J. Sci. Dev. 2011, 9 (Eng.Iss. 1): 63 - 74 HANOI UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
CUrrent Situation and PROPERTY RIGHTS to agricultural and
Unused LANDS IN THE UPLAND areas OF CENTRAL VIETNAM
Thực trạng và các quyền trên đất nông nghiệp và đất chưa sử dụng
vùng đồi núi miền Trung Việt Nam
Huynh Van Chuong
Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry
Corresponding author email:
Received date: 23.01.2011 Accepted date: 14.05.2011
TÓM TẮT
Nghiên cứu nhằm xác định hiện trạng việc quản lý và sử dụng đất nông nghiệp và đất chưa sử
dụng vùng đồi núi miền Trung Việt Nam. Nghiên cứu dựa vào khung phân tích các gói quyền về sở
hữu tài sản và tìm hiểu thực tế thông qua công tác điền dã và thảo luận cùng các nhóm đối tượng
quản lý và sử dụng đất có liên quan gồm nhà nước, cộng đồng và hộ gia đình. Kết quả nghiên cứu
đã phân tích việc thực hiện và các hoạt động của gói quyền đối với người dân và nhà nước trên đất
nông nghiệp và đất chưa sử dụng, xác định và phân loại được nhóm quyền chính thống và không
chính thống nhưng vẫn tồn tại trên hai loại đất trên tại địa bàn nghiên cứu, làm rõ lý do của việc tồn
tại và ảnh hưởng của các quyền trên đến việc khai thác sử dụng đất của người dân. Nghiên cứu
cũng đánh giá được hiện trạng và sự biến động đất đai nói chung, đất nông nghiệp và đất chưa sử
dụng nói riêng qua các năm từ 2000 - 2008, nguyên nhân của sự biến động đất sản xuất nông
nghiệp và đất chưa sử dụng, cơ cấu cây trồng, bên cạnh lý do có sự thay đổi chính sách đất đai
của Nhà nước, một lý do quan trọng nữa đó là sự chuyển đổi cơ cấu và khai thác đất tự phát để
mưu sinh của người dân vì sự tác động của chuyển dịch kinh tế chung của huyện và nhu cầu của
thị trường nông sản phẩm.
Từ khoá: Bó quyền tài sản, chính thống, đồi núi, không chính thống, thay đổi sử dụng đất.
SUMMARY
The present research aimed at identifying the status of the management and use of
agricultural and unused lands in the upland areas of Central Vietnam. This research was based on
the bundles of property rights analysis framework and on field investigations. The research results
demonstrated the implementation as well as activities of the bundles of property rights by the
local people and the State for agricultural land and unused lands, identified and classified the

alienation. Right of access is defined as the right to
enter physical property while the right of withdraw is
the right to obtain the products of a resource; right of
management is the right to regulate internal use
patterns and transform the resource by making
improvement; right of exclusion is the right to
determine who will have an access right and how
that right may be transferred; and right of alienation
is the right to sell or lease either or both of the both
of the above rights (Schlager and Ostrom, 1992).
Besides that, holders of property rights can be the
state, communities or individuals. Depending on the
prevalent resource manager, these types of property
can be classified into state property, communal
property or private property (Bromley, 1989, 1992;
Feeny et al. 1990; MacPherson, 1978). However,
according to Vietnamese land law (Vietnamese
National Assembly 1987, 1993, 2003), state property
and communal property are determined as common
property of state.
Management and use of agricultural and
unused land have experienced several historical
periods of Vietnam policies along with the socio-
economic development of the country. Therefore,
they are comprehensively affected by Government
policies.
Agricultural land plays a very important role
to farmers and the local in economic and social
development from central to localities. Hence, the
agricultural land has been taken into account by

households are the poor ones and almost 100% of
the inhabitants are of the ethnic minority (Paco).
Total natural area of the commune is 3152.99 ha,
in which agricultural land is 380.85ha, forestry
land is 2352.60 ha, non - agricultural land is
130.00 ha, and the rest, 276.71 ha, is the area of
unused land.
The incomes of the local people depend
mostly on agricultural production, mainly wet rice
and upland rice. Only average households or those
received fund supports from development projects
have additional incomes by animal breeding.
Therefore, it is extremely essential for A Luoi
district in general and for Hong Bac commune in
particular to properly utilize and use agricultural
and unused land resources so as to obtain
sustainable livings and food safety for each
household and the local community. Hong Bac
commune has 5 villages. The basic information on
natural and socio-economic conditions of the
investigated villages of Hong Bac commune is
presented in Table 1.
64
Huynh Van Chuong

