Vietnam?s lowlands and the uplands to specify what makes the Northern uplands a distinct region; as an object of empirical agricultural research and as a context of application of research results. The paper reviews the developments of selected social institutions from pre-colonial times to the current era of ?renovation?. First, developments in Vietnam?s legal and administrative structures are outlined. Second, education and higher education, particularly the agricultural sciences, are discussed. The third and main part elaborates on social, political, and economic specifics of the Northern Uplands. It is suggested that the relationship between formal and informal institutions is crucial for understanding the dynamics of contemporary uplands Vietnam, particularly in the given multi-cultural situation.
Analysis of factors driving differences in intensification and income from agriculture among smallholder farmers in Northern Vietnam
(2021) Ufer, Susanne; Zeller, Manfred
Challenged by difficult topography, remoteness, high ethnic diversity, low levels of infrastructure, high poverty, and high dependency on upland farming systems the well-being and incomes of ethnic minorities and the poorest in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam, like in many upland areas in Southeast Asia, are still predominantly linked to agricultural productivity. At the same time agricultural commercialization, the introduction of modern agricultural technologies, higher input use, and stronger agricultural specialization have increased the demands on households’ ability to adequately invest in agricultural intensification and to protect themselves from agricultural income risks. In the Northern Uplands, one of these extensively cultivated, highly commercialized, and highly specialized upland crops is maize. A crop that needs high levels of inputs and is predominantly grown for cash income from poor and non-poor farmers alike. Given the low asset levels of households, it is therefore of particular interest which differences in challenges farmers may face regarding the improvement of maize production dependent on their wealth level. Yet, no detailed research exists that analyses how the level of asset endowments with natural, human, physical, financial, and social capital as well as risk aversion impact technology adoption, maize intensification, and maize productivity of farmers of different household wealth. This doctoral thesis seeks to fill these knowledge gaps by investigating the following research topics: (1) the level and short-term changes in agricultural input use and productivity in maize production by household wealth, (2) the impact of risk aversion on fertiliser use in maize production by household wealth, and (3) the impact of household asset levels and the return to assets on productivity differences in maize production between households of different wealth. Research analysis builds on a quantitative dataset collected from a random panel sample of 300 rural households in Yen Chau district, Son La province, in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam in the period from 2007 to 2010. The research area is relatively poor, ethnic diverse, with a high dependency on upland agriculture, crop income, and maize income in particular. Econometric analysis is carried out firstly by organizing households by wealth through a composite asset-based indicator derived from principal component analysis (PCA) and secondly by applying extensive descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and econometric decomposition-based techniques to the so differentiated dataset. Results from the first research topic (1) “Level and short-term changes in agricultural input use and productivity in maize production by household wealth” show that average numbers on maize input use, maize productivity, and maize income hide important wealth-related differences. While adoption rates of modern maize seeds and mineral fertilisers are widespread and very similar by wealth terciles over time, input use intensity of fertilisers, maize yields, and maize incomes differ significantly between the poorest tercile and the wealthier maize farmers. While a substantial share of the poorest household tercile uses fertiliser quantities well below recommended levels, households of the middle and wealthiest terciles are about twice as likely to apply fertilisers according to average or above-average fertiliser recommendation levels. Moreover, between approximately one-tenth and one-quarter of households from all wealth terciles overuse fertiliser, too. The poorest tercile further buys despite the lower use of fertilisers more often seed and fertiliser inputs on-loan than households from higher wealth terciles. Consequently, the poorest households have to pay relatively higher input costs at otherwise mostly similar market prices for seed and fertiliser inputs and maize output. Yield, input price, and output price risks are high in the research area for all households. However, the poorest tercile of households suffers somewhat more from risks due to fluctuations in yield, output price, and maize income. Results from the second research topic (2) “Impact of risk aversion on fertiliser use by household wealth” show that the fertiliser quantity applied to maize is affected by the risk aversion of the household head in the poorest one-third of households and not affected by the risk aversion of the household head of the wealthier households. The results remain valid when different empirical risk aversion measures (i.e. self-assessment scale and lottery game) are considered, when instead of total fertiliser quantity, the quantity of NPK, urea, or total nitrogen are considered, as well as when different measures of household wealth are considered (i.e. asset-based wealth index, household per-capita income, and household per-capita consumption expenditure). Results from the third research topic (3): “Impact of household asset levels and the return to assets on productivity differences in maize production between households of different wealth” show that quantity-based assets effects are more important for the size of the maize income gap per hectare between the poorest one-third of maize farmers and maize farmers of higher wealth than the return-based assets effects. Quantity-based asset effects significantly account for more than two-thirds of the entire maize income gap, while return-based assets effects are on the contrary not statistically significant at all. From the quantity-based assets effects, credit limit, ethnicity of the household head, and upland land value have large and significant effects. Farm size, value of buffalo and cattle, and household head age have smaller and less constant effects. Credit limit is the most important and most consistent driver by size, showing