Experts on April 6 called for Vietnam to clarify policies thatsupport farmers and agriculture enterprises instead of putting too muchemphasis on growth targets.
The call came as part of a draft proposal on restructuring the sector to become more sustainable and market-oriented by 2020.
Speaking at the consultation meeting, Minister of AgriculturalDevelopment and Rural Planning Cao Duc Phat acknowledged that despiteyears of rapid growth, the rate of agricultural GDP decreased from 4percent annually in the period 1995-2000 to 3.83 percent in 2001-05 and3.3 percent in 2006-10.
"The sector is quite vulnerable to diseases such as bird flu and natural disasters," he said.
In the proposal, the Ministry pointed out that agricultural productionhas been heavily reliant on crop production, a low investment rate thatonly amounted to 6.26 percent GDP in 2010, overexploitation of naturalresources that go along with intensive farming and widening use ofagro-chemicals, fertilisers, pesticides and growth stimulants.
It suggested the livestock, fishery, forestry and salt productionsectors move to large-scale production, encourage private investment andpublic-private-partnerships, apply science and technology policies andprovide preferable credit and loan policies.
Steve Jaffee,World Bank Rural Development sector co-ordinator, said governmentplanners should only set strategic targets related to competitiveness,sustainability and innovation, not production goals.
"Ifyou're moving toward a market-led approach, the market will decidewhether it's 46 or 50 million tonnes. Both domestic and internationalconsumers will make the decision," he said.
However, WorldBank Country Director Victoria Kwawa said there is not enough "focus onthe policy elements," particularly the kind of policies to encouragefarmers and other small holders to increase value-added production.
Saying "the poor are left behind in the strategy," some participantsargued that focus remained on growth instead of shifting to address howthe sector will adapt to climate change, address the issue of foodsafety and the type of policy environment that encourages investors.
Nguyen Tri Ngoc, head of the MARD's Department of Crop Production,agreed that the Government's resolution issued in 2010 to encourageinvestment in agriculture basically did not yield any result after morethan a year.
Vu Trong Binh, deputy head of the Instituteof Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, saidthe proposal should move in the direction of restructuring based onregional production, increasing the quality of the supply chain andproviding a fairer environment for public and private enterprises toaccess resources.
The proposal emphasised targets that gobeyond the control of the MARD such as changes in world market prices,said Ari Kokko, professor at the Department of International Economicsand Management of the Copenhagen Business School .
"I think it will be more appropriate if targets could be defined withreference to the variables that are actually controlled by the MARD,"Kokko said. "This has to do with policies and inputs related toknowledge, infrastructure, credits, extension services, storagefacilities, coordination of investments and so forth."
Inhis paper sent to the consultation meeting, professor David Dapice,chief economist for the Vietnam Programme at the John F. Kennedy Schoolof Government, wrote that with respect to environmental threats to theMekong Delta, too little may have been written in the proposal.
"The combination of falling ground water levels due to over-pumping,disrupted hydrology due to upstream dams and rising sea levels couldseverely damage the entire ecosystem," he explained. "It will be betterto work on salt tolerant crops and fish raising systems as well asrecharge of groundwater and raised beds for higher value crops."
Referring to the strategy as "top down, not bottom-up", Dapice stressedthat the government should realise "the success of the targets dependson those who seem to be ignored."-VNA
The call came as part of a draft proposal on restructuring the sector to become more sustainable and market-oriented by 2020.
Speaking at the consultation meeting, Minister of AgriculturalDevelopment and Rural Planning Cao Duc Phat acknowledged that despiteyears of rapid growth, the rate of agricultural GDP decreased from 4percent annually in the period 1995-2000 to 3.83 percent in 2001-05 and3.3 percent in 2006-10.
"The sector is quite vulnerable to diseases such as bird flu and natural disasters," he said.
In the proposal, the Ministry pointed out that agricultural productionhas been heavily reliant on crop production, a low investment rate thatonly amounted to 6.26 percent GDP in 2010, overexploitation of naturalresources that go along with intensive farming and widening use ofagro-chemicals, fertilisers, pesticides and growth stimulants.
It suggested the livestock, fishery, forestry and salt productionsectors move to large-scale production, encourage private investment andpublic-private-partnerships, apply science and technology policies andprovide preferable credit and loan policies.
Steve Jaffee,World Bank Rural Development sector co-ordinator, said governmentplanners should only set strategic targets related to competitiveness,sustainability and innovation, not production goals.
"Ifyou're moving toward a market-led approach, the market will decidewhether it's 46 or 50 million tonnes. Both domestic and internationalconsumers will make the decision," he said.
However, WorldBank Country Director Victoria Kwawa said there is not enough "focus onthe policy elements," particularly the kind of policies to encouragefarmers and other small holders to increase value-added production.
Saying "the poor are left behind in the strategy," some participantsargued that focus remained on growth instead of shifting to address howthe sector will adapt to climate change, address the issue of foodsafety and the type of policy environment that encourages investors.
Nguyen Tri Ngoc, head of the MARD's Department of Crop Production,agreed that the Government's resolution issued in 2010 to encourageinvestment in agriculture basically did not yield any result after morethan a year.
Vu Trong Binh, deputy head of the Instituteof Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, saidthe proposal should move in the direction of restructuring based onregional production, increasing the quality of the supply chain andproviding a fairer environment for public and private enterprises toaccess resources.
The proposal emphasised targets that gobeyond the control of the MARD such as changes in world market prices,said Ari Kokko, professor at the Department of International Economicsand Management of the Copenhagen Business School .
"I think it will be more appropriate if targets could be defined withreference to the variables that are actually controlled by the MARD,"Kokko said. "This has to do with policies and inputs related toknowledge, infrastructure, credits, extension services, storagefacilities, coordination of investments and so forth."
Inhis paper sent to the consultation meeting, professor David Dapice,chief economist for the Vietnam Programme at the John F. Kennedy Schoolof Government, wrote that with respect to environmental threats to theMekong Delta, too little may have been written in the proposal.
"The combination of falling ground water levels due to over-pumping,disrupted hydrology due to upstream dams and rising sea levels couldseverely damage the entire ecosystem," he explained. "It will be betterto work on salt tolerant crops and fish raising systems as well asrecharge of groundwater and raised beds for higher value crops."
Referring to the strategy as "top down, not bottom-up", Dapice stressedthat the government should realise "the success of the targets dependson those who seem to be ignored."-VNA
