A multi-level approach to analyse the impact of forestland allocation on land management in Northern Vietnam

Many Asian countries have recently devolved land use rights to households and communities. Often largely supported by donors and non-governmental international organizations, the success of these initiatives in improving livelihoods and forest or land management has been challenged by an increasing number of scholars for the last few years. Based on the case study of the Northern uplands of Vietnam, this paper investigates why forestland allocation has hardly achieved its intended objectives regarding land use and management. Results suggest that the gaps between stated intentions and outcomes result from inappropriate institutions and erroneous beliefs often linked with the economic and political context. We encourage the adoption of a similar multi-level framework focusing on actors' incentives and beliefs to understand policy discrepancies and better guide future policies.