that financial access for poor minority households is still a defining obstacle to agricultural productivity. Ethnicity of the household head has a strong and positive but decreasing impact on the maize income gap, showing that ethnicity-related soft factors, such as differences in location, agricultural practices, and traditions, should be taken more into acknowledgement. From the significance of the upland land value, we conclude that environmental factors, such as the prevention of soil erosion, the protection of soil fertility, and considerations of long-term sustainability, should gain more emphasis. Other minor factors driving the maize income gap are discussed in more detail in the thesis. From the results of the doctoral thesis, we draw the following main conclusions for the development of pro-poor strategies for the improvement of upland agricultural productivity. Firstly, agricultural research and extension should pay more attention to identifying bottlenecks households face dependent on their wealth level to avoid overseeing the specific obstacles poor and non-poor farmers face that may result in the perpetuation of poverty traps, increased inefficiency, and the waste of resources. Consequently, more emphasis is needed on research and extension that incorporate wealth-related agronomic, financial, and risk-related aspects, that better account for the efficient use of inputs, and that place increased emphasis on the adaptation of technological innovations to the farm systems and needs of upland minorities. Secondly, more emphasis should be placed on helping poor households to deal with risks. While all households face yield, input and output price risks, risk aversion affects input intensification decisions in the poorest one-third of households. Hence, especially for the poorest more emphasis should be placed on the expansion of risk management options that account for the lower risk-bearing capacity and higher risk aversion of the poor, and the often higher transaction costs. This includes measures such as improving the financial literacy of households, allowing households to borrow for consumption, linking credit with insurance or saving options, decreasing transaction costs and the complications linked with successfully applying for loans, as well as, if possible, developing innovations like improved seeds or agricultural management systems that have the capacity to lower the downside risks of production. Thirdly, assets should be considered an important driver of agricultural productivity differences between poor and non-poor farmers. Based on the findings that the quantity-based effects of assets are the major and only significant driver of the maize income gap between the poor and non-poor maize farmers, we conclude that the poorest households can have the same productive agricultural potential as the non-poor if they would have the same level of assets. Supporting households to get access to and accumulate assets should be therefore an important policy goal. This is particularly true about assets that can be influenced by agricultural research, improved agricultural extension, and targeted development policy. Based on our research findings this concerns the improvement of access to credit, the support of ethnic minority households, and efforts to increase the sustainability of upland agriculture. Fourthly, investing in the long-term suitability of maize production and upland farming systems is recommended. While maize can be a very profitable cash crop in the short run, the results of this doctoral thesis also show that a strong specialization in maize production may embody multiple short-term and long-term economic as well as sustainability related livelihood risks. This includes the possibly limited extent of the profitability of additional credit and inputs as well as a strong dependency on the quality of natural resources. In consequence, policies should focus on directly improving the conditions for maize productivity as well as improving the conditions for long-term development. Such measures include supporting households to invest more in profitable on-farm and off-farm diversification, the improvement of infrastructure and extension to increase the profitability of unused cropping choices, the development of profitable soil protection measures, and investments in education and the development of off-farm job alternatives.
Comparative advantage of Vietnam's rice sector under different liberalisation scenarios: a policy analysis matrix (PAM) study
(2004) Nguyen, Manh Hai; Heidhues, Franz
The rapidly changing global economic environment and domestic economic reforms in Viet-nam have brought the issue of comparative advantage of the rice sector to the forefront. In recent years, Vietnam has had to compete in an increasingly competitive rice export market. This paper examines the fluctuations in the comparative advantage of Vietnamese rice production based on different scenarios of trade liberalisation and economic reform in Viet-nam. To do this, a Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) was used in conjunction with an econo-metric model. The study involved simulation of a large number of scenarios of trade liberalisation and macroeconomic reform, using variations in a single factor and in a group of factors such as product price and input costs, i.e., the price of imported fertilisers, land, water and labour costs, etc. The empirical results show that in 1998 (the baseline scenario), the comparative advantage in rice was relatively high and that the use of domestic resources ? i.e., land, labour and water ? was efficient in economic terms. The estimated DRC elasticities in respect of the world rice price and the shadow exchange rate in 1998 showed a considerably improved com-parative advantage. The estimated DRC elasticities for land rent, the social costs of labour, the import price of fertilisers and irrigation water charges were small in absolute values indi-cating small and negative impacts on comparative advantage with a rise in these prices. The results of sensitivity analyses revealed that the comparative advantage of rice is very sensitive to changes in its export price. In addition, the exchange rate and land rent are also important determinants of the rice sector?s comparative advantage in Vietnam. Other empirical results show that Vietnam is still likely to retain its comparative advantage in rice production in the next decade; however, its comparative advantage might be seriously affected or even dis-appear entirely if Vietnam is exposed to a number of unfavourable economic conditions simultaneously. The major recommendation of this paper is that production should be diversified, with appropriate agricultural policy support, within a broader framework of macroeconomic transformation and trade liberalisation.
