explanatory approach, termed the ‘governance approach’, is thus needed (Zeller
et al. 2010), one which considers institutional and power factors, as well as greed
and corruption, those that play a pivotal role in the conversion of smallholder
agroforestry
1 systems and forested land into plantation agriculture. According to
the governance approach, better-off farmers are the key contributors to environmental degradation, as are large-scale companies and the government. Top-down
plantation developments and forest protection measures can result in the increased
marginalization of indigenous groups – worsening their livelihoods if they do not
benefit from the plantations as wage laborers or outgrowers. Given these underlying
factors, policy responses should aim to fight corruption, create transparent,
decentralized, community-based resource management activities and give a political voice to the poor and marginalized (Zeller et al. 2010).
We note that all three approaches consider the linkages between agriculture,
poverty and the use of natural resources, so in this chapter we investigate these
linkages and seek to provide the empirical evidence needed to verify or disprove the
subsistence- and market-based approaches.
5.3 Characterizing Poverty in Northern Vietnam
and its Connection to the Environment
Many of the conceptual links made between poverty and environmental degradation have been based on assumptions regarding poorer people’s capital
endowments, levels of vulnerability, attitude towards risk and time preferences.
Various authors, such as Duraiappah (1998), Reardon and Vosti (1995) and Wunder
(2001), have considered that the nature and extent of linkages between poverty and
the environment depend in fact on a number of issues, including the type of poverty
and the environmental problems being considered. In this section, we explore
empirically these assumptions using the example of an environmentally fragile
district – Yen Chau in northern Vietnam.
5.3.1 The Database
Data were collected between 2007 and 2011 from a random sample of 300
households, these being representative of the district. A 12-month recall period
was used for questions related to household land use, credit access and poverty
1 “Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems in which woody perennials are deliberately grown on the same piece of land as agricultural crops and/or animals” (Lundgren 1982). By
agroforestry, we refer to a cultivation technique which consists of planting trees and/or shrubs on
cultivated land as a way to limit soil erosion and improve soil fertility.
5 Linkages Between Agriculture, Poverty and Natural Resource Use. . .
179
et al. 2010), one which considers institutional and power factors, as well as greed
and corruption, those that play a pivotal role in the conversion of smallholder
agroforestry
1 systems and forested land into plantation agriculture. According to
the governance approach, better-off farmers are the key contributors to environmental degradation, as are large-scale companies and the government. Top-down
plantation developments and forest protection measures can result in the increased
marginalization of indigenous groups – worsening their livelihoods if they do not
benefit from the plantations as wage laborers or outgrowers. Given these underlying
factors, policy responses should aim to fight corruption, create transparent,
decentralized, community-based resource management activities and give a political voice to the poor and marginalized (Zeller et al. 2010).
We note that all three approaches consider the linkages between agriculture,
poverty and the use of natural resources, so in this chapter we investigate these
linkages and seek to provide the empirical evidence needed to verify or disprove the
subsistence- and market-based approaches.
5.3 Characterizing Poverty in Northern Vietnam
and its Connection to the Environment
Many of the conceptual links made between poverty and environmental degradation have been based on assumptions regarding poorer people’s capital
endowments, levels of vulnerability, attitude towards risk and time preferences.
Various authors, such as Duraiappah (1998), Reardon and Vosti (1995) and Wunder
(2001), have considered that the nature and extent of linkages between poverty and
the environment depend in fact on a number of issues, including the type of poverty
and the environmental problems being considered. In this section, we explore
empirically these assumptions using the example of an environmentally fragile
district – Yen Chau in northern Vietnam.
5.3.1 The Database
Data were collected between 2007 and 2011 from a random sample of 300
households, these being representative of the district. A 12-month recall period
was used for questions related to household land use, credit access and poverty
1 “Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems in which woody perennials are deliberately grown on the same piece of land as agricultural crops and/or animals” (Lundgren 1982). By
agroforestry, we refer to a cultivation technique which consists of planting trees and/or shrubs on
cultivated land as a way to limit soil erosion and improve soil fertility.
5 Linkages Between Agriculture, Poverty and Natural Resource Use. . .
179