Irrigation in farmers’ land-use choices: Panel-data evidence from Viet Nam

Abstract

Irrigation and land use are crucial issues in rural sustainable development. The current study modifies the sustainable framework of livelihoods to clarify the role of irrigation management in farmers’ land-use choices. A five-wave panel dataset of 1,534 farms for the period 2008–2016 in Viet Nam (with a total of 7,669 observations) is used for analyzing the influence of irrigation management on land-use selections, employing a fixed-effects model. Irrigation management is investigated in six aspects: (i) the physical conditions, (ii) the ownership of facilities, (iii) the operations, (iv) the management responsibility shift, (v) the decision-making, and (vi) the maintenance. The results reveal that the overall effects of irrigation management are so different, depending on the types of land uses. On top of that, different aspects of irrigation management have diversified influences on types of land uses. The findings lead to several important implications related to irrigation management that are relevant to farmers and policymakers. Different stakeholders, organizations/institutions, and farming households play differently effective roles in irrigation management. In general, policies can be conducted through the development of a lined irrigation network, and decision-making in operations of irrigation, maintenance of irrigation, and irrigation maintenance should give more power to farmers’ groups.

Keywords:

• Irrigation
• Land use decision making
• panel data
• fixed-effects model
• Vietnam

JEL Codes:

• Q12
• Q15
• Q24
• C33

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The current study examines the role of irrigation management in farmers’ land-use choices in rural sustainable development. Irrigation management is investigated in six aspects: (i) the physical conditions, (ii) the ownership of facilities, (iii) the operations, (iv) the management responsibility shift, (v) the decision-making, and (vi) the maintenance. The results reveal that the overall effects of irrigation management are so different, depending on the types of land use. On top of that, different aspects of irrigation management have diversified influences on types of land uses. The findings lead to several important implications related to irrigation management that are relevant to farmers and policymakers. Different stakeholders, organizations/institutions, and farming households play differently effective roles in irrigation management. In general, policies can be conducted through the development of a lined irrigation network, and decision-making in operations of irrigation, maintenance of irrigation, and irrigation maintenance should give more power to farmers’ groups.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research is partly funded by University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Notes on contributors

Thanh Quang Ngo

Thanh Quang Ngo is a Principal Research Fellow at School of Government, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His expertise and research interests focus on developmental issues using quantitative analysis tools, including both contemporary and spatial econometric techniques. Recent topics of his work include the political economy; climate change and agriculture production; total factor productivity (TFP), innovation, and inequality. The current paper is conducted under a project on agricultural transformation and economic growth in Vietnam.