Compound-specific 13C fingerprinting for sediment source allocationin intensely cultivated catchments
(2018) Brandt, Christian; Cadisch, Georg
The loss of fertile topsoil due to soil degradation and erosion not only threatens crop productivity, but also induces sedimentation of aquatic systems and leads to social-, economical-, and environmental problems in many regions of the world. The abandonment of shifting cultivation in favor of intensive mono-cultural cropping systems on sloping land accompanied by rainfall detachment and surface runoff induced soil erosion is one of the most pressing environmental and agricultural problems in the highlands of Southeast Asia. Informed soil management strategies require knowledge on the main sediment sources in a catchment. Compound-specific stable isotope (CSSI) fingerprinting, based on δ13C values of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), allows identifying hot-spots of soil erosion, particularly with regard to assigning sediment sources to actual land uses. In this regard, we assessed the potential of the CSSI – fingerprinting approach to assign sediment sources to specific land use types in various intensely cultivated catchments. In a first step we improved the statistical procedure to identify sediment sources in a heterogeneous agricultural catchment in the mountainous northwestern region of Vietnam. In a next step we tested the CSSI-fingerprinting under different agro-ecological conditions to evaluate its global applicability, using an aligned protocol. Finally, we integrated CSSI-fingerprinting and fallout radio nuclide (FRN, 210Pbex, 137Cs) analysis to estimate past net erosion rates linked to land use types. In conclusion, the integrated Bayesian SIAR-CSSI approach was an appropriate tool to identify and assign sediment sources to actual land uses in small and heterogeneous catchments. This methodology was also suitable to identify hot-spots of soil erosion in contrasting catchments of different sizes and agro-ecological zones. Integrating CSSI-fingerprinting and fallout radio nuclide analysis to determine past sediment budgets provided insight into the impact of specific land use changes on soil retrogression and degradation. Such knowledge is of great value for informed and effective soil conservation through evidence-based land management and decision making.
Constraints and potential of livestock insurance schemes: a case study from Vietnam
(2004) Fischer, Isabel; Dufhues, Thomas Bernhard; Lemke, Ute
Livelihood systems of poor rural households are often so fragile that a small misfortune can destabilize households for years. Strategies for coping with risk include informal mutual aid agreements and/or formal microinsurance schemes. In developing countries, insurance markets are usually underdeveloped.Nevertheless, if the development path is supported by strong structures and institutions, anonymous markets will, over time, replace informal insurance networks as they are more efficient. In Vietnam, livestock is an important household income source and has additional non-economic functions in the households. For a long time, rural financial institutions in Vietnam financed only a small array of agricultural investments, but these frequently included livestock purchase. The absence of off-farm investment possibilities further promotes investment in livestock production. Failure of an investment, especially when loan-funded, can leave a household in an extremely vulnerable position. Livestock death is considered to be a major factor contributing to poverty. Farmers using credit to purchase livestock face two risks at once: (1) loss of the livestock due tovdisease and subsequently (2) failure of investment. Farmers would like to reduce the uncertainty, but a broad-based livestock insurance scheme does not exist in Vietnam. There are only a few formal and semi-formal schemes with very limited outreach. Thus, access to formal insurance is almost non-existent, and farm households have to rely mainly on informal mutual aid schemes within their social networks to reduce their risks. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on the general feasibility of a livestock insurance scheme in Vietnam. In this context, the demand for and supply of livestock insurance schemes is discussed. Quantitative (N=322) and qualitative data collection took place between 2001 and 2004. The quantitative data comprise cross-sectional household-level data from three different districts in Northern Vietnam. Four different types of insurance providers were selected for analyzing the supply side: 1. Insurance tied to credit within a state-owned company; 2. Insurance tied to credit within a development project; 3. A state-owned insurance company (which collapsed); 4. A private insurance company. By selecting these different insurance providers, the range of livestock insurance types offered in Vietnam was covered. The main result is that provision of sustainable livestock insurance is hampered principally by unreliable data on livestock mortality and by premia that are set politically at a low evel.
