10. Fieldwork Context

Before continuing with this thesis it is important to provide some small amount of geographic and economic context. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is located on the Indochina peninsula, and shares borders with China to the north and with Laos and Cambodia to the west. It is governed by a single communist party, which established full control of the country in 1976 following the end of the Vietnam War, as it is known in the west, or the American War as it is known in Vietnam. Immediately following the war the government instituted a planned economic system which was significantly relaxed beginning in 1986 with the institution of a policy entitled Đổi mới or ‘Renovation’. Between 1990 and 2005 Vietnam averaged greater than 7% annual growth in GDP making it the second fastest growing economy in the world.

Vietnam’s export economy has a strong agricultural component. It is the second largest rice exporting country in the world, also the second largest coffee producer and the third largest aquaculture producer ( CIA Factbook 2009, FAOStat 2009, Chandler & Prasso 2006). More recently Vietnam has begun to diversify its economic activities into manufacturing and service industry as well. More details of basic economic and geographic indicators can be found in Table 1.

The shape of Vietnam is often described by the Vietnamese as a yoke with rice baskets on either end, two larger areas in the north and south of the country separated by a thin strip of land in the centre. This also can be used to describe the economic geography of the country, with areas experiencing more rapid economic development located around Hanoi and the Red River Delta in the north and even more significant development around Ho Chi Minh City (Southeast Region) and the Mekong River Delta in the south, while areas like the Central and Northwest highlands of the country remain relatively underdeveloped.

The Mekong River Delta, the most southerly region in Vietnam contains approximately 21% of Vietnam’s population. This region of approximately 40,604 km² contains 12 provinces, 8 of which border the branches of the Mekong River as it travels from the border with Cambodia to empty into the South China Sea (VN General Statistics Office 2007). Most of this area is an alluvial flood plain averaging 0.8 meters above sea level and experiences seasonal flooding of up to 17,000 km²(Phuong, Sinh et al. 2007). As a result of the river deposits, the delta floodplain is an extremely fertile area, which when combined with year-round temperatures consistently averaging between 25 and 29 °C, makes it the most productive agricultural area in the country. Unsurprisingly agriculture is the primary activity in the delta with 85% of the workforce involved in farming activities and upwards of 45% of the land allocated for rice production. Fisheries are also a major resource in the Mekong Delta, being responsible for 73% and 81% of Vietnam’s annual fish and shrimp aquaculture production by volume, respectively (VN General Statistics Office 2007). The agriculture and fisheries production is highly export oriented and the Mekong Delta has taken a lead role in this being responsible for producing 90% of the Vietnam’s rice exports and nearly 60% of its fisheries exports (Sinh 2007).

In 2005 Pangasius from the Mekong Delta comprised 49% of fish aquaculture production in Vietnam (Sinh 2007), and in light of the considerable growth in the industry since then the current percentage is likely quite significantly higher now. Pangasius aquaculture occurs in 7 different Mekong Delta provinces bordering on the branches of the Mekong River. The three most important provinces in order of Pangasius production are An Giang, Dong Thap and Can Tho respectively.

I conducted the majority of the fieldwork for this thesis in the Province of An Giang. It shares 100km of its northwestern border with Cambodia where the Hau and Tien branches of the Mekong River cross into Vietnam. It is divided into 9 districts, 1 city and 1 town. For more details of administrative divisions see Table 2. An Giang shares it’s geography with other Mekong Delta

provinces, being flat and subject to seasonal flooding except where high dikes have been constructed by different communes. As can be seen in Table 1, An Giang has slightly higher population density and income that the Delta average, and slightly lower agricultural domestic product and poverty rates. Fish culture is one of the major economic contributors in this province accounting for 19% of the agricultural productivity and is developing rapidly with fish culture expanding by approximately 17.5% per year in value (inflation corrected) between 1996 and 2006 (Statistical Office of An Giang Province 2006). The contribution of Pangasius to this total is harder to determine, but it is certainly the major fish culture activity in the province. An Giang and Dong Thap were the two first provinces to start to see significant investment in Pangasius aquaculture and it is largely considered to be a success story in economic development. An Siang is still the largest Pangasius farming province in Vietnam and Dong Thap is a close second. The major aquaculture districts in An Giang are Thoai Son, Chau Phu and Phu Tan. The Pangasius industry is interconnected throughout the province and even the delta, so information was gathered in a variety communes (a sub-unit of the district unit) in An Giang and some site visits were conducted in Can Tho Province to the southeast, however the majority of this research was conducted in the communes of Vinh Thanh Trung and My Hoa Hung.

