Duality of migrant lives: Gendered migration and agricultural production in Red River Delta region, Vietnam

This research analyzes the gender dimensions of labor migration and agricultural production
among farm households in Red River Delta region of Vietnam. Through surveying 215
households in Bac Ninh province, the paper explores impacts of female and male migration on
agricultural production and its implications on rural development. The results show that in
comparison to male migration household, the female one tends to focus on agricultural
production by taking the opportunities to rent more land (26.3%) and effective use their own
allocated land for agricultural production (97.4%). The overall impacts of migration on
agricultural production are the aging of farm labor force (49.6 year old in average) and higher
female participation in agricultural production. The findings suggest that female migrants have
a greater contribution in agriculture production both in term of working time and agricultural
capital investment while male migrants enhance household income by accumulating capital
outside agriculture. Through the gender lens, this research emphasizes the duality in the nature
of migrant lives and the implications of rural labor migration on the fixed categories.