Contract farming and its impact on production efficiency and rural household income in the Vietnamese tea sector
(2011) Saigenji, Yoshiko; Zeller, Manfred
Over the last two decades, Vietnam accomplished rapid economic growth under the transitional economy. Significant developments in the agricultural sector brought in by the renovation policy have propelled the country to the rank of the second largest rice exporter in the world. The steady economic growth along with increasing population has led to a rise in demand for agricultural products in the domestic market. Furthermore, Vietnam?s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007 is seen to have boosted the country?s economic reforms resulting in greater integration with the global economy. Despite these massive political and economic changes, Vietnam is still struggling with high poverty levels, particularly in the remote North West region. The country?s income poverty rate stands at 15.5% while its reaches a 39.4% in the North West Region of the country (GSO 2007). The North West region, with its mountainous topography and temperate climate, is one of the main and historical tea cultivation areas in Vietnam. Its surrounding big cities offer steady demand for high quality tea produced in this region. In 1999, the Vietnamese government implemented a development plan for tea production for the period of 2005-2010 (Decision 43/1999 QD-TTg) with an aim to increase production, export and create employment. The implementation of this policy was expected to alleviate poverty in the uplands tea producing areas, which are often poor mountainous regions with small scale farming, and limited off-farm income opportunities. Other important public policies measures adopted by Vietnam to stimulate the development of the tea value chain and promote greater access to market for the rural poor farmers include ?the law of Private Enterprise? which was promulgated in 1990, and ?the Enterprise Law? which was enacted in 1999 and revised in 2005. In addition to such public policies, vertical coordination in tea supply chain is required to ensure greater small-scale farmers participation to market. Tea being a perishable agricultural commodity which needs early processing after harvesting, vertical coordination can reduce production and marketing risk faced by small-scale farmers. Contract farming is a type of vertical coordination that encourages small-scale farmers? participation in tea production. It refers to an arrangement between producers and processors to exchange inputs and outputs with pre-agreed price, time, quality and quantity (Singh, 2002). It is also applied widely in the tea sector of North-Western Vietnam. The role of contract farming as a rural development tool has been discussed in many empirical studies. One major thread of that literature is that contract farming permits to link producers with agricultural markets especially in less developed countries. It is argued that contract farming offers advantages for small-holder farmers in ensuring their access to inputs, credit, insurance, information, technology and markets. In economics theory, particularly in the framework of new institutional economics, contract farming is often explained as an institutional response to market failures such as information asymmetric with respect to price and/or quality and the incompleteness or imperfections in the markets for credit, inputs and agricultural services. Transaction cost is one of the important elements in the analysis of market institutions. Empirical studies reveal that high transaction costs discourage small-holders to participate in markets. In tea production, sunk costs associated with high initial investments, and commodity?s perishable and time specific processing characteristics, heighten their asset specificity. This high degree of asset specificity in tea production emphasizes the need for contract farming. Furthermore, contracting is one way to divide risks associated with production and marketing between the firm and the producer. In short the method of contract farming provides a foil for the shortcomings in both parties. The objective of this study is to investigate the importance of income from tea production for the household income of poor small-holder farmers in North West Vietnam. More specifically, given the importance of vertical coordination in agricultural production, the study?s main focus is to investigate the involvement of small-holder farmers in the integrated agro-food channels and evaluate its impact on their livelihood. There are three specific research questions included in the study: 1. Does contract farming enhance production efficiency compared to non-contract farming? 2. What are the differences in socio-economic characteristics of contract and non-contract farmers? 3. How strong is the impact of contract participation on household income? For this study, Moc Chau district, one of the traditional tea producing areas in Vietnam, was selected as the research site. The district has 3,200ha of tea producing area with a total of 6,726 households engaged in tea production. Moc Chau is located 950m above sea level, and has tropical monsoon climate, which is ideal for tea production. Three types of organizational arrangements are found in terms of production and marketing where tea producer were involved: 1. via state-owned enterprise 2. via private company 3. and via direct spot market The population is stratified into four clusters: 1. tea farmers contracting with state-owned enterprise (SOE) 2. tea farmers contracting with private firms or cooperative 3. tea farmers with no contract 4. and non-tea farmers A sample of 40 households was randomly drawn from clusters 1 and 2 each. A larger sample was obtained from each of the clusters 3 and 4, since they serve as control groups with higher heterogeneity and variance with respect to socio-economic and farming characteristics. Overall the samples from the four clusters consisted of 245 farm households. The survey questionnaire included modules on household demography, other socio-economic characteristics and tea production. The socio-economic modules of the questionnaire were based on Living Standard Measurement Surveys (LSMS) methodology. These modules aim to measure and understand the living standards of households. The tea production modules aim to obtain information on production, costs and production efficiency, and the market module consisted with the questions on contract participation associated with socio-economic characteristics of households. In addition, quantitative and qualitative surveys at the village level and on a few selected tea firms were conducted to understand institutional changes in the village and to investigate socio-political factors influencing tea production. The entire survey was conducted during the period between June and November 2007. The first research question was investigated using the Stochastic Production Frontier Function (SPFF) model to estimate the technical efficiency associated with socio-economic characteristics of households, and to assess the difference among the clusters. The results showed high coefficient estimates of partial production elasticity associated with land size and material costs (a sum of costs of fertilizer, manure and pesticide). The SPFF model also identified significantly higher technical efficiency estimate of the group which is in contract with the SOE by applying non-parametric tests. This observation is associated with three different household characteristics: age, education and number of farm income source. Contrary to our initial expectation, living standard of households was not a determining factor for achieving higher technical efficiency. This result threw light on one concern: there might be a selection bias if contract participation is associated with household characteristics. To deal with the problem of homogeneity in the model, a treatment effects model was applied to control selection bias, and estimate and assess the technical efficiency with reduced-bias samples. The second research question was investigated using the Binary Outcome model to find the probability of participation. Ten variables obtained from household survey were included in the model to determine contract participation in a contract farming scheme. The results revealed that six out of ten variables associated with household characteristics are statistically significant determinants of participation in contract farming. The six variables are average age of adults, squared average age of adults, proportion of adults who finished secondary school, years of experience in tea production, number of years of residence in the village, and number of memberships in organizations of adults. The results indicated that older farmers participate more in contracts than younger farmers; perhaps to avoid risks associated with marketing and production. Also, those farmers who have more experience in tea production tend to participate more in a contract farming scheme. Access to information also might be one of the important determinants for farmers to decide to participate in a contract. Longer residence in the village negatively affects contract participation because it broadens farmers? social networks where they can acquire more market information which enables the establishment of their own marketing channels. On the other hand, farmer?s membership in any kind of organizations positively affects contract participation. By being members of an organization, farmers are more exposed to positive information on contracting which might enhance their participation. To assess the impact of contract farming participation on income, the propensity score matching method was applied to reduce the bias in the estimation of the treatment effect of contract farming participation. The estimation revealed a statistically significant, but very small impact of contract farming participation on daily per-capita income of about 900 Vietnamese Dong (VND). The technical efficiency estimate after matching revealed a statistically significant difference between farmers who contract with SOE and non-contract farmers, but there was no statistically significant difference between farmers who contract with private firms and non-contract farmers. Hence, it can be assumed that the SOE provides more precise and experienced extension service or technical advice than the private firms. The empirical study shows that production efficiency and income of households could be increased through participation in contract farming. It also highlights that government can play a crucial role in linking resource-poor farmers to market, particularly in developing countries.
