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Farmers lose land to creep modernization 11th June 2008

The recent emergence of industrial and residential projects not far from rural areas has thrown many farmers out of jobs, agriculture experts told a conference in Ho Chi Minh City. The conference, held by Tia Sang newspaper and the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development on Monday, discussed the problem of urbanization and specific measures to strengthen agriculture.

A report filed at the conference said the country has 3.4 million hectares of irrigated farmland but 70,000 hectares are appropriated every year for other uses. Furthermore, after losing their land, the farmers are left with no income. The report said in the northern province of Bac Ninh, 94 percent of farmers are unsure about how to earn their living after an industrial zone was built over their lands.

A survey done two years ago in eight communes in the Red River Delta, Mekong Delta and the southeastern region found that all farmers under 40 wanted to find jobs in cities, Professor Tuong Lai said.

Lai, a sociologist, said 45 percent of farmers in Thai Binh Province in the Red River Delta had turned to other jobs. Almost all young agricultural workers moved to the cities to find jobs and only the old and the women stayed behind, he said.

Delegates told the conference that specific policies should be adopted to stimulate the growth ofthe agricultural sector and ensure food security. They also called for improving rural roads, nearly half of which are unpaved and need repairs, to make it easy for transporting agriculture produce around the country. They said more investments should be made to boost certain agricultural exports, building dedicated areas for such produce with their own processing and marketing systems.

Dr. Nguyen Van Ngai from the HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry said such a move requires more farmland to be retained. Nguyen Minh Nhi, former chairman of the An Giang Province People’s Committee, said local authorities should provide vocational training to farm workers who move to cities to reduce the unemployment rate in urban areas.

Professor Dang Kim Son, head of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said such vocational training is also much needed by those staying behind. It can create a generation of skillful farmers to replace those that have migrated, he explained.

At a meeting held last April in HCMC between farmers and city authorities, many farmers expressed concern over the modernization of agricultural and rural areas. Members of the city’s Farmers Association also said authorities have failed to adequately compensate residents after displacing them from their land to make way for industrial projects.

Source: TNN

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