• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.503-521
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• 2017

Demands in a sustainable coffee certification program have increased steadily in the global coffee market. Along with this trend, recently the introduction of sustainable coffee certification programs in Vietnam has increased significantly. However, Vietnam's the coffee certification programs led by a single state-owned company, which is called Vinacafe, shows some differentiations from other sustainable coffee programs certified in other countries. The structure of exclusive decision-making in Vinacafe has been interfered with economic impacts in accordance with the introduction of sustainable coffee certification programs in Vietnam. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify changes in and limits of the value chain of the coffee industry with the introduction of Vietnam's sustainable coffee certification program by investigating the case of Vinacafe. To this end, the research has attempted 1) to concern with the role of Vinacafe in the process of growth in the coffee industry in central highland of Vietnam, 2) to analyze changes stemmed from the introduction of Vinacafe's sustainable coffee certification programs, and 3) to examine the limits to the introduction of sustainable coffee certification programs in Vietnam. As a result, it found out that Vinacafe subsidiaries shifted the losses resulted in the payment of additional environmental costs to produce sustainable certification coffee onto coffee farmers depended on Vinacafe subsidiaries, because the price of premium emerged from supports for certificated coffee production has not been guaranteed by Vinacafe mother firm.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.372-388
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• 2013

A series of coffee middlemen has come to be regarded as an exploitative force in the lives of small and poor coffee farmers, which is called 'coyote', controlling production, paying unfair prices for labor and goods, and participating in fraudulent practices to maximize their own profits. However, the reality of gains captured by coffee middlemen in the value chain might be exaggerated and even unfair. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to reconsider the implication of coffee middlemen for the development of coffee value chain in Vietnam. It also attempts to identify their characteristics by investigating relations among coffee farmers, middlemen and processing/exporting firms. In terms of middlemen's margin in the coffee sub-sector, their margin is quite small when compared to other actors higher in the value chain. Rather, coffee middlemen in Vietnam have played a critical role as an intermediary of change in local economies. More specifically, coffee middlemen in Dak Lak has played a significant role as a market facilitator by stimulating the access of farmers to markets by providing buyers for farmers thanks to changes in institutional environment. Also, they have played a critical role as an agent of sustainable coffee production by encouraging sustainable coffee production in accordance with the demand of processing and exporting firms.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.343-359
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• 2016

The coffee price from the farm-gate level has been quite unstable in recent years because of the expansion of coffee cultivation, and the volatility of coffee price in the world market. The preference toward consumer's sustainable coffee has influenced on the coffee purchase by the world major coffee companies. With this background, Vietnam began to follow the trend of sustainable coffee cultivation by the major coffee export companies which cooperate with some certification authorities. However, a proposed program called 'Sustainable Coffee Program' in 2012 was initiated as public-private cooperation. This study attempts to examine how the program was initiated, and which organizations were involved in practice level, and what the program have achieved for sustainability. Finally, non-participant group was also considered on how they have been influenced from the existence of the 'sustainable coffee program' in direct and indirect manners.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.360-377
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• 2016

Since after the 1986 economic reform policy(Doi Moi), the central highland in Vietnam has transformed into one of the largest coffee producing areas. The transformation had been supported by mass migration of ethnic Kinhs from the coastal lowland. It did not take long for the Kinh migrants to be the ethnic majority in the region. Meanwhile the growth of coffee industry entailed in socio-economic disparity, specially between Kinh migrants and native ethnic minorities. The disparity has becomed obvious not only between coffee farming Kinhs and non-coffee farming ethnic minorities but also between coffee farming Kinhs and ehtnic minorities. The previous literatures highlight the lack of human and social capital and the lagging modernization in ethnic minority societies. However, they fall short in showing the explicit processes why ethnic minority coffee farmers earn less than ethnic majority counterparts. With a case study of Dak Lak province, this research attempts to show the reason why there is income gap between Kinh and ethnic minority Ede coffee farmers by comparing their ways of producing coffee and selling their products. The results show that Ede's land productivity is significantly lower than Kinh's. It is because Ede farmers use less fertilizer due to the shortage of the capital. Also they often get into debt for coffee production and should pay it back right after the harvest. It deprives them of chance to raise earning by selling the coffee beans at a higher price.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.399-416
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• 2016

The main aim of the research attempts to identify value relations appropriated and realized in the coffee frontier of Vietnam by investigating the ways in which it is integrated into coffee global value chains driven by multinational companies, and to provide some implications of the integration of the frontier into sustainable coffee global value chains for creating shared value in Dak Lak, Vietnam. Recently Dak Lak has gone through the transition of value relations from exploitative value chains based upon conventional coffee production into shared value chains relied upon the production of sustainable or certified coffee in Dak Lak. The transition has been expected to result in sustainability in the creation of value by enhancing regional competitive advantages and regional bargaining power in global value chains driven by multinational companies. However, the reality has shown the intensification of hierarchical profits allocation among stakeholders such as farmer, middlemen, and multinational companies in the region. The main reasons for this could be found in two perspectives. Firstly, the formation of exclusive relations among farmers, middlemen, and processors has led to stakeholders to secure market, but resulted in the intensification of hierarchy among them in global value chain, because multinational companies could control indirectly over the farming system through exclusive middlemen. Secondly, social and ecological costs imputed by multinational companies to coffee farmers in the name of creating shared value has deteriorated the economic profits of stakeholders such as farmers and middlemen. As a result, it has led to the configuration of systematically hierarchical and subordinated global value chain in Dak Lak.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.389-407
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• 2013

