Herd mentality adds to volatility of fluctuating real estate market

Construction of an apartment building in Ha Noi's Ha Dong District. Many incomplete apartments are bought by people who hope to re-sell their purchases at a profit. — VNA/ VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI — Vietnamese citizen Nguyen Hoai Nam bought a plot of land in Ba Vi District's Tan Linh Commune after hearing that the national administrative centre in Ba Dinh District would be moved to Ba Vi.

"I followed my friends and bought the property in the hopes that its price would increase much higher than what I had bought at VND800 million," Nam recalls.

Nam is not alone in his thinking.

It is not uncommon to see a number of investors pouring their money into buying land, following the advice of their relatives and friends.

Vice chairman of the Viet Nam Report Company Phung Hoang Co put forth a survey that found that nearly 62 per cent of the 500 questioned consumers in Ha Noi had bought real estate simply to resell it at a higher price.

"In many cases, herd mentality is a decisive factor to the fluctuating real estate market," said vice general secretary of the Association of Cities of Viet Nam Vu Thi Vinh.

She attributed the trend to insufficient information and a lack of understanding leading to many buyers who are then unable to analyse real changes in the market. Instead, they rely on the advice of acquaintances to buy land.

The Viet Nam Report survey also found that 44 per cent of buyers had invested their own money in buying property; 35 per cent borrowed from their friends and relatives and about 20 per cent used bank loans to buy property.

The desire to buy land has been boisterous in Ha Noi in the past months with projects spanning across the new urban areas of the capital's western region.

Analysts have attributed the trend to the expansion of the Lang-Hoa Lac Highway (now Thang Long Boulevard) and to an exhibition that focused on the capital's vision for development over the coming decades. The exhibition revealed that five satellite cities and the proposed Thang Long axis would link the Ba Vi region to the west of Ha Noi.

Former Vice Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo said the recent land fever in Ba Vi in particular and in the western region in general exposed the reality that both managers and investors were not professional.

"How can a project like Ba Vi, which is still waiting for planning approval, create an outbreak of land fever where several hundreds of investors rushed to buy land there?" said Vo.

He said land fever in Ba Vi did not follow market rules. Traders did not study information carefully but simply rushed into decisions because of the herd mentality.

Le Minh Hoang of the Ha Noi Real Estate Joint-Stock Company said most of the land fever actually deflated quickly because investors were short of information. And unfortunately, one negative consequence was wildly fluctuating real estate prices, he said.

Hoang added that the real estate market will be impossible to stablise if investors remain vague about information.

The problem, however, will hopefully be settled after the recent issuance of Government Decree 71, which imposes stricter rules on real estate investment.

Vo said the decree will help solve various issues, including the ways in which project developers raise capital from buyers and the regulations for the transfer of land-use rights, among others.

The decree is also expected to raise the market's transparency.

Vo said he hoped the decree would reject unprofessionalism and speculative investors who often spread misleading information to seek a profit. — VNS

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Investors wary of rising land prices

HA NOI — The increasing cost of land sold at auction in Ha Noi has caused growing concern among investors.

Prices for land have risen from VND40 million (US$2,100) per sq.m to VND100 million ($5,200) in some areas.

In Long Bien District, the price has surged from VND30 million ($1,500) per sq.m to about VND50 million ($2,600) in recent times.

On Ngo Thi Nham Street in Ha Dong District, the price has increased to nearly $50 million ($2,600) per sq.m from $20 million ($1,000) last year.

In My Dinh residential area, prices now range from VND70 million ($3,600) to VND100 million ($5,200) per sq.m.

Further out in areas such as Me Linh Commune in Dong Anh District, prices have remained stable, ranging from less than VND10 million ($520) to VND16 million ($840) per sq.m.

Experts attribute the high price to easier procedures and more transparency.

"Small lots, which belong to the State, are often sold at auction. The auctions are organised by local or city authorities so information about the land is clear and reliable," said General Director of the Hoa Phat Real-estate Joint Stock Company, Pham Trung Ha.

Ha added that after winning an auction, investors are issued with land ownership certificates. However, they have to pay for the land immediately.

Ha forecast that the auction market would further develop due to its simplicity and comparatively low cost compared to other markets.

