News about the HELLO VIETNAM project
27 February 2025
HELLO VIETNAM – Conversion to organic farming – Research programme with the Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) (2019-2022)
An agreement was drawn up between VNUA and INRAE in July 2019 on a research programme, ‘Hello Vietnam’. This programme, initially planned for 2 years, ran until 20221 due to health conditions. It involved several members of BETA in Strasbourg (Anne Stenger, Kene Boun My, Kim Pham and Phu Nguyen-Van, who have since joined EconomiX, and two PhD students, Tuyen Tiet and Huy Nguyen Quang), as well as colleagues from VNUA (Hanoi). This research focused on the conversion of farmers to organic farming in Vietnam.
The general problem poses the question of the emergence of pro-environmental behaviour (the adoption of organic farming) in the context of networks (farmers), taking into account the presence of leaders. To what extent can we act on the characteristics of the network and stimulate the intensity of the network to encourage pro-environmental behaviour? Is pro-environmental collective action sustainable within the framework of a network, and what type of network? What impact can the presence of a leader have on the pro-environmental2 behaviour of a group? These questions were addressed from the angle of field experiments with farmers in Hanoi and northern Vietnam. Two PhD students were recruited during this project (Doctoral contract from the University of Strasbourg and funding from the French Embassy): Tuyen Tiet (BETA thesis 2017-2020) and Huy Nguyen Quang (BETA thesis 2019-2024).
In 2022, an end-of-project workshop was held in Hanoi, supported by the Ecosocio INRAE department (see photos at the bottom of the page).
A new article, following on from this project, has just been published in 2025:
- Kene Boun My, Huy Nguyen Quang, Phu Nguyen-Van, Thi Kim Cuong Pham, Anne Stenger, Tuyen Tiet, Nguyen To-The (2023) “Vietnamese farmers’ preferences towards organic farming: Results from a choice experiment in the North Vietnam”, World Development Sustainability, Volume 6, 2025, 100203, ISSN 2772-655X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wds.2025.100203. Best Paper Award at the ACBES 2023, the 5the Asia Conference on Business and Economic Studies
Further publications are planned for this year. In anticipation of these publications, here is an overview of the first works published as part of this project:
- Tuyen Tiet-Tong, Thèse de Doctorat, 2020 – Individual incentive and pro-environmental collective behavior: The role of network – Financement Contrat Doctoral, Université de Strasbourg, Ecole Doctorale A. Cournot.- 2020 (Directeurs de these: P. Nguyen-Van et A. Stenger)
- Huy Nguyen Quang, Thèse de Doctorat, 2024 – Facteurs sociaux et adoption de l’agriculture biologique : apport de l’analyse économique, Université de Strasbourg, (Directeurs de these: P. Nguyen-Van et A. Stenger)3
- Kene Boun My, Phu Nguyen-Van, Thi Kim Cuong Pham, Anne Stenger, Tuyen Tiet, Nguyen To-The (2022). “Drivers of organic farming: Lab-in-the-field evidence of the role of social comparison and information nudge in networks in Vietnam”. Ecological Economics, 196, 107401, https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107401, https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03781161, OA
- Phu Nguyen-Van, Anne Stenger, Tuyen Tiet (2021-12-08). “Social incentive factors in interventions promoting sustainable behaviors. A meta-analysis”. PLoS ONE, 16 (12), 27 p., https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260932, https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03472060, OA
- Phu Nguyen-Van, Anne Stenger, Tuyen Tiet, “Ces incitations sociales qui poussent les individus à adopter des modes de vie plus durables”, The Conversation, 14 March 2022, https://theconversation.com/ces-incitations-sociales-qui-poussent-les-individus-a-adopter-des-modes-de-vie-plus-durables-175537?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=bylinecopy_url_button
Photos of the HELLO VIETNAM project team at Kick-off meeting in 2019 and the final workshop in 2022.
