Efficiency of Farmer Organisations in Supplying Supermarkets with Quality Food in Vietnam

The development of supermarkets in Vietnam, as in other emerging countries, goes along with an increasing concern on the part of purchasers for food quality. The paper investigates whether farmer organisations are able to help small-scale farmers get access to supermarkets, and the role that supermarkets and public support play in their emergence and development. It is based on case studies involving a number of stakeholders marketing vegetables, flavoured rice and litchi fruit in Vietnam. The interviews investigated patterns of horizontal and vertical coordination that link farmers to supermarkets, the distribution of costs and benefits between farmers and traders along the chains in relation to the strategy of quality differentiation. Eight farmer associations that work in the form of private commercial organisations are regular supermarket suppliers for the selected products. Their ability to supply supermarkets is related to the combination of functions they make available to their members, especially as regards training to improve quality (appearance, taste, safety), quality promotion and control, for which they receive public support, as well as their participation in flexible contracts with supermarkets, shops and schools. Supermarket supply through farmer associations increases farmer incomes when compared with traditional chains, yet the situation is reported to change with the increase in supermarket competition. The paper argues that changes in farmer organisation are not only due to supplying supermarkets, but also to public and international support to food quality improvement, which have been of benefit to supermarkets.Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Cost-benefit analysis for coastal sand shrimp farming in Vietnam

Coastal sand shrimp farming is a new technology to raise farm on the coastal area in Vietnam since 1999. This new technology has turned a large intact coastal sand area into shrimp ponds by digging ponds covered with plastic sheets and cement consolidated edges. The rapid development of coastal sand shrimp ponds have brought in such main environmental impacts as ground water depletion, loss of forest and agricultural land partly due to salinity invasion; increasing sand storm; loss of onshore sea products and decreased shrimp yields due to pollution. This study provides a spreadsheet model for local authority to make decision on land use using cost benefit analysis as a decision tool. This study shows that despite of yield risks, individuals still have incentives to continue with existing unsustainable farming practices as this activity is financially profitable on average. However, the net social benefits of this practice is negative