According to Ha Noi People's Committee, the city will auction 33 projects and land lots in 2010 at an estimated cost of VND2.6 trillion ($136 million). About VND2.3 trillion ($121 million) will be from land managed by the city and the rest from land managed by districts and communes. — VNS

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PPI gets land for residential development

An artist’s impression of Water Garden Apartment in HCMC’s Thu Duc District

HCMC - Local property developer Pacific Property and Infrastructure Development JSC (PPI) has won approval from the HCMC government to develop a housing project at a location formerly allocated to another developer.

Phan Anh Dung, deputy general director of the company, told the Daily on the phone on Tuesday that work had started on a detailed design and necessary procedures for a construction license so that the project in the outlying district of Thu Duc could get off the ground pretty soon. The former developer delayed its project for over 10 years.

The city authorities handed over two hectares of land in Hiep Binh Chanh Ward to Phu Nhuan Housing Trade and Construction Company in 1998, but the company had not finished compensation and site clearance.

Dung said PPI planned to invest some VND1.3 trillion to develop the Water Garden Apartment project comprising four blocks of flats, retail podium and other service facilities.

The city, however, has given PPI a deadline for finishing construction and warned that the city will revoke the land if the company also fails to complete necessary procedures to get the project moving within 12 months from the date of receipt of the land.

Work on the project will begin in the middle of next year and be completed within four years.

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Scientist warns of rapid land sinking in city

HCMC – Rapid urbanization and excessive exploitation of underground water have led to an alarming land-surface subsidence in many districts around HCMC, a local scientist raised a warning on Wednesday.

Professor Le Van Trung, director of the Geomatics Center of the Vietnam National University of HCMC, told a seminar here that the pace of land sinking has recently accelerated due to rapid urbanization and unchecked exploitation of underground water.

Areas vulnerable to land-surface subsidence include Thu Duc and Binh Chanh districts, as well as districts 6, 7, and 8 with an average sinking rate of over 10 millimeters a year, he said.

Trung gave this warning after he had spent 18 months to conduct a VND10-billion project using Dynamic Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, or Insar technology, to detect and measure the ground surface deformation around the city.

“Some streets such as Kha Van Can in Thu Duc District, Vinh Loc B in Binh Chanh District, Ton That Thuyen and Ly Chieu Hoang in District 6 and other areas south of the city have subsided by 0.3 meter since 2000,” he said.

The professor said the easily-seen consequence of land sinking was an increase in  flooding sites around the city and that “79 out of 116 flooding sites in the city are the direct consequence of quick sinking of the land surface.”

“We all know that under the impacts of climate change, sea level is forecast to rise by 0.7 meter by 2100, while the land surface in HCMC has been subsiding by at least 10 millimeters a year. Consequently, 60% of the total area of the city could expectedly be submerged under the seawater by that time if we don’t take quick measures to cope with the matter,” he warned.

While housing development as a factor shows no signs of deceleration, enterprises at most industrial parks are drilling deeper to pump underground water for their production, which will aggravate land sinking, experts said at the event.

Trung said that to ensure a safe level of land subsidence by under 5 millimeters a year, the city needed to cooperate with other nearby provinces including Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Long An to effectively contain the exploitation of underground water.

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Cleared land ready for Formosa steel project this month

HCMC – The central province of Ha Tinh will hand over 3,300 hectares of cleared land for Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Co. Ltd. this month so that the company could boost construction of its huge steel complex project, the provincial chairman said.

Vo Kim Cu, chairman of Ha Tinh Province, told the Daily on the phone on Tuesaday that site clearance of land for Formosa steel complex project was nearly complete.

“The province will definitely complete the site clearance and will hand over all cleared land for the project’s developer within this month,” he said.

Cu said the Taiwan-based Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Co. Ltd. has expressed its eagerness to carry out the project by raising the total investment capital of the project’s first phase from US$7.9 billion to US$8.9 billion.

Total investment for the whole project in Vung Ang Economic Zone was pledged at some US$16 billion.

At the moment, the company is constructing some basic infrastructure works such as roads, boarding houses for workers, water and electricity supplies and land leveling.

