Understanding and Improving the Performance of Traditional Vegetable Supply Chains in the Central Provinces of Vietnam

Traditional supply chains remain a powerful force in the food marketing system in the transitional economies. The issue of how such chains can be strengthened to improve the position of the poor within them, particularly farmers, remains an area of concern. It is argued that prescriptions for improving the performance of such chains should vary from chain to chain, with chain-specific solutions required for chain-specific problems. A disaggregated supply chain framework, which considers the chain as a system, is used to analyse two traditional vegetable supply chains in the central provinces of Vietnam. This shows that these chains are performing well despite the limitations that they face. Relatively small interventions that could strengthen these chains and improve the position of farmers within them are identified. As predicted by the framework, there were some differences between the two chains in terms of the interventions identified, thus supporting the claim that chain-specific solutions are required for chain-specific problems.