Development of high quality niche products from local chicken and pig genetic resources
(2016) Muth, Philipp; Valle Zárate, Anne
This thesis indicates that the application of non-conventional and/or slow-growing pig and chicken genotypes alone does not guarantee a superior and/or distinctive meat color and quality of the products. It appears that the valorization of monogastric meat products through niche marketing is critically dependent on matching the respective genotype with appropriate production methods, thus, for instance, highlighting the need for producers to be discerning in regard to the choice of slaughter age and feeding strategy. In the case that these premises are implemented, a distinguished positioning of meat products derived from local pig and chicken genetic resources can be realized, and, expanded by standards that also take the social and economic dimensions of food value chains into account, translated into a common pool resource as a basis for an alternative food network. Efforts should then be directed toward the elaboration of stable distribution channels and effective governance structures in the respective food network.
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.
Labour as a utility measure in contingent valuation studies : how good is it really?
(2010) Ahlheim, Michael; Frör, Oliver; Heinke, Antonia; Duc, Nguyen Minh; Van Dinh, Pham
The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) aims at the assessment of people's willingness to pay (WTP) for a public project. The sum of the individual WTPs is interpreted as the social benefits of the project under consideration and compared to the project costs. If the benefits exceed the costs the project is recommended for realization. In very poor societies budgets are so tight that households cannot give up any part of their income, i.e. of their market consumption, in favour of a public project, so that their WTP for that project stated in a CVM interview has to be zero or close to zero. This leads to a severe discrimination against poor regions in the decision process on the allocation of public funds. Therefore, several authors suggest to use labour contributions to the realization of a public project instead of monetary contributions as a measure of people's WTP for that project. In this paper we show theoretically and empirically, based on a CVM study conducted in Vietnam, that labour is severely flawed as a measuring rod for individual utility so that CVM based on labour contributions does not provide a reliable and meaningful decision rule for the allocation of public projects.
Labour as a utility measure reconsidered
(2017) Pham, Van Dinh; Ahlheim, Michael; Frör, Oliver; Nguyen, Minh Duc; Rehl, Antonia; Siepmann, Ute
In Stated Preference studies for the appraisal of environmental projects in poor countries or regions it often turns out that the stated willingness to pay of people for environmental improvements, which is used as measure of individual welfare changes, is very low. This is often interpreted as the result of extremely tight budget constraints, which make it impossible that people express their true appreciation of an environmental project in terms of their willingness to pay for it. Therefore, it is sometimes suggested to use labour contributions instead of money as a numeraire to measure utility in such studies. In this paper we show theoretically and empirically that this suggestion is not compatible with the principles of welfare theory because of several inconsistencies. We also illustrate the validity of our arguments empirically based on the results of a Contingent Valuation study conducted in a rural area in northern Vietnam.
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.
Optimising breeding programmes with local pig breeds in North Vietnam considering functions of pigs for smallholders and logistic determinants
(2009) Rößler, Regina; Valle Zárate, Anne
Due to an increasing national demand for pig meat products in Vietnam, national development incentives focus on the intensification of the pig production. Still, the majority of the national pig herd is kept on smallholder farms. For a successful integration of smallholders into a market-oriented pig production, numerous constraints have to be overcome. One possibility is the development of village breeding programmes. This study uses an innovative approach, combining an institutional analysis of the pig breeding organisation and deterministic modelling to evaluate the technical appropriateness as well as organisational feasibility of alternative smallholder breeding schemes with the aim to identify an appropriate design of village breeding programmes for different smallholder pig production systems in Northwest Vietnam. In concluding, heterogeneous breed and trait preferences for local pig breeds of smallholders in different pig production systems have to be considered for the successful implementation of village breeding programmes. In addition, measures have to be adopted to improve factors that increase the genetic gain and to decrease high breeding costs. For the latter, a simplification of the currently complex and research-oriented performance testing scheme is recommended. The integration of smallholder pig breeding into regional and national structures is necessary to ensure the sustainability of village breeding programmes. Stratified crossbreeding schemes linking villages in different production systems together with the establishment of breeding cooperatives at village level and short food supply chains could help strengthen the currently weak links of smallholders to other breeding institutions and integrate several villages into a producer cooperative. Thus, small pig breeding populations could be enlarged and smallholders, particularly those in remote villages with poorly developed infrastructure, could be integrated into existing regional value chains for local pig meat products. Yet, limited financial and technical capacities of smallholders require the support from the government, particularly in the implementation phase. Implemented breeding programmes should be as simple as possible in order to reduce the risk for smallholders.
