Comparison of the Agricultural Cooperative Development in China and Vietnam Since De-Collectivization

China and Vietnam embarked on a transition process in the late 1970s and early 1980s, respectively. Collective farming was given a up and family farms were re-established. At that stage, farmers were in urgent need of adjusted links to the upstream and downstream sectors. While the transition process went up in both countries rather similarly, it differed with respect to agricultural organizations. In China a “trial and error” process could be observed after the dissolution of the collective farms, whereas the Vietnamese government was eager to transform as many collective farms as possible into agricultural service cooperatives. Cooperation among farmers had to be organised informally in China, while in Vietnam agricultural cooperatives could continue operating, but under different rules. By 1997 the cooperative law became effective in Vietnam. It took another ten years to implement a similar law in China. In both countries, agricultural cooperatives expanded rapidly. In 2010, about ten percent of farm households in China and about 20 percent in Vietnam have become cooperative member. In both countries, there had been heavy government support and interference. However, this top-down approach would have led to nothing, if there had not been a strong bottom-up need by the farmers. In this way, cooperative development in both countries is unique in comparison to other transition economies as farmers are quite confident in making the best use out of “their” cooperatives.