The end
By Tessa Bunney on 29 April 2008Although handicraft and small industry lines have developed and provided a good income, all the peasant families in the (Tuong Giang) commune still receive contractual arable land and do farm work. Like in almost all the communes of the Red River Delta, the people here still consider agriculture the base of stability, and arable land a precious asset and the solid mainstay against the volatility of market concerning both the inputs and outputs of non-agricultural lines.
All the household heads interviewed agreed that: Once you live in the countryside, you must be engaged more or less in cultivation. Our forefathers said “Agriculture is the base”. Currently, textile and construction jobs are bringing in an income 2 or 3 times higher, or even more still than farm work. But if farmers give up agricultural work, and later on when non-agricultural lines cannot develop, how can they earn their living?
Rural Development in Vietnam, National Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities and University of British Colombia, Canada.
Rice field, Ninh Bình province
So this is the last post to the blog from Hanoi as we are leaving on the 1 May to go back to UK with a 2 week holiday on the way, so arriving back in England on the 17th. I will post any developments regarding the exhibition in 2009 on my website www.tessabunney.co.uk
With special thanks to my guides Phuong and Vuong and also to Hanoi International Kindergarten for looking after Noah fantastically while I’ve been travelling out to the villages around Hanoi during the week whilst working on this project. And of course to all the villagers for welcoming us into their homes and for sharing their space for a while.