Condition and role of agricultural cooperative groups in new rural development in Thua Thien Hue Province

Abstract

Cooperative groups – organizations belonging to a type of collective economics – have been encouraged to develop in developing countries. In Vietnam, cooperative groups were established in the 1960s and played certain roles in agricultural production. Moreover, effective cooperative groups are considered as one of the new rural development criteria. However, few empirical studies have assessed the role of agricultural cooperative groups in Vietnam. This research investigates the situation and role of agricultural cooperative groups in the context of new rural development in Thua Thien Hue province of Vietnam. Data were collected by using a structured questionnaire, supplemented with semi-structured interviews, and relevant documents. Descriptive analysis and qualitative data analysis techniques were used to analyse the data. The results reveal that five main types of agricultural cooperative groups are operating in the study region, namely (1) crop cooperative groups, (2) livestock cooperative groups, (3) food processing/service cooperative groups, (4) fishing/aquaculture cooperative groups, and (5) forestry cooperative groups. The key roles of the agricultural cooperative groups are (1) input provision services, (2) production organisation and linkage, and (3) output provision services. These roles are important for agricultural development, especially in the context of new rural development.