A REVIEW ON THE LINK BETWEEN NONFARM EMPLOYMENT, LAND AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND VIETNAM

Tran Quang Tuyen

Faculty of Political Economy, University of Economics and Business, Vietnam National University,
Hanoi, Vietnam

This paper has reviewed recent empirical evidence on the link between nonfarm employment, land and rural livelihoods in the context of increasing a land loss to urbanization and industrialization in some developing countries and Vietnam. It was found that while land is of great importance to a number of countries, it seems to be less important to others. Land shortage can be a positive factor encouraging rural households’ participation in nonfarm activities and improving their welfare in countries in which non-farm job opportunities are available to a large part of the population. Nevertheless, this can negatively affect rural household livelihoods in countries lacking such nonfarm jobs. In Vietnam, nonfarm employment has gained increasing importance to rural livelihoods. In addition, in peri-urban areas where more and more farmland has been lost to rapid urbanization and industrialization, nonfarm employment was found to help households reduce their dependence on farmland and improve their welfare.

Keywords: rural livelihoods, nonfarm activities, land loss, land shortage and livelihood diversification

JEL Classification: Q15, Q19