Life on the Red River Delta
Author: Nguyen Thi Hong Ngoc, edited by Nga Dao & Julian Williams
Making pork sausages on the Red River Delta
The Red River Delta (Đồng Bằng Sông Hồng in Vietnamese) in Vietnam has a long symbiotic relationship with the people that have lived there since the Bronze Age. Since 2004, UNESCO has designated the Red River Delta a ‘Biosphere Reserve’ given its special status as an area of outstanding biodiversity. The rich and fertile soil formed from the layers of alluvial sediment deposited by the Red and Thái Bình river systems has meant that the Red River Delta is the second largest rice granary in Vietnam. On this land lives a population of 22.5 million people, around a quarter of the population of Vietnam (from the 2019 Department of Statistics of the Vietnamese Government).
Against the stunning backdrop of the Red River Delta, the lives of local residents are in a continuous state of change driven by national and global circumstances. To understand the impact of development in the local, national, economic, and political landscape we have conducted a series of semi structured citizen led surveys. The main objective was to establish salience, to understand the core issues that are currently of concern (both positive and negative), so that we can frame our future research agenda. The topics covered in these conversations have been diverse, including ideas such as family, livelihood, land use, social life, and the various paths each household has taken to the present and where they see the future. Our interviews were conducted in three provinces in the Red River Delta: Nam Định, a costal province; Hưng Yên, a province with a longstanding tradition of agricultural production; and Vĩnh Phúc, a semi-upland province in the North of Việt Nam.
Reflections by Nguyen Thi Hong Ngoc, Red River Delta field researcher
Even though I was born and grew up in the Red River Delta, and the survey areas were located less than 100 km away from my current home with my husband, the field trips surprised us in many ways. They revealed ongoing rapid changes in the countryside of the delta. The most clear-cut commentary was in respect to people turning their backs on rice cultivation in most of the areas we visited. Put simply, most household livelihoods no longer depend on rice growing. Fewer people still cultivate rice fields and harvest crops just for their own consumption. The scenery of the countryside has changed significantly. For example, in Vĩnh Phúc, we were confused, because we could not tell if the area was urban or rural. We could see dramatic buildings, luxury decorated houses in the middle of rice fields – industrial zones “nibbling” away at farmland. We inferred from observation and local discussion that this was due to huge benefits from the newly established urban industrial zones. Subsequently, the local authorities ignored agricultural land. There are still rice fields, often as small as 200 – 300m2/, scattered amongst these fast-spreading industrial zones.
This is a semi-upland picture. How about the coastal region by the sea? For this, we travelled down to Nam Định. In Nam Định, the livelihoods of local people are mostly related to fishing, seafood processing, aquaculture, farming and working away from home (outmigration). Seafaring jobs bring regular work and good income. In this sector, the jobs can more easily provide sustainable lifestyles for the workers and their families. However, there is a side effect to depending on sea products: saline areas have been destroyed for aquaculture development (clam farming). As far as rice growing, similar to Vĩnh Phúc, farmers are no longer interested in rice cultivation. In many places, farmers even left rice fields completely unused. Insufficient earnings from rice crops and limited farming areas per capita are factors that may well explain this outcome. Furthermore, young people have to migrate, often permanently to industrial zones such as those in Vĩnh Phúc or big cities like Hanoi (Hà Nội). Working far from home, the income of these young labourers is just enough to cover their living expenses. Despite this lack of savings, young people originally from this region would rather be poorer in cities than moderately wealthier in these rural areas. Since young people are leaving the villages, mostly older generations and middle-aged people remain, carry on with the traditional handcraft, and maintain cultural activities in these communities.
We continued our survey with visits to Hưng Yên, a province where farmers are famous for their creative thinking. We were excited to see these innovations in agricultural production, and Hưng Yên really did not disappoint us. We met wealthy farmers in some villages where people still make all of their living from farming and migrating workers returning to work in agricultural employment. Again, we should emphasize that this is farming, not rice growing. In part, due to the flexibility in land administration by local authorities, small and scattered rice fields had been gradually integrated into larger pieces of land; the farmers of these combined plots do not necessarily stick with the production of one type of crop. As such, there are orchards full of fruit trees instead of rice paddies. The decision to introduce cash crops was made under careful consideration; the plantations have to be well designed to ensure profitable yield. For instance, the types of fruit trees planted in local orchards are native to the area. Therefore, they could utilize a well-established brand name that allows for better margins at sale. With the application of new technology in the cultivating and growing processes, farmers can ensure the quality of fruits and a reliable sales volume.
Having completed field trips in the three main provinces, we reflected on the barriers that hold back development in the countryside. An obvious observation is the separation of very small pieces of farmland. Therefore, a process to encourage farmers to exchange scattered pieces of land and integrate them into larger areas for cultivation would seem a clear step. Rice fields yielding insufficient crops compared to their inputs (mostly labour) or that are unused should be converted into larger fields that focus on relevant cash crops to meet demand for export or domestic markets. Traditional handcraft is important, but for many areas, the manufacturing process should be standardized to ensure the quality of products and stable sales volume. The expansion of clam farming in salt fields should be closely monitored and managed to avoid negative impacts on the local ecology of wetlands. Finally, engaging local people in eco-tourism would be a good solution for building up residents’ livelihoods (particularly their capital assets such as housing and savings) and strengthening sustainable development in the region.
