Received: 05-08-2013 / Accepted: 12-11-2013
Urbanization is an inevitable process in socio-economic development. In Vietnam, urbanization has been happening with bigger scale and higher speed. Urbanization has impacted on peri-urban livelihood strategies both positively and negatively. However, negative influences, particularly the reduction of farmland, unemployment and food insecurity, have been more concerned by researchers and policy-makers. According to several researchers, maintenance and development of peri-urban agriculture is one of the solutions to reduce negative impacts. Based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, this study shows that agriculture plays important roles in socio-economic lives of households in Trau Quy town. For economic aspect, agriculture contributes to households’ income, food security and safety, and generates job opportunities for family labours, especially for those who could not find new off-farm jobs in labour market. With regard to social roles, farmland property, livelihood security, and maintenance of traditional community relationship are considered as significant roles of suburb agriculture.