About the Project
This project creates an institutional link between the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH) and Newcastle University (UNEW) to devise and assist implementation of strategies to improve value added in the Vietnamese agri-food sector. While Vietnam possesses a large agricultural sector in terms of its contribution to employment, value added per worker is very low by ASEAN (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) standards. Strategies to improve value added will focus on the use of Precision Agriculture (agri-tech) to increase yields and the quality of output, and Global Value Chain (GVC) analysis to identify opportunities for upgrading quality and value with a particular focus on the fresh fruit and vegetable sector. The project involves direct collaboration with farmers and policy makers as well as equipment demonstrations on Newcastle University farms. Rigorous cost-benefit analysis and a consumer discrete choice experiment will aid the development of robust strategies and implementation.