Population and demography
Population 490 388 510 320 212
Number of households (HH) 117 92 111 68 48
Average HH size 4.2 4.2 4.6 4.7 4.4
Average number of labors 2 2 3 3 2
Ethnic group Paco Paco + Kinh Paco + Kinh Paco Paco
Village leadership structure
State system
Five people in the position of village leader, vice leader, youth union leader,
woman union leader and village police
Traditional system One village oldman (Già làng)
Agricultural land
Average dry land per HH (ha)
(Upland and home garden)
0.3 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.3
Average paddy rice per HH (ha) 0.1 0.15 0.1 0.1 0.12
Main crops Rice (dry and paddy), cassava, maize
Major sources of off-farm State salary
State salary,
trading and
service
State salary
Work for coffee
company, state
salary
State salary,
trading and
service
Number of very poor HHs 49 45 54 40 23
Number of poor HHs 25 10 13 16 13

first years of the 1990s, most of the natural resources
like cultivated land, timber forest, rivers, springs,
lakes or wild animals,… were considered as
common properties of the whole community. The
management and utilization of these resources were
based on the spontaneity of each family line and on
the customs or convention approved by the local
people. Through interviewing the elder people at the
villages, most of the interviewees stated that at that
time they were bound by no policies of the
government or rare management of the local
authorities. The agricultural cultivation was mainly
by nomadic farming or utilizing wild products in the
forests for living.
Since the promulgation of the land laws in 1993
and the laws on forest protection and development
in 1992, the utilizeutilization and use of agricultural
and unused land at the locality have been affected.
Most of the land resources as well as properties on
land were inventoried by the government. They
belonged to the common ownership of the whole
community and are under the management of the
government. Until the land laws promulgated in
2003, land in general was under the possession of the
government but the inhabitants have the right to use
it. The conversion from common management and
use as the common property of the locality to
governmental possession and management in
accordance with land laws and related laws has
developed several issues relating to people’s

particular, at Hong Bac commune, it shows that the
land law of 1993, the decree 64/CP , and the decree
02/CP which was later replaced by decree 163/CP
have significantly changed the management and use
of agro-forestry land and unused land resources of
the commune. These policies have partially helped
the local people to have sustainable and long-term
right to use agricultural and unused land for other
purposes, particularly for agro-forestry purposes
which are approved by the government.
66
Huynh Van ChuongTable 2. Policies on agricultural land and unused land to be applied at the study area
Year Documents
1992 Forest protection and development law
1993 Land law
1993
Decree No 64/CP Regulating the allocation of agricultural land to organizations, households, and individuals
for long term and stable use for agricultural purpose
1994
Decree No 02/CP Regulating the allocation of forestry land to organizations, households, and individuals for
long term and stable use for forestry purpose.
1995
Decree 01/CP Regulating the allocation of land for agricultural, forestry, and aquacultural productions in State
Enterprises.
1999 Decree 163/CP Regulating the allocation for forest and forestry land (replace the Decree 02/CP)
2003 Modified land law
2004 Modified forest protection and development law

tendency to use forestry-oriented area to grow
agricultural crops, especially upland rice and
cassava. Whereas, those households with better
economic conditions or realizing the value of
forestry economy have shifted the area from
upland rice and cassava to acacia. Therefore, the
annual statistics of land use forms can only reflect
the actual situation. In reality, there are still other
differences due to spontaneous land use shifting
by the local people. And this is one of the things
that local people think they have the right to do.
This issue will be analyzed and clarified in latter
part of the paper.
67
Situation and Property Rights of Agricultural and Unused Lands in the Upland