Regional development perspectives in Vietnam: insights from a 2002 provincial social accounting matrix (SAM)
(2004) Heidhues, Franz; Breisinger, Clemens
Growing regional disparities in Vietnam have encouraged plans to extend the national Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategies (CPRGS) to the provincial level. The northern mountainous province of Son La has distinctive development perspectives. It was selected as the site of Vietnam?s planned biggest dam and hydroelectric power plant. Large-scale infrastructure investments are expected to contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction in the region. The impacts of these investments on the regional economy can be assessed with a multiplier model based on a regional social accounting matrix (SAM). In this paper, we present a 2002 SAM for Son La. To shed light on the socioeconomic situation, we review insights from this detailed database. A SAM-based multiplier model is then put forward to examine linkages within the provincial economy and to present first results of demand-side effects of infrastructure investment in the local construction sector.
Risk preferences and intra-household financial decision-making in rural Vietnam : a comparison of their elicitation methods and determinants
(2013) Nielsen, Thea; Zeller, Manfred
Although it is widely accepted that risk preferences and women?s empowerment influence decision making and have tangible outcomes, such as on livelihood strategies, food security, and poverty traps, there is no consensus on their determinants or measurement. Improved methods to elicit risk preferences and decision-making power as well as a better understanding of their determinants can allow development policy to better match smallholders? risk preferences and to increase women?s empowerment. This thesis has two main objectives: 1) To identify influencing factors of risk preferences and intra-household decision-making power based on a conceptual framework; 2) To improve measurements of risk preferences and intra-household decision-making by comparing widely used methods to more innovative ones. Data was collected from both household heads and spouses in a random sample of 300 households, representative of Yen Chau district, Son La Province in northwestern Vietnam. On average, respondents are poor, have a low level of education, worry about food security, produce maize for cash income and rice for home consumption, and rely heavily on social networks to obtain credit. Moreover, households face significant risks from idiosyncratic and covariate shocks. Following an introductory chapter explaining the importance of a better understanding of determinants of risk preferences and decision-making power to improve income and food security of smallholders, the second chapter examines determinants of risk preferences using a cross-section dataset. The chapter compares five widely applied methods to elicit risk preferences (a non-hypothetical lottery game, financial risk tolerance question, self-assessment scale, income gambles, and inheritance gambles) to four innovative methods (yield and price gambles of the main cash crop, maize, and the main food crop, rice). The results show that respondents are, on average, very risk averse. Moreover, correlations between most measures are statistically highly significant, though most are weak, suggesting that measures related to different decision domains should be compared with caution. Based on a conceptual framework, we outline the hypothesized determinants of risk preferences: the decision domain, prior experiences, and the asset base including human, financial, and social capital. We find that gender, age, idiosyncratic shocks, education, social norms, network-reliance with extended family, and connections to local authorities are significant determinants of risk preferences across most elicitation methods. The significance of several social capital proxies suggests that people's risk preferences are embedded in social institutions. Previous studies emphasize that shocks cause households to fall into poverty traps and that households can remain trapped in poverty because of risk aversion, yet previous research has not attempted to discern whether shocks influence risk aversion. The third chapter examines risk preference stability and whether shocks, social capital, and other characteristics change risk preferences between the lean and harvest season. Risk preferences were assessed from the same respondents using three widely applied methods (a lottery game, financial risk tolerance question, and self-assessment scale) and four innovative methods involving yield and price gambles of maize and rice. The results indicate that for all but one assessment method ? the financial risk tolerance question ? risk preferences are not stable between seasons. Respondents became less risk averse according to the lottery game and self-assessment scale, while they became more risk averse according to the rice and maize gambles. Both time-invariant characteristics, such as gender, education and social capital proxies, and time-variant characteristics, such as idiosyncratic and covariate shocks, are significant determinants of risk preference changes between seasons, although determining factors differ by assessment method. The fourth chapter examines influencing factors of wives' empowerment and husbands' dominance in ten financial decisions ? saving, family budgeting, and taking out and repaying four different sized loans. Based on theories and previous research on intra-household decision-making, we hypothesize that individual-, household-, and institutional-level factors may influence women?s decision-making power for financial decisions. We find that wives are less likely to be the primary decision-making for higher-valued loans and that influencing factors of wives' empowerment include her ability to speak Vietnamese, her education, women-controlled income, household income, network-reliance with extended family, and the ratio of children members to all household members. Influencing factors of husbands' dominance in financial decision-making include the wife's inability to speak Vietnamese, his education, the number of other women living in the household, and network-reliance with extended family. These determinants vary by financial decision. The results of this thesis can be used to help households better cope with shocks, encourage investments in new livelihood strategies, improve women's empowerment in specific household financial decisions, and lead to the development of more suitable and informative methods to elicit risk preferences and decision-making power.
