Land Reform, Livelihoods and Poverty in Vietnam

The purpose of this background paper is to provide Oxfam with information, analysis and recommendations on a number of land-related issues in Vietnam which can then be used to develop issue-specific policy briefs for advocacy and campaigning. The paper draws on existing literature as well as research commissioned by Oxfam in 2011. The paper begins with a brief overview of the relationship between agriculture, poverty and land in Vietnam and Oxfam’s perspective on small-scale farming which can inform Oxfam positioning on land issues in Vietnam. This is followed by a summary of how land policy and practice has evolved in Vietnam since independence. The main body of the paper addresses a wide range of issues relating to crop land and forest land, including land use planning, land recovery, customary rights, property rights, land certification, SOE land holdings, land fragmentation, landlessness, land use flexibility and accountability and transparency in the implementation of the Land Law. The paper concludes with some general observations and a bringing together of the recommendations which can be addressed through the current revision of the 2003 Land Law.