Page 33 - Regional_rice_report_with_full_bookmarks

PROJECT “NETWORK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
THINK-TAKS FOR COUNTRIES IN MEKONG-SUB REGION” (NARDT)

domestic consumption. Due to the shortage of data available from NAFRI and CDRI,
the detailed statistic of exporters in Lao PDR and Cambodia was not included in this
report.

The dual role of Viet Nam and Lao in rice trading creates favorable conditions
for the development of the rice production sector. On one hand, sticky and paddy rice
from Lao PDR has been exported to Viet Nam following both formal and informal
channels with the participation of various actors such as wholesalers, food processors,
and retailers. According to statistics of the General Department of Viet Nam Customs
in 2010, the total rice imported yield from Lao PDR to Viet Nam was 61,000 tons. Rice
exports to Viet Nam were at their highest from November to January, owing to the
high demand during the Tet holiday, when sticky rice is consumed. In 2010, nearly
29000 tons of sticky rice were exported to Viet Nam. In which, 95% came through
formal trade while the remaining proportion entered through informal trade channels
(Tinh T.V, 2020). On the other hand, Viet Nam exports many types of ordinary rice
through Lao PDR to meet consumers’ demand of a large part of Vietnamese people
living and working in this country, as well as Lao PDR citizens. During the period from
2011 to June 2015, approximately 7,000 thousand tons of rice were exported to Lao
PDR at border gates (Anh et al., 2015).

The cross-border trade in rice from Cambodia and Viet Nam has been
developing in recent years, however, the controlling and monitoring needs to be
focused on in the following period. During the period from 2006 to 2010, the cross-
border trade between An Giang (Viet Nam) and Takeo (Cambodia) increased at an
annual average of 19%. It was reported that the total value of goods trading through
this border was estimated at over USD 1053 million, accounting for 50% of the total
trading value between the two countries (Cong Nghiep. P, 2020). The development
of cross-border trade between Cambodia and Lao PDR possibly explained by the
following reasons, including (1) Vietnamese people prefers high-quality aromatic rice
from Cambodia; (2) Vietnamese farmers rent land and implement rice production
in Cambodia; (3) the difference in harvesting time between two countries create a
demand for Cambodian rice; (4) the difference in post-harvesting technology create
a demand for exporting rice to Viet Nam for milling and polishing. Therefore, there
are about 1.5 – 2 million tons of paddy that are transported from Cambodia to Viet
Nam every year. This figure may account for nearly 10 - 20% total output of paddy in
Cambodia.

1.3. Role of smallholders in the rice value chain
In the process of rice production, rice growers play an important role in
deciding the production scale, the type of variety as well as the rice cultivation
process. In Viet Nam, Cambodia and Lao PDR rice producers are smallholder farmers.

In Viet Nam rice production depends entirely on a system of millions of small
farmers. In 2020, the whole country had nearly 8 million rice-growing households with
an average area of 0.34 ha per household. In which, 97.53% of rice households had
an area of less than 2 ha. Only about 2.47% of rice households had an area of more
than 2 ha. Rice famers with less than 2 ha of rice land contributed around 70% of the
country’s total paddy rice output.

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