Resource information
The transition to commercial agriculture is investigated in two communes from three ecological zones (mountain, plains, coastal) in Quang Binh Province, Vietnam. Field investigations were undertaken in late 2006 - early 2007 and again in 2008. One commune in each zone had good road infrastructure and associated market access, while the other had poor road access and was more distant from the market. Two rural households were selected from poor, medium and high wealth categories in each commune, providing 36 case households. Sixteen of the 36 case households were undertaking some form of value adding through processing or marketing of crops or livestock. Improved production technologies for basic food crops that underpin food security led to the release of production resources which were then allocated to commercial crops. Entrepreneurial households typically reached out towards markets to first sell their own produce and then began trading the outputs of, and in some cases selling inputs to, fellow households, while still retaining their own production activities. These households often gained first mover status through a special skill set, but then had to provide either lower cost or additional services such as credit to protect their competitive advantage. Successful traders typically required access to working capital, some form of transport, access to market information and trading networks. Input supply chains tended to develop in parallel to, but more slowly than output supply chains. Factors influencing supply chain development included road access and telecommunications, plus commodity-specific factors. Rice supply chains were impacted by non-market institutional factors. In the mountain communes, there were particular issues relating to poverty, ethnic minorities, environmental sustainability, land tenure and physical distance from markets.
