Rice land protection in a transitional economy: The case of Vietnam
Long Chu,
Hoa-Thi-Minh Nguyen,
Tom Kompas,
Khoi Dang,
Trinh Bui
Affiliations
Long Chu
Crawford School of Public Policy, Crawford Building (132), Lennox Crossing, Australian National University, ACT, 2601, Australia
Hoa-Thi-Minh Nguyen
Crawford School of Public Policy, Crawford Building (132), Lennox Crossing, Australian National University, ACT, 2601, Australia
Tom Kompas
Crawford School of Public Policy, Crawford Building (132), Lennox Crossing, Australian National University, ACT, 2601, Australia; Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis, School of Biosciences and School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia; Corresponding author at: Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis, University of Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
Khoi Dang
Institute of Agricultural Market and Institution Research (AMI), Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), Trau Quy, Gia Lam district, Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Trinh Bui
Association of Regional Econometrics and Environmental Studies, Japan
Agricultural land protection (ALP) is a standard policy response to a desire for food security. However, ALP may result in a misallocation of resources. Examining rice land policy in Vietnam, we determine the optimal level of rice land protected against other crops using a stochastic optimization model built on top of a general equilibrium framework, combined with sequential micro-simulations on household data. We find that converting part of protected rice land enhances economic efficiency. Nonetheless, the policy is relatively pro-rich, implying a trade-off between poverty reduction and economic efficiency, making some households in already poor areas worse off. Our approach can be applied to land-use planning generally, highlighting the relevant tradeoffs and the search for needed optimal land-use policies.