Figure 2. Current land use in Hong Bac commune in 2000 and 2008 Figure 3. Current unused land in Hong Bac commune in 2000 and 2008
There were great changes in the area of unused
land from 2000 to 2008 (Figure 3). According to
statistics, in 2000, the area of unused land at the
commune was 848.09ha, the number dropped down
steadily every year and by 2008, there was only
276.71ha of unused land. The reasons for the rapid
decrease are that: in one hand, unused land was
planned by the government and transferred to the
forestry land; in the other hand, the local people
reclaimed themselves for plantation and after that

the household having the intention of utilizing
unused land that decides on the quantity, location
and area of the utilized land.
3.3. Property rights of agricultural and unused
land
3.3.1. Situation of granting land use certificate for
agricultural land and unused land
The agricultural land area is now being
surveyed, measured and set boundary for separated
paddy fields on the map by the government.
However, currently, the map is still at district level,
not commune level, and the area has not been
granted with land use certificate. When being asked
whether they wanted to have Land use Certificate for
the area of dry crops, most of them showed the
unconcernedness. If the government issue, they will
get it. However, it is not so necessary because it is
their land with clear actual landmark and no one are
allowed to change it. However, there are still some
people who are aware of the importance of the land
use certificate in settling any arising dispute about
land later on, without this certificate, they do not
know how to sue due to no availability of proof. As
for the Government, the expense for surveying work
and issuing the land use certificate at the research
area is taken from the state budget, the local people
do not have to pay anything when receiving the
certificate or when their land is being surveyed.
However, this still does not make the people more
enthusiastic in registering land use and receiving

assigning the land to them with clear production
purposes so that they can work for long term.
However, as for the local people, the fact that the
land is assigned for agricultural purposes or forestry
purposes is not important. The demands and price of
the market determine which agricultural crops or
forestry trees to grow, as analysed above. This
indeed creates so many difficulties for the
management work as well as overall and detailed
plan of the commune and district.
The allocation of agricultural land and unused
land for long-term stability in this household almost
impossible under the general policy of the state as a
plain piece of land must be "have good soil, poor
soil, have near land, have far land" which is mainly
the land according to history, voluntary state as
land which has been the exploitation of land to
household production over the years, state only
measures and immediately transferred the land
which previously did households, there is no
disturbance, such as common policies on land.
This, in one hand, can avoid conflicts and
contradictions among the inhabitants. On the other
hand, it shows that the government has respected
the local conventions. Moreover, the assigning of
agricultural land and unused land here can not
apply the same rule of household and number of
people in the household as that in the plain area,
because as mentioned above, we cannot take the
land of this person to give to another one while the

any projects implemented at the commune that
need the support from the land administration
officials. Remembering the paddy fields of
different households are also a very difficult task
for the land administration officials at Hong Bac
commune whereas this is a prerequisite for the
professional management capability of the officials.
According to the local people, it is obvious
that they can access the land of their own and of
other people at the commune. However, access here
means that they can enter or pass by without
damaging or creating any losses for the land owner.
If accessing and creating losses to the properties of
other people, the invaders will be strictly punished
in accordance with local conventions, that is they
have to offer chicken or pigs or something else so
as to apologize; or the victim can ask for the
interference and help from the local authorities.
However, the negative access has never been
occurred in the survey area, according to the local
people, because people here are highly aware of
protecting the properties for each other.
Right of withdraw: The right of withdraw for
agricultural and unused land belongs to the local
people since the land has been assigned to them.
The government does not charge any kinds of taxes
or fees on the land from 2005 till now. Before, the
local authority charged the tax for wet rice land to
raise the commune fund. According to the local
people, it is obvious that they can utilize their land

Therefore, investment in husbandry should take
into consideration whether the grazing land is
available without trespassing on other people’s land
because it is difficult to let their animals trespass on
other people’s land.
Right of withdraw for agricultural land is
among the 9 legal and formal rights that the
government assigns to the local people when
granting the land use certificate to them. However,
as for unused land, the right of withdraw of local
people is illegal and informal. Because, legally
speaking, in order to formally utilize unused land,
the local people have to apply to the local
authorities. But, in reality, the local people assume
that it is an obvious right. Unused land is the
common land of the village or commune, and if
they have enough capability, they can utilize more
land for life earning. According to statistics and
reality observation, there is almost no unused land
left to the commune which can be used for
70
Huynh Van Chuongagricultural purposes. What is left is mainly the
rocky mountain and is too far away from the
residential area. This leads to a severe problem
which is difficult to control the deforestation under
the management of the government for making
fields to grow upland rice.

commune and district level when changing using
purposes or changing land use right to other person,
whereas, land administration officials of the
commune cannot supervise all things happening out
on the fields. The local people think that it is their
land with the acknowledgement of local authorities,
thus, they have the right to grow whatever they
want and give to whoever they like. In order to
solve this, the government in the past years has not
performed the right of exclusion or interference
directly. They mainly mobilize and popularize all
the regulations in the land laws so as to make the
local people aware of them. Exclusion is the legal
and formal right of the government in land
management, however, in the survey area, it is very
difficult to implement this right and once the right
is rigidly applied, it is likely to create conflicts
between the local authorities and land owners.
As for individual households, the right of
exclusion only exists when other people invade or
utilize their land without their permission. The
local people understand that they have the right to
obstruct when the government or any organisation
withdraw their land without clear agreement,
compensation and support. This happened once
when a coffee planting company wanted to
cooperate with the local people to use agricultural
land for growing coffee trees. However, as the
compensation and payment of work day was
inadequate, the local people did not allow that

authorities. The land alienation in the survey area
does not pass to the local authorities of commune
and district level for approval. It is because local
people do not understand the land laws. Moreover,
in order to perform a legal alienation, they have to
do complicated procedure. It seems to be
impossible to them because of their low level of
education, whereas, for generations, they follow
71
Situation and Property Rights of Agricultural and Unused Lands in the Upland
current convention in inheritance without any
problems or conflicts.
As for unused land, according to the local
people, they have the right to alienate, give or lend
the unused land to another person if they have
already reclaimed it before then without noticing
the commune’s authorities or asking for their
permission. This is an informal and illegal right
because according to government regulations, the
land is still under the general management of the
People’s Committee of the commune. If the local
people want to use it for any purposes like
cultivation or forestry, they have to apply to the
local authorities and explain the reasons why they
need more land. Once receiving the permission,
they have to use it as per the orientation of the
district and commune. However, it is just
theoretically. In reality, the households do freely
and then the government will regularize the land by
measuring and granting land use certificate.

these policies can be applied strictly and inflexibly,
but as for the survey area, all policies must be
applied flexibly so as to avoid conflicts or disputes
between the local people and the local authorities as
analysed above. For example, in the survey area,
land cannot be assigned and divided as per the
number of people in the household in accordance
with Decree 64/CP of the government.
The limitations of formal rights are that they
are applied on large scale and overall situations
and conditions, thus, when applying to a specific
locality like the surveyed commune, these rights are
not so effective. For example, the right of
management of agricultural land belongs to the
government, whereas, the local people think that
this right belongs to them, thus, they do not need to
ask for the permission from anyone else. It is
normally difficult and complicated for the local
people to access to the guidelines for the
performance of formal rights, whereas, the local
conventions and custom generate from the
agreement of the inhabitants in the villages and
commune, thus, they are easy to understand,
remember and implement.
One big challenge in the performance of the
formal and informal rights is how to interlace the
regulations in local conventions and in
governmental policies together because in reality,
sometimes, it is faster to settle a conflict by local
conventions than by general governmental

right of alienation, right of exchange and right of
inheritance. However, when performing these
rights, they perform in accordance with traditional
way. That is to say they decide everything without
the approval of the government. The land use rights
are considered as permanent, whereas the
government only allows them to be applied in the
period of 20 years as for agricultural land reserving
for short-day crops and 50 years for agricultural
land reserving for long-term crops or for growing
forestry.
Reality investigation and observation in the
survey area show that crop productivity, people’s
income and livings are better, especially in the past
5 years. However, the relationship between the
improvement of people’s lives and the issue of land
use certificate is vague. According to the local
people, thanks to new policies on agriculture, agro-
forestry encouragement programs, and the support
of the government in terms of crop varieties,
fertilizers, they can improve the productivity of the
crops, thus, improving their lives. Besides, thanks
to marketdemands and advantageous commodity
exchange, they have other income sources in addition
to the rice. As for the Properties Rights, the
performance of these rights are not clear and it is
very difficult to expand the cultivated area because
there is no fallow land left, whereas forestry land is
under strict management of the government.
4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

alienation in accordance with their ways of
thinking, rather than following the regulations of
the government policies. Therefore, it is very
difficult to apply formal laws in these cases and it
is likely to occur conflits about land between the
government agencies and the local people.
Acknowledgement
This research was funded by the International
Development Research Center (IDRC 2008-2011)
and get a lot of support of Hue Center for
Agricultural Forestry Research and Development
(CARD), Hue University of Agriculture and
Forestry (HUAF).
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