Rural outmigration – feminization – agricultural production nexus: Case of Vietnam

ABSTRACT

This study unravels the implications of outmigration for farm labour availability, managerial feminization, women’s agency, and farm production. Findings suggest that migration contributes to increased off-farm income, with higher income from international migration. While men’s labour contribution declines in migrant households, women’s labour increases in the majority of production stages. Women’s salaried work declines while their unpaid work increases. Both farm labour and management are feminized. Through two-stage least squares, results indicate a negative association between increased women’s work burden and rice yield. Farm inputs and hiring labour contribute to higher yield, but remittances are not generally used for this purpose. This paper provides insights on agricultural feminization as a result of migration and underscores its nexus to farm production.

KEYWORDS:

• Labour migration
• labour feminization
• managerial feminization
• women
• agency
• farm production

Acknowledgements

The project is funded by the SEAMEO-Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) supported by CGIAR Fund Donors and through bilateral funding agreements (more details on https://ccafs.cgiar.org/donors) supported some of the researchers contributing to this project. The views expressed in this document do not reflect the official opinions of these organizations. The authors express their gratitude to the communities in Thai Binh, Ha Tinh, and Bac Lieu provinces who participated as respondents. A previous version of the paper was presented at the Seeds of Change Conference on “Gender Equality Through Agricultural Research for Development”, held at the University of Canberra in Australia in April 2019. The authors are grateful to the experts and audience who provided their feedback to improve the research which resulted in this version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. See also Hanson (2005); Amuedo-Dorantes and Pozo (2009); Albanesi and Olivetti (2006).

2. See Blumberg (1984); Boserup (1970); Chen (2006); Haddad, Hoddinot, and Alderman (1997); Lucas (1997); Lundberg and Pollak (1993); Paris et al. (2009).

3. Similar findings were reported in the Philippines by Cabegin (2006), Morocco by Sadiqi and Ennaji (2004), and Nepal by Lokshin and Glinskaya (2009).

4. Since the study’s focus is on labour outmigration, it only captured migration for work among adults (at least 15 years of age). Thus, this excludes migrants who have gone away from household for studies among other reasons.

5. This is based on the consideration that international migration usually receives higher earnings.

6. The Index is based on the scores as follows: 1 = Husband only makes decision; 2 = Both, husband dominates (H > W); 3 = Both equally (H = W); 4 = Both, wife dominates (H < W); and 5 = Wife only makes decisions.

7. Economic reforms or Doi Moi (literally means ‘renovation’) in Vietnam were initiated in 1986 and had fueled significant economic growth and poverty reduction. However, it has also led to unequal distribution of benefits. Ho Cities like Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and their surrounding areas benefit from large capital investments, but north, central and other rural areas have lagged behind (Kim Anh, Hoang, Bonfoh, & Schelling, 2012). Doi Moi policy had also fueled the development of labour and professional migration policies in Vietnam in the government’s attempt to take part in international market (Nguyen, 2014).

8. We used the international poverty definition of the World Bank (Business Insider 2017, see https://www.businessinsider.com/world-bank-released-new-poverty-lines-see-where-your-country-falls-2017-10) which defines ‘poor’ households as those who live below USD 3.20 a day in lower middle-income countries. Households are classified to be under ‘extreme poverty‘ when they live below USD1.90 a day.

9. Murard (2013) finds similar results in Mexico where members staying behind reduced their participation in non-agricultural work and increased their involvement in farming.

10. The respondents were not able to quantify allocations of remittances per purpose. Only information about what they have primarily used the remittances for has been captured. This is a limitation of the study.

11. Although this trend appeared not significant for land preparation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eva Salve Bacud

Eva Salve Bacud is an Assistant Scientist in gender research at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). She holds a BSc in Agricultural Economics and is currently enrolled in MSc in Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Policy Analysis. Her research interests include the social, economic, and gender study of aspects of rural development including rural labour markets, livelihoods, agricultural production, and poverty. She is involved in the design, planning, and implementation of research in South and South East Asia. Prior to joining IRRI, she worked as a researcher at Partnership for Economic Policy- Community Based Monitoring System (PEP-CBMS) in Philippines.

Ranjitha Puskur

Ranjitha Puskur leads the research theme ‘Catalysing Innovation for Health, Equity and Resilience’ at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). She has a Ph D in Agricultural Economics. She has been part of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) since 2002 leading research on gender and innovation systems in water, livestock, fish and rice. Her work focuses on generating knowledge, learning and evidence that can translate into technical and institutional innovation and lead to social inclusion and gender equitable outcomes in agriculture. She is an Aspen New Voices Fellow.

Tran Nhat Lam Duyen

Tran Nhat Lam Duyen holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics. She is working at the VNU-School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam. She has four years of collaboration with IRRI and CCAFS-SEA project focused on research on Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and gender in Vietnam. Her recent work has focused on environment, climate change, agriculture and gender issues, both in academia and with international donors.

Bjoern Ole Sander

Bjoern Ole Sander works as climate change specialist at IRRI. Ole analyzes the greenhouse gas balance of different rice-based cropping systems in South- and Southeast Asia. He evaluates different mitigation options through water, fertilizer, and crop residue management. Ole also identifies suitable conditions to support dissemination of mitigation technologies, for example the water saving method alternate wetting and drying (AWD). Ole works with different stakeholders in Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines to foster implementation of this and other climate-smart farming practices. Since 2018, Ole coordinates various IRRI research projects in Vietnam in his role as Country Representative.

Joyce Luis

Joyce Luis was a socio-economics researcher at IRRI. Joyce has conducted socio-economic and gender research employing quantitative and qualitative research methods, working with multi-disciplinary teams in South East and South Asia. She was involved in the entire research project cycle as well as training partners and collaborators in research methods. Her focus areas of research are women in rice farming systems, women empowerment, gender and asset ownership and, gender norms and agricultural innovations.