15 Farm forestry and its contribution to rural livelihoods in Viet Nam - Vo Dai Hai^[19]

ABSTRACT

Due to changes in the forest management policies during the last 15 years, farm forestry in Viet Nam has been developing rapidly and widely. According to statistics, there are at present about 60 758 farms of which 1630 are forestry farms (only 2.6 percent of the total number of farms in Viet Nam) having land area more than 10 ha and annual goods value more than 40 million Viet Nam dongs. In farm forestry, on an average forest land occupied 90 percent, agricultural land occupied 8 percent and other lands occupied 2 percent. Farm forestry in Viet Nam is distributed unequally from place to place, found mostly in the north of the central zone (18.7 percent) and northern mountainous zone (13.7 percent). However, farm forestry in Viet Nam is now at early stage of development and has mostly no harvest. Farm forestry in Viet Nam has different types, of which comprehensive farm forestry is the most popular. The main tree species used for planting in farm forestry in Viet Nam are Eucalyptus, Acacia, Pinus and Melaleuca. Although farm forestry is newly developed in Viet Nam, it has already contributed greatly to rural livelihoods and created more jobs for the local people. Some sustainable and effective farm forestry models have been successfully established. A number of large forestry farms operate on sustainable forest management and are on the way of getting forest certification.

INTRODUCTION

For the last three decades forest resources in Viet Nam have been decreasing rapidly both in quantity and quality. In order to rehabilitate and develop forest, the Viet Nam Government has undertaken renovation policy of forest management, turning it from state-based forestry into social forestry. A number of strong measures have been taken such as land and forest allocation to households and organizations with big budget investment for forest establishment. A number of first-grade achievements have been obtained so far. Thanks to the revision of forest management policies for the last 15 years, farms including forestry farms in Viet Nam have been developing rapidly and widely in the whole country. According to statistical data, at present in Viet Nam there are about 60 758 farms of which 1630 are forestry farms. Forestry farm in Viet Nam is considered when a land has an area more than 10 ha and produces annual goods that fetch more than 40 million Viet Nam dongs (about US$2700). Compared with other farm types, forestry farm is new in Viet Nam, forming only 2.6 percent of the total farms. Forestry farms in Viet Nam are found unequally from place to place, mostly in the north of the central zone. Most of the forestry farms now are still in the early stage of development and almost have no harvest. However, farm forestry has contributed to rural livelihoods in terms of household income, job creation and development of forest planting as well as wood products processing.

VIET NAM FORESTRY

The total forest and forest land area in Viet Nam is 19 million ha. In the past, the country was rich in forest resources with many precious and valuable flora (11 000 species) and fauna species (1332 species). For the last three decades, due to many reasons, the forest resources in Viet Nam have declined remarkably (see Tables 1 and 2).

Table 1. Changes in forest cover in the entire country

Source: Statistical data, Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, 1999.

Table 2. Annual average changes in forest area

Source: Statistical data, Forest Inventory and Planning Institute, 1999.

The main causes of deforestation in Viet Nam are:

• overutilization and illegal cutting;

• shifting cultivation/clearing forest for food production;

• firewood collection and charcoal production;

• forest fire;

• war: 2 million ha of forest were destroyed during the war with America.

The forest in Viet Nam is divided into three categories: production forest, protection forest and specialuse forest (national parks, nature reserves). The area for each category is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Present forest areas of the three categories in Viet Nam

Source: Statistical Data, Forestry Inventory and Planning Institute, 1999.

Major forest development programmes

It can be said that national forest development programmes in Viet Nam have been formulated and implemented since the 1990s, starting with Programme 327 and now Programme 661.

Programme 327 (1992-1998): This programme was formulated under Decision No. 327-CT dated 19/September/1992 of the Prime Minister, focusing on the use of open land, bare hill, forest, coastal alluvial and water bodies. About US$50 million a year were invested with 427 projects for the establishment of forest throughout the country.

Programme 661 (1998-2010): The programme was formulated under the Decision No. 661/QD/TTg (1998) of the Prime Minister. This is a continuation of Programme 327 aiming at raising forest cover to 43 percent by the year 2010.

The main task of Programme 661 is to:

• plant 2 million ha of protection and special-use forests of which newly planted forest is 1 million ha; assisted natural regeneration and additional planting is 1 million ha;

• plant 3 million ha of production forest.

The main trends of Viet Nam forestry changes are

• turning from mainly utilization of natural forest into plantation forest and development of forest industries/forest products processing;

• turning from centralized, subsidy forest management and planning into decentralized forest management and planning/social forestry mechanism:

  - local knowledge access

  - stakeholders participation

• turning from pure economic purpose into multi-purpose: economic, biodiversity, social, ecotourism/ sustainable forest management;

• turning from single forestry sector approach into intersectoral approach;

• turning from domestic market to international market.

POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF FARM FORESTRY IN VIET NAM

The policy revision undertaken by the Viet Nam Government since 1986 has created favourable conditions for the country’s development including forestry and farm forestry.

