The impact of family decision-making on sustainable rural livelihoods

Living standards and food security in mountainous zones of Southeast Asia are determined by a complex set of conditions, especially the availability and quality of resources and their use in rural farming families, the accessibility to markets, as well as education, ethnicity and cultural background. The degree of market orientation, production and socio-economic conditions of families changes as one moves from urban to remote zones. Lentes (2003), Do Anh Tai (2004) and Huyen (2004) carried out research in Son La Province in Vietnam to investigate and analyse the variation of important development parameters and to determine the driving forces behind them. The objective of this research has been to understand farmers’ complex decision-making behaviour and the impact of resource use and management on living standards and food security at the family and rural sector level. On this basis, future strategies for development can be proposed. © 2007, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.