Development of aquaculture in North Vietnam: influence on the living standards and gender division of family labor

During previous years, along with the overall development of Vietnam, the fisheries sector has made great progress in terms of output and has remained as a very important sector of Vietnam’s economy. The average growth rate of this sector has been 7.9% per year –contributing greatly to the industrialization and modernization of the agriculture and rural sectors of the country. Since 2006, Vietnam has been globally ranked among the top 10 leading exporting countries in fisheries. To cope with these new circumstances, the aquaculture sector must grow while reducing emissions and pollution. Moreover, the value they generate should be distributed fairly, in order to improve the living conditions of producers, while the risks must be shared among all stakeholders. In this context, il will be also appropriate to conduct specific research including gender analysis of aquaculture value chain. The main objective of this paper is to present the main results of a field research conducted in the northern Vietnam and related to a specific fresh water aquaculture production system. This study was conducted to (1) describe and understand the division of family labor in aquaculture and (2) make a diagnose about economic situation of the households in aquaculture.