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This paper quantifies the extent of pesticide overuse in vegetable production systems in Southeast Asia. Pesticide overuse was defined as levels of use in excess of an economic (profit-maximizing) optimum. A production function with an exponential damage abatement term was estimated. Data come from a representative sample of 1000 farmers producing leaf mustard and yard-long bean in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The results show that 100% of the sampled farmers in Vietnam, 73% in Cambodia and 59% in Laos overused pesticides. Pesticide expenditure in excess of the economic optimum was 96% for Vietnam, 92% for Cambodia, and 42% for Laos. Pesticide overuse was positively associated with men in charge of pest management decisions, farmers seeking advice from pesticide sellers and a strong belief that pesticides are effective. It was negatively associated with the use of non-chemical methods of pest control. These results imply that farmers in Southeast Asia are spraying excessively and inefficiently and could increase their profits by applying fewer pesticides.

In Asia, the growth of purchasing power, especially in cities, come together with rising consumers' concerns for food safety. We investigate two mechanisms of food safety assurance, i.e., proximity (between farmers and consumers), and certification based on standards. The literature suggests the following hypotheses: (i) proximity in food chains comes together with low farmers' cost for quality assurance, but also limited scope of operation; and (ii) “abstract” expertise systems that form the basis of standardization imply high costs at the expense of inclusion of small-scale farmers, but enable large scope of operation; the impact on consumers' trust is controversial. The paper is a preliminary attempt to test these hypotheses on the situation of vegetable safety assurance in Northern Vietnam. The authors' fieldwork brings to the fore a variety of standards and quality assurance systems: safe vegetable certification by the Plant Protection Department, based on—quite lax—public standards and control; it is in some cases supplemented by internal control systems; VietGap and AseanGaps based on good agricultural practices and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point); and participatory guarantee systems (PGSs) for organic vegetables. The hypotheses are partly confirmed. One interesting outcome relates to the combination of systems based on relational proximity, expert systems, and labeling on the origin of vegetables as enhancing consumers' trust and farmers' commitments. The paper concludes with recommendations in terms of policy and research.

The main objective of the research is to investigate which institutional mechanisms can reduce “mistrust” between China and its trade partners related to food safety. The objectives of the exploratory trip were as follows: (i) to meet the research partners of the study and exchange on the research protocol; (ii) to get some preliminary information on the public and private standards in China; the origin of apples exported to Vietnam; the organisation of apple chains; the way supermarkets, import and export companies try to ensure apple safety. China administration makes genuine efforts to improve the control of food safety but still struggles to reach satisfactory results, especially due to deficient control at the local level. Four public standards are issued: Safe, Green, Non-hazardous, Organic; safe is the most in use. The traditional/dominant chain of apples comprises individual farmers (working on an average of 0.5 hectares), collectors, whole sale companies (able to pay cash), and market or shop retailers. Tracability is very difficult to establish in this chain. Shorter chains are established by supermarket and export companies, which try to source some of their apples directly from farmer cooperatives, and provide them with training services aimed at reducing the use of chemicals. In Vietnam, consumers as well as supermarket managers have a low appreciation of the safety of Chinese apples. This is due to various papers on the internet mentioning the use of dangerous pesticides in the wrapping papers supposed to be used by farmers in Shandong province; and also to the results of pesticide tests in supermarkets in 2012, which resulted in the halt of purchases of Chinese apples by Vietnamese supermarkets. Apples in Vietnam originate from New Zealand, USA and Australia. French apples have not been imported since August 2013, because the Plant Protection Department requires additional documentation on farmer's pest management, resulting in some tensions with the French authorities. This exploratory research has confirmed the importance of food safety issues to explain the dynamics of international apple trade. It has also shown how actors of retailing and export companies try to have more control on food production processes and more tracability to reduce quality uncertainties. The next steps of the research include a Chinese farmers' apple survey assessing the farmers' strategies in terms of food safety in relation with the marketing outlets and trainings received, focus groups on Vietnamese consumers' perception of apples from different origins, interviews of key persons in administrations in charge of food safety, interviews of some apple importers based in Vietnam, and the follow-up of the tracing of the origin of apples sold in Vietnam.