Vinh Thanh Trung is located in Chau Phu district approximately 40 km northwest of Long Xuyen City. Chau Phu is primarily a rural district with 12 communes and 1 district town, the capital of Cai Dau. Vinh Thanh Trung is one of 3 communes in Chau Phu district that is significantly involved in Pangasius aquaculture. I selected this commune for several reasons. First, Vinh Thanh Trung commune was one of the early adopters of Pangasius pond aquaculture. As such the commune has a large number of Pangasius aquaculture ponds, many that have been in use for over 15 years. By choosing an established area like this there is an opportunity to evaluate potentially more established and stabilized farming practices. The second reason for choosing Vinh Thanh Trung was the apparently high percentage of small farmers in the area. As small hold farmers are a major focus of this investigation, this commune would help to illuminate this actor group. The third reason for selecting Vinh Thanh Trung was the location of farms relative to the main channel of the Hau River. Most of the farms in this area are situated away from the main channel on secondary or tertiary canals. This can have a significant impact on the quality of available water. A fourth significant reason for choosing this commune was the distance from Long Xuyen City. Long Xuyen is a major center for aquaculture activity in the province with a concentration of processing and feed manufacturing operations as well as the Provincial Government offices which can be a significant source of extension activities. Vinh Thanh Trung was perceived to be somewhat removed from these benefits, and as such a good candidate for demonstrating reduced infrastructural support.

Logistics was the final significant reason for selection. Vinh Thanh Trung was reasonably accessible by motorcycle, within one hour from Long Xuyen, and An Giang University had a strong connection to extension activities in the area through their Agricultural School campus located in the commune. This allowed me to access the District agriculture extension office who supplied an aquaculture extension officer to work with us, and introduce us to various industry actors in the area.

My Hoa Hung is a commune in the Municipality of Long Xuyen City. Long Xuyen is a highly urbanized area comprised of 11 precincts and 2 communes. My Hoa Hung is quite distinctly separated from the city because it is an island in the Hau River located directly in front of Long Xuyen and is only accessible by a 5 to 10 minute ferry ride. My Hoa Hung is composed of bigger and newer farms than Vinh Thanh Trung. The first reason for choosing My Hoa Hung was the apparent age of operations on the Island. Farms were said to be newer than Vinh Thanh Trung with a tendency toward absentee owners, who lived in Long Xuyen. This represented a second wave of growth in Pangasius stimulated by investors rather than farmers. Farming practices in this group might be considerably different than the longer invested farmers of Vinh Thanh Trung. A second reason for selecting My Hoa Hung Island was number and size of farms. The total number on the farmers on the Island is less than Vinh Thanh Trung, and average farm size was considered to be larger. This would provide a contrast in industry activities related to farm size. The third reason for selection is access to high quality water. My Hoa Hung is an island in the main river channel. As such it has consistent access to the best quality water in the area. This can highlight the affect of water quality and availability on farming activities. My Hoa Hung was also chosen because of its relative proximity to the aquaculture services of Long Xuyen city, which included Provincial Government offices, banks, processing facilities, and the knowledge services of An Giang University which has a dedicated aquaculture department. A final reason for selecting My Hoa Hung was travel proximity. The Island is a short ferry ride from downtown Long Xuyen, and one of my coworkers had good contacts in the Long Xuyen extension office, allowing us to work with the aquaculture extension officer responsible for the Commune.

In this section I have attempted to provide the broad political and economic context in which this research occurred and some of the pertinent details related to the selection of An Giang Province and of specific research sites. More specifically that the communes are good examples of smaller and larger scale development in An Giang, the leading province in a relatively new industry in Vietnam. All of this developing in the Mekong Delta, one the regions leading the economic development charge that is currently surging in Vietnam as a whole. In the next section I will elaborate my methodologies for investigation, and present the framing tool I used to pursue my research.