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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the impact level of six factors that condition participation in value chain of lychee growers in the Luc Ngan District of Bac Giang Province in Vietnam. This contributes to the literature on value chain development through the exploration of the case of an agriculturally based primary industry in the global south. Specifically, it analyzes the impacts of several factors on the participation of lychee fruit farmers in the attributed value chain of Bac Giang Province in the north of Vietnam to identify salient points of policy intervention.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were collected from a survey of 270 lychee farmers in three districts of Bac Giang Province. Six factors, including the trust level of the participants, partner capacity, geographical distance between participants, collaborative culture, participation strategy and existence of specific government policies, were analyzed through a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test, Cronbach’s alpha and the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) method to evaluate the reliability of the factors and suitability of the model. A regression analysis was then used to evaluate the impact level of each element on the collaboration of farmers in the chain.FindingsThe results show that each of the six factors has significant impacts on farmer participation and the resulting chain thickness. Although the findings of this study are drawn from the case of lychee farmers in the north of Vietnam, they are argued to be transferable to other countries with rapidly growing middle-income economies.Research limitations/implicationsThe research conclusions are based on only the opinions of surveyed lychee growers in Luc Ngan District, Bac Giang Province. Similarly, this paper only explores six factors influencing participation in the value chain. Additional factors, including age, have not been used in this study and are suggested avenues for future research.Originality/valueThe paper suggests that policy makers on the local and regional levels in Vietnam reassess their focus and center these six factors as precursory conditions to improving local and regional economic development. Implications for other peripheral regions with agricultural production across the global south are also posited.

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Using case studies of the bamboo and cinnamon value chains in rural areas of northern Vietnam, this paper contributes to the existing literature by analyzing barriers and suggests conditions under which value chain lending would be an effective tool for improving smallholder farmers’ access to credit. A mixed method using both in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders and a two-stage Heckman model is employed to explain the existing credit gap. Findings show that in both chains, bank decision-making on lending is typically limited to individual chain actors instead of considering the whole chain. Commercial banks predominately use conventional lending approaches heavily dependent on collateral which typically results in a shortage of credit available to the chain actors. Value chain lending is constrained by weak chain linkages and limited ownership of private bank accounts. Drawing from these cases in Vietnam, the article concludes by arguing that status quo value chain lending in lower-income countries merits considerable rethinking. The lending approaches of banks require innovation to ‘think beyond collateral’ in improving chain cohesion. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are important for successful value chain lending. In addition, farmer-based unions have the potential to address issues of information asymmetry in the credit market.

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The last decade has seen large-scale cultural changes in the table grape and wine production industries of the Kōfu Basin in Yamanashi Prefecture. From the perspective of wineries, the recent rise in popularity of wines produced from the Koshu grape (Vitis vinifera var. orientalis) has secured their industrial recovery in the short term. This paper explores these changes, thereby contributing to the literature on the invention of traditions for economic profit and rural revitalization. Conclusions are drawn from archival research, interviews with stakeholders in the table grape and wine industries, and over one and one-half years as a grape farmer in the Kōfu Basin. Rather than significant improvements in educational or technical advancement in growing Koshu for wine or even wine production, the rise in popularity of wines produced from Koshu is argued to be more linked to the cultural re-branding of the grape based on co-produced and glocalized perceptions of simulacra in which the historical and local consumption of Koshu wine is equated with Japanese cuisine and culture. By connecting Koshu with Japanese identity and "Japaneseness," branded wines now provide new opportunities for conspicuous consumption and "connoisseurship" for consumers.