Page 72 - Agricultural innovation

These Handbooks have been compiled based on the reference and synthesis, development of
methods and documents on land use planning, participatory land allocation of projects led by
the European Union (EU), The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the German Technical
Cooperation Organization (GTZ), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) etc.
New points in this document are compiled by the team based on the 2013 Land Law and guiding
documents on land allocation, issuing of land use right certificates, ownership of houses and other
assets attached to the land issued by the Government of Vietnam and based on the project document
of CSSP project in Bac Kan province.
The activities of land and forest allocation are often complicated and involve many agencies and
departments from the province to the district level, the commune level, the village level and households,
in which, the commune People’s Committee is the administrative management unit at the commune
level directly with households. Therefore, forestry land allocation and issuance of forest land use right
certificates (LURCs) are carried out at the commune level to ensure the full participation of the people.
People’s participation through village meetings between commune-level working groups and relevant
implementing agencies. Through these meetings, households in the village have equal access to the
allocation and receipt of forest land in the locality. Conflicts arising in the process of handing over and
receiving the field are carried out according to the instructions of the Manual and the conciliation and
agreement between the concerned households with adjacent land plots.
By the end of 2021, forestry land allocation has been granted 11,177 forest land LURCs to 6,915
households (including 56% poor households, nearly-poor households and 12% female-headed
households) with a total land area, assigned forestry reached 17,075.04 ha. In addition, the consulting
unit and the CSSP project have completed the support work awaiting approval from households in Ba
Be and Pac Nam districts.
The model of land allocation and forest allocation with the participation of people has brought
sustainability to the management and use of forest land in Bac Kan province in recent years.
• Institutional sustainability: Land allocation and forest allocation is a major strategic policy in
community-based forest management, protection and development of the Government of
Vietnam. The allocation of forest land has given this resource to people for stable and long-term
management, use and business for forestry purposes. Local people and communities have real
ownership over the allocated forest. From there, they know about the assigned time, the right
to use in accordance with the law. The households have believed in the results and efforts of
investing in planting, tending and protecting forests. This FLA (forest land allocation) activity
has contributed to forest development, forest cover and quality in recent years.

• Social sustainability: Land including forestry land is considered an important resource in
development. However, land is also considered a complicated issue with many disputes and
long-standing complaints in the community. Before the FLA was implemented in the project
communes, many villages had complicated disputes and complaints. Many households believe
that “the old land” belonged to the generation of their grandparents who exploited and used it,
so this part of the forest land belongs to their families. Disputes between inherited households
in the same family. Disputes over the location of land plots between households during the
process of shifting cultivation and fallow. While the FLA activity in the period prior to 2009
created unclear landmarks leading to disputes over border areas among households in the
community, the participatory model of land and forest allocation within the CSSP project
framework has created consensus in the village community. Households and villages
with disputed forest land are exchanged and conciliated to agree on land allocation in the

Agricultural Innovation Review in CLV Countries 65