Sharing forest resources in the Northern Uplands of Vietnam : an institutional analysis
(2016) Tran, Thi Thu Huong; Zeller, Manfred
After decades of policies favoring centralization, Vietnam has been moving toward decentralization in the forestry sector since the 1990s. This shift began with the provision of incentives for allocating and/or leasing forest and forest land to state- and non-state stakeholders for long-term management. Along with forest land allocation, the government has implemented various nationwide reforestation, afforestation, and forest protection programs. These programs are the Greening the Barren Hills Program (known as Program 327) from 1992 to 1998, the Five Million Hectare Reforestation Program (known as Program 661) from 1998 to 2010, the Program 661’s successor - the Plan for Forest Protection and Development from 2011 to 2020, and the Payments for Forest Environmental Services Program (PFES) from 2011 to today. The goal of these programs is to provide incentives to encourage farmers to participate in forest conservation activities. To date, there is limited research using the institutional approach on incentives and on the implementation of decentralization programs. There is also a lack of research on innovative ways to improve administrative and transaction cost aspects of these programs. A greater understanding of how these programs have been implemented at local levels, how they affect local forest management efforts, and the role of stakeholders is crucial to provide insights and policy recommendations for future forest conservation policies. This dissertation aims to fill this research gap by analyzing the implementation of current national forestry policies through an institutional approach and by proposing the acknowledgment of the role of state bodies, namely, state forest enterprises (SFEs), as implementing agencies at local levels under the Payments for Forest Environmental Services Program. This research is based on data collected from individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in 2012 and 2014 in Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province in northwestern Vietnam. Despite the important role of the transaction cost analysis for assessing the effectiveness of institutional arrangements within natural resource management, this type of analysis is often neglected in policy analysis. Therefore, this study’s analysis of transaction costs borne by participating farmers in Program 661 contributes to the small handful of empirical studies on private TCs associated with natural resource management activities. Moreover, proposing SFEs to function as intermediaries in the implementation of the PFES Program contributes to the limited number of studies on innovative ways to reduce transaction costs of managing this program. In addition, the dissertation contributes empirical evidence on the institutional analysis of the PFES scheme. This topic has rarely been studied and the inclusion of institutional interplay is the least researched area in the literature. As Vietnam is the first country in the region to initiate the PFES scheme nationwide, the lessons learned from the design of the PFES scheme and from its implementation in the field are valuable to other developing countries with similar conditions. Future research should evaluate national forestry policies by examining public transaction costs faced by implementing agencies. This will allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of forestry policies and programs and thus help the development of future policies and programs.
Simulating the impact of land use change on ecosystem functions in data-limited watersheds of Mountainous Mainland Southeast Asia
(2015) Lippe, Melvin; Cadisch, Georg
The presented PhD thesis deals with the development of new modelling approaches and application procedures to simulate the impact of land use change (LUC) on soil fertility, carbon sequestration and mitigation of soil erosion and sediment deposition under data-limited conditions, using three mountainous watersheds in Northern Thailand, Northern and North-western Vietnam as case study areas. The first study investigated if qualitative datasets derived during participatory processes can be used to parameterize the spatially-explicit, soil fertility-driven FALLOW (Forest, Agroforest, Low-value Landscape Or Wasteland?) model. Participatory evaluations with different stakeholder groups were conducted in a case study village of Northwest Vietnam to generate model input datasets. A local colour-based soil quality classification system was successfully integrated into the FALLOW soil module to test scenarios how current or improved crop management would impact the evolution of upland soil fertility levels. The scenario analysis suggested a masking effect of ongoing soil fertility decline by using fertilizers and hybrid crop varieties, indicating a resource overuse that becomes increasingly irreversible without external interventions. Simulations further suggested that the success rate of improved cropping management methods becomes less effective with increasing soil degradation levels and cannot fully restore initial soil fertility. The second case study examined the effects of LUC on the provisioning of long-term carbon sinks illustrated for a case study watershed in Northern Thailand. Based on land use history data, participatory appraisals and expert interviews, a scenario analysis was conducted with the Dyna-CLUE (Dynamic and Conversion of Land use Effects) model to simulate different LUC trajectories in 2009 to 2029. The scenario analysis demonstrated a strong influence of external factors such as cash crop demands and nature conservation strategies on the spatial evolution of land use patterns at watershed-scale. Coupling scenario-specific LUC maps with a carbon accounting procedure further revealed that depending on employed time-averaged input datasets, up to 1.7 Gg above-ground carbon (AGC) could be built-up by increasing reforestation or orchard areas until 2029. In contrast, a loss of 0.4 Gg in AGC stocks would occur, if current LUC trends would be continued until 2029. Coupled model computations further revealed that the uncertainty of estimated AGC stocks is larger than the expected LUC scenario effects as a function of employed AGC input dataset. The third case study examined the impact of land use change on soil erosion and sediment deposition patterns in a small watershed of mountainous