“As committed, the company will start operation of the first phase of its steel plant within three years after the project owner is given cleared land, while part of Son Duong Port will begin its operation within four years,” said the provincial leader.

Main components of the steel complex project include a steel plant with total capacity of 7.5 million tons per year, Son Duong port with an annual throughput of 30 million tons, and a thermoelectric plant with an output of 1,600MW.

According to the province’s chairman, when the project’s first phase starts its production, it will create jobs for some 10,000 locals, and the number will triple to 30,000 after the two phases are completed.

“The project will help boost economic development for not only Ha Tinh, but also Quang Binh and Nghe An provinces,” Cu said.

However, a source of Vietnam Steel Association commented that although the project broke ground in 2008, it had barely made a move because of slow site clearance. This stagnation prevents the company from signing contracts for acquiring facilities from Europe to build the plant.

The Formosa steel complex is a sprawling one, encompassing five villages in Ky Anh District. To make room for this huge complex, some 1,800 families have been relocated to other places.

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Cleared land ready for Formosa steel project this month

HCMC – The central province of Ha Tinh will hand over 3,300 hectares of cleared land for Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Co. Ltd. this month so that the company could boost construction of its huge steel complex project, the provincial chairman said.

Vo Kim Cu, chairman of Ha Tinh Province, told the Daily on the phone on Tuesaday that site clearance of land for Formosa steel complex project was nearly complete.

“The province will definitely complete the site clearance and will hand over all cleared land for the project’s developer within this month,” he said.

Cu said the Taiwan-based Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Co. Ltd. has expressed its eagerness to carry out the project by raising the total investment capital of the project’s first phase from US$7.9 billion to US$8.9 billion.

Total investment for the whole project in Vung Ang Economic Zone was pledged at some US$16 billion.

At the moment, the company is constructing some basic infrastructure works such as roads, boarding houses for workers, water and electricity supplies and land leveling.

“As committed, the company will start operation of the first phase of its steel plant within three years after the project owner is given cleared land, while part of Son Duong Port will begin its operation within four years,” said the provincial leader.

Main components of the steel complex project include a steel plant with total capacity of 7.5 million tons per year, Son Duong port with an annual throughput of 30 million tons, and a thermoelectric plant with an output of 1,600MW.

According to the province’s chairman, when the project’s first phase starts its production, it will create jobs for some 10,000 locals, and the number will triple to 30,000 after the two phases are completed.

“The project will help boost economic development for not only Ha Tinh, but also Quang Binh and Nghe An provinces,” Cu said.

However, a source of Vietnam Steel Association commented that although the project broke ground in 2008, it had barely made a move because of slow site clearance. This stagnation prevents the company from signing contracts for acquiring facilities from Europe to build the plant.

The Formosa steel complex is a sprawling one, encompassing five villages in Ky Anh District. To make room for this huge complex, some 1,800 families have been relocated to other places.

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Land management looks to int’l standards

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held a symposium in Hanoi Friday to listen to foreign land managers in an effort to catch up with developed economies in the region by 2020 as planned.

Experts from Sweden, Holland, South Korea, China and the World Bank shared experiences in land registry, land pricing, land information systems, digital land management, land fund development and land compensation.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen emphasised three key points in the orientation on land management modernisation, based on a modern organisational mechanism, advanced technology and efficiency of land management.

“All this is necessary to contribute to poverty alleviation, democracy and social parity,” said the minister, revealing that the nation’s final goal was to reach international standards by 2030.

Acting Head of the Land Management Department Phung Van Nghe said land managers should no longer simply do an administrative job but should manage the business of national properties.

He explained that land management was geared towards providing administrative and legal procedures for land users and the community.

The Law of Land, promulgated in 2003, has opened up a new era where the Government has shifted land ownership or auctioned small parcels of land to enrich State coffers.

In 2009 alone, land auctions fetched VND40 trillion (US$2.04 billion), representing a 10-fold increase over five years ago.

 

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Land management looks to int’l standards

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment held a symposium in Hanoi Friday to listen to foreign land managers in an effort to catch up with developed economies in the region by 2020 as planned.

Experts from Sweden, Holland, South Korea, China and the World Bank shared experiences in land registry, land pricing, land information systems, digital land management, land fund development and land compensation.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen emphasised three key points in the orientation on land management modernisation, based on a modern organisational mechanism, advanced technology and efficiency of land management.

