VietNamNet Bridge – Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Countryside Today) newspaper talked with Nguyen Quoc Cuong, chairman of the Viet Nam Association for Farmers (VAF), about the challenges facing rural communities.

In Vietnam, farmers account for 73% of the population. Joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has opened many opportunities for them and the economy as a whole. However, coupled with this are many challenges, can you talk about some of these?

The biggest challenge for the whole country's economy is that it lacks competitiveness, especially in agriculture. The reasons for this are dispersed production, backward technology, inadequate policies, among others.

Under WTO standards, Vietnamese agricultural products could have problems in the future with low quality, a lack of trademarks, poor hygiene and in some cases, high pesticide and antibiotic residues.

For instance, quality and safety standards were put under public scrutiny recently when soy sauce companies were prosecuted for having unacceptably high levels of carcinogenic residues.

You mentioned dispersed production due to a lack of specialised production areas. Some specialists say that the biggest reason for this is backward land management policies which delays the development of agriculture on a large scale. What is the Association's view on this?

It is correct that in order to have high production, we have to aggregate land.

According to present land law, which defines five types of land use rights, by 2010-2013, these rights will expire and farmers may possibly have to return land to the government. However, expiry times are not clearly stipulated.

At present, many farmers lease land to other people. Some move away but retain their land use certificates, while others want to farm but don't have access to land.

It is necessary to have a policy which doesn't limit land use rights.

The Association's view is that the State should study land policy, especially the issue of land aggregation in parallel with restructuring the labour force.

Are there still concerns over the gap in living standards between rich and poor in Vietnam?

Yes, there is. The living standards of farmers, workers and small traders are very different to people with higher incomes and the gap between rich and poor in urban and rural areas is increasing.

In some rural areas there isn't a clinic, community hall, or even electricity. The road and irrigation systems are deficient and the state is investing in big canals and water reservoirs to tackle the issue.

Meanwhile farmers have to build the small reservoirs themselves and use their own resources to repair and maintain them with little extra profit for themselves.

Is it correct to say that the government's agriculture policies (on farmers, agriculture and rural areas) hasn't paid enough attention to agriculture and rural areas?

Firstly, with the country's limited resources, we have to select the sectors to concentrate our investments. Like other developing countries we need to focus on urban, industrial and economic areas.

Secondly, the State has actually been pumping large amounts of money into rural areas, especially marginal communities. For example, in areas benefiting from the long running government programmes 134 and 135, people's lives have improved remarkably. The Party and State have paid lots of attention to these problem areas.

At present not many investors want to put money into agriculture and rural areas. How can the country attract more Investment?

There is considerable potential for domestic and foreign investors, but before investing we have to look at effectiveness.

Due to weak rural infrastructure the capital returns from investing in rural areas is not high.

Therefore, in order to attract more investment in agriculture and rural areas, the State should give assistance to investors in terms of low taxes and land clearance grants.

Attracting a labour force for agriculture and rural areas is as difficult as attracting investment. What will the Association do to tackle this problem?

Human resources in general are not enough to drive industrialisation and modernisation and in agricultural and rural areas, the situation is even worse.

A lot of farmers' children pass university, entrance exams in agricultural subjects but can't afford the fees and living costs, in addition, after graduation some can't find a job.

Training human resources is a big challenge for many sectors. It's necessary to enlarge the vocational training system and create jobs.

Even the agriculture sector is lacking engineers and technicians and at present, there is a shortage of labourers who are drawn to greater opportunities in the cities.

The Central Association for Farmers is guiding local associations to conduct a survey on jobs in the farming industry as well as industrial zones.

Based on the survey results, it will select farmers to train and sign contracts with enterprises to provide them with jobs.

With all these problems, what should the Association do to improve the situation?

We can't just focus on campaigning. The Association has to take concrete action by going to local areas to assist local farmers.

The association also has to co-operate with ministries and agencies to implement social economic development programmes like technology transfers and vocational training courses. We have to take action so that farmers can reap the benefits from being members of our association.

(Source: Viet Nam News)