Resettling Farm Households in Northwestern Vietnam: Livelihood Change and Adaptation

This paper examines how a resettlement programme in northwestern Vietnam has affected the livelihood assets, strategies and outcomes of the resettled and host households. Data were collected using informal interviews, followed by a structured survey of 56 resettled and 52 host households. Results show a significant decline in natural capital for the resettled households and a lesser decline for the host households; however, both groups have partially compensated for this through land use intensification. The net income of the host households did not change significantly after resettlement, whereas the farm revenues of the resettled households fell dramatically, but, due to the compensation payments made to them, their net household income actually increased. Most compensation money has been consumed rather than invested in livelihood assets; livelihood outcomes might therefore deteriorate when the compensation payments end.