If you source farm produce from Vietnam or are involved in on-the-ground agricultural business there, have you ever had this question: "Are the people who will carry farming forward really being trained?"
In reality, Vietnam's agricultural workforce development is being built out rapidly, while also facing serious challenges. The expansion of agricultural universities, the spread of vocational training, technical cooperation with Japan. And yet, there is the reality that the younger generation is drifting away from farming.
This article explains the whole picture of Vietnam's agricultural workforce development along three axes: educational institutions, training systems, and challenges.
The current state of Vietnam's agricultural universities
Known as Vietnam's largest agricultural university is Can Tho University Located in Can Tho City, the central city of the Mekong Delta, it produces about 5,000 students a year, built on three pillars: agronomy, fisheries, and agricultural economics.
The Mekong Delta is also called Vietnam's "rice bowl" and is the main production area for rice, fruit, and farmed fish. Can Tho University has received focused government investment as a research hub supporting this region's agriculture.
Beyond Can Tho University, universities that train agricultural talent are spread across the country.
| University name | Location | Main fields of study |
|---|---|---|
| Can Tho University | Can Tho city | Agronomy, fisheries, and agricultural economics |
| Hanoi University of Agriculture | Outskirts of Hanoi | Crop science, livestock, and agricultural machinery |
| Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry | Hue City | Forestry, environment, and agriculture |
| Nong Lam University | Ho Chi Minh City | Food engineering and agricultural management |
There are now more than 20 agricultural higher-education institutions nationwide. From the 2010s into the 2020s, departments were reorganized and practical education was strengthened.
Expansion of the vocational training system
What functions as a shorter, more practical route than going to university is the agricultural vocational training system. As part of its "agricultural modernization program," the Vietnamese government has actively promoted vocational training in rural areas.
Specifically, the agricultural technology centers set up in each province and city serve as the training venues. Courses run from about three months to a year. The curriculum is hands-on and centered on practice, tailored to local industries such as rice farming, fruit trees, aquaculture, and operating farm machinery.
As of 2020, the cumulative number of people who had completed rural agricultural vocational training was said to have exceeded 2 million(according to a report by Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development). The number alone looks like a major achievement, but survey results also show that only about 60% of graduates actually continue farming afterward.
Features of the training content
Recent vocational training places weight on mastering production management in line with GAP (Good Agricultural Practices). As quality standards for export produce grow stricter, practical skills such as "keeping records of pesticide use" and "being thorough about post-harvest Sanitary management" are increasingly in demand.
Basic training in "smart agriculture" using IoT sensors and weather data has also begun at some advanced centers.
JICA technical training and Japan-Vietnam agricultural cooperation
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a partner with a long track record in developing Vietnam's agricultural workforce.
JICA's agriculture-related projects in Vietnam have broadly two directions. One is technical training in Japan, and the other is dispatching experts to the field of organic jasmine rice.
For training in Japan, it has hosted Vietnamese agricultural technicians and administrative officials on themes such as integrated rice-farming management techniques, food safety management (HACCP), and farm management and marketing. The period is generally from two weeks to about three months.
For field dispatch, work is advancing on water management techniques in the Mekong Delta and on support for adding high value to coffee and vegetables in the central highlands.
Three areas JICA emphasizes
- Food safety and export readiness: developing producers who meet the standards of the Japanese and EU markets
- Climate-change adaptation: variety selection and water management adapted to sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion
- Empowerment of rural women: promoting women's participation in farm management
This Japan-Vietnam cooperation ties directly to improving the quality of farm produce, and it also forms a foundation for stable sourcing for Japanese food importers.
The reality of young people drifting away from farming
Even as workforce-development efforts advance, there is a deep-rooted problem: the younger generation drifting away from farming.
In Vietnam, since the 1990s, the rapid growth of manufacturing and services has driven continued population outflow to the cities. It is not unusual for people in their twenties from rural areas to take jobs at garment factories or IT firms. Farming tends to be seen as "hard, unprofitable, and unstable."
According to data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, workers engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries fell from about 48% in 2010 to 27% by 2023. Over roughly these 15 years, the share of agricultural workers has nearly halved.
An aging average age
What is serious is the aging of agricultural workers. The average age of those carrying farming forward in rural areas is said to be approaching 50. There is a clear shortage of people to shoulder farming 10 to 20 years from now.
Behind young people not returning to farming is not only the income gap in rural areas but also the image that "farming has nothing to do with digital." In reality, smart agriculture and export agriculture are fields that can be sufficiently profitable, but those success models are not being conveyed well.
Measures against the drift from farming, and new movements
The government and the private sector are also starting efforts to draw young people into farming.
One of them is "agricultural startup" support. In 2022, Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development created a subsidy program targeting agricultural entrepreneurs aged 30 and under. Young people who have launched export-oriented dragon fruit farms and agritourism farms are drawing attention.
Change is also happening at universities. Can Tho University and Nong Lam University have begun introducing interdisciplinary curricula such as agriculture x data science and agriculture x marketing. It is a shift in thinking toward developing "people who run farming as a business."
Influencer farmers who use social media to communicate the appeal of farming have also appeared, and a movement to tell young viewers on TikTok and Facebook that "farming is interesting" is spreading.
Summary
Vietnam's agricultural workforce development is at a complex juncture where several challenges and opportunities intersect.
The enrichment of agricultural universities including Can Tho University, the spread of the vocational training system, and Japan-Vietnam technical cooperation with JICA. Institutional development is advancing steadily. At the same time, the drift of young people from farming and the aging of its workforce are risks that directly affect agricultural production 10 to 20 years out.
For Japanese agricultural stakeholders and food importers, trends in Vietnam's workforce development are important information bearing on "the stability of the sourcing base." The spread of smart agriculture and a rising rate of GAP certification lead to greater reliability in quality, but the labor shortage may also constrain production volume, which cannot be ignored.
Continuously watching trends in Vietnamese agriculture and keeping track of the current state of partner farmers and production regions will be the point that makes the difference in farm-produce sourcing going forward.
At VN AGRI, we share the latest information on Vietnamese agriculture.
