Since the mid-1990s,Vietnam has sustained high rates of economic growth, reducing poverty from 58 percent in 1993 to 37 percent in 1998. Despite these gains,Vietnam is among the 30 poorest countries in the world. In the poorest region, the Northern Uplands, provincial poverty rates range from 55 to 78 percent. In recent years, government efforts to reduce rural poverty and raise rural incomes have focused on income diversification, especially into high-value crops.
In general, the Northern Upland region is hilly to mountainous, infrastructure is poor, and the population density is low.The region is less urbanised and more dependent on agriculture than any other region.A large share of the population consists of ethnic minorities. Rice is an important source of income, accounting for 46 percent of the net value of crop production, but it is less important than in the lowland regions of Vietnam. This study addresses a number of questions about income diversification in the Northern Uplands and its contribution to poverty reduction: How much diversification is occurring, and which households are participating? How much does diversification contribute to income growth? How do farmers perceive government efforts to encourage crop diversification?
