page_title: Coffee production in Vietnam
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Coffee production in Vietnam / History
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Title&#160;: Tonkin. Près Kécheu. Caféiers sur la plantation de la Cressonnière. / [photogr.] A. S[alles] Author&#160;: Salles, Firmin André (1860-1929). Photographe See only the results matching this author. Date of publication&#160;: 1898 Subject&#160;: Plantations de café -- Viet-Nam Search in Gallica all documents with this subject Subject&#160;: Caféiculteurs -- Viet-Nam Search in Gallica all documents with this subject Subject&#160;: Kẻ So -- Environs Search in Gallica all documents with this subject Subject&#160;: Tonkin Search in Gallica all documents with this subject Type&#160;: image fixe,photographie Language&#160;: French Format&#160;: 1 photogr. nég. sur verre&#160;; 13 x 18 cm Format&#160;: image/jpeg Copyright&#160;: domaine public Identifier&#160;: ark:/12148/btv1b53013147q Source&#160;: Bibliothèque nationale de France, SGXXCM-540 Relation&#160;: Notice de recueil&#160;: http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb424068708 Relation&#160;: Appartient à&#160;: Collection de photographies négatives de Firmin-André Salles&#160;; 188 Relation&#160;: http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb42463626r Coverage&#160;: Viêt Nam Provenance&#160;: bnf.fr English: Coffee tree on the Cressonnière plantation, near Kécheu. 1898. Rotated and cropped with GIMP
context_page_description: Coffee production has been a major source of income for Vietnam since the early 20th century. First introduced by the French in 1857, the Vietnamese coffee industry developed through the plantation system, becoming a major economic force in the country. After an interruption during and immediately following the Vietnam War, production rose once again after Đổi mới economic reforms, making coffee second only to rice in value of agricultural products exported from Vietnam.
  However, despite being one of the world's most competitive producer of Robusta coffee, the coffee industry has become a site of contestations, both real and imagined, within the local and global spaces of interactions. In particular, these tensions are a response to the risks associated with the fluctuating coffee economy which then intensified social inequality and environmental degradation. Due to the perceived macro level failures on the part of the government to mitigate these risks, Vietnamese have, on the micro and group level, produce their own strategies to not only address these effects but to also actively participate in the discourses surrounding the production of knowledge relating to livelihoods.
context_section_description: Coffee was introduced to Vietnam in 1857 by the French and slowly grew as a main producer of coffee in Asia. However, this wasn't always so as coffee proved more difficult to grow than other crops such as lowland rice and did not rank among top exports. In the 1920s, the French decided to open colonisation zones up in the highlands,  mainly in Dak Lak Province in the Central Highlands. The height of coffee production occurred in the early 20th century as small-scale production shifted towards plantations. The first instant coffee plant, Coronel Coffee Plant, was established in Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province in 1969, with a production capacity of 80 tons per year.
  The Vietnam War disrupted production of coffee in the Buôn Ma Thuột region, the plateau on which the industry was centered. Although seldom involved in conflict, the area was a crossroads between North and South and was largely depopulated. After the North Vietnamese victory, the industry, like most agriculture, was collectivized, limiting private enterprise and resulting in low production.
  Following Đổi mới reforms in 1986, privately owned enterprise was once again permitted, resulting in a surge of growth in the industry.
  Cooperation between growers, producers and government resulted in branding finished coffees and exporting products for retail. However, by the late 1970s, economic and social reforms led to labour shortages in the Central Highlands thus creating opportunities for migration into these less populated regions, compared to overpopulated and poverty experienced in the lowland areas. It is likely that between four and five million people migrated to the Central Highlands after 1975.
caption: Coffee trees on the Cressonnière plantation, near Kécheu. 1898
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