ABSTRACT
Michael Tiefel

Vietnamese National Minorities confront many obstacles to their well-being, including poor infrastructure development, demands for their land, educational deficiencies and population density pressures. This project studies three problems facing the ethnic minorities of Vietnam's northern highlands: population density, agricultural development and education. After an introduction, the paper is divided into three sections of analysis and a final section on policy recommendations. The first point of analysis is the demographic transition in Vietnam and how this will affect northern ethnic minorities. While the overall population growth rate is slowing to lower than 2 percent a year, population density continues to rise throughout the country. The northern highlands have been seen as an open frontier by the Vietnamese government for the relocation of people living in overpopulated areas. However, the highlands are already overcrowded because of physical constraints on development. A second section of analysis focuses on the agricultural transition of Vietnam. Since the introduction of doi moi reforms, large tracts of arable land have been divided among private farmers. Privatization has helped the rural economy of Vietnam; however, population pressures may soon force cultivated land to be taken out of production to make way for residential developments. Agricultural constraints will continue to be more pronounced in the northern mountains since farmers face physical constraints beyond population pressures. The third section of analysis traces the educational transition of Vietnam. There are encouraging signs for education in the country. Vietnam has a very high literacy rate; the government has made improvements to the educational system and began allocating more of the national budget to education in the early 1990s. Yet, the education of northern minorities lags behind levels for the rest of the country. This is usually because ethnic minority students do not have the same opportunities as students in the lowlands. The final section is a list of four policy suggestions to help Vietnamese northern mountain people. Multicultural understanding and better education are crucial for improved relations between northern minorities and the national government. Another policy recommendation is the creation of a special commission for minority issues. This commission would have three major functions. First, it would advise the government on important policy decisions affecting ethnic minorities. Second, it would oversee implementation of government minority policies; and third, it would supply feedback to the government about the success of these policies. Finally, the Vietnam Bank of Agriculture must be expanded. This bank supplies small loans to farmers for agricultural improvements. Unfortunately, the bank must turn away numerous applicants because it does not have enough assets. Therefore, an infusion of public and private capital could be used to help minority farmers implement refined agricultural techniques.