“All this is necessary to contribute to poverty alleviation, democracy and social parity,” said the minister, revealing that the nation’s final goal was to reach international standards by 2030.

Acting Head of the Land Management Department Phung Van Nghe said land managers should no longer simply do an administrative job but should manage the business of national properties.

He explained that land management was geared towards providing administrative and legal procedures for land users and the community.

The Law of Land, promulgated in 2003, has opened up a new era where the Government has shifted land ownership or auctioned small parcels of land to enrich State coffers.

In 2009 alone, land auctions fetched VND40 trillion (US$2.04 billion), representing a 10-fold increase over five years ago.

 

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Ha Noi property market goes west

The Nam Trung Yen apartment building in the west of Ha Noi's Trung Hoa District. The western areas have great opportunities and resources for real estate development projects. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI — Ha Noi's western areas have great opportunities and resources for real estate development projects, according to real estate experts.

Dang Hung Vo, former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment, told participants at a recent workshop focused on real estate and investment opportunities in the west of Ha Noi that investors and individuals had shown an interest in developing the western part of the city.

The decision to develop Ha Noi towards the west was decided by the Government and city authorities several years ago. This tendency towards westward development was confirmed again in the city's recent master construction plan.

Vo said the master plan of expanded Ha Noi was divided into two zones: nuclear urban area and neighbouring regions.

An overall plan for Ha Noi was established to expand these areas. The inner city area will stretch from the left bank of the Red River to the second ring road, reaching a population of about 1.2 million by 2030. High-rise buildings are restricted in this area.

The extensions of the nuclear urban centre, including a chain of urban areas along the fourth ring road and the southern region of the Red River, are expected to reach a population of 1.25 million people by 2030. Investors are being encouraged to build high-rise buildings in this area to shift the population from the inner city.

The series of urban areas to the north of the Red River will consist of Me Linh District, with about 0.45 million people, Dong Anh District, with 0.55 million and Long Bien-Gia Lam districts, with about 0.7 million by 2030.

Five urban satellite towns will include Hoa Lac, Son Tay, Xuan Mai, Phu Xuyen, Phu Minh and Soc Son. Each satellite town will include one or more specific characteristics to support and share the need for urban housing, high-quality training, industry and services, and job creation.

Duong Duc Tuan, deputy director of the Ha Noi Planning and Architecture Department, affirmed that with such development, the western area of Ha Noi would have many opportunities and resources to carry out real estate investment projects. He added that land funds were available for infrastructure projects in the form of build-transfer (BT) and build-operate-transfer (BOT) in this area.

According to many experts, finance problems have posed a challenge. Capital resources from official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) are currently difficult to mobilise and the State budget cannot afford the estimated US$70 billion investment.

As a result, capacity to implement the master plan can only rely on resources from the land fund. Appropriate mechanisms and policies should be developed to encourage real estate investors to get involved in the implementation of the master plan in combination with efficient use of land resources.

Land bubble

In the first quarter this year, a land bubble phenomenon occurred in the area around Ba Vi which saw land prices increase unexpectedly. Increases varied between 35 per cent to 45 per cent depending on the specific area, according to the Kim Bai and Ba Vi administrative centres.

During this land fever, land in the west of Ha Noi fetched high prices. For example, land in Van Khe, Ha Dong District ranged from VND70 million ($3,589) to 80 million ($4,102) per sq.m, and in Nam An Khanh the price was around VND30 million ($1,538) per sq.m.

However, fewer transactions are now taking place because many land traders have fled the area. Land prices have fallen by 70 per cent compared with peak land fever prices.

Vo said land fever in Ba Vi did not follow market rules. Traders did not carefully study information about the land but simply rushed to buy land under the herd mentality. Unfortunate consequences are inevitable, he said.

Nguyen Tran Nam, deputy minister of Construction, said commodity prices would follow the market rule which centred around the law of supply and demand and the law of value. Although real estate was a special kind of good, it still complied with economic laws and other factors.

Authorised agencies could regulate prices by increasing supply, he said.

