One village one product: evaluations and lessons learnt from OVOP aid projects

Abstract

The One Village One Product project that originated in Japan's Oita Prefecture is just one component of many official Japanese development assistance projects aiming to promote rural development in more than 30 countries. Not all efforts, however, result in the same level of sustainability. Oita Prefecture built its movement on three principles: local yet global, self-reliance and creativity, and human resources development. The projects that satisfy these principles are generally found to be sustainable. These principles can also be applicable to overseas projects.Le projet One Village One Product (Un village un produit) lancé dans la préfecture japonaise d'Oita n'est qu'un élément de très nombreux projets d'aide au développement officiels lancés au Japon dans le but de promouvoir le développement rural dans plus de 30 pays. Cependant, tous les efforts n'aboutissent pas au même degré de durabilité. La préfecture d'Oita a bâti son mouvement sur trois principes : local mais mondial, autosuffisance et créativité, et développement des ressources humaines. Les projets qui respectent ces principes se révèlent souvent durables. Ces principes peuvent aussi être appliqués aux projets à l'étranger.El proyecto Una Aldea, Un Producto (UAUP), que tuvo su origen en la prefectura japonesa de Oita, es solo uno de los muchos proyectos de ayuda patrocinados por el gobierno de Japón y orientados a promover el desarrollo rural en más de 30 países. Sin embargo, no todos muestran el mismo nivel de sostenibilidad. La prefectura de Oita impulsó su proyecto tomando como base tres principios: lo local inserto en lo global, la autosuficiencia y la creatividad, y la potenciación de los recursos humanos. En general, aquellos proyectos que satisfacen estos principios resultan ser sostenibles, lo que permite inferir que pueden ser aplicados a proyectos implementados en otros países.

One Village One Product (OVOP)—A Rural Development Strategy and the Early Adaption in Vietnam, the Case of Quang Ninh Province

“…The OVOP movement suggested one village to product one competitive and marketable product with regards to their local resources to achieve sales revenue in the market, thus creating income for the residents in the villages and enhancing the local economy [32][33][34]. The OVOP approach also inspired local leadership and human resource development at the municipal level by founding a number of schools for specific training goals [35,36]. Thanks to the OVOP program, the quantity of OVOP goods in Oita enlarged from 143 goods with total values of $330 million in 1980 to 336 products with total values of $1300 million in 2001.…”

“…As a result, recently, the OVOP approach has been implemented in many Asian countries and further developing nations, including Africa and Latin America as alternative economic development path [39][40][41][42][43]. Additionally, the OVOP movement has become one of the most attractive packages of Japanese ODA (Official Development Assistance) that have great influence on the policy makers [36,44,45].…”

“…This principle denotes that exploitation of local assets is a fundamental aspect of products. While conserving the taste of local culture, develop products that are attractive both locally and globally [36]. Consequently, a product with distinctive 'local flavors and culture' can be aggressive in trading providing that its value is increasingly developed.…”

Prerequisites and initial developments for economic specialization in lagging regions—A study of specialized villages in Iran

“…The effects of policy measures are assumed to be path-dependent in this literature, making location-based policy necessary. The smart specialization approach as well as the One Village One Product concept follows similar arguments (Foray 2014;Mukai and Fujikura 2015). This policy-related literature provides arguments and case-based evidence on preconditions for the development of local economic specializations and improvement.…”

Agro-clusters for rural development in the Indonesian Province of West Java

“…She also stresses that the governments of these countries persuade many external institutions to support farmers in creating product and processing innovations and in opening global markets. Studying the One Village One Product program of Japan and Thailand, Mukai and Fujikura (2015) point out human resource development, such as self-reliance and creativity, as the key objectives of sustainable clusters. In other words, all actors in these clusters acquire knowledge and skills including business, managerial and leadership capacity and production, which are likely to raise productivity.…”