The paper investigates the respective profitability of contractual arrangements, direct sales and spot marketing for "safe vegetable" farmers in Northern Vietnam. This is based on a survey of 137 peri-urban vegetable farmers, with a minimum of 30 farmers in each category. Selection biases are corrected using propensity score matching methods. The results show that direct sales have a positive significant impact on income relative to contractual arrangements and spot marketing when selection biases are corrected. Contractual arrangements have no significant impact on income compared with the other two categories after correction of selection bias. This may be due to the involvement of purchasers in the production process being still limited. The paper illustrates that direct relations between farmers and consumers, often described in the literature as efficient in the development of consumer confidence as regards quality, can indeed translate into higher incomes than anonymous exchange, or than contractual arrangements with retailing companies. Some limitations of the research and policy recommendations are given in the conclusion.

1. Objective of the paper : Vietnam stands out as a particularly relevant country for innovation and poverty studies. It is a significant example of fast track economic development which has led to curb drastically poverty rate over the last decades. Since the doi mo'i policy reforms have been implemented in the late 1980's, poverty rate, measured by international standard, was almost reduced at halves during 1993-2002 (from 58% to 29%) (Phung, 2005)., and decreased at a -2,6% per year reduction rate from 22% in 2005 to 13% en 2008. Yet this general figure encompasses contrasting realities. This paper offers an original, sectorial view on these processes, through a cross-cutting review of poverty-related effects of agrifood system development, as shown by studies on the food production, trade and retail system in Vietnam. 2. Methods : Data is obtained from the following collaborative projects, which all involved specific pro-poor objectives and strategies, and dealt with the following innovations - Mobilisation de l'Information au Service des Politiques Agricoles (Market information) - M4P (Making markets work for the poor) (linkages with supermarkets) (Figuie & Moustier 2009) - Superchain (buyer-driven quality schemes with internal rules and external contracts) (Moustier et al. 2009) - Gripavi (introduction of new mandatory food safety regulations) - Quality management and collective action (collective production and/or market access management) - Geographical indications feasibility and monitoring studies (land-based labelling) (Binh &Dao 2006). These studies were funded by diverse agencies such as DFID, IFAD, ANR, INRA, ADB, 4. Results This paper brings two types of results. First a review of methods is conducted on how the different studies took into account the link between the respective key innovations, and the equity issue (Rondot et al. 2004). Theoretical references and methodological choices are highlighted and compared. Second, the results themselves are compared, regarding evidence of pathways out of poverty through food production, trade and processing activities, in the peculiar context of Vietnam. Inclusion and exclusion effects of innovations often happen simultaneously. Trade off between rural and urban poverty issues (poor producers vs poor consumers ?) needs to be considered. Finally, innovation systems on food related issues should incorporate consumers as central players. (Résumé auteur)

Direct farmer-consumer relationships have been mostly described in the Western world. They are reviewed as efficient forms of resistance to global distribution chains, in particular as regards farmer incomes, consumer trust in product safety, and solidarity between farmers and consumers. Research was carried out in Vietnam to measure the importance of this type of sales in the vegetable sector and how farmers and consumers perceive it relative to other forms of supply. Consumer surveys and focus groups were conducted as well as inventories of vegetable retail point of sales and a case study of a farmer group based on in-depth interviews with group leaders. Consumers buying directly from farmers desire product freshness and the ability to receive specific information relative to product origin and safety. Farmers value direct retail sales because it enables higher incomes. Yet, only the wealthiest farmers have access to this type of sales as it requires renting their own outlet shops or market stalls. Direct farmer to consumer sales in Vietnam may be viewed as a first step toward an interpersonal food distribution system providing an alternative to faceless mass chain-market distribution.

National audience; This paper is an original empirical tentative to explain collective action outcome in the domain of food safety. We examine conditions and institutions that influence pesticide residues level in vegetables using econometric analysis on data gathered by 60 farmers organizations in Vietnam. Findings suggest that collective action affects safety by providing members with technical assistance, monitoring and certification. The expected increase of free-riding in larger groups is not an issue when members are properly supported and monitored. The contribution of public authorities and ecological conditions to safety remains controversial while market forces do not seem able to drive the production of safer vegetables.