title: The dynamics of Vietnam agriculture under changing conditions

authors: Nguyen Chau, Trinh

subjects: Agriculture

abstract: Although Vietnam has undergone fundamental transformation since the economic reforms in the late 1980s, agriculture continues to play a pivotal role in the economy. Given the rising food demand and declining availability of farmland areas, improvements in rice technology are vital for Vietnam to maintain food security and export status. Despite the rising application of high-yielding varieties, rice productivity growth slowed down. The sustainable development of Vietnam agriculture is facing additional challenges due to changing climate which is expected to affect several aspects of agriculture. To date, there has been little insight into how Vietnam agriculture is likely to be impacted by these drivers. This thesis is among the first studies which provided robust estimates of the impacts of technology change and climate change on the Vietnam agrarian economy.
Utilizing data from the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Surveys (VARHS) 2006 -2016, this thesis examined the major ongoing changes in Vietnam agriculture and  likely impacts of these changes. Three specific relationships were examined: (1) The relationship between hybrid rice seeds and productivity; (2) the relationship between climate change and agricultural productivity; and (3) the relationship between changing climate and land use choice as an adaptation strategy and its likely impact on long-term food security.
The literature on hybrid rice has reported superior productivity of hybrid rice seeds over inbred varieties. This is not supported by our panel stochastic frontier estimates pertaining to productivity impact assessment for Vietnam. Estimates of a large managerial gap indicate a handsome benefit from efforts to increase productivity. Vietnam is expected to be among the countries hardest-hit by climate change. However the panel Ricardian model suggests marginal impacts, even in the long run when the projected changes are more severe. Changing crops is an adaptation to climate change. The empirical findings from the Fractional Multinomial Logit model indicate the sensitivity of the Vietnam land use system to climate. Seasonal climates exert heterogeneous impacts on land use shares for different crops. The projected climate changes are expected to induce large shifts from cereals to annual industrial crops in the two rice bowls of the country.
This thesis made several contributions to impact assessments and suggested policy implications. First, the productivity impact assessment in Chapter 3 provides a simple way to control for selectivity bias in a panel stochastic frontier framework while allowing for direct comparisons of the base productivity, factor productivity, and technical efficiency. Second, the analyses of climate impacts and crop choice in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 provide a simple way to relax the assumption of a constant effect of market feedbacks in climate change assessments and this avoids biased climate estimates. Finally, this thesis provides valuable policy implications regarding the development of rice technology and climate change adaptation in a developing country where agriculture supports income and employment for a large portion of the population.

text: The dynamics of Vietnam agriculture under changing conditions Although Vietnam has undergone fundamental transformation since the economic reforms in the late 1980s, agriculture continues to play a pivotal role in the economy. Given the rising food demand and declining availability of farmland areas, improvements in rice technology are vital for Vietnam to maintain food security and export status. Despite the rising application of high-yielding varieties, rice productivity growth slowed down. The sustainable development of Vietnam agriculture is facing additional challenges due to changing climate which is expected to affect several aspects of agriculture. To date, there has been little insight into how Vietnam agriculture is likely to be impacted by these drivers. This thesis is among the first studies which provided robust estimates of the impacts of technology change and climate change on the Vietnam agrarian economy.
Utilizing data from the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Surveys (VARHS) 2006 -2016, this thesis examined the major ongoing changes in Vietnam agriculture and  likely impacts of these changes. Three specific relationships were examined: (1) The relationship between hybrid rice seeds and productivity; (2) the relationship between climate change and agricultural productivity; and (3) the relationship between changing climate and land use choice as an adaptation strategy and its likely impact on long-term food security.
The literature on hybrid rice has reported superior productivity of hybrid rice seeds over inbred varieties. This is not supported by our panel stochastic frontier estimates pertaining to productivity impact assessment for Vietnam. Estimates of a large managerial gap indicate a handsome benefit from efforts to increase productivity. Vietnam is expected to be among the countries hardest-hit by climate change. However the panel Ricardian model suggests marginal impacts, even in the long run when the projected changes are more severe. Changing crops is an adaptation to climate change. The empirical findings from the Fractional Multinomial Logit model indicate the sensitivity of the Vietnam land use system to climate. Seasonal climates exert heterogeneous impacts on land use shares for different crops. The projected climate changes are expected to induce large shifts from cereals to annual industrial crops in the two rice bowls of the country.
This thesis made several contributions to impact assessments and suggested policy implications. First, the productivity impact assessment in Chapter 3 provides a simple way to control for selectivity bias in a panel stochastic frontier framework while allowing for direct comparisons of the base productivity, factor productivity, and technical efficiency. Second, the analyses of climate impacts and crop choice in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 provide a simple way to relax the assumption of a constant effect of market feedbacks in climate change assessments and this avoids biased climate estimates. Finally, this thesis provides valuable policy implications regarding the development of rice technology and climate change adaptation in a developing country where agriculture supports income and employment for a large portion of the population.

