2.1. The age of uncertainty and the challenges ahead
Despite Viet Nam’s impressive announcements of record-breaking production outputs and trade volumes, farmers like Mr. Lam (See Box 1) are anxious and worried about the farming business and their future.
ox 1: ’Please don’t cultivate crops on B the back of us farmer‘ ‘Farming is unstable. Farmers have to cope with the changes in crop production plans all the time; one time we might dig a fishing pond, another time plant rice and grow corn… but with hardly any good results. The majority of our production costs are spent on credit. We are unable to stock rice and wait to sell until the price rises. We are in chronic debt. Instead of repaying our loans we can only renew the loan to prepare for the next crop. I feel like a child standing in front of a banquet that I am allowed to look at but not touch.’ Extracted from farmer Le Van Lam’s letter to Prime Minister3.
3 Giang, M., 2008 12
Degraded farmland, more pests and diseases, volatile market prices, greater risk of adverse weather due to a changing climate, and loss of land without proper compensation add layers of stress for people whose livelihood is already precarious. Competition for land, water and forests has intensified and the benefits earned from these resources are often not shared in an equitable manner. For many, poverty and even destitution are only one shock away. Economic growth lately has had less impact on poverty reduction compared to the earlier periods. Many people are near-poor or transient poor living just above the poverty line and dipping in and out of poverty. Official statistics suggest there were some 1.5 million near-poor households in 2010 in addition to the 2.5 million poor households4. Many poor people are now harder to reach and face the tough challenges of isolation, social and economic exclusion, limited assets and access to credit and markets, low levels of education and poor health status.
4 Poor: 2,580,885 households and near-poor: 1,530,295 households Review of the poor and near-poor household of 2011,MoLISA 2011; Near-poor households are households having monthly income per head from VND 401,000 – VND 520,000 for rural households and VND 501,000 – VND 650,000 for urban households. GoV 2010