5. LESSONS LEARNED FROM LAND-TENURE REFORM IN VIETNAM
Land-tenure reforms that enable a peaceful transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy will never achieve their objectives if they are not interlinked with other components such as reforming agricultural product markets, the factor input supply, and complementary rural factor markets, including labor and credit.
Within the land-tenure reform package, generating stronger economic incentives for rural producers is critical, as is illustrated in Vietnam’s household responsibility model based on the decollectivization of cooperatives, the distribution of land-use rights, and market liberalization.
These incentives will never materialize as long as complementary agricultural policy reforms are not successfully implemented. These complementary policies imply accepting the price as an indicator of scarcity and liberalizing marketing channels such as input delivery and support service systems. This process is often accompanied by, at least temporarily, government intervention into these markets, as demonstrated by the example of the rice export quota.