year: 2021

title: The doctoral writing conversation: establishing a generic doctoral writing programme

authors: Johnson, E. Marcia

abstract: Over the past few decades, the number of people enrolled in doctoral study has increased dramatically across the world. In practical terms, this has meant that universities now receive increasingly diverse students with regard to ethnicity, age, language, culture, and background preparedness for higher degree study. Students can, and often do, begin their doctorates with scant understanding of the precise expectations and rigorous demands of thesis writing. Yet, regardless of academic discipline, successful completion of a doctorate requires a written thesis. To help students master thesis writing requirements, a proliferation of self-help writing books, blogs, specific writing techniques, and programmes have emerged. This paper describes an approach developed at a New Zealand university where a generic doctoral writing programme, the Doctoral Writing Conversation, has evolved to make explicit to students the implicit language understanding that accomplished academic writers use to produce text. Utilising the idea of language as a tool to mediate understanding, the paper will explore how the programme is structured and functions but will also describe some of the insights I have gained along the way.

text: The doctoral writing conversation: establishing a generic doctoral writing programme Over the past few decades, the number of people enrolled in doctoral study has increased dramatically across the world. In practical terms, this has meant that universities now receive increasingly diverse students with regard to ethnicity, age, language, culture, and background preparedness for higher degree study. Students can, and often do, begin their doctorates with scant understanding of the precise expectations and rigorous demands of thesis writing. Yet, regardless of academic discipline, successful completion of a doctorate requires a written thesis. To help students master thesis writing requirements, a proliferation of self-help writing books, blogs, specific writing techniques, and programmes have emerged. This paper describes an approach developed at a New Zealand university where a generic doctoral writing programme, the Doctoral Writing Conversation, has evolved to make explicit to students the implicit language understanding that accomplished academic writers use to produce text. Utilising the idea of language as a tool to mediate understanding, the paper will explore how the programme is structured and functions but will also describe some of the insights I have gained along the way.

year: 2017

title: Creating whanaungatanga: Kaupapa Maori support in the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato

authors: Masters-Awatere, Bridgette

subjects: Maori students

abstract: Attendance at university has been recognized by some as a competitive environment that does not cater for the co-operative philosophy followed by many Maori.  Within the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato there have been efforts since the Departments early days to place emphasis on the Maori cultural experience, but there were few Maori students and no Maori staff back then.  Now, in 2004, the Department has a team of Maori staff and courses with Maori content at both undergraduate and graduate levels.  Yet the environment that the students move in is still competitive. Grades are based on individual assessment through undergraduate level. At graduate level the emphasis on group dynamics comes to the fore.  The availability and accessibility of Maori staff at different levels in a Kaupapa Maori programme provides one of the strategies of support for maori students at Waikato.  This paper discusses the issues around managing, delivering and providing opportunities so that Maori students studying psychology feel supported for the duration of their time at Waikato University.

text: Creating whanaungatanga: Kaupapa Maori support in the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato Attendance at university has been recognized by some as a competitive environment that does not cater for the co-operative philosophy followed by many Maori.  Within the Psychology Department at the University of Waikato there have been efforts since the Departments early days to place emphasis on the Maori cultural experience, but there were few Maori students and no Maori staff back then.  Now, in 2004, the Department has a team of Maori staff and courses with Maori content at both undergraduate and graduate levels.  Yet the environment that the students move in is still competitive. Grades are based on individual assessment through undergraduate level. At graduate level the emphasis on group dynamics comes to the fore.  The availability and accessibility of Maori staff at different levels in a Kaupapa Maori programme provides one of the strategies of support for maori students at Waikato.  This paper discusses the issues around managing, delivering and providing opportunities so that Maori students studying psychology feel supported for the duration of their time at Waikato University.

year: 2004-12