Structural changes and sustainable development of traditional handicraft villages in the Kinh Bac area, northern Vietnam

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explicate the current developments of rural traditional handicraft industries and structural changes in the handicraft villages of northern Vietnam. Rural industrialization is needed for creating job opportunities and increasing income of the abundant rural people as well as agricultural development in Vietnam. For such rural industrialization, the Red River Delta, Kinh Bac, has the advantages of historically holding kinds of labor-intensive and unique traditional handicraft business. Since the beginning of economic renovation in 1986, along with enlargement of market, some handicraft villages have quickly developed. In this paper, some positive and negative impacts of the development of traditional handicraft sector on the household economy, regional agriculture and rural society were analyzed by the result of field survey conducted in 1999.