Economic and Environmental Impacts of Land Consolidation on Rice Farm Performance in Vietnam

We estimate the economic and environmental impacts of a land consolidation program that leaves changes in the right to lands to be driven by the market on the performance of rice farms in Vietnam. We also investigate the effects of contract farming, which is associated with the land consolidation program, on farms’ environmental performance. Using data from the 2014 and 2016 Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys and the 2016 Agricultural Census, we found that the program enhances agricultural productivity, but environmental sustainability comes at the cost of rice incomes for households. We suggest that while this land consolidation can be a useful measure to promote land consolidation for productivity enhancement, adequate tools need to be designed to accompany land consolidation strategies for environmental protection.