Northern Vietnam using a newly developed dynamic and spatially-explicit erosion and sediment deposition model (ERODEP), which was further coupled with the LUCIA (Land Use Change Impact Assessment) model building on its hydrological and vegetation growth routines. Employing available field datasets for a period of four years, ERODEP-LUCIA simulated reasonably well soil erosion and sediment deposition patterns following the annual variations in land use and rainfall regimes. Output validation (i.e. Modelling Efficiency=EF) revealed satisfying to good simulation results, i.e. plot-scale soil loss under upland swiddening (EF: 0.60-0.86) and sediment delivery rates in monitored streamflow (EF: 0.44-0.93). Cumulative sediment deposition patterns in lowland paddy fields were simulated fairly well (EF: 0.66), but showed limitations in adequately predicting silt fractions along a spatial gradient in a lowland monitoring site. In conclusion, data-limited conditions are a common feature of many tropical environments such as Northern Thailand and Northern/North-western Vietnam. Environmental modellers, decision makers and stakeholders have to be aware of the trade-offs between model complexity, input demands, and output reliability. It is not necessarily the challenge of data-limitations, but rather the decision from the very beginning if the aim is to develop a new model tool or to use existing model structures to support environmental decision making. Future modelling-based investigations in data-limited areas should combine scientifically-based approaches with participatory procedures, because scientific assessment can support environmental policy making, but stakeholders’ decision will finally determine the provisioning of ecosystem functions in the long run. A generic assessment framework is proposed as synthesis of this study to employ dynamic and spatially-explicit models to examine the impact of LUC on ecosystem functions. The application of such a generic framework is especially useful in data-limited environments such as Mountainous Mainland Southeast Asia, as it not only provides guidance during the modelling process, but also supports the prioritisation of input data demands and reduces fieldwork needs to a minimum.
Studies on the nutritional quality of plant materials used as fish feed in Northern Vietnam
(2009) Dongmeza, Euloge Brice; Becker, Klaus
Fish demand has risen worldwide as populations have grown and incomes have increased; thus, fish are highly likely to continue becoming more expensive over the next two decades. This situation could endanger the availability of fish to the lower income groups and poor people in developing countries. Fisheries and aquatic products are an important source of protein in Vietnamese diets. However, in the upland areas, fish is scarce and expensive, and signs of protein malnutrition such as discoloration of hair and skin could be frequently observed among the poor inhabitants of Son La province, Northern Vietnam where the average price for fish on the local market was approximately 1.4 US$ kg-1 in 2005 which can be considered high, particularly when compared to the monthly per capita income in Son La of approximately 13.4 US$. Nevertheless, in the villages of that region nearly all households have at least one pond. The major inputs to the ponds system are crop leaves and residues and occasionally grasses and weeds. The annual fish production is low in the region. The aquaculture system in this region is lacking in adequate feed and feeding concept for the different fish species kept here. Fish are cultured in tilapia and cyprinid-based polyculture, the main species being grass carp which is the only species capable of efficiently ingesting and digesting the soluble cell contents of the leaf material used as input to the pond system. Despite these constraints, fish farming contributes enormously to food security in the region and generates incomes. Up to now, none of the feeds currently used in Son La Province have been analysed or tested. Therefore in the first part of this study presents a quantitative evaluation of the gross chemical composition, energy and antinutrient content of the plant residues used as fish feed in the course of the year in Son La Province, Northern Vietnam. The potential of some of these plant materials (such as Banana, cassava and bamboo leaves) to be used all over the year as fish feed depending on the seasonal variation of their nutrient, energy and antinutrient compositions has been presented. In this study, the analysis of the different feedstuffs fed to fish in northern Vietnam showed that some of them had relatively high protein and low fibre content. However, for some of the feedstuffs the antinutrient content was high. During the second part of this work, feeding experiments were conducted simultaneously in a computer controlled respirometer system, which allowed feeding and continuous measurement of oxygen consumption and in a water recirculation aquaria system where the faeces collection was more viable and the apparent digestibility and metabolisibility of the nutrients and energy of six of these plant residues in grass carp have been determined. The simultaneous measurement of the oxygen consumption of the fish fed the diets containing the different plant leaf materials gave accurate informations on the metabolic cost (amount of O2 consumed per unit of body mass gain) of the utilization of the diets containing these plant leaves. The results of the present study indicate that the protein and other nutrients of banana and fresh maize leaves are valuable supplements in fishmeal-based diets for grass carp as they meet the nutritional demands and excel a fast growth of these fish. The findings clearly show that fresh and dry leaf material can be differently digested by grass carp; moreover the study clearly shows the role of dietary plant fibres and some antinutrients on nutrient assimilation in grass carp. The information provided in this study is a good base for scientists and extension workers for the development of improved feeding strategies in many tropical poor countries in the world based on plant materials available locally for herbivorous fish like grass carp. These findings should be further tested under pond conditions as they could lead to an increase of fish productivity with plant based feeds and enhance the livelihood of the small-scale farmers in the rural areas.

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