The objective of this research is to provide an understanding of how coffee production has been taking place since the coffee industry in Vietnam came out in the global market after Doi Moi. Current research tries to understand how the local households of coffee production adjusts to their production process according to internal and external influences. In order to explore coffee production in the level of local and household units, the structure of coffee production in Dak Lak is first explored in terms of production and sales with the cases from two communes. The examination reveals that general characteristics of coffee crops that would reflect coffee production structure. Further, this study interrogates farmers' response to reflect some direct and indirect influences in recent years. That shows how the elements of coffee production in global market induce a change of coffee production in the study area. Those aspects are analyzed in relation to yearly coffee price fluctuation and diversification. Also, this research explores some of farmers' responses toward the environmental friendly coffee production.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.323-343
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• 2013

This study explores spatial and temporal evloution of Dak Lak as one of coffee frontiers in Vietnam. So far, many authiors have studied this region under the framework of global-local interactions and emphasized the impacts from global coffee market. However not only unique past situation as the underdeveloped frontier and also the interventions of Vietamese government for transforming her socioeconomic system have played not less pivotal role than the global market in forging the present geography of Dak Lak. Under this logic, this study have traced restucturing in production system of state farms and smallholders' particpation in coffee farming. This study shows that various and unique localities as a frontier and specific situation accrued from transitional process has reflected in the present geography of coffee production in Dak Lak. Finally, this paper can be arguable to contribute some useful insights for understanding the evolution of coffee frontier in Vietnam.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.359-371
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• 2013

Vietnam is the second-largest coffee exporter in the world. Most of the coffee areas are concentrated in Dak Lak-a province of commercial agricultural production, making up 32.4% of the total coffee area in Vietnam. At present, coffee is the main income source for the province, with coffee accounting for 85% and 40%(2010) of the export value of the province and of the country, respectively. Although the rapid development of Dak Lak's coffee production significantly benefits the province and its coffee planters socioeconomically, emerging urgent problems such as land dispute among ethic groups need to be addressed. This paper aims to examine how coffee-production development in Dak Lak has affected land mobility. In addition, we consider how these changes have affected the livelihoods of the Kinh-the majority ethnic group in Vietnam-as well as the ethnic minorities. As a result, it is pointed out that the coffee development in Dak Lak creates the individual ownership on land. This ownership is more and more fortified when the encroaching land of the Kinh immigrants happens impetuously defying the customary law of the ethnic minorities.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.344-358
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• 2013

Vietnam's growth as the second largest coffee producer in the world has been fueled by domestic migration into central highlands. However, the detail migration processes have not been explicitly discussed. In particular, the existing literatures tend to describe the migration flow in a framework of planned migration versus spontaneous migration, paying less attention to the linkage between them. With a case study of Dak Lak province which is the leading robusta producer in Vietnam, this research investigates the linkage between planned and spontaneous migration in a multiscalar approach. The statistic data allow the researcher to know temporal association between the two type of migration in a provine scale. The survey and interview about two coffee-producing communes - Ea H'Ding in Cu M'gar district and Doan Ket in Krung Buk district - inform us that the linkage between planned and spontaneous migration is contingent to the local contexts including ethnic composition, timing of settlements, governement's development program, and timing of a large flow of in-migration.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.415-430
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• 2015

Since the late 1990s Vinacafe has gone through strategic changes in corporate governance and managements due to an increase in the introduction of coffee MNCs, a growth of global demands in sustainable coffee, aging coffee tree, and the deterioration of coffee production with climate changes in Vietnam. Vinacafe has attempted to cope with these kinds of changes through strategies for equitization. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to identify strategies for enhancing the competitiveness of the Vietnamese coffee industry by investigating changes in corporate governance and processes of coffee production and distribution. The equitization of Vinacafe has led to the enhancement of coffee competitiveness in two perspectives. Firstly, as it has decentralized decision-making from headquarter, subsidiaries have become able to strength their competitiveness themselves by introducing new technologies, improving coffee quality, and encouraging the introduction of eco-friendly production methods through cooperative relationships with stakeholders involved in coffee production and distributions in Vietnam. Secondly, it has also enhanced competitiveness through the diversification and effectiveness of coffee managements by intensifying the flexibility of contract with coffee farmers and diversifying coffee sales and supply chains in Vietnam.