Search

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.

Like many metropolises worldwide, Hanoi has long sourced its vegetables mainly from a peripheral green belt close to the city. Soil and water pollution, plus land conversion for infrastructure, industrial parks and housing development, have impaired this potential. Meanwhile, new production areas are emerging to supply the city's rising demand for fresh and safe vegetables. While new areas have greater access to available labour and land, they face the challenges of limited know-how, poor infrastructure and lack of an enabling environment. This article reports first achievements of a new methodological approach involving value-chain research-andintervention aimed to strengthen the emergence of a new vegetables cluster in Moc Chau, 150 km north-west of Hanoi. In 2013, producers from three villages delivered 230 tons of vegetables to Hanoi supermarkets and specialized safe-vegetable shops. The clustering process included the implementation of a multi-stakeholder vegetables interest group, experience-sharing trips and the setting up of a logo and certification trademark linked to the territory. The process also generated intense coordination, both horizontally within the territory and vertically along the value chain. Several challenges remain, such as upscaling this approach to a larger and ethnically more diverse beneficiary group, and promoting self-sustained local services. Moc Chau vegetable cluster is emerging rapidly and has the capacity to meet new urban demands. The clustering process was boosted by the identification of common interests, improved coordination among players and the implementation of place-based labelling. Family farm clusters, under an enabling environment, can be responsive and efficient suppliers for the urban vegetable market. (Resume d'auteur)

This study aimed to understand farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding agricultural pest management and synthetic pesticide use in Southeast Asia. Data were used from 900 farm households producing leaf mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. et Coss.) and yard-long bean (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis (L.) Verdc.) in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Farmers heavily depended on synthetic pesticides as their main method of pest control. Most farmers were aware of the adverse health effects associated with pesticide use and covered body parts while spraying, but also considered pesticides to be highly effective and indispensable farm inputs. Farmers were largely unable to distinguish between common beneficial and harmful arthropods. Greater knowledge about this was associated with less pesticide use while greater awareness of pesticide health risks was associated with fewer observed poisoning symptoms. For the average farm and while controlling for other factors, farmers who sought advice from friends and neighbors used 45% less pesticide, but those who sought advice from pesticide shopkeepers used 251% more pesticide. Pesticide use was 42% less when a woman was in charge of pest management and 31% less when farmers had adopted biopesticides. These findings suggest relevant entry points for interventions aimed at reducing pesticide dependence.

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.

Cette communication explore le lien entre le développement des circuits courts au Vietnam et les préoccupations croissantes des consommateurs en termes de qualité sanitaire des aliments. La littérature en économie des coûts de transaction met en relation l'incertitude sur les caractéristiques de qualité, l'engagement d'actifs spécifiques et l'intégration verticale dans les filières. Nous montrons que les circuits courts peuvent être considérés comme une forme d'intégration verticale. Par ailleurs, nos données d'enquêtes auprès de producteurs, commerçants et consommateurs de Hanoi montrent que les circuits courts sont couramment observés dans le cas des légumes " sains " et biologiques, alors qu'ils ne le sont pas dans le cas des légumes conventionnels. La principale raison d'achat auprès de ces circuits courts est la confiance des consommateurs sur la qualité sanitaire, et la motivation des producteurs pour valoriser les sur-coûts de production, ce qui est une première validation de nos hypothèses. Cependant, l'implication des producteurs dans les circuits courts est limité par le manque de marchés paysans. Par ailleurs, les consommateurs manquent de compétence et de temps pour s'engager dans le processus de production. Ce travail exploratoire doit être suivi d'une approche quantitative pour mesurer la relation entre l'engagement d'actifs spécifiques et l'intégration verticale dans les filières des légumes au 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.

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.