Creating sustainable jobs for farmers after land acquisition

(Baonghean)On September 20, 2006, Vinh City People's Committee issued Decision No. 20/QD.UBND promulgating the Project: "Solving employment for farmers when the State reclaims agricultural land in the period 2006-2010". After more than 5 years of implementing the project, the issue of solving employment for farmers after land reclamation in the city has achieved remarkable results.

However, the results of job creation for farmers after land acquisition are still not sustainable. Of the total 3,121 agricultural workers who were given jobs, only 320 went to work in industrial parks and factories with incomes ranging from 1.8 million to 2.5 million VND; 575 people went to work abroad with quite high incomes, but when they returned to their hometowns, these workers had difficulty investing in production to create long-term jobs, or they just built houses and bought conveniences, only to run out of money and become unemployed again.

Although the city has incentive policies, only 436 workers participate in vocational training, mainly short-term training in the following occupations: electricity, electronics, mechanics, sewing, motorbike repair, information technology, and cooking. Because the rate of workers receiving vocational training is too low, job creation is very difficult; most workers do unskilled jobs; 1,440 workers have to find jobs for themselves.

According to the plan of Vinh City People's Committee from now until 2015, the city's agricultural land area will continue to be recovered by 1,352 hectares, 11,590 agricultural workers will lose their jobs. The problem of employment for farmers after land recovery is more serious. To create "stable" jobs for farmers, there are many issues that need to be studied to find positive solutions.

According to city statistics: Of the total 6,512 workers whose land was recovered, only 662 were aged 18 to 30, and 5,864 were aged 31 to over 56. With such an advanced age, health and vocational training are both limited, and the burden of family is heavy, so long-term vocational training is extremely difficult. Therefore, the solution to employment through vocational training is only suitable for some young people. For older people, it is difficult to create sustainable jobs through vocational training, and they have to switch from agricultural labor to service business.

After land acquisition, if only short-term jobs are created such as freelance work and retail trade, the results will not be sustainable. To create long-term and sustainable jobs, there needs to be a plan to transfer agricultural labor to multi-industry service labor. Encourage farming families with capital to boldly open businesses and pool capital to establish private enterprises that suit their capabilities. For the young workforce, there needs to be a long-term vocational training plan that meets the future labor market to create long-term jobs.

Regarding policy implementation, when reclaiming land, compensation for land and support for job conversion should not be paid directly to each farmer household, but that amount should be converted into shares to build markets or cooperatives to provide services. Of course, to do this, the government must mobilize farmers to voluntarily implement and there must be collective consensus. Where there are conditions to build markets, policies and planning should be announced early so that farmers are aware of accumulating capital to contribute shares.

To solve sustainable employment for farmers after land acquisition, vocational training is a long-term task. However, vocational training should mainly be for farmers' children who do not pass the entrance exams to universities, colleges, vocational secondary schools or cannot enter high schools. The best way to provide vocational training for this group is to send them to provincial vocational schools for long-term training.

Solving employment for farmers after land acquisition is also the responsibility of enterprises using the acquired land. Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee needs to have a mechanism to require enterprises assigned land to receive, train and arrange jobs for workers whose land is acquired at a certain rate.

Tran Hong Co