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

To solve the above situation, there should be several solutions including:
(1) accelerating land accumulation to increase household production scale; (2)
encouraging development of farmer organizations; (3) promoting direct links between
enterprises and farmers through farmer organizations in the construction of material
areas.

2. Assessment of current demand and potential of domestic and export rice
markets
2.1 The current demand of the domestic market by country
2.1.1 The current supply-demand balance by country

Table 12. Rice supply-demand balance by country

Lao PDR Cambodia Thailand Viet Nam
Unit Year Year Year Year Year Year Year Year
2015 2020 2015 2020 2015 2020 2015 2020
Area harvested 1000 ha 965 960 3025 3265 9444 10509 7704 7305
Yield ton/ha 3.17 3.14 2.67 2.9 2.54 2.72 5.73 6
Paddy Production 1000 ton 3056 3016 8084 9480 23939 28580 44134 43810

Total Supply 1000 ton 2573 1993 5165 6362 27370 23042 29143 30361
Beginning Stocks 1000 ton 420 43 226 549 11270 3979 1259 1180
Rice Production 1000 ton 1925 1900 4931 5783 15800 18863 27584 27381
Imports 1000 ton 228 50 8 30 300 200 300 1800

Total Distribution 1000 ton 2573 1993 5165 6362 27370 23042 29143 30361
Consumption 1000 ton 2050 1850 3900 4300 9100 12700 22500 21450
Exports 1000 ton 64 50 1050 1850 9867 6062 5088 6272
Ending Stocks 1000 ton 459 93 215 212 8403 4280 1555 2639

Source: OECD and FAO (2022), USDA (2022), MAFF (2020).

Overall, all countries in the region have substantial rice amount enough to
ensure national food security and provide to foreign markets. Viet Nam remains to be
the biggest rice producer with the highest yield among the 4 countries at 6 ton/ha in
2020 (Table 12). In 2020, Viet Nam overpass Thailand to be the biggest exporter. In
general, Viet Nam and Cambodia are the two countries that witnessed the increase
over the period 2015 – 2020 in all categories from production and consumption to
export. Lao PDR data shown that this country has only ensured food security at low
level as production output was only 50,000 tones higher than total consumption in
2020. Lao PRD has been witnessing food shortages and increased poverty rate in the
context of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021. Laos’ poverty rate was 18.3% in 2019,
and increased to 21.5% in 2021 due to negative impacts of this pandemic.

In Thailand, domestic consumption has increased while export and storage
has decreased in the same period. The decrease is attributed to the strong baht,

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