• Period 1986-1990: this is a preparatory period for revision: learning experience from developed countries in forest management, defining strategy for forest development in Viet Nam.

• Period 1991-1999: In this period, a series of laws and important legal documents were promulgated for forest and farm forestry development such as:

  - Forest Protection and Development Law (1991);

  - Revised Land Law (1993);

  - Government Decree No. 02/CP (1994), recently changed by Decree 163/1999/ND-CP of the Prime Minister on forest land allocation to organizations, households and individuals to use sustainably following forestry objectives. Up to now about 2 million ha of bare land and denuded hills were allocated to farmers;

  - Government Decree No. 01/CP (1995) on forest land contract to households, individuals with forest establishment;

  - Instruction No. 18/1999/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister on a number of measures to strengthen certification of land tenure;

  - Decision No.187/1999/QD-TTg dated 16 September 1999 of the Prime Minister on renovation of organization and management mechanism of state-based forest enterprises.

Besides, there are several important policies related to investment and credits as follows:

• Instruction No. 202-CT dated 28/June/1991 and later Decree 14/CP dated 2 March 1993 on household capital borrowing to carry out activities of agricultural, forestry and fishery production;

• Decision No. 264/HDBT (1992) on investment and forest development policies, especially credit with low interest;

• Decision No. 202/TTg dated 5 February 1994 on stipulation of forest protection, plantation and restoration through protection and maintenance works;

  Concerning farm forestry, there are several legal policies issued up to now such as:

  - Government Decision No. 03/2000/NQ-CP of 2 February 2000 on farm economy;

  - Decision No. 423/2000/QD-NHNN1 of 22 September 2000 of the Director-General of Agricultural Bank on bank credit policies for farm economy.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FARM FORESTRY IN VIET NAM

Types of farm forestry

Farm forestry in Viet Nam has different types:

• pure forestry: found popularly in specialized areas of raw material supply (for paper, artificial boards, mine-poles, etc.) as well as mountainous areas;

• agroforestry: found in mountainous areas, in South Viet Nam, coastal sandy areas, etc.;

• forestry based on NTFPs: found in specific areas depending on natural condition and ecological characteristics of tree species such as Cinnamomum cassia in Yen Bai Province; bamboo in Thanh Hoa Province; Aquilaria crassna in Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Long An Provinces; Illicium verum in Lang Son Province; and Anacardium occidentale in some parts of South Viet Nam;

• integrated farm forestry (forestry combined with husbandry, fishery, agriculture, etc,): very popular nowadays in Viet Nam, practised in the whole country. This is a diversified farm type. In general there are some major types:

  - forestry-husbandry: found sparsely in mountainous areas;

  - forestry-fishery: found in the south, southwest of Viet Nam, coastal areas.

  - comprehensive: found sparsely in South Viet Nam.

Land use

The main land sources of forestry farms in Viet Nam are as follows:

• allocated land (according to Government Decree No.01/CP): occupying 72.2 percent of the total land area;

• contracted land (according to Government Decree No.02/CP): occupying 25.8 percent of the total land area;

• hired land: occupying 2 percent.

Land-use structure of an average forestry farm in Viet Nam is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Land-use structure in a forestry farm in Viet Nam

Data from Table 4 show that in forestry farms, forest land area occupies 90.5 percent of the total land area, concentrated mostly on plantation forests. Natural forests in Viet Nam up to now are not allocated to farmers. Other types of land use occupy only about 10 percent.

Capital investment

In forestry farms in Vietnam most of the capital investment comes from farm owners (see Table 5).

Table 5. Source of capital for a forestry farm in Viet Nam

Capital investment for one hectare of forestry farm on an average is about 4-5 million dongs (US$270- 340) and total capital investment for a forestry farm varies from 50-60 million dongs to some hundred million dongs depending on land area and type of business.

Expenditure of a forestry farm is as follows:

• expenses for material (seedlings, fertilizers, etc): 51.2 percent;

• expenses for labour: 43.7 percent;

• other expenses: 5.1 percent.

Typical characteristics of forestry farm in Viet Nam are as follows:

• the scale of farm forestry is regularly small and medium;

• the number of labourers at the present stage is not great;

• concentration on expansion of land area;

• application of traditional experience and techniques: new technologies were not given attention due to many difficulties;

• farm forestry in Viet Nam is now at an early stage of development and has mostly no harvest;

• tree species are fast growing with short rotations (5-8 years) aiming at supplying raw materials for the paper industry, wood-based panels, mine-poles, etc.; planting NTFP species with high economic value and available markets.

The main tree species used for planting in forestry farm are Eucalyptus (23.69 percent), Acacia (15.52 percent) and increasing rapidly in recent years, Pinus (18.84 percent) and Melaleuca (7.76 percent). The major NTFP tree species planted in forestry farms are bamboo (both for culms and shoots), Cinnamomum cassia, Aquilaria crassna, Illicium verum and Anacardium occidentale.

Trends of farm forestry development in Viet Nam

• expansion of area;

• diversification of farm products;

• application of advanced techniques;

• sustainable farm forestry management in terms of productivity and environmental protection;

• development of integrated forestry farm;

• closely connected forest planting with wood products processing;

• formulation of specialized area of forestry farm.

CONTRIBUTION OF FARM FORESTRY TO RURAL LIVELIHOODS IN VIET NAM

Raising household incomes and job creation for rural farmers

Although farm forestry is newly developed in Viet Nam, it has already contributed greatly to rural livelihoods and created more jobs for the local people. On average the income from farm forestry is 1 124 000 Viet Nam dongs ha^-1y^-1. This income is rather low compared with other farm types due to the low productivity of forest plantation. In year 2002 the income was higher: 2.4 million dongs ha^-1 in North Viet Nam, whereas in South Viet Nam income was about 4-5 million dongs ha^-1y^-1. Nowadays, thanks to advanced technology and achievements in tree improvement and silviculture, productivity of plantation forests is getting higher and higher, thus income from forestry farm is also higher. New seeds have been created and approved for rural farmers especially those of Acacia and Eucalyptus hybrids and Melaleuca provenances from Australia. These seeds have productivity 2-3 times more than the usual seeds. On an average, income from a farm is 40 million dongs, of which income from forestry production is 60 percent, from agriculture 30 percent and from the others 10 percent.

Most of the forestry farms have applied agroforestry procedures with rather diversified species such as dry rice, cassava, maize and bean. So besides forest products people can get additional agricultural crops and food for daily life. This is very important for people living in rural mountainous areas to ensure food security, reduce shifting cultivation and implement sustainable cultivation on sloping land. A great number of forestry farms have developed fruit trees of different kinds (planted on foothills and lowland areas nearby populated sites) and brought good income to farmers. Depending on the natural condition, the following fruit species can be planted: litchi in Bac Giang and Hung Yen Provinces; longan in a number of southern provinces, etc. Apart from fruit trees, some forestry farms also produce industrial crops of high economic value such as tea in Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen and Son La; coffee in the central highlands of Viet Nam; and sugar-cane in many regions. These species require much labour and therefore more jobs are created for the local people. At present, due to their small and medium scales, farm forestry does not draw many labourers (see figures in Table 6).

Table 6. Permanent labourers used in farm forestry in Viet Nam

Data from Table 6 show that most of the farms use 1-4 labourers permanently in 90 percent of the total forestry farms in Viet Nam. The number of forestry farms using more than 5-6 people are not many (only 10 percent). Each worker can get an average salary of about 600 000 dongs/month (equivalent to US$40). Besides, forestry farms also draw a number of seasonal labourers in land preparation, planting, tending and harvesting. In this way, forestry farms have created more jobs for the local people. This is significantly important for rural areas that have much unused labour source.

Some sustainable and effective forestry farm models have been successfully established; among them the farm forestry of Mr. Do Thap in Yen Bai Province is a good example: land used area 1500 ha, 250 working people, 5000 joint-venture households in an area of 22 000 ha, income 15 billion dongs in year 2002.

Raising knowledge, awareness and social/cultural life of local people

Besides creating jobs for the local people, forestry farms also play an important role in raising their knowledge and awareness, as well as socially, such as:

• Through activities carried out in the farms, especially demonstration models local people can learn the know-how in forest business in terms of techniques in forest planting, tending and harvesting as well as new seed application. In this way, farms play a role in technology transfer to rural people.

• Some farms also carry out technical training for farmers involved in joint-venture collaboration activities.

• A number of big farms can help the local people deal with the marketing of forest products as some kind of joint-venture collaboration between farms and the local people engaged in forestry activity.

• Large farms can also do some investments for the development of social/cultural activities in rural areas such as building cultural houses and infrastructure construction.

• Organizing sports competitions is an important social activity.

Development of wood processing units

In the past wood processing was less developed and mainly implemented at big factories. Nowadays, thanks to the development of plantation forests for the last 10 years a lot of small- and medium-scale wood processing units have been established. Each unit draws 3-4 permanent workers with salary of 600 000-700 000 dongs.

A number of wood processing units are under management of forestry farms. There is some kind of jointventure relationship between forestry farms and households in dealing with the consumption of forest timber by the local people.

SOLUTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FARM FORESTRY IN VIET NAM

These solutions can be summarized as follows:

• strengthening research activities, summing up research results to accumulate experience in farm forestry;

• creating a stable legal environment to encourage owners of farm forestry;

• carrying out land-use planning for each region, commune, etc. to enable farm owners to select effective land-use plan;

• seeking financial support from the government to develop farm forestry;

• training farm owners on farm management and technical skills;

• organizing workshops/seminars for farm owners to discuss and share experiences;

• enlarging types of economic and market information for farm owners;

• encouraging formulation of credit funds in rural areas to help farms in production;

• carrying out planning of agroforestry product processing units for specialized concentration areas of raw materials to secure consumption of forest products;

• raising market knowledge of farm owners;

• developing international export markets of agroforestry products;

• training rural farmers to meet the requirement of high quality labourers in a market economy.