Post-Urbanization: What Do Farmers Do in the City?

(Baonghean.vn) - According to Vinh city's report, the total number of people of working age with the ability to work in the communes is 49,864 people, of which the number of workers with regular jobs is 46,323 people, distributed in the agricultural sector accounting for about 46%, the non-agricultural sector accounting for about 54%.

Farmers unemployed due to urbanization

In the suburban communes of Vinh city, non-agricultural labor is more than agricultural labor. The reason is that land is increasingly shrinking, there are many projects to reclaim land from people. In 2016, agricultural land decreased from 4,700 hectares to about 4,000 hectares.

The area that used to be rice fields in Vinh Tan has now become a new urban area of ​​Vinh city. Photo: Archive

Agricultural production in some communes does not bring high income, so people work in side jobs such as construction workers, making noodles, cakes, selling food, washing cars, small businesses... Finding stable jobs for these workers is a difficult problem for the city.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Bao in Hamlet 14 Nghi Phu is of working age. His family has just received land compensation due to the city's construction projects in the area. However, after saving the above amount of money, Mr. Bao has no job. Every day, he stays at home and raises a few chickens and ducks.

Mr. Bao said: A while ago, I worked as a construction worker, but now my health is declining, I don't know what to do. Mr. Khieu - a non-agricultural household also in Nghi Phu said: My family no longer has agricultural land, I'm too old to learn a trade, so I work as a construction worker. Now my health is poor, so I don't work often.

Many households in Nghi Duc and Nghi Phu also fell into a similar situation after the land was recovered. Some households originally living in the city center such as Vinh Tan ward still have a very difficult life due to unstable jobs, going fishing and working for hire in the Vinh market area every day.

Directions for new rural areas in the city

Creating jobs for farmers after land acquisition is a concern for the city, wards and communes, and the people. This issue has been repeatedly questioned by the people at city council meetings.

The city has issued support policies and organized vocational training and apprenticeship programs, but they have not really attracted people. Most of them find their own jobs, such as studying hairdressing in Saigon, learning to do nails, or selling clothes...

"Necessity is the mother of invention", some communes have found good ways to develop the economy for farmers after land acquisition. Chairman of Hung Hoa Commune People's Committee Le Van Thuong said: After receiving compensation for land acquisition, many people in Hung Hoa bought trucks and sent their children to work abroad in countries such as Japan, England, Korea... The number of people going abroad in Hung Hoa Commune is currently 180, with an average income from labor export of 20 million/person/month.

Others learn a trade, or switch to family farms. However, there is no connection between farms, only at the household scale, and the households are responsible for the consumption of products.

Another large group of workers in the commune switched to being painters (about 500 people). With an income of over 7 million VND/month, they formed small teams of workers, working together quite systematically and stably.

In Nghi An commune, Vinh city, many people still "stick to the land" and are loyal to agriculture, but have a direction to increase the value of this traditional production industry. That is the profession of growing, caring for and selling flowers and ornamental plants.

Ms. Le Thi Canh, Kim Chi hamlet, Nghi An has more than 700m2 growing flowers and many valuable ornamental plants. As one of the households with seniority in the profession, she shared: “My family has been doing this job for decades. My family grows many types of flowers, of which yellow chrysanthemums are strongly consumed by the market. With prices ranging from 3,000 - 5,000 VND/flower sold in the garden, we earn 30 - 50 million VND each year.

Caring for ornamental plants in Nghi An. Photo by Quang An.

Some households are also proactive in earning extra income by opening tree planting and care services for restaurants and wealthy families. Mr. Le Anh Tuan, a household growing ornamental plants, shared: I often grow ornamental plants that cost an average of 1-2 million VND such as dwarf areca, cycads, etc. The price is not too high but the output is more stable. On average, each month also helps the family earn more than 10 million VND.

To support the craft village, the city and Nghi An commune have invested in building basic concrete roads within the hamlet, invested in 2 new power stations, built a standard cultural house worth nearly 1.3 billion VND. At the same time, upgrading the drainage system for Kim Chi craft village cost nearly 2 billion VND. Kim Phuc village also invested in a level 2 canal worth 3.6 billion VND.

In 2015, the number of households engaged in ornamental flower and tree growing in the 3 craft villages was 350 households, but in 2017 it increased to more than 400 households, accounting for more than 70% of the total number of households. The average income per capita from ornamental flower and tree growing increased quite high, from 30 million VND/person in 2015 to more than 50 million VND/person in 2017.

Thus, the problem of employment for farmers in the city after land acquisition does not necessarily have to be a change of occupation. In the period of integration and industrialization, many new directions have opened up for the traditional agricultural sector by applying technology, associated with processing and brand building to increase production value.

As agricultural land is narrowed to make way for urbanization, the solid direction for farmers is methodical models that meet the highest standards and demands of the market, focusing on quality so that every inch of land is truly an inch of gold.

PV Group