Food securitization and urban agriculture in Hanoi (Vietnam)

Abstract

Based on a qualitative study of Hanoi underprivileged households’ livelihoods, this article addresses the role of urban and periurban agriculture in the food securitization process. It begins by showing that the spatial dynamics occurring in the emerging metropolis induce strong competition for the various uses of land. The urbanization process is based on a tremendous land-seizure policy, and officials seem to regard farmland as a land reserve instead of as a source of food. However, as a source of cheap, diversified, and safe food, and as a component of households’ livelihoods, urban agriculture plays a specific role in food-securitization strategies, especially for low-income households by reducing their food vulnerability in both short- and long-term; hence, it is a factor of resilience. Because the urbanization process that jeopardizes access to land seems particularly damaging for those households, urban planning is reconsidered from a spatial justice perspective. The food securitization approach, focusing on actors’ strategies, indicates how urban planning generates rising inequalities in the emerging metropolis. This study proposes that the current pattern of urban development induces spatial injustice in access to urban resources and land, thereby increasing inequalities in urban dwellers’ ability to manage their food security situation.