Economic transition without agrarian transformation: the pivotal place of smallholder rice farming in Vietnam's modernisation

Nguyen, Tuan Anh; Gillen, Jamie; Rigg, Jonathan

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.12.008

Cited by 35 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Leaving agriculture or migrating to an urban area are not necessarily permanent, irreversible transitions. Many young people who migrate away for school or whose primary work is outside agriculture will nevertheless keep a hand in farming (Mwaura, 2017a,b), or will at some later point re-engage with agriculture or live again in a rural area (Nguyen et al, 2020;Rigg et al, 2020). Some young people may aspire to work in farming, even though they may be obliged to seek work in other sectors while they try to gather the resources they need to do so (Filloux et al, 2019).…”

Section: Economic Dimensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Youth and Food Systems Transformation

Glover

Sumberg

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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What, if anything, is special about youth with respect to engagement in food systems? This question is important, owing to the size of the current demographic cohort of youth, globally but especially in the majority world, as well as the large stake, and strong influence, that today's youth will have in the development trajectories and future sustainability of food systems. Although youth is often framed as an age category for policy and bureaucratic purposes, this simplification obscures important dimensions of what being a youth means and entails. It makes comparisons and generalizations simple but misleading, because age-based classifications are nationally and culturally specific. In this paper, we argue that youth is better understood relationally, as a transitional phase within the life course. While every human being depends on consuming food, their individual transition from childhood to adulthood involves-as a very stylized generalization-a significant enlargement of autonomy and independence, as well as an increased likelihood of being substantially and directly involved in the production, distribution, procurement and/or preparation of food, as well as its consumption. However, each person's youth transition and their relationship with food systems is uniquely shaped by specific intersections with multiple factors including gender, class, wealth, health, location, intergenerational relationships, and many others. We conclude that there are only a few, important but not necessarily dominant, ways in which youth as a group have special stakes in food systems. We elaborate on this complex picture and identify some principles to guide development research and policy that seeks to engage with youth in relation to the sustainable transformation of food systems.

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Section: Economic Dimensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Youth and Food Systems Transformation

Glover

Sumberg

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…An alternative explanation for this result may be that Lao women farmers are aware of a key role they may play in the agrarian transition, as they seek opportunities to be incorporated in non-farm sectors of the economy, as occurs in Thailand [69] Rather than driven by the technology treadmill, [69] posits that rural households (in Thailand) can combine rural and urban livelihoods, by keeping family farms for subsistence production of rice and goods while taking up opportunities, should they arise, for non-farm work and integrating subsistence and commercial livelihood activities. Similarly, [70] p. 87 sees the family farm in Vietnam as an "adaptive pivot between the past and the future" as rural farmers adapt to changing circumstances, confronted by "transformations in land laws, family dynamics, working opportunities, infrastructure, and education". Peasant farmers continue to have strong ties to their land and balance their kinship responsibilities and relationships with emerging off-farm opportunities [71].…”

Section: Gender-related Differences In Economic Outcomes and Access Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Roles in Agrarian Transition: A Study of Lowland Rice Farming in Lao PDR

et al. 2020

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Traditional lifestyles of lowland rice farmers of the southern provinces of Lao People’s Democratic Republic are rapidly changing, due to two important trends. Firstly, there is a push towards modernization and commercialization of farming. Secondly, though farmers still focus on rice farming as a key activity, there is an increasing move towards diversification of livelihoods. The changes have seen the uptake of non-rice crops, livestock husbandry and forest and river utilization; as well as non-farming activities. This has influenced gender relations, impacting household agricultural production decisions and amplified transitional trends. To explore the processes, we analyzed data from a study of innovation adoption amongst rice farmers in southern Lao PDR. The study revealed nuances of gender-based differences in the priorities and attitudes towards farming and off-farm activities, as well as differences in behaviour related to the adoption of new practices. Women were more focused on non-farming practices and considered engaging in the modern, non-traditional, economy more so than men. Women also reported experiencing greater challenges when engaging and trading in the agricultural marketplace. The study supports the importance of taking a gendered approach to understanding the inherent complexities within agrarian change.

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“…Given that rural households have off-farm incomes and a problem with labor shortages, many households in the study site were not interested in investing in commercial agriculture. This smallholder strategy of keeping farms in a less profitable manner for household food security is a common trend in rural Vietnam (Nguyen et al 2020) and in neighboring countries (Bhandari and Mishra 2018;Rigg et al 2016 and.…”

Section: Gender Roles and Household Strategies For Farmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sweetpotato in diverse economies: Women farmers in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam

2021

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Linking smallholder farmers to markets has been one of the major approaches to improving food security. This approach is often combined with women's empowerment as well by emphasizing women's greater involvement in market-oriented agriculture. However, it implicitly undervalues women's roles in non-market-oriented agriculture and unpaid family labor. This is partly because current mainstream value-chain analyses are premised on a capitalist economy that separates production from the non-capitalist form of all activities. The aim of this study is to gain a more nuanced understanding of non-or less-market oriented agricultural activities led by women farmers and the oft-neglected value of these activities in rural households. The study employs the concept of diverse economies which consider non-market-oriented activities as part of various economic systems, including subsistence farming, exchange of food, and exchange of labor. A case study was conducted in a community in the Ha Tinh province in Vietnam in April 2021, when COVID-19 had little impact on agriculture.Findings show that women manage non-market-oriented sweetpotato production, which is central to maintaining a local seed system, a reciprocal support system, and livestock production. Furthermore, women choose the best varieties of sweetpotato and use their own social networks for obtaining planting materials and distributing the sweetpotato harvest, enabling women to control both agricultural production and the distribution of benefits. In this context, shifting to commercial agriculture is not a desired form of agricultural development for women. Interventions in agricultural value chains require careful considerations of women's aspirations and household strategies embedded in broad production and reproduction within extended and intergenerational family relations.

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Economic transition without agrarian transformation: the pivotal place of smallholder rice farming in Vietnam's modernisation

Cited by 35 publications

References 24 publications

Youth and Food Systems Transformation

Youth and Food Systems Transformation

Gendered Roles in Agrarian Transition: A Study of Lowland Rice Farming in Lao PDR

Sweetpotato in diverse economies: Women farmers in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam

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