Currently, major capital for the real estate market comes from banks, but financial institutions are beginning to narrow the flow of capital with strict regulations in order to prevent a real estate bubble.

The Ministry of Construction has proposed potential channels for mobilisation of capital for the real estate market in the future, such as real estate trust funds and savings funds on housing. — VNS

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Land reserve will help douse property fevers: experts

HANOI – Experts and officials at a seminar on urban development in Hanoi on Saturday called for a new approach to urbanization management in the capital city by increasing land reserves to choke off property fevers there.

Pham Sy Liem, director of the Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute, remarked that land fevers often took place soon after any urban planning schemes were announced. Recent fevers in new urban areas of Duong Noi, An Khanh, and even in the farming area of Ba Vi indicated that current urban land management has failed, he said.

“Therefore, to fight land manipulators and to make the most from land for development, urban administrators need to build up land reserves right at the time they make any urban planning scheme,” Liem told the seminar.

He asserted that land reserves would provide a strong vehicle for the urban administrator to manage the property market in urban areas, adding “it is high time the country formulate a complete institutional mechanism on land reserves.”

The new mechanism, according to Liem, will help prevent the situation of land prices being chased up year after year while people affected by development projects are still unhappy with the rising compensations.

Duong Duc Tuan, deputy director of Hanoi City’s Department of Planning and Architecture, agreed to Liem’s viewpoint, saying land reserves were the basic resource for urban development in the capital city.

Those areas with ample land reserves would have better conditions for infrastructure development, especially for projects under the forms of Build-Transfer and Build-Operate-Transfer forms, he said.

Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, stressed the need to improve land management to avoid corruption in the sector.

“We must look for strong methods to manage land under planning schemes, otherwise some people will gain hefty profits from land manipulation while others will suffer when their land is revoked for development projects,” Vo said.

He added that urban land must be seen as capital resources, so a right approach to urban planning would be the decisive factor to determine urban development.

Liem of the Urban Research and Infrastructure Development Institute said that the development of land reserves would also help collect most benefits from land for the State budget.

Under the master plan on urban development between now and 2025 with a vision to 2050 that was approved by the Prime Minister last year, there should have some 910 urban towns and cities in the country by 2020. The population in cities should reach 44 million, or 45% of the country’s population by then.

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Developers unhappy over new fees

An overview of a corner of Phu My Hung urban area. Enterprises investing in housing projects may have to pay twice – first when buying the land and second when paying use and clearance fees. — VNA/VNS Photo Kim Phuong

HA NOI — Real estate companies said planned land-use and compensation fees would eat into their profits and could even force them into liquidation.

Decree 69/CP, which becomes effective from the beginning of October, states that new land fees for real estate enterprises will be based on market prices. If the draft comes into effect unchanged, firms will be forced to pay the full market price, instead of 20 to 30 per cent as before.

Le Hoang Chau, president of the HCM City's Real Estate Association, said enterprises investing in housing projects would have to pay twice – first when buying the land from its owners and second when paying usage and clearance fees.

"This will cause land prices to soar as enterprises will have to increase the selling price of housing in order to offset their increased outlay," he said.

Lawyer Nguyen Thi Cam said the new regulation had several weakness that were detrimental to real estate firms.

She said the new decree should be modified because real estate companies would have to pay the same fees for land that had no infrastructure as that with infrastructure because market prices were based on developed land.

Nguyen Canh Ha, director of An Thien Ly Company, said his company acquired a housing project in Vinh City. He said his company had agreed to buy the land for VND4 million (US$ 210) per square metre, while selling it for VND4.5 million ($230) per square metre.

However, he said under the new regulation, his company would have to pay an additional fee of $230 per square metre for using the land. As a result, he said his firm had been forced to pull out.

Meanwhile, a representative from Binh Dan Company said his firm had invested in a 14,000-sq.m housing project in HCM City. According to the new regulation, his company would have to pay a land-use fee of around VND57 billion ($ 2.8 million), while the whole project itself was worth just VND60 billion ($3 million).

Nguyen Van Duc, deputy director of Dat Lanh Real Estate Company, also said the new law would make it hard for companies to earn money.

He said that under the new regulation, for a 10,000-sq.m housing project, a business would have to sell out about VND51 billion ($2.6 million), which would include compensation to land owners of VND40 billion ($2.1 million), spending for public purposes such as parks of about VND8 billion ($430,000) and roads VND3 billion ($160,000). For the whole project, his company could expect to earn just VND600 million ($32,000), he said.

Le Ngoc Khoa, deputy director of the Department for Public Assets Management, said HCM City real estate firms would be hardest hit because companies typically paid very high compensation costs for agricultural land, which was however cheap in comparison to developed land. Under the new rules, they would have to pay far more to develop rural land.

Nguyen Quoc Chien, director of Pricing Division under the HCM City's Department of Finance, said relevant bodies would consider amending the new regulation if it was felt property developers were being unfairly treated. — VNS

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Philippine farm policy deepens poverty: WB

A Filipino farmer prepares to work on his land having won a legal battle against the powerful political clan of Teves family who owns vast tract of agricultural land in the province of Negros Oriental

MANILA - Misguided farming policies, including land reform, are keeping millions in the Philippines poor, according to a report released by the World Bank this week.

The report said only the manufacturing and service sectors, which require huge capital and skilled workers, had grown significantly over the last decade while agriculture, which employs most of the non-skilled, faltered.

"These productivity trends reflect a growing scarcity of land and a progressive reduction in the amount of land per worker, aggravated by agrarian reform policies," the World Bank said.

The Philippines passed a land reform law in 1987 to break up large agricultural estates owned mostly by the ruling elite and give land to millions of farmhands.

Last year parliament extended the program by five years amid widespread landlord opposition, which has kept a number of big corporate farms intact, including one controlled by the family of President Benigno Aquino.

The World Bank urged the government, among others, to set up a commission to review its current agrarian reform policy so farm land is not tied up and can be used more freely as capital.

The government says one in three people in the country of 95 million are poor, with most living in rural areas. The farm sector employed 32.5 million people in April, the latest official data available.

Productivity among Philippine farms has stagnated over 30 years due to falling investment in public infrastructure such as irrigation, as well as reduced farm sizes owing to rapid population growth, the report said.

"This decline in farm size has been intensified by agrarian reforms that have negatively affected the functioning of land markets and made access to land more difficult for small-scale farmers," it added.

The report said other policies over the period brought only short-term relief to select groups though not necessarily the rural poor.

Efforts by the Philippines, now the world's largest rice importer, to grow all of its needs merely stifled the efficient allocation of resources and hindered families from earning incomes from other farm activities, it said.

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Philippine farm policy deepens poverty: WB

A Filipino farmer prepares to work on his land having won a legal battle against the powerful political clan of Teves family who owns vast tract of agricultural land in the province of Negros Oriental

MANILA - Misguided farming policies, including land reform, are keeping millions in the Philippines poor, according to a report released by the World Bank this week.

The report said only the manufacturing and service sectors, which require huge capital and skilled workers, had grown significantly over the last decade while agriculture, which employs most of the non-skilled, faltered.

"These productivity trends reflect a growing scarcity of land and a progressive reduction in the amount of land per worker, aggravated by agrarian reform policies," the World Bank said.

The Philippines passed a land reform law in 1987 to break up large agricultural estates owned mostly by the ruling elite and give land to millions of farmhands.

Last year parliament extended the program by five years amid widespread landlord opposition, which has kept a number of big corporate farms intact, including one controlled by the family of President Benigno Aquino.

The World Bank urged the government, among others, to set up a commission to review its current agrarian reform policy so farm land is not tied up and can be used more freely as capital.

The government says one in three people in the country of 95 million are poor, with most living in rural areas. The farm sector employed 32.5 million people in April, the latest official data available.

Productivity among Philippine farms has stagnated over 30 years due to falling investment in public infrastructure such as irrigation, as well as reduced farm sizes owing to rapid population growth, the report said.

"This decline in farm size has been intensified by agrarian reforms that have negatively affected the functioning of land markets and made access to land more difficult for small-scale farmers," it added.

The report said other policies over the period brought only short-term relief to select groups though not necessarily the rural poor.

Efforts by the Philippines, now the world's largest rice importer, to grow all of its needs merely stifled the efficient allocation of resources and hindered families from earning incomes from other farm activities, it said.

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