capital by farmers, along with the freeing-up of loan sources, stimulated further
improvements in rural livelihoods, but at the same time created further problems for
the farmers in terms of being able to base their decisions on solid information.
Reacting to these growing knowledge demands, in 1993 the government set-up a
designated extension service (Khuyen Nong) under Decree 13, and this was
assigned to serve the following purposes:
1. To disseminate advanced technology in relation to cultivation, animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries, the processing industry, storage and post-harvest
processes
2. To develop sound economic management skills and knowledge among farmers
in order to facilitate effective business production, and
3. To coordinate with other organizations in order to provide farmers with market
and price information; to enable them to organize their production and business
activities in an economically efficient way (GSRV 1993; Quyen Bui 2012).
Given the high rate of poverty among rural households and the high demands
placed on food imports, unsurprisingly the extension organization was given a very
growth- and production-oriented profile. Also, what is more important in the
context of this chapter, is that although it was set up to serve the needs of the entire
farming community, it was somewhat geared towards farm households and farming
systems in the plains and delta regions rather than elsewhere, in particular through
technological innovations that were oriented towards homogenous (ecological)
conditions rather than the diversity of conditions present in mountainous areas.
However, a strength of the newly established extension system was its clear
structure and strong presence from a national down to commune and sometimes
even village level. Section 11.2.1 provides an overview of the state extension actors
and their main characteristics and features at this time.
As agricultural growth slowed down at the beginning of the new millennium and
it became even more apparent that the strict orientation towards technology-transfer
needed a more multi-faceted mandate, a second decree on agricultural extension
was issued (GSRV 2005). At its core, the new decree aimed toward the plurification
of extension actors, so as to enable a larger (and increasingly heterogeneous) farmer
population to receive extension advices. Client-orientation was given a stronger
focus in order to steer the agricultural extension system towards better service
delivery (GSRV 2005). In contrast to the previous decree, the text also contained
the first mention of sustainability; however, mostly in terms of securing higher rural
incomes. It also acknowledged the contribution of international projects in helping
to support the growth of agricultural extension.
The widening spaces for para- and non-statal extension actors, whose importance in the following years steadily grew, were to be operationalized by an
increasing number of actors, those introduced in Sect. 11.2.2.
Almost 20 years after implementation of the first decree on agricultural extension, Vietnam now has a well functioning extension system, from the national down
to communal level. Despite its undoubted successes, the central government itself
views its prevailing top-down structures critically, and continues to urge more
11 Rethinking Knowledge Provision for the Marginalized: Rural Networks. . .
437
improvements in rural livelihoods, but at the same time created further problems for
the farmers in terms of being able to base their decisions on solid information.
Reacting to these growing knowledge demands, in 1993 the government set-up a
designated extension service (Khuyen Nong) under Decree 13, and this was
assigned to serve the following purposes:
1. To disseminate advanced technology in relation to cultivation, animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries, the processing industry, storage and post-harvest
processes
2. To develop sound economic management skills and knowledge among farmers
in order to facilitate effective business production, and
3. To coordinate with other organizations in order to provide farmers with market
and price information; to enable them to organize their production and business
activities in an economically efficient way (GSRV 1993; Quyen Bui 2012).
Given the high rate of poverty among rural households and the high demands
placed on food imports, unsurprisingly the extension organization was given a very
growth- and production-oriented profile. Also, what is more important in the
context of this chapter, is that although it was set up to serve the needs of the entire
farming community, it was somewhat geared towards farm households and farming
systems in the plains and delta regions rather than elsewhere, in particular through
technological innovations that were oriented towards homogenous (ecological)
conditions rather than the diversity of conditions present in mountainous areas.
However, a strength of the newly established extension system was its clear
structure and strong presence from a national down to commune and sometimes
even village level. Section 11.2.1 provides an overview of the state extension actors
and their main characteristics and features at this time.
As agricultural growth slowed down at the beginning of the new millennium and
it became even more apparent that the strict orientation towards technology-transfer
needed a more multi-faceted mandate, a second decree on agricultural extension
was issued (GSRV 2005). At its core, the new decree aimed toward the plurification
of extension actors, so as to enable a larger (and increasingly heterogeneous) farmer
population to receive extension advices. Client-orientation was given a stronger
focus in order to steer the agricultural extension system towards better service
delivery (GSRV 2005). In contrast to the previous decree, the text also contained
the first mention of sustainability; however, mostly in terms of securing higher rural
incomes. It also acknowledged the contribution of international projects in helping
to support the growth of agricultural extension.
The widening spaces for para- and non-statal extension actors, whose importance in the following years steadily grew, were to be operationalized by an
increasing number of actors, those introduced in Sect. 11.2.2.
Almost 20 years after implementation of the first decree on agricultural extension, Vietnam now has a well functioning extension system, from the national down
to communal level. Despite its undoubted successes, the central government itself
views its prevailing top-down structures critically, and continues to urge more
11 Rethinking Knowledge Provision for the Marginalized: Rural Networks. . .
437