Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute
Project: VIE/00/018/08
Rural Environmental Management at Central Level
Pham Thi Ngoc Linh
Trinh Van Tien
Hanoi, Vietnam
March, 2004
Abstract
In Vietnam, rural areas are home to more than 70% of the population and natural resources have been heavily polluted by rapid economic growth. Since the 1960s, much progress has been made to decrease impacts but many major challenges remain to be addressed. These include mounting population growth, lost farm land, serious poverty particularly in remote mountainous areas, and polluted working and living environments.
It was against this background that the Vietnam Agricultural Science Institute (VASI) undertook a number of related studies in late 2003 and early 2004, with support from the UNDP and the FAO. This study focused on policy and legislation on rural development and on the responsible national and provincial institutions. A retrospective overview of more than 40 years of rural development examined trends and experience on environmental protection policies and programs, and the makeup and interrelationships of national and provincial institutions.
The research focused on the impacts of policies and laws on rural development and on the transformation over time of the economic structure for agriculture. Also featured was the development of the market economy, with the household as a basic element of its foundation. The issues of shifting agriculture and resettlement were also among the priorities.
The study showed that national and provincial institutions are severely challenged because a vast range of rural land, water and air resources have been heavily degraded by over-use, erosion, flooding, polluting agro-industries, poor sewerage, chemical waste water, pesticides and fertilizer, land use planning, in-migration, and inappropriate technologies.
Apart from the apparent degradation on forest and farm lands, the pollution from agro-industries in craft villages and small industrial farms is a feature of rural life. The production of pottery, bricks, wine, food processing, carpets and metal castings produces pollution levels that sometimes exceed national and international standards by a factor of up to 1000.
Vietnam has a comprehensive system of laws, policies, and plans relevant to environmental management. These incorporate current priorities and accepted standards of sustainability, family planning, diversification of the economy, community participation and international cooperation. However the documents and responsible entities are scattered in different government agencies; to be effective collation and collaborative working relationships are required.
While some project and program assistance has resulted in direct investments and beneficial impacts, this is not always the case. Weaknesses include the implementation of "invisible projects" and the exclusion of rural people for project planning and execution. In one $270 million USD program, only 23% of the budget was spent on projects. Furthermore, forestry and agriculture planning sometimes overlap with weak supervision and monitoring.
The project noted that the greatest challenge is to ensure simultaneous economic growth and environmental protection. Priority attention must be given to environmentally safer use of land and water resources and to minimizing the environmental impacts of agro-industries in craft villages. The administration of the National Environmental Protection Law of 1993 also needs to be better coordinated. At present, national, provincial and district agencies duplicate some work, have overlapping roles and responsibilities and are hindered by insufficient funding and staff capacity related to the environment.
In this increasingly serious situation, both short-term and long-term solutions are needed such as enforcement of state laws, management of farm chemicals, garbage and sanitary waste collection and disposal, and public awareness of environmental issues and good practice.
Regional workshops undertaken by the project revealed that rural people are aware of the cause-effect relationships involved. However day-to-day needs mitigate against sustainable environmental management. They accept current conditions knowing that solving environmental problems requires more work and produces only vague long-term results. In particular they are unaware of the special values of natural resources and the landscape, such as watersheds.
The project found that only by solving the priority problems of the local people will it be possible to increase awareness and commitment to environmental issues. A combination of top-down and bottom-up cooperation would be a powerful means to improve natural resource and environmental management in Vietnam.