The Development of the Dairy Industry in northern Vietnam

-A case of the Mộc Châu area, Son La Province-

Abstract

The objective of this study is to clarify the process by which dairy farming has developed in the Mộc Châu area of northern Vietnam and evaluated the current situation of dairy farmers. The author conducted six field surveys based on direct interviews from 2012 through 2015 to obtain information from 60 dairy farmers and about 20 personal interviews, covering the introduction of dairy farming in 1956 to its present expansion in Mộc Châu. Based on these interviews, the author identified three phases in the process of dairy farming development in Mộc Châu: the introduction period of dairy farming (1956-1985), the reform period of dairy farming (1986-2000), and the development period of dairy farming (2001-present). In addition, the survey showed that the development of fresh milk production in cooperation with the Dairy Farming Public Corporation established in 2005 led to an expanded scale of dairy farming, with voluntary bottom-up production at the farmhouse level, in response to top-down orders of the government.