Producing high-quality rice for export is the most important approach to meet
market demand. However, to take advantage of the opportunity to improve export
output and economic value, the rice value chain needs to be organized scientifically
to meet market demand. This research analyzes the high-quality rice value chain by
employing GTZ ValueLinks (2007) approach using the data of directly interviewing
100 farmers and 27 value chain actors in Soc Trang province. The results reveal that
the current high-quality rice value chain has some differences compared to the
traditional value chain, with a smaller number of actors and, the profitability of
farmers is increased. Economic analysis indicates that actors in the chain currently
have quite high economic efficiency, especially companies that are involved in the
cooperation. This is an important point to attract businesses to join cooperation with
farmers. However, this value chain still faces challenges such as contract-related
issues and quality risks. Thus, to develop and enhance the current high-quality rice
value chain, it is necessary to develop and improve cooperatives as a connector
between production and consumption. Besides, it is necessary to have support from
the banking system to support capital for production for farmers and enterprises in
the value chain.