Business Engagement in Smallholder Agriculture: Developing the Mango Sector in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Abstract

There were 286,207 ha of fruit cultivated area in the Mekong Delta with total volume reached 3,18 million tonnes in 2013; in which 185,000 ha from specialised fruit area (about 64.6% of total area of the South region) including 13 kinds of fruit products: dragon, mango, rambutan, durian, star apple, pomelo, longan, banana, pineapple, oranges, custard, sapoche (sapodilla) and tangerine. Mango is one of the most widely grown fruit in the Mekong Delta with 41,800 ha (accounting for 48.0% of the total national mango area and 65.1% of the Southern region) with an output of 417,268 tonnes in 2013. Mango is mainly cultivated in 4 provinces such as Dong Thap, Tien Giang, An Giang and Vinh Long. The four provinces account for 72.8% of the total area and 72.8% of the total mango production in the Mekong Delta. There are two main varieties of mangoes: Hoa Loc mango and Cat Chu mango (about 80%); both kinds of these mangoes have comparable and competitive advantages in price and quality than those of other mangoes in Vietnam but not in international market. In addition, there are many limitations regarding awareness of mango chain actors, linkages of production and distribution as well as the support of local governments at all levels to increase mangoes quantity and quality. The study applied the value chain approach of Kaplinsky & Morris (2001), the ValueLinks method of GTZ (2007); Marking value chains work better for the poor (M4P, 2008) and participation of chain actors. The research objectives are (1) Analysis of mango market, (2) Assessment of production and distribution situation of mango in the MD, (3) Analysis of mango value chain and (4) Mango constrains and recommendations for developing further policies and better measures to improve added value of mango products.