In his New Year Message, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung affirmed that Vietnam will continue to restructure agriculture and build new rural areas. With this resolve, turning agriculture into a springboard for the economy is not an empty slogan.
Despite enormous difficulties, the countryside and agriculture of Vietnam still light up many bright spots. And, without doubt, farmers contribute most to the country in any circumstance, regardless of whether the country is at war, in renovation, in economic crisis and in economic development.
No agriculture causes instability
After 30 years of doi moi (renovation), Vietnam now has the most accurate answer to the contribution of agriculture and rural areas to the country’s socioeconomic development. In the past, we often thought that agriculture was secondary and we did not need to invest much to produce enough food for the country.
However, after two crises, one in 1997 and another in 2009, Vietnam had proper judgement of the contribution of this sector, especially to export and economic development. During crises, the countryside was the very place that received enterprises and unemployed workers from cities and created jobs for them. Obviously, agriculture not only generates wealth but also ensures social stability. Besides, Vietnam is situated in an extremely important strategic location and is the target of sabotage of hostile forces. Our forefathers used to say that no agriculture causes instability. If this sector is stable, the country is stable too.
Really, new countryside movements add new nuances of rural life. Speaking of Vietnam’s success, the world still looks at agricultural achievements.
On August 5, 2008, the Party Central Steering Committee issued Resolution 26-NQ/TU on ‘tam nong’ (agriculture, farmers and rural affairs), which was considered a political way to find new motivations for ‘tam nong’ development. New models have been introduced and tested. Many new policies have been applied.
Great effort from many sides has made certain bright spots but has not produced new motivations for ‘tam nong’. Currently, all farmers want to sell their products right after they harvest. This means that, after 38 years, they have not set aside savings because increments from farming are humble regardless of areas. In many places where agriculture is profitable, many farmers abandon farming to enter the precarious informal non-farming labour market. New rural area construction programmes have been invested more than VND40 trillion and created initial results in some places. However, there are still negative reflections on State-funded budget spending.
So, where can new motivations be found?
Rights and opportunities
Thanh Van commune, Thanh Oai district, Hanoi started the new rural area construction programme over 20 years ago, aiming to satisfy all people. The commune uses land-use planning as the foundation for exploiting the land fund in the most effective way. All local development decisions must be voted for by at least two-thirds of the people. All people are very satisfied about their income, life and future although Thanh Van commune has not received any source of State aid.
The above story shows that new motivations lie in the hands of farmers when there are suitable mechanisms and policies. The State should not count on financial support for farmers, but motivations for them. The State should give power and opportunity for them on their land and let them make their own decisions.
However, associating farmers, authorities, enterprises and scientists makes farmers feel more secure because enterprises will contract with farmers to supply inputs for them. But good farming practice requires skills training. For example, farmers need knowledge to grow rice with the highest quality at the lowest cost. Enterprises will have good inputs to make good outputs to sell at high prices. Profit will be partly given to farmers.
For that reason, agricultural restructuring must be carried out systematically. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development advocates restructuring crops and livestock. But first of all, we must find agricultural studies over the past 20 years to know the best crops and animals for specific localities. Each region needs different formulas, but we must take consumption markets into account. Localities need to discuss with enterprises and encourage them to invest in agriculture, seek consumption markets, and build processing facilities. It is inadvisable to encourage farmers to farm even if they cannot sell their products.
A country with three administrative entities is as steady as a standing tripod. The first is the workforce - the productive entity. The second is enterprises which do not produce but know how and where to sell products. The third is the State that connects farmers with enterprises to work together. The State must take into account long-term strategies and identify key crops and livestock before mobilising resources to develop them. Or in other words, when the State makes strategies, it must have solutions to implement them. Then, the State will effectively perform its development-generating roles as the Prime Minister states in the New Year Message.
Therefore, agricultural restructuring must starts from the think tanks.
VTX
Vietnamese
