Towards Improvement of Agricultural Marketing in Developing Countries

—A case study on safe vegetable marketing in the Red River Delta in Vietnam—

Abstract

In developing countries, normally consumption of vegetables, fruits, and livestock products is expanded in addition to cereals consumption, as an income level of people rises. At the same time, consumers’ interest in quality and safety of those products is also enhanced. Regarding agricultural marketing, modern distribution channels such as supermarkets are increased in addition to traditional distribution channels following the progress of economic development of a country, and it is one of the major challenges for small and medium farmers to join the modern channels. Firstly, this article identified items for improving agricultural marketing from the viewpoint of producers. Secondly, it clarified characteristics of policies/institutions, marketing environment and farmer’s organizations which affect agricultural marketing in the Red River Delta in Vietnam. After that, it took up a technical cooperation project conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency which aims at promoting safe vegetables in the Red River Delta as a case study. Concretely, it analyzed which item for agricultural marketing improvement each component comprising trial activities of the project addressed. As a result, it proved clear effects of components such as dialogue with the market, establishment of a joint cultivation plan based upon market demand, post-harvest processing, and collection and delivery